Fast away the old year passes

New Years Eve... another year almost in the bag. Fa-la-la-la-la

Johnston Canyon from our stay in Canmore for skiing etc over the Christmas break.

2010 was a great year. Shannon & I are 'reconnecting' as they say (read: she hasn't killed me yet ;>) )Boys are doing well at University & both enjoyed their summers of landscaping, Work wasn't the best but there's always next year for that, paid the bills & then some when others were out of work so its not as bad as it seems sometimes. Landed a few new friends as hiking / backpacking partners & while there is never enough time for everything I'd say I did well in the 'outdoor' department getting quite a few memorable trips in & documenting them on Zenfolio. I've got my winter work more or less mapped out plus what will undoubtedly be an overly optomistic list of 'extras'. Shall I start with the basement or the garage?? Or maybe snowshoing?

As for this blog... stay tuned for a 'best of 2010' perhaps or a new photo challenge. Maybe I'll go back & rework some photos from trips past. I know somewhere I have some RAW images from a 2005 (or was it '06?) backpacking trip that have never been processed.

2011 looks to be fine year !!! Happy New Year all!

Click to read full post......

Moab roadie

A little recap on the Moab trip from October. I wasn't going to take a fall trip but Moe was available for part of it, work was more or less accommodating as was Shannon so I figured what the heck. These trips are so worth it even though I sometimes come back a bit bagged from trying to cram too much in. I love Utah hiking!

I enjoy photography. I don't excel at it, I still consider myself to be a bit of a hack but thanks to Lightroom I can usually scratch together my shots into a gallery I am happy with. It took a long time to process all the photos... first of all there are a ton of them & often it is hard to choose which ones to work on. Then a computer dies, & always work sapping my strength. Anyway this shot of Druid Arch I thought worked well as a high contrast B&W.

This shot was on the Peekaboo trail, it was one of the best days for weather, sunny & warm, & this was my 'second breakfast'. The wonderful silence of the Needles area... it just reminds me of great day out hiking.

While I planned fairly effectively for this trip (weather...) there were many moments of discovery or timing that stood out. One was here at what I call Wooden Shoe wash. The cottonwoods were just brilliant in the late afternoon sun ... a happy accidental find.

Here's Moe in The Joint. It was good of him to look up at the right moment, I really like this shot. Moe is a good hiking partner, always on the lookout & is always right there with a sarcastic comment (even if many of them aren't very funny, here's to trying)

Fisher Towers. I just love this shot, the blue sky against the red stone... it kind of symbolizes what I wanted out of this trip: grand sights, good weather, some solitude & some good company.

Here's a shot from the Goblin Valley. Even though my plans for a full moon walk here were foiled it was still one of my favorite places. As it fringes onto the edge of a future trip so I may be back.

Here's the link to the all the Moab Galleries. Oh yeah, I'll be back!

Click to read full post......