Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles

Yesterday was another busy day. Tom wanted to see Sedona, so Sedona was where we spent the day! Hey, give the guests what they want.

We headed up early, and before 9:30 we had arrived at Cathedral. The skies were pretty hazy, and my thought was a nice hike out of the sun and close to water. Sure enough, it was a great pick!

The hike near Cathedral is a short one. There weren’t many people parked at the lot yet, so we had a somewhat private hike along the water. Tom enjoyed the walk and the scene, and Sadira also enjoyed the trail. Glad everyone was happy with the hike.

We reached a wonderful opening where rock stacks met up with the water, and where people come to sit and take in nature. A few folks were swimming nearby, so I moved a short distance up the river, broke the camera out, and crossed the river. At the time, the skies were less hazy, and cool clouds began forming.

It was a great morning. Way too hot though! That’s the other reason I picked a hike near water.

By the way, I waded out into the water several times for photos. Really the photos were an excuse…..I should have gone swimming, the water was perfect!!!

By mid-afternoon we made our way to Jerome. I wasn’t feeling too well. Busy for the past few weeks, over excited over the show, and finally winding down & crashing…..that’s what I figured at first.

After food at the Haunted Hamburger we made our way over Mingus Mountain, and that’s where I discovered what was really bothering me.

FIRE!

There’s an uncontrolled fire near Crown King, AZ. A lost hiker started a signal fire. Signal fires in a dry desert are not a great idea. Last night slurry bomber after slurry bomber flew over head, confirming signal fires are a very bad idea.

This morning there is no open sky. No blue anywhere. No puffy clouds. Just a dark haze everywhere and a heavy smell of wood smoke. The HEPA is running, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. My head is pounding, and I hope they get this one under control soon. It’s a bad one for sure!

So, with the smoke haze I thought I’d give you a few blue sky photos from yesterday. Might be a while before we see more blue skies……..

Ah yes, yesterday is finished.  Maybe I’ll stop feeling so dang tired! 

In the category of long day, yesterday rates very high.  The morning was spent roaming the Promised Land with Tom & Josh.  Good company, a good walk, and some major changes in the canyon.

We made our way in and the sun was already at work heating things up for us.  Pretty warm early on.  And it got warmer the longer we stayed.  That’s one of those fun features of the sun folks sometimes forget!

I wanted to reshoot part of the canyon with my new wide angle lens.  I was very excited as we entered the canyon, but the excitement faded fast.  Most of the areas with water in the canyon were bone dry.  I’m sure the tadpoles were even less excited than I was.

The spot where I wanted to shoot turned out to be as dry as the rest of the canyon.  A small pocket of water remained, and a lot of aquatic life was crammed in.  The photo I was looking for didn’t exist at the moment.

Monsoons are on their way.  Hopefully the little fish in the Promised Land can hang in a few more days.

We cut out of the canyon early and headed out to Perkinsville.  Another visit to the “Cabin.”  I think Josh and Tom both enjoyed the spot and the ride out!  Good day, good day!

And now on to what you wanted to read about…..I know why you’re here for this post……but I had to do the whole suspense thing you know! 

Last night the show at the gallery went off wonderfully!  Seriously, I couldn’t have hope for better!  I think Ian enjoyed the evening too, and enjoyed showing his latest works!

Tom and I arrived at 4:45.  I brought my laptop hoping to access a higher speed network.  No luck on my part.  Ian couldn’t remember his wireless router’s password.  Ah well, I’ll have to borrow somebody’s network to load more than a Gig of photography to my large format printer’s site……  I’ll figure that out later.

Right at 5 people really started showing up.  My former neighbors Bill & Shari were the first to pop in.  From that point forward it was a constant stream of folks.  I spent the better part of the evening chatting with people who came, and occasionally I got to sneak away to take 5 away from the gallery.

The evening went well, and Ian was happy with the count of signatures on the guest book.  His one year anniversary went pretty well!  And I noticed from time to time that he was wrapping up a print of two, and they weren’t always mine.  :)  So it went well for both of us.

It’s at this point I’d like to note that Ian stored his roll of bubble wrap in the gallery’s rest room for the evening.  Running out of room and all.  But when visiting the facilities I felt extremely safe with all that bubble wrap near by…….  Just saying. 

