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Lodgepole Pines and Fall Color In The Tetons

When I took this image it was a little early for peak fall color. This spot was the last landscape picture taking opportunity I had on our bus tour and what an opportunity it was for fall color. Actually, it was very hard to see Grand Teton due to the heavy blue haze from the forest fires burning in Wyoming and Colorado at the time. I desaturated the blue slider (Lightroom 4) in post just enough to keep the mountains showing a little haze and keeping the sky and clouds natural.

George and I had a great time on this bus tour from San Francisco to Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone National Park and back. For more information on this tour and others, click Tours4fun.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright Ben Gundy and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Ben Gundy.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f4L at 40mm

ISO 200, 1/250 sec at f/11

admin :: Nov.08.2012 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Custers Last Stand, Little Bighorn Battlefield, Montana

Next stop on our bus tour was the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. There is so much history, that the time we had didn’t come close to understanding all that happened here. I must come back and absorb what really happened, you can feel something in the air.

In the image above, Custer’s marker is the one with the black shield on it. Custer is not buried at the National Monument but reinterred at the West Point Cemetery. The image depicts where each solder fell during the battle including Custer’s brother and brother-in-law I believe. You can follow the road down, on the right in the image, and see more markers. There is a old U.S Army Memorial monolith just behind where this image was taken at the highest point on the hill. Just on the other side, of this hill, is the new Indian Memorial for all the warriors that died during the battle. The government, in their wisdom, placed new red markers throughout the battlefield where a known warrior fell. For more information on the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument please go here.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright Ben Gundy and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Ben Gundy.

Canon G12

ISO 100, 1/60 at f/8.0

admin :: Oct.27.2012 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota

My last blog was on the Crazy Horse Memorial which is 17 miles from Mount Rushmore. Since I was on this bus tour, the tour can cram a lot of different stops in an o’dark hundred to dusk day. The tour director does have a knack for decent light on these stops though.

From left to right you see George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, representing the first 130 years of United States history. Established on March 3, 1925, with work commencing in 1927 and stopped in late October 1941 due to lack of funding. For more information on Mount Rushmore, please go to Wikipedia here.

Very interesting the way the grounds are laid out. From the parking lot you walk up and through a breezeway overlooking a huge patio area. to the left is the store for the tourist and is loaded with every kind of souvenir known to man on Mount Rushmore. To the right is the cafeteria serving good food with plenty of sitting area if you don’t mine sitting with other people. Back outside the patio area overlooks an amphitheater and stage area. I understand the acoustics are wonderful there, all under the sculpture of the presidents. There is a visitor center downstairs that everyone seems to miss, worth seeing if you go.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright Ben Gundy and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Ben Gundy.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f4L at 97mm

ISO 200, 1/500 at f/11

admin :: Oct.24.2012 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

The Bees Have Returned On Easter Sunday

If you remember my older July 2011 post “Bees A Swarming“, that particular colony was off to a new location. Unfortunately, the bees that remained soon disappeared leaving no trace that a colony was even there. This particular swarm arrived on Easter Sunday 2012 early in the afternoon. There were a few bees around three days prior to the swarm arriving, so I guess my location seems suitable again. Hopefully this colony will stick around for a while.

That dark line in the center of the mass is the entrance to the outside bin to remove the ash from the fireplace. Since we do not use the fireplace anymore the bees get to use the ash bin as their hive. Yes, we have sampled some of the honey in the past and it is delicious.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright Ben Gundy and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Ben Gundy.

Canon G12 with fill flash

admin :: Apr.10.2012 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Welcoming Midships – USS IOWA (BB-61)

A colorful welcoming to the public while the Battleship is in the Port of Richmond during exterior re-fitting. Up to 1000 people each day, Saturday and Sunday, come to see the great ship before it will be towed down south to the Port of Los Angles for interior re-fitting and permanent display. The USS IOWA will be here, in the Port of Richmond, at least through May, so there still is plenty of time to see the historic Battleship and hear stories from the sailors that served aboard this mighty ship.

To photograph the Battleship, it is best to use a wide angle lens. I don’t mean a 24mm wide angle, on a full frame, but at least a 20mm wide angle. I used my 17-40mm Canon zoom which was perfect for the job. You also can use a tripod but there are a lot of people and they will get in your way as you will get in their way. I boosted the ISO up to 800 and hand held the shots, even HDR, when and where needed.

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright Ben Gundy and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Ben Gundy.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Canob EF 17-40mm f4L, at 32mm

ISO 800, 1/640 sec at f/8.0