Tuesday, October 16, 2007
allergies suck
Ever since I got back to NM from NY on Sunday, my allergies have been killing me. Sneezing, coughing, stuffy head, sinus pressure, watery eyes, the whole shabang. As a result, I'm not particularly chipper. I'm taking sudafed and claritin and it's helping a bit but they're not helping my mood either. I know, "wah, wah"... :-) But really, allergies suck.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Rochacha !
I fly to Rochester, NY tomorrow for my sister's wedding. I haven't been back in NY during the fall in several years. She picked a great time of year. Not much to say now, except that I'm excited for her and her fiancee, and considering the planning and effort they've put into it, it promises to be a hell of a party. More when I'm back.
Monday, October 8, 2007
missing things ...
... I have a funny and somewhat disappointing story from the weekend, but it has a happy ending...
On Sunday, a buddy and I went up into the foothills of the Sandias to go for a light hike, and shoot some photos in the afternoon/evening light. It was a lovely fall day and I didn't want it to pass without getting out a bit. We had a great hike - saw a couple of mule deer and managed to stalk them to within several yards - that was very cool. That, however, is not the story.
No, the story is that, after arriving and going only a hundred yards or so, I stopped near a large juniper tree to pull my camera out of my Camelback where I'd been carrying it. I got it out, took a few shots, and kept moving to catch up with my buddy. About 10 minutes later (maybe even less) I wanted to throw on my 75-300mm lens and get some shots of birds perching on cacti. My lens, which I'd stuffed in one of the side "water-bottle" pockets of my Camelback, was not in my bag !! I panicked a bit, and retraced in my mind what might have happened to it. After some deliberation, I decided we should continue our hike, as it must be back at my buddy's house. I was incorrect. It was not in my truck, nor at his house, nor (by some chance) had I left it at home.
I knew roughly where we'd been, so I knew I had to go back later and re-trace our steps. It was very dark by the time we left, so I planned to hunt for it today. That's one advantage to the desert - other than a coyote messing with it, I wasn't too concerned about anything happening to it spending the night outdoors, as it was clear and calm (and cold!) last night. Ironically, I had my GPS (which would have been invaluable) the whole time, but we weren't planning on going very far so I didn't bother to turn it on. Doh !
I came to work this morning knowing I'd be heading out at lunch to (hopefully) find it. So, when the time came, I headed back up to the parking area, and found our tracks leaving the parking-lot for the grasses and underbrush. I was scanning the ground (as you do around here anyhow to make sure you aren't stepping on cacti or snakes) and made it easily to the tree where I presumed it must be. Was nowhere to be found, and I looked good and hard for it there. Our trail from that point was surprisingly obvious, so I followed it until I crossed a couple of washes. Still nothing. I remembered clearly where I'd noticed it missing, but kept going just a little further in case I was wrong - all the time moving back and forth across our supposed path in large zigzags. It was actually sorta' fun :-) and a gorgeous day to be out there (autumn in NM is hard to beat!). I eventually turned around, and headed back, still zigzaging and scanning the ground. Went back to the tree, just in case. Starting to realize that I might have just lost a $400 lens, I was getting a little desperate, so I started inventing other places to look as I approached the parking area again. Well, wouldn't you know it, but right before I hit the asphalt, there it was, resting in a little clump of grass only about a yard from the parking-lot ! Looked like it had had a comfy night out there !! No worse for wear on visible inspection, I trotted back to my car, waving my fists and the lens triumphantly at the sky and smiling :-D . Yay ! I still need to put it on my camera and make sure it's OK, but at least I found it. WHEW !
On Sunday, a buddy and I went up into the foothills of the Sandias to go for a light hike, and shoot some photos in the afternoon/evening light. It was a lovely fall day and I didn't want it to pass without getting out a bit. We had a great hike - saw a couple of mule deer and managed to stalk them to within several yards - that was very cool. That, however, is not the story.
No, the story is that, after arriving and going only a hundred yards or so, I stopped near a large juniper tree to pull my camera out of my Camelback where I'd been carrying it. I got it out, took a few shots, and kept moving to catch up with my buddy. About 10 minutes later (maybe even less) I wanted to throw on my 75-300mm lens and get some shots of birds perching on cacti. My lens, which I'd stuffed in one of the side "water-bottle" pockets of my Camelback, was not in my bag !! I panicked a bit, and retraced in my mind what might have happened to it. After some deliberation, I decided we should continue our hike, as it must be back at my buddy's house. I was incorrect. It was not in my truck, nor at his house, nor (by some chance) had I left it at home.
I knew roughly where we'd been, so I knew I had to go back later and re-trace our steps. It was very dark by the time we left, so I planned to hunt for it today. That's one advantage to the desert - other than a coyote messing with it, I wasn't too concerned about anything happening to it spending the night outdoors, as it was clear and calm (and cold!) last night. Ironically, I had my GPS (which would have been invaluable) the whole time, but we weren't planning on going very far so I didn't bother to turn it on. Doh !
I came to work this morning knowing I'd be heading out at lunch to (hopefully) find it. So, when the time came, I headed back up to the parking area, and found our tracks leaving the parking-lot for the grasses and underbrush. I was scanning the ground (as you do around here anyhow to make sure you aren't stepping on cacti or snakes) and made it easily to the tree where I presumed it must be. Was nowhere to be found, and I looked good and hard for it there. Our trail from that point was surprisingly obvious, so I followed it until I crossed a couple of washes. Still nothing. I remembered clearly where I'd noticed it missing, but kept going just a little further in case I was wrong - all the time moving back and forth across our supposed path in large zigzags. It was actually sorta' fun :-) and a gorgeous day to be out there (autumn in NM is hard to beat!). I eventually turned around, and headed back, still zigzaging and scanning the ground. Went back to the tree, just in case. Starting to realize that I might have just lost a $400 lens, I was getting a little desperate, so I started inventing other places to look as I approached the parking area again. Well, wouldn't you know it, but right before I hit the asphalt, there it was, resting in a little clump of grass only about a yard from the parking-lot ! Looked like it had had a comfy night out there !! No worse for wear on visible inspection, I trotted back to my car, waving my fists and the lens triumphantly at the sky and smiling :-D . Yay ! I still need to put it on my camera and make sure it's OK, but at least I found it. WHEW !
Thursday, October 4, 2007
What a surprise ...
... no posts from me in a while. I doubt anyone's looking, so :-P
Just did something silly and invested in a new camera and basically blew my play budget with it. Wont help the shooter, but it might help some of the shots. I'll get it in time (I hope) for my sister's wedding in about a week, so that should be a good test run.
Fall is coming to NM. Took a few shots in the Sandias this past weekend. Gorgeous day, but not the best light for good photos. Only hiked about 4 miles, but jumped around a lot so it felt longer. Plus, I've not been hiking like I should be.
Oh well. More later. Happy autumn.
Just did something silly and invested in a new camera and basically blew my play budget with it. Wont help the shooter, but it might help some of the shots. I'll get it in time (I hope) for my sister's wedding in about a week, so that should be a good test run.
Fall is coming to NM. Took a few shots in the Sandias this past weekend. Gorgeous day, but not the best light for good photos. Only hiked about 4 miles, but jumped around a lot so it felt longer. Plus, I've not been hiking like I should be.
Oh well. More later. Happy autumn.
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