Several of my prints went off the wall pretty early in the show.  The center piece was already spoken for, and it got picked up by the end of the night.  A few holes dotted throughout my framed works.  Pretty cool.

The coolest part was the number of custom orders.  Folks liked the prints, but they wanted them larger….much larger.  We’ve got several request for custom sizes of my favorite tree (you know the one).  In addition, we’ve got a request for a very large gallery wrapped print of another shot from the tree series.  By large I mean bigger than 4 foot wide.  Ah, large.

Well, there’s the wrap.  A lot more went on, but I’m getting ready for a ride up to Sedona for the day.  Gotta finish packing the Versa.  The show was great, I did better than I expected, and tomorrow I’ve got to get cracking on what I believe is 4 or 5 custom orders that need to be filled this week.

Oh, and I’ll be letting you know about print availability online at the end of the week.  Just find me a super high speed connection for a night and I’ll be set!

But everybody else is doing it, so why can’t I?

See, it’s been months since someone mentioned HDR to me.  I’d never heard of it, considered it, pondered the possibilities, etc.  But when I found the first sites by Ben Wilmore, Trey Ratcliff, and several other well known photographers I found some very consistent shots.

• Heavily contrasted subjects.
• Interesting cloud formations.
• Cool buildings.
• Amazing night shots.
• Oh yeah……and “THE OLD ABANDONED TRUCK.”

Heck, if all the masters of HDR shoot the old abandoned truck I’d better take a whack at it as well, right?

The key problem…..I hadn’t found the right truck.  You’d think it would be easy.  Spot an old truck across a field and run up to shoot it.  The problem…..getting “shot” for doing it.  Barbed wire fences, testy bulls, giant “No Trespassing” signs, or freaky folks sitting in front of the old truck.  It’s not as easy to find that truck as I first thought it would be.

This whole line of thinking reminds me of an outing with Mike of “I am Mike” fame.  The lone tree shot by moonlight.  I don’t think I ever told the whole story, and maybe I will someday.  All I can tell you is that fence hopping occurred, we wandered into a cow pasture in the middle of the night with 4 people, hand guns were in packs for snakes (I had no hand gun), and several cows made a bee line for us while we tried to take photos.  In the end, I ripped my favorite pair of shorts on a barbed wire fence, I underexposed my photos, and we all ended up on the Granite Dells shooting moon reflections in Watosn Lake.  Ah yes…..all for photos!

Today I hopped zero fences.  My shorts are fine.  No cows made a beeline for me.  And nobody in today’s party was packing a handgun for snakes.  Overall, things went well.  My other friend Mike (different one) brought me to his parent’s place.  Horses, cows, miniature horses, and “the old truck.”  Ah, that worked out well.

Many other photos are sitting in Lightroom right now.  I still have to sort.  Some wonderful shots including one shot that got ruined by a nosy horse nose actually getting put on my lens while I was shooting.  Needless to say I pet the horse and then wiped the lens off (yup, horse snot).  Apparently horses can be hams too.  3 horses in the shot totally messed up by one horse’s nose.  I think it was bothered not to be in the photo.

So, you’ve seen the obligatory “old truck” HDRs.  Since that’s all satisfied I can move on to other subjects (until the next cool old truck I see).

No, we’re not having a “heat wave” here.  This morning it’s 57 degrees in Prescott.  We’ll probably see something near 90 today.  But without humidity you can stay comfortable in the shade, no problem.  Walking downtown yesterday I stayed in shady spots on the square, and I was pretty darned comfortable!

That’s not the same story for folks in New England.  They’re running from 60 to above 90, but there’s high humidity.  I remember those days.  Breaking a sweat no matter what you do.  Plus most every house in New England has no AC!  Eeek!

Last night I spoke with one of my sisters.  Her little ones were fussing big time.  They couldn’t sleep.  Fans fail to cool well with heat and humidity together.  While we talked I sat outside my Airstream in the shade.  A light breeze was blowing, and I was happily comfortable.  I wish they lived closer, they could come here for a few days and get comfortable.

I know, Arizona is HOT.  It sure is….in some areas.  Phoenix is looking to hit 109 degrees today.  Boy, that wouldn’t be fun, even though it’s a dry heat.

