Not THE Teton

I'm not sure what you know about the Grand Teton in Wyoming but I will tell you that it is 13,775 feet tall and is the second highest peak in Wyoming. I will also tell you that one version of the origin of its name is that a French-Canadian explorer looked at it and said, "That looks like a 'grand teton,'" which is French for "big breast." Leave it to a man wandering for months in the wildnerness with a bunch of other men to look at a mountain peak and see female body parts.So what does this photo have to do with the Tetons? Well, I certainly don't look at these landforms and see tetons. I'm not that kind of person! But I must admit that this vista, which I have seen dozens of times, is sensuous - in part because it is pleasant scene. More than that, though, it is on the last leg towards the place where I kept my boat on Lake Oahe for 15 years. It therefore meant that I was minutes away from seeing the beautiful expanse of the Little Bend area of Lake Oahe. By this point of my 4 hour journey from Watertown, I was very focused on what it would feel and sound like to be under sail again.So I suppose if I were naming this landform, it wouldn't be "Petite Sein" (you'll have to look that up). Instead, it would be "Étant Sur le Point Arrive," which means "Almost There."

Macroscope

I don't know if "macroscope" is a word. But I've decided that my macro lens turns my camera into one. It is when I am looking though the viewfinder that I start to see things that I (and most normal people) would never take the time to see. An example are the lines that decorate this lilly petal.

Deep Purple

We have an amazing array of lilies right now so you'll have to be patient with me. I can't resist.

Completing the Trilogy

It may seem that I am posting too many photos of the same flower, but the first two (here and here) were details. In today's photo, I move further back so you can get the "sum of the parts." More or less. . .

Sky Blue

I posted clouds yesterday so I thought I'd do the same today. These clouds are much less threatening. In fact some have looked at this photo and said they don't look real. But they really are clouds - over Tavira, a small town in southern Portugal.

Bedewed

Standing Tall

Bed Head

I am fascinated by these fuzzy red flowers growing in my wife's garden. I believe they are called bee balm. I suppose they are so named because they nourish the bodies and souls of the bees that visit them. I think the flowers are past their prime right now and so they look a little bedraggled. Thus the title today. They look a little like my kids looked when they woke up when they were little - hair all over the place.I took this photo with my Canon 70-200mm zoom and was once again impressed with its ability to smoothly blur things in the background - especially when I'm shooting with a 2.8 aperture.I'm not sure this is a good photograph, but I like the fading red flower. If it had a face, it would probably look a little confused.

Another World

When I took this photo, I saw a single pink rose. But, as is often the case, I saw other things as I began to process it. I don't know how your broswer behaves when you look at my photos in this blog but on my computer when I click on the photo, I get a bigger view. And when I hover my cursor over the bigger view, it turns into a magnifying glass with a "+" sign on it. Try clicking on the photo then and you get an even bigger view.When the photo is fully magnified to full resolution, you might be able to see what I saw and understand why I called this post "Another World." While you are here, how about taking a look at the Crab Nebula and looking for similarities between it and this flower which is no bigger than a US quarter (or a 2 Euro Coin). The Crab Nebula has a diameter of 11 light years, by the way. I guess I've given away one of the differences.Canon 5DII 1/60s f/2.8 ISO320 100mm

Ready To Bloom

Because we typically go on vacation at the end of May and the beginning of June, this is all Deb and I normally see of the Iris that she has planted in her garden. But there is something attractive and stately about an Iris that is ready to bloom.

Sunset, July 4, 2010

Yes, this is just another sunset photo and there is nothing that would necessarily distinguish this shot from a billion other sunset photos. So why post it?Well, in part because it was Independence Day in the US and that night, since we had no fireworks in our supplies on my sailboat, the beautiful, blazing sunset would have to suffice. Also, this photo - a snapshot really - marks a moment in my summer worth remembering. Scott P and I had had a successful day of sailing and fishing. After 15 hours of nearly constant motion, we had pulled in to our anchorage in Mission Creek on Lake Oahe and we had the whole place to ourselves.The wind had died and the only sounds we could hear were the gentle creaking of the rigging of "Wandering Star," the muted sound of birdsong and crickets coming from the shore and the distant call of coyotes flowing down the western hills from miles away. All of that and, to borrow a phrase from Emily Dickinson, the "yellow noise" of the sun. I was in one of my favorite places in the world with one of my favorite people.This captured moment may have little meaning to you. But it will give me sustenance for months to come.

The Happy Fisherman

Most people fish Lake Oahe for its walleye. But my friend Peterson thought finding northerns would be just fine and on day two of our fishing/sailing expedition, this is what he found. I don't have a scale on my sailboat so we had to go looking for a fisherman who did. Total weight: 20.2 lbs. Scott has been fishing in Canada for 30 years but this is the largest northern he has ever caught. And I helped.If you want to see the exact location where we caught this fish, check out the Panoramio link. There may be more.