2020 "Snaps" Around Glacier National Park

[PeteE]

First, did you and Julie dance around the May Pole today?
I recall doing that in 2nd grade.

The shot of the dock with the ice is exciting just because it looks like a swim about to happen. And then someone tried going out there without spikes. Not the brightest bulb on the tree.

Funny you say that. I did wear my MicroSpikes. That dock was coated about 2-6" thick with very hard ice. Just after I took that picture I heard a "thud" and then some guy say, "Are you ok?"
The guy's wife fell pretty hard stepping off that gangway affair onto the dock proper. She was lucky she didn't slide right into the lake.

I like the shot with all the dead trees in the foreground.

I assume you meant this one?
Yeah, I liked this one a lot too.

So, if you ride a bike into the park, is it a can of whoop-ass waiting to happen? So would the LEOs be pissed?

Maybe not pissed, but I'm sure they'll boot you out. They got signs at all the entrances. I talked to a GNP LEO at Laurie's Deli yesterday on the way to shoot my new revolver(S&W model 638 Airweight). He said it's pretty quiet out there.

I have a feeling a lot more than the boat business is going to be shut down. How they going to operate the Front Country campgrounds that have "community" showers and bathrooms---assuming this stupid "social distancing" is still in force?
How will they manage social distances visitors, the ones who actually get here, if any, from all over the world.

What about the barracks style staff housing with workers coming from the four corners of the earth.
Again, assuming they can get anyone to work for the shortened season.

And...I interpreted the Blackfeet Fish and Game website as saying that they'd rather non tribal and non residents just stay away...period.
Keep in mind that some Native Americans are still unhappy about us white guys bringing smallpox to America.

Just sayin'...
Lots of unanswered questions.

pete

PS
I'll be going back to work on Monday May 4th after being laid off since March 23rd.
The social distancing "rules" the health department set up for bars and casinos are about as stupid as stupid comes---another story.
I'd just as soon stay on unemployment. I make about 2 1/2 times what I make working!!

I have gained about 15lbs which sucks.

I'd be out more but the ticks are HORRIBLE this year.

[ND]

The social distancing "rules" the health department set up for bars and casinos are about as stupid as stupid comes---another story.

We're supposedly opening up here, but the jumping through hoops are unbelievable for the poor places trying start up business again. It actually feels like it's tightening down.

They are going to put so many restrictions on the park even if they open. The summer season is gone, IMO, and all you folks up there that depend on tourists are going to be just another domino that falls.

[PeteE]

I found some pictures from a few days ago when I was out shooting yesterday.
Nothing that I would consider an "image" in an artistic sense, just a few snaps of the North Fork looking into the park.
I need to resize them, etc. before I post them later on. The river is UP, but about normal for this time of year.
I saw lots of people heading out to the North Fork area yesterday with boats, rafts, camping gear, etc. for Mother's Day weekend.
Apparently, the state opened up more of the camping areas.

pete

The 25 second video will explain the picture

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-G6Q ... W-1280.mp4

[ND]

Haha I thought your dryer went on the blink!

[PeteE]

Haha I thought your dryer went on the blink!

Nah, there's a very nice laundry room here at my new place.
Clothes treated with permethrin need to be air dried. Hanging them inside isn't an option because of potential toxic fumes and smell. So I treated them in the truck bed. The black bed liner speeded up drying too.

Let a tick get on me and I get a really bad case of heebie jeebies!
But Ken, I know, that you know, I'm not afraid of most critters in GNP, including snakes

Like this lil garter snake I caught walking back from a 2015 Memorial Day backpack trip to BOW.
Fiesty lil thing, a real biter too.

[imghttps://photos.smugmug.com/2019-Snaps-Glacier-National-Park/i-BN7V84R/0/eaa564af/M/DSC05940-M.jpg][/img]

[PeteE]

Haha I thought your dryer went on the blink!

Nah, there's a very nice laundry room here at my new place.
Clothes treated with permethrin need to be air dried. Hanging them inside isn't an option because of potential toxic fumes and smell. So I treated them in the truck bed. The black bed liner speeded up drying too.

Let a tick get on me and I get a really bad case of heebie jeebies!
But Ken, I know, that you know, I'm not afraid of most critters in GNP, including snakes

Like this lil garter snake I caught walking back from a 2015 Memorial Day backpack trip to BOW.
Fiesty lil thing, a real biter too.

[PeteE]

Deleted duplicate post.

EDGE may be the worst browser in the universe.

I'm switching everything to a new computer where I'll be back to Firefox.
This old one I'm on now has WIN7 which will soon be obsolete and doesn't support newer software.
My new machine has 32Gigs of memory and WIN10.
I have Lightroom and Photoshop on it.

I'm going to try and take a more disciplined approach to photography this year.
I've done some research and studying landscape photography during the last few months.
So my hiking will be geared toward getting to some locations I know about for better landscape opportunities.

There are literally zillions of images from the more familiar trails and places in GNP.
I'll be trying to get to some spots that are far more difficult to get to in hopes of landscape images that are different.

My YouTube research pointed out some, actually many, errors and bad techniques and habits in my past work.
So this year I hope to do a better job and get some really good images in GNP.

later, and thanks for everyone's interest and support.
Much appreciated!

pete

[PeteE]

I made it out to the park on "reopening day" at about 11:15 this morning. Lots of people in spite of the lousy weather.
The parking lot was nearly full when I left. It made my heart glad that NOT ONE person was wearing a mask.
I forgot to drive over to the stable when I left to see if the road was open to the Apgar Lookout trailhead.
Let's hope they open the road to Avalanche soon.
I did get a couple snaps in between rain showers.