Fortunately I don’t live in Phoenix.  Less than 2 hours away Prescott sits at a much higher elevation.  That gives us cooler temperatures every day.  While Phoenix climbs to crazy temperatures, we climb to reasonable temperatures.

Last year we had a week here that broke 100 every day.  It was hot!  The AC struggled.  But sitting out under my awning I always found myself pretty comfortable.  I can handle a week of that again!  Glad it’s not humid here!

To everyone back on the East Coast…..sorry gang!  Pay a visit sometime.  Try the Fall, it’s cooler then and you can really explore the area!

Ah, days off.

Personally I’d like them to become more consistent.  By that I mean I’d like to pick 2 days in the week and have them off each week.

Actually, 3 days would be better than 2.  Just saying…… 

So, what to do with the day off?  How about some laundry?  Yup, the standard laundry day.  I sure wish the Airstream had the room for a washer and dryer.  But let’s face it, living in a 25 foot Six Sleeper doesn’t allow for much washer and dryer room.  I sure wish it did though!

Normally on my days off folks can find me between 8 and 10 in the Point of Rocks laundry room.  It’s a happening spot full of happening people.  Why just this morning I ran into……. uh ….. nobody.  Ok, not the most happening spot after all.  But it is located in a wonderful park!

After laundry wrapped up I visited with my neighbor Ed.  We talk politics, economics, photography, and anything else that interests us.  Ed is a pleasant guy.  Like me, he’s a full-timer.  He and his wife live in a Class A rig a few sites away from me.  He used to own a large door manufacturing company, finally retired, sold the home and hit the road.  Like me, Ed found Prescott and here he is!

Following Ed’s visit I had another friend pop over.  Adobe Lightroom questions.  And some new photos shared.  Tony went to Monument Valley and a few other super cool spots recently.  The photos made me want to hook the rig up right now and roll out.  Alas, work tomorrow. 

See, I didn’t even mention how gas prices factor into the travel decision!  How are people doing it now though?  There’s my question!

By noon I headed into town.  Sadira’s portable drive had been acting up, so I made a backup of it for her “just in case.”  I ran by her shop to drop it off, say howdy, and take a walk around town.  Today was a perfect day for a walk.  Really.  Blue skies, nice breeze, cool in the shade, no humidity.  Exactly the type of day I expect in Prescott!

While walking through town I stopped by “The Art Store” to pick up some covers for my latest prints.  Can’t have them getting coated in dust!  Of course while walking through the alley near the store I couldn’t resist taking a few photos of the mural on the wall.  I wanted to see what it would look like in HDR.  I’ve been wanting to try it out for quite some time.  And I’d say it turned out very interesting indeed!

Oh yeah, it also gave me the opportunity to toy around with my new wide angle lens some more too!  What can I say?  I’m hooked on the new lens!!!

I puttered around town for more than 1 hour and 45 minutes.  I would have stayed longer, but there’s 2 hour parking along the streets.  I don’t want a parking ticket.  So I headed back to the Titan and made my way home.  Late lunch, a few phone calls to friends and an e-mail to a Mac client of mine who is currently on the road.

The rest of the day has been spent just hanging out at the Airstream.  A little cleaning, a little re-organizing, and emptying out my Dyson vacuum cleaner.  A Dyson for a 25 foot trailer?  Of course, it’s for an Airstream folks!  :)  Plus it can get dusty here with the winds in the Spring you know.

I’m not sure how the day will end.  I think I’ll sit back and toy with a few more photos.  Maybe I’ll sit in the shade next to the Airstream for a while, enjoy the breeze and watch the crazy lizards hopping around on the rocks.  It’s all a possibility.

Just another good day in Arizona………….

Granny J’s curiosity about a favorite spot has caused me to weigh the pros and cons of sharing the location of the Promised Land climbing area.  I’ve given vague directions previously on this site.  The directions will continue to be vague, but they might help Granny J identify where the spot is.

Why be so vague?  Do I like big secrets?  Nope.  Bottom line, getting to the Promised Land takes some doing.  Repeat the last sentence and say, “How true it is.”

