My Wyoming Chronicles, rain, wind and snow...

Day 4 of my Grand Teton/Yellowstone adventure began with a 4:00 A.M. wake up and we headed to Jenny Lake for a sunrise shoot. When we got to Jenny Lake the wind was blowing a bit making the water a bit choppy and we had clear skies making for a non dramatic image. But as they say, “A bad day of photography is better than a day at work.” 

Around mid-morning we headed into Jackson Hole and walked around a bit. We walked into The Wyoming Camera Outfitters store and met with some great bunch of photographers who operate the store. These guys are very familiar with the area and told us were to go to get some great shots. If you ever find yourself in Jackson and want some photo locations or camera gear check them out. https://wyomingcameraoutfitters.com/jackson-location/

We then walked into The Bookover Gallery. If you want to see some amazing images head over to his website,  https://www.brookovergallery.com/  As I walked around his gallery I was just in awe from the images to the framing. Thanks Ben Osborne and Marta Echazarreta for showing me what to look for in good matting and framing. There are several galleries in Jackson Hole to get some inspiration. And I look forward to walking into them. 

After some discussion and weather observing, we decide what to go around the Tetons over to Taghee National Forrest and to the Grand Taghee Resort which overlooks the west side of the Tetons. After an hour drive in pouring rain, we made it to the top of Grand Taghee Resort only to see that the rain was still coming down and there was fresh white powder on the ground. Unfortunately the sunset was a wash, no pun intended, but it was a great scout outing. So we hope to be back for a sunset shot. The weekend is upon us and that means that the park will be packed with tourists with their selfie sticks. So  I’m not sure what we’re going do so stick around and find out.  

Sunrise at Jenny Lake I used a 10 stop ND filter to smooth out the water and a circular polarizer to make the water clear.   

Jason Eldridge of Nature Photography setting up a shot.  

The sunset that didn’t happen. Somewhere behind those grey skies is The Gran Teton. We’ll be back when there is better light.  

This week from Wyoming

Well I finally made it to Wyoming, home of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Two amazing parks. I’ll be out here with fellow photographer and host of The Nature Photography Podcast, Jason Eldridge, if you haven’t check him out I highly recommend it. I’ll be out here photographing the amazing landscapes and wildlife around here. 

This afternoon we went out to an overlook where you see the Tetons with some nice sidelight on it. I’ll post below some shots with my phone. Tomorrow morning is an early rise, 2:00 A.M. Yes, you read that correct, 2:00 A.M. Why? Because we’ll be able to catch the Milky Way rise over the mountains. Then stay up for the sunrise.  Well, I’m going to keep it short because I need to get some rest. It’s been a long day of travel, been up since 5:00 A.M. Miami time. In the meantime enjoy these behind the scene shots.  

The famous Grand Tetons that Ansel Adams made famous. Shot on an iPhone  

Here’s a #BTS of my camera and the Tetons  

This Week in my Charleston Chronicles 05/07

Yet another week has come and gone. This week, well let’s just say it went to the toilet. Started out pretty good with editing some photos of the Blessing of the Fleet, then worked on my pricing sheet for the potential real estate clients. Then Wednesday rolled around and I join a few other retirees for lunch. I guess they add me just to keep the average age of the group below 80. No, they’re a great bunch of guys, some are native Charlestonians. Yes, that’s a word y’all.  That evening Malena and I hit up one of our favorite pizza joints. Then a few hours later... Disaster. I felt horrible for the next two days. I guess it was either a stomach bug or something I ate but man did I feel horrible. All I did was watch tv and suffer for the next two days. Friday was May 4th and for all us Star Wars geeks a day we live for, but not this year! I celebrated it right in front of the tv watching Rogue One. Malena nursed me back to health with her chicken soup and TLC. Thanks babe. 

Saturday was Cinco de Mayo, an American celebration of a Mexican victory over Spain in some battle. I guess we need an excuse to party. Our neighbors invited us to go with them over to some friend’s house and celebrate both Cinco de Mayo and the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby. What a beautiful home they have, right on the banks of the Ashley River looking at the Ravenel Bridge off in the distance. Pretty cool place to watch a horse race. The weekend finished off with meeting a few more potential business clients and a documentary movie on the history of Freeriding mountain biking at a local brewery. 