The color of the water may have been due to silt washed into the lake from recent rain ??


As I was taking down my tripod I looked up to see Carrie, manager of one of the casinos, grinning at me. She had taken the day off to show her cousin from Missouri and his wife Lake McDonald and the lodge. Carrie said they saw Clyde when they pulled into the lot. You can see Carrie(brown blob) on the far left of the bridge in this image taken earlier--she's blurred because the shutter speed was 1/10 second.


Even after nearly 3 months my lil buddy Clyde spotted me and Jaybird amongst all the cars and visitors. No sign of Bonnie. I'm hoping they babies and she was with them.

35 second video. The autofocus for this 16-105mm zoom lens doesn't work well in the video mode.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-758 ... jc-640.mp4
The autofocus does work well in the image mode. Clyde is very sharp even at the pixel level.


pete

[Carol Lynn]

Yeah! New photos from Pete What a gorgeous color on the lake. Wishing I could be there...

[Carol Lynn]

Pete,

I just read your edited post and I totally agree about EDGE!!!

I'm glad you were able to get a new computer. You will really enjoy using it for your photos. Lightroom is an amazing tool for photo editing.

Carol

[PeteE]

Yesterday, I received a new(used) lens for my A77m2--a Sony f2.8 16-50mm zoom lens.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... _Zoom.html
And while it looked like rain, I wanted to see what it would do, so I headed out to the park for Avalanche Gorge.

I think this lens is going to be a good one and one I'll use a lot this summer. Well built and sharp.
I love the manual focusing ring--easy to precisely focus with no "slop" at all.

This image was the best of the day. This is a 3 frame panographic shot in the portrait mode.
Shot in manual mode aperture priority at 18mm(27mm@35mm) ISO 200 f11 at 1/8th second on tripod.
I had to get on the very edge of the cliff to avoid getting the uninteresting "dirt" foreground in the picture and yet get the creek directly below me in the frame
This is the uncropped image which turned out square. The original "unshrunken" image is about 35Megs and pretty sharp so it should print well.



LOTS of people out there yesterday.
As I drove out I noticed an old guy I recognized with a spotting scope pointed up at Mt Cannon.
He was watching 3 goats WAY up on Cannon along with a couple of golden eagles that have a nest near the top of the cliffs.
So I stopped and chatted with him a while as we both helped the visitors spot the goats, a nanny with 2 yearlings.
It's always fascinating watching goats as they effortlessly pick their way across those steep cliffs.

The eagles were beautiful soaring but close to impossible to spot against the cliffs once they land.

Mosquitoes weren't too bad until the sun began to go down!

later

pete

[Sue Z]

That's a stunning photo, Pete. The water is perfectly blurred, yet crisp enough to be very interesting.

[tibber]

That's a stunning photo, Pete. The water is perfectly blurred, yet crisp enough to be very interesting.

I agree with your assessment. I am very fussy about my water and this works for me. Color of course, if pretty fab too.

[PeteE]

That's a stunning photo, Pete. The water is perfectly blurred, yet crisp enough to be very interesting.

That's a stunning photo, Pete. The water is perfectly blurred, yet crisp enough to be very interesting.

I agree with your assessment. I am very fussy about my water and this works for me. Color of course, if pretty fab too.

Thanks for the compliments!
I had some trouble getting the water right because I didn't have a neutral density filter(s) for that lens.
I'm going to try that shot again today with another lens. I have ND filters for it.
There is another technique I want to try to improve the overall sharpness as well.
And if the weather holds there is another spot that may be good for a picture---if people don't get in the way
So thanks again. I'm trying!!

pete

[PeteE]

Apparently the covid-19 virus isn't deterring visitors to GNP.
The park is still being slammed with people. When I arrived at the gate yesterday at noon the GTTS road was gated at the Apgar picnic area.
The whole Apgar area was jammed with people and cars so I decided to kill time by driving out on the Inside Road.
Since was a bright, warmish, sun shiney day, I didn't expect to see any animals. So I was pleasantly surprised to have a small grizzly bear
run across the road just a little way beyond where this first picture was taken. The bear stopped for maybe 5 seconds in the road looking at me and
then took off into the thick brush and trees. The bear was a small bear, maybe 125-150lbs, and probably a sub adult run off from momma this spring.

The flat looking green areas are swampy, marsh type lakes. The Camas Road runs along the base of the mountains in the background.


Not many flowers were blooming.
These all shot at 16mm(24mm) focal length and ISO 320. High shutter speed to freeze movement since it was a little breezy.

Thistle shot at f6.7 and 1/2000sec.


Blue flowers. I forget names f6.7 1/1000sec


Indian Paintbrush f6.7 1/1500 sec


Not much of a bear grass bloom around Apgar this year.


The gate at the picnic ground opened at around 3PM just before I got back.
I stopped for a few minutes on the way to Avalanche for this picture and short video clip.
Hand held, 16mm(24mm) ISO 100, f8.0, 1/15 second with a ND8(3 stops) neutral density filter.

40 second video clip taken from same spot as the photo above---standing on the edge a rock ledge right above this thundering maelstrom.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Glacier-Park ... m-1920.mp4


About 5 minutes after I found a parking place at Avalanche the thunder and rain began.
I noticed some commotion as I was driving out of the campground area, people pointing and running around.

Something must have happened because right after I shot this clip, two LEO patrol cars blew by me with lights flashing headed for Avalanche.
Maybe there will be a news clip
https://photos.smugmug.com/Glacier-Park ... n-1920.mp4

pete