Last year, August 11th to be exact, Andy, Brooke, & I found the Promised Land.  It’s funny, we literally wandered the desert for a while looking for it.  We’d been out previously in search of it, and it wasn’t easy to find.  The one map that existed was no longer in print.  Instead, we headed out in the general direction and explored dirt double track after dirt double track.  We didn’t even know for certain that we’d found it at first…..

Today I know the way, and it’s easy to find.  Not easy to get into though, the roads are still rough.  You need a 4×4.  Without one you’ll find several tough spots.

Given the fact that Bill Cramer is doing a new guide for climbers, and including the Promised Land, I’m not too worried about giving the location.  It’s going to be out there soon anyway.

For those familiar with the area this won’t be too hard.  Head to Chino Valley.  Find Perkinsville Rd.  If you’re coming from Prescott Perkinsville Rd will be on your right after the Safeway.  Stop there and get a Gatorade or two.  Once you’ve found Perkinsvill Rd, take it.  You’ll drive to where the pavement ends and you hit a dirt road.  Continue onward past the gravel company.  Soon on your left you’ll see a dirt road to the Haystack development.  Take that road.

Now this is where things get sketchy.  Directions are now going to get vague!

Before reaching Haystack the road splits.  One into Haystack, one along the edge to the left.  Take the road to the left.  You’ll drive along with Haystack on your right, then you’ll be into open land.  Cross a HUGE wash (don’t do this during Monsoons) and stay to the right.  Now there’s a new landmark….the PIPELINE PROJECT has cut a huge swath through the desert.  It looks like a super highway made of dirt.  Immediately after crossing this new “road” hang a left onto a smaller track.  Follow this main “road” for well over a mile.

You’ll hit a major fork soon.  An open triangle shows signs of 4 wheelers off roading every weekend.  Stay left here.  You’ll approach the pipeline road.  Get on the pipeline road (go right) for 1/8th of a mile.  Then take a left onto an almost unseeable double track.  Follow this track (rough) to an old windmill that no longer works (Little Thumb Butte is the backdrop for this windmill).  At the junction near the windmill go left.  Follow this road (super rough) to a roughed out parking lot and you’re there.  You won’t know you’re there, as there’s nothing grand at the lot.  It’s time to hike.  Follow the path north into the dry river bed.  Walk toward the distant rock formations sticking to the river bed.

That’s the story.  Somewhere in Chino you may or may not find the Promised Land.  It’s a wonderful canyon.  Good climbing, fun hiking, great photo opportunities, and if you’re there at the right time you’ll see the swallows nesting throughout the canyon.  You’ll see the red tails looking for the next snack.  And if you forget to bring water you’ll see plenty of vultures waiting on you……

Best bet….drop me a line and sign up for a photo tour of the area.  I’ll take you to see things you might not otherwise on a visit to the area!

Which cause am I furthering exactly?  That’s a good question.  I’ll wrangle up a good answer.

I’m furthering plenty of causes today.  You can take your pick and apply it to today’s post. 

• Achieving total relaxation:  After two days of rest (Thursday & Friday) I find myself with another day off.  Nice!  And unplanned.  But I could definitely use a little more rest, so no complaints.
• Seeking new sites:  I’m always looking for new things to photograph.  So, with my extra day of rest I took a ride to Sedona & Flagstaff.  Sadira was kind enough to come along too!
• Improving photos:  After seeing a few shots from Bert’s new wide angle lens (acquired only weeks ago) I couldn’t resist.  The Sedona portion of the trip landed us at Rollies Camera where I picked up a new wide angle lens.
• Answering reader requests:  An HDR of the Airstream was requested.  And a little better view of my new site has been requested repeatedly.  So, with my new lens I was able to get a full view of only half of my site (the other half is where I shot from).  Through answering the requests I have found a new subject to shoot, had an opportunity to try out my new lens, and got to play with yet another HDR shot.  Guess this category covered all the causes……

Without any further delay, you now get a look at my new site, and my Airstream in HDR.  I went a little over the top with the HDR on this shot.  Just having a little fun with the medium!

Now I’m concerned questions will abound.  Not about the photo technique, but about the site.  What’s under the trailer, is that a step stool, etc, etc.  Those questions will be left for another time.  Gather them up, ask them in the comments, or speculate on the contents of the photo and site on any number of forums across the Internet…..

