Sugar Creek Kayaking
This weekend I went on a man-kayaking trip down Big Sugar Creek from Powell to Deep Ford just east of Pineville, MO. We did a similar route a couple years ago and once again had a fantastic time. Sugar Creek features exceptionally clear water that is mostly calm with a few scattered rapids. Some parts are quick and shallow, while others are deep blue pools.
Here is a trailer loaded with fun!
Rollin down the river enjoying the deep blue water and mossy limestone bluff.
We found a nice rope swing, the first of many.
We stopped for a break on this nice gravel bar and realized it was 4pm and we were only halfway to our camp.
Here is our group getting ready for day 2
This is one of my favorite spots on Big Sugar. The water is very deep and the south bank features a steep bluff with giant boulders. This one has a nice rope swing.
Looking down at Atnip from the edge of a boulder.
This was probably the best rope swing we found until it snapped, sending Jason face first into the water. We all had a big laugh at his expense.
We stopped for lunch and Atnip caught a fish. I thought maybe he was going to make a fish sandwich but he didn’t.
Casually drifting with the current towards the end of our journey.
Here is how you load 3 kayaks on top of a car.
Photo of the Week #14: Gulf Coast
We spent the past week in Florida enjoying some sun and sand. The heavily developed gulf coast doesn’t really offer a lot in terms of nature photography but here is one shot I managed to get that I kind of like.
Unfortunately you can’t really see the ocean, but I still like the mood of relaxation and warmth that this image seems to capture.
Photo of the Week #13: Dead Tree
Saturday I took Eily hiking at a nearby conservation area. While it certainly did not compare to the area I visited last weekend it was still nice to get out and enjoy the spring, especially since I had my baby girl in tow this time!
This photo is a massive tree that apparently died and fell over (or perhaps the other way around?). From the looks of it I’d say it’s been down for many years. I liked the way the dead tree is cushioned by all the bright green spring grass, or maybe they are weeds, who knows. Either way it was a fun time hiking around in the woods while Eily took a snooze in the backpack.
Hercules Glades Wilderness
This past weekend I did some hiking in an area not far from here that I have never visited. It’s called Hercules Glades Wilderness Area and it’s located east of Forsyth in Taney County, MO. The area has about 30 miles of trails and we planned on doing a roughly 7 mile loop but getting lost and a flooded road changed our plans a bit.
Hercules Glade is definitely a place I would like to go back and explore some more!
The road to the trail head was flooded, adding almost 3 miles round trip. Most of the forest in this area was Red Cedar,.a fairly common tree in Missouri but I can’t recall seeing a forest where they are the dominant species. It smelled very nice!
Long Creek runs right through the center of the wilderness area.
By definition a wilderness area cannot contain anything man made, including bridges. So you have to cross streams the old fashioned way.
Matt, Andy and I on a rock ledge overlooking a deep pool of water. Matt decided to do a canonball into it.
Long Creek has many areas of rapids.
Long Creek Falls was probably our favorite feature we saw. It looks much smaller in the photo that it seemed in person!
We could see more waterfalls downstream but with time running out we decided to turn back at this point.
Canon 135 f/2 L Lens Review
Here are some recent shots of the girls out in our yard enjoying the nice weather (which of course has not been as nice the past few days). These were taken with my newest lens acquisition, the Canon 135mm f/2L. It’s one of those lenses that is only useful for one thing, and that is outdoor portraiture. Portraits have not traditionally been my forte, I now that I have kiddos I find myself doing more of this type of photography.
Most portrait photographers seem to prefer a 70-200 zoom because they are more versatile. I would agree, the 135 is NOT versatile. But like any specialty piece of equipment – when it’s used for it’s intended purpose it really excels! Anyone who has talked photography with me knows that I like prime lenses. They force me to be deliberate with my shots, get up and move around, and because of that I find that I usually end up with more interesting images. In fact of the 4 lenses I use, only one of them is a zoom. I guess I just like doing things the hard way.
The 135 is one of the least expensive Canon “L” lenses, it’s super fast, very sharp, and the background blur is unlike anything else I’ve seen (on head-shots it’s almost TOO blurry at f/2), so I am not sure why it isn’t more popular among portrait photographers. All I know if that for me this lens is exactly what I was hoping it would be.
Photo of the Week#11: Virgin Bluff
Virgin Bluff is a large rock face approximately 300′ tall and 1000′ long above what used to be the James River prior to being turned into Table Rock Lake. Legend has it that an indian girl leapt to her death when her father refused to allow her to marry a european explorer that had befriended her tribe who inhabited the area at the time.
I’ve tried for years to get an interesting shot of Virgin Bluff and this is probably the closes I’ve come. It’s a magnificent subject but difficult to photograph. Perhaps the main reason is that it’s just so large and flat…awesome in person, boring in an image. Another reason is that it’s surrounded by water and mixing up the vantage point is difficult. The last reason is that it’s hard to get a shot that evokes a sense of nature and wilderness because there are 2 homes and a cell phone tower on top of the bluff, as well as a subdivision taking shape on the hill just off the left frame. Somehow I managed to exclude all of that from the frame.
The afternoon shadows and early spring colors add a bit of extra interest to the photo. I don’t think it’s a gallery worthy image, but I think it’s worthy of my photo of the week!
Photo of the Week #10: Night Sky
The other night I walked out and noticed a clear sky with a few scattered low clouds. The low humidity and cool temperature seemed to make the stars shine unusually bright between the patches of clouds so I got out the camera and took a photo. Night photography always makes light pollution more apparent.
8sec @ f/4, ISO 200, 24mm, tripod
Bike Riding
Since spring appears to have come early, we took Eily for her first bike ride this weekend. We rode the nice paved Turkey Creek Trail in Joplin until it intersected the Frisco Trail, then we rode that trail for a bit. It wasn’t a super long ride but we all had a great time. Glad to see that my little Eily-Beth enjoys being on a bicycle!
If you are curious, the type of bike seat I got is a “Wee-Ride” kangaroo. She sits in between me and the handlebar, that way I can see her and she can see where we are going! Good fun!
Photo of the Week #9: Y Bridge
Here is a photo of the Y Bridge in Galena, MO. It’s kind of an abstraction of the bridge, but I like the way the lines and shadows work together to create some interesting shapes in the image.
Photo of the Week #8: Green
This isn’t my favorite photo from last week, but I think it’s interesting. Here we have some aquatic plants that were growing in the icy cold headwaters of Roaring River. This photo could have been greatly enhanced by the use of a polarizer filter, however I seem to have lost mine somehow. Which is unfortunate considering how I often I like to use it.
What I do like about this photo is the vivid color, as well as the shapes and texture.