Next week is what I call the holy day of obligation and looking forward to another year with friends and family. Malena and I will be down in Miami for the weekend to spend it with our mother’s. Then on Wednesday, I fly out to Wyoming. I’ll be there for the next ten days photographing The Grand Teton and the famous Yellowstone National Park. So today I started to pack all my camera gear. Lots of gear and other gear I rented that should be there when I arrive. I’ll post a picture of my gear. Well until next week, make it prosperous and have fun.  

Here’s my photo gear that will be traveling with me. I use Canon gear but there’s a Sony in the mix as well.  6dm1, 16-35mm f4, 28-75mm f2.8, 70-300L, Samyang 14mm 2.8, 28mm f1.8 a 10 stop ND filter, 2 circular polarizers, a Sony a6000 with a Rokinon 12mm f2.8, a few cable releases and that little orange box is a MIOPS controller. It does a little bit of everything, it’s my lightning trigger, intervelometer, cable release. It’s controlled all via Bluetooth to my phone. And my rocket blower to clean out the sensors. All that plus a 15” laptop computer fit into that backpack. 

Here it is all packed up and ready to go. I guess I’ll make my appointment with the chiropractor when I get back.   

This week in my Charleston Chronicles

Well another week has come and gone. We are closing on April and coming up on May. At this rate the holidays will be here in no time. I had a very productive week, met with my SCORE mentor, this is a free  service that South Carolina offers small business owners in order to help them be successful. Took in a great amount of business information from him. Did a bit of exploring and photographing in downtown. Thinking of a few personal projects while walking around, more to come on that later on. I had my first business meeting on Thursday and it went well, let’s see if I can start drumming up some business. 

Over the weekend I took a matting and mounting class where I got to mat my own photograph. This will help me with several things; 1) it’ll help me distinguish myself from the rest of the local artist who just use plain white mats and 2) help reduce the cost in having someone else do it. I’m only going to do my own matting for the smaller prints, all my other pieces will be done by professionals.   

Sunday was a great day. Malena and I took part in the annual “Blessing of the Fleet”  where the local fishermen parade down the Cooper River and are blessed by the local clergy in hopes of a good and safe fishing season. After the Blessing we headed over to Water’s Edge, a local eatery on the banks of Shem Creek where you can see the fleet of shrimp boats. If you ever find yourself in Charleston, come check out Shem Creek. Let’s make this week and every week a great one! 

Another beautiful Charleston sunset. That is St. Phillip’s in the background. (Image shot for my IPhone) 

Ben Osborn of Eastbound and Down Framing who taught a workshop on how to matte and mount your images. I learned quite a bit from Ben who’s a transplant from Austin, Tx. And yes, we both agree that Lewis BBQ is the closest thing to Texas BBQ in Charleston. 

A collage of images from The Blessing of the Fleet event in Mt. Pleasant. 

This week in my Charleston Chronicles

Well another week has gone by living here in Charleston. This past weekend was great, on Saturday my wife, Malena, ran her first event here in Charleston. It was the 41 annual Cooper River Bridge run. A run that starts in Mt. Pleasant just across the Cooper River and finished in downtown Charleston. Approximately 40,000 runner turned out this year. As she ran the the course, I headed out to do what I like to do, take pictures. Well, the light wasn’t all the best but as that old saying goes, “A bad day of photography is better than a day at work”. Then I headed over to King Street and see the runners come by. I had found a great donut shop, imaging that, and hung out and did a bit of people watching. 

Sunday, we headed out to Summerville, a little town just north of Charleston where there was the Azalea Festival going on. We went with some friendly neighbors here in our complex. Greg and Nancy are transplants from Minnesota and are the unofficial welcomers of our apartment complex. Well the festival was great, lots of people walking around but no flowers to been seen. As I walked around I was getting ideas for next year of possibly doing a booth here and showing off some of my art, so stay tuned for that. Well another week has started and I’m officially a South Carolina resident, as I did that dreaded line at the DMV. Man, they’re all about the same no matter what state you live in. Okay folks thanks for reading. Maybe my next post I’ll do it from the MIA? Catch y’all on the flip side. 

Bed & Breakfast up for sale

We saw this nice Bed and Breakfast that’s currently up on the market. If anyone is interested in. 

Lots and lots of people walking at the #Azalea Festival

a little #BTS of my Sunrise during Saturday morning 

Look Ma, here come the tourist...

Royal Caribbean Cruise line Grandeur of the Seas coming in for the day. Carnival Cruise also comes to Charleston.