Ah, clearly a well rested Rich is a cheeky Rich to boot!

So, on to a rundown of today’s activities….

This morning Sadira and I headed North before 9 a.m.  First stop….a gas station.  I don’t even want to talk about it.  24 gallon tank you know. 

Once I’d topped off we headed straight for Sedona, AZ.  Truly a favorite place to go taking pictures.  Today though I took no Sedona photos.  The reason for the visit was strictly business.  A stop into Rollies Camera.  I knew they had some wide angle lenses in, and I’ve been pining for one since getting a look at Bert’s new lens.  I lay the blame with Bert, and Bert alone! 

I’m teasing you here Bert!  I know you’re reading along!

While at Rollies we had several pleasant surprises.  My favorite sales guy was in (of course) and we found the lens I was searching for.  Sadira also found something wonderful.  A unique version of a Crumpler Bag.  This bag had a custom design for wildlife watchers.  The Velcro had been dealt with……

It’s at this point Tombo has stopped reading my blog.  He’s opened two browser tabs and is searching Sadira’s site as well as Crumpler’s site.  A stealthy pack without velcro noise is a priority for Mr. Tombo……  Wow, a well rested Rich really is a cheeky so and so!

While Sadira wrestled with the concept of trading up on packs I checked out lenses and settled on my final choice.  I also shared my web site with the folks in the shop, and they took a look at my “photo only” site.  Lot’s of “Wow’s” which made me smile.

Sadira resolved her pack dilemma and made her way to the “Life is Good” shop.  I headed out of Rollies, and realized I forgot one item, so returned quickly.  While cashing out the owner asked me, “Are you aware of what we’ll be doing in the front of the store soon?”  I told him I wasn’t, and I got an extra pleasant surprise.  Rollies will be featuring a few local photographers soon, and they’re interested in my work being in the mix!

Other things are currently in the works.  So, this adds fuel to the fire.  And it helped me justify my shinny new lens!

After wrapping up in Sedona we headed to Flagstaff.  A visit to Bookman’s for Sadira (and some interesting books), and then a walk through the town.  We shot a unique church in town, and I’m not sure what to make of the photos.  See, the trimmings of the church were painted in an odd shade of “pink”.  Pretty stones mixed with pink.  Pink gargoyles too…..  I just don’t know.

While in Flagstaff we also stopped by the Life Is Good store.  They seem to be popping up everywhere!  But Life is Good after all, so I won’t complain about seeing their stores everywhere.  Also, I was wearing one of their shirts today, not to mention a hat from them as well!

We strolled around Flagstaff for quite a while.  Many trains rolled through, all blasting their horns letting people everywhere know they weren’t slowing down for anyone!  Neat to watch, hard to cross the tracks while waiting on train after train!

While wandering I took another “door” photo.  I think it’s written somewhere that in order to have your photography taken seriously you must shoot doors and make them look cool.  I don’t know if I made this door look cool or not, but I did like the door to begin with.  Actually, I think it was the building’s exterior that caught me!

I’m not sure if this shot will classify me as a serious photographer or not.  But it does mean I’m trying.  I haven’t moved into a post modern apartment with only black and white furniture yet, and I’m currently not wearing a turtle neck while drinking wine, so I think we’re still a ways off from “serious photography.”  Normally when I’m out shooting I’m wearing a T-Shirt, North Face A5 Shorts, Chacos (sandals), and a Nalgene water bottle is in tow somewhere.  As you can see, a far cry from a serious photographer’s attire.

Honestly, I’ve got a cool art deco home…..my Airstream.  I don’t know how much further I’d need to take it.  Maybe if I start taking detailed photos of rivet lines it will count for something and I can skip ahead to “serious.”

After all our fun in Flagstaff we finally headed home.  We went a different way though.  Off and on Route 66.  More unique photo ideas.  While I saw one potentially interesting item I decided to skip it.  The shot had already been done by Ben Wilmore.  Ah well, I’ll find that special shot along 66 at some point in time.  I’ve got a lot of other ideas too.  Many can be done right in my own back yard.

That’s it for tonight.  I need to go stare at my new lens for a while now……….

Well, what’s done is done.  I totally skipped a post yesterday.  Actually, it wasn’t skipped, it was forgotten.  Whoops.

The past few days have been nice, and I almost feel rested again.  That’s a good sign.  I just wish I had a few more days to nurture that rested and relaxed feeling.  Not to mention my hip is no longer sore, and I worry it might go right back to where it was without additional down time.  We’ll just have to see.

Yesterday my friend Josh popped by early in the a.m.  We decided to head out to the Promised Land and take a few more photographs.  Josh has never been to the Promised Land, and he’s enjoyed some of my photos from there.  I should start a photo tour company for obscure spots in Northern Arizona…. hmmmm…. almost sounds like a good idea!

As you may recall from prior climbing photos, and other photos from my visits to the Promised Land, many little nests can be seen on the canyon walls.  Since I’ve started visiting the spot I have never seen anything residing in the nests….until yesterday!

As we made our way into the canyon everything around us was alive.  Many lizards moved out of the way as we trodded along the canyon floor.  Doves popped out of bushes, and red tail hawks called out as we passed.  The most lively I’ve seen the Promised Land.

As we passed the first climbing area the canyon was a buzz with activity.  Tiny little birds popping down to the remaining pools of water in the canyon.  A quick trip to the water and mud, then right back to their cliff side homes.  There were so many birds in sections of the canyon you just couldn’t count them, you could only watch them “swarm”.  Pretty interesting.

Over the past year I’d wondered about all the nests.  When do they return, how long do they stay, and where do they go next?  What I know now is that they return….well, now.  They’re not here from August through at least April.  Why do I know that?  Because during all my visits from August to April nobody has resided in these cute little nests.  And now the nests are full.

As far as how long these little architects stay….who knows?  I’ll have to check back in and see when they leave.

The remainder of the morning will be spent sorting photos.  I went over the top yesterday and filled the card with the birds.  High speed shutter, crazed birds colliding mid-air….there have to be a few interesting shots in there.  So, it’s time to sort.  If I come across anything of interest I’ll pop it up here!

Last night I got home earlier than I have in a while.  After getting in I changed into a pair of shorts and a Life is Good T-Shirt, got dinner going and fell back on the couch.  Not long after arriving home dinner was ready and soon I was full.

Once I felt unwound I headed outside and saw colors in the sky changing.  Another amazing Arizona sunset was taking place.  I’ll tell you, I don’t think I’ll get tired of Arizona sunsets.

I’m lucky enough to have several interesting perches in the Granite Dells behind my Airstream.  Often I’ll head up into the rocks just to look around.  Last night I decided to take a look around once again.  This time I went up without the camera.  Sometimes you just want to go up and watch the pretty sunset.  Sorry I left the camera, I’m sure you would have enjoyed it.  But once in a while it’s nice to keep a sunset for yourself. 

Yesterday I took a quick trip over to Watson Lake in order to take a few photos of the Granite Dells from the shoreline. I couldn’t stay long, work was calling. Not literally of course, but you get my meaning.

Now that I’ve started playing around with some new techniques (7 Point System & HDR) it seems I can’t find the time to go out and shoot super interesting subjects. Sure, I’ve gotten a couple of neat photos lately, but I want to roam around more. Plus I’m not getting home from work until after 7 every day.

That means I’m missing sunsets, missing out on the crazy lizards running around here, and totally taking a pass on the gangs of Quail moving around the park. You’ve got to watch out for those quail gangs….they wear their colors you know!

Thursday will be a day of rest, but I don’t think it will be super restful. Groceries, laundry (I miss my own washer & dryer), cleaning, maybe a nap. I hope somewhere in there I find the time for a few photos. I’d love to get North of Paulden and do some larger expanse shots. Or maybe down to Skull Valley again, I have a few photo ideas there.

If I’m wrapped up all Thursday maybe Friday will be a fun day. At least there are 2 days back to back off. Haven’t had that in a little while!

Oh, and I haven’t forgotten adding other favorite links. Yesterday’s were a start. Next week I’ll include some more photo links and blogging links (plus a few more financials). But not today. I’m already running behind, and work starts earlier today.

Looks like I won’t go off for a few quick photos this morning…..bummer. Maybe I’ll find time this evening as I’ll be home before 7 tonight.