“Ah! Do not judge the gods, young man, they have painful secrets.” — Jean-Paul Sartre
“A person must not deny their manifest abilities, for that is to evade their obligations [ed].” — William Feather
“To read between the lines was easier than to follow the text.” — Henry James
“I am a man of my word… and that word is ‘unreliable.’” — Demetri Martin
See previous STATUS QUOtes HERE
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“I never have taken a picture I’ve intended. They’re always better or worse.”
– Diane Arbus –
Photograph Copyright by Jeff Ross – ALL Rights Reserved [ as though someone would want this photo?! ]
Don’t try to adjust your computer. This (above) is the correct photograph. Please read on…
To underscore the Diane Arbus quote, I posted the picture above that was taken during our trip to Yosemite National Park. We were on our way back from a day of hikiing and photography at Hetch Hetchy under cloudy skies and some rain. We had hiked for much of the day and we were tired. The scene was of a rustic cabin behind a barbed wire fence just on the meadow side of a wooded area. It was very quaint and “pioneer looking.”
Obviously this was not what I had intended and the photograph was so underexposed, I could not resurrect it in the form I hoped to have it. No excuses, but this camera was a new camera and I had only used it once before. You can read about it as part of my article: My Photographic Conundrum. Part 4 talks about the Nikon D3300 which is the camera used for the photograph above.
I just happen to be one of those people who doesn’t like to give up easily so I decided to see if I could resurrect it in some form or fashion and low and behold, the image below; not great, but salvageable.
NOTE – I am going to write a post about how I transformed this photo from wrecked to resurrected using Adobe Lightroom and Google Nik Collection.
Photograph Copyright by Jeff Ross – ALL Rights Reserved
** – Photograph Notes – **
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Outside of Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite National Park, CA
(Edited with Lightroom and Nik Collection)
File Name: 0494.NEF
Capture time: 4:32:22 PM
Capture date: June 11, 2016
Exposure: 1/4000 sec @ f/22
Focal Length: 55mm
ISO 1600
Nikon D3300
See Jeff’s other photographs on Instagram
Yesterday’s photo showed the path’s rise as we were ascending a slight incline and the mountains beginning to appear just over the ridge. Today’s photograph gives a more complete view of the scene that was set before us.
I have read about Hetch Hetchy and the fight to save the valley and I must admit that it was awesome to see the towering mountains and the water, but I would love to have seen the valley as it was prior to the dam. It was nevertheless spectacular especially with such dramatic weather.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
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Meta Data – Day 277 YOY – Year of Yosemite
File Name: 0457.NEF
Capture time: 11:59:42 AM
Capture date: June 11, 2016
Exposure: 1/60 sec @ f/22
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO 125
Nikon D3300
“I got a simple rule about everybody. If you don’t treat me right – shame on you!” — Louis Armstrong
“I have had many great teachers in my life. The most profound being my children.” — Angela Porisky
“Politics is about the control of a limited number of resources by a limited number of people who think that number is too many.” — Gary Holder-Winfield
“In my country we go to prison first and then become President.” — Nelson Mandela
See previous STATUS QUOtes HERE
Thousands and thousands of quotes delivered since 2011!
Cat videos have surely taken on a life of their own on the Internet and the segment below shows one reason why. The video is simplicity itself, but it is entertaining and somewhat captivating. I have one suggestion below the video. I hope you find this as interesting as I did.
Notes From the Video – Pavlov’s Humans: Adorable video shows cats ‘training scientist’ to bring them food every time they ring a bell
NOTE – I wonder what would have happened if ringing the “other cat’s bell” would have yielded more treats? Would they have learned to ring only the other bell?
Although our day at Hetch Hetchy turned cloudy almost as as soon as we arrived, we were not totally disappointed. There was drama in the skies and many photographs that day captured the stormy atmosphere. We hiked for a week in the Grand Tetons and needed an umbrella or rain covering every day so this was really not too bad in comparison. The rain held off for the most of the day.
The photograph above was taken as we were making our way to Wapama Falls along the designated trail and we came to an elevated point with an opening between the trees. The hills and mountains began to rise up and it looked like something from another part of the world. It reminded me of scenes I had seen in photos of China.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
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Meta Data – Day 276 YOY – Year of Yosemite
File Name: 0452.NEF
Capture time: 11:16:59 AM
Capture date: June 11, 2016
Focal Length: 32mm
ISO 125
Nikon D3300
“Don’t allow your wounds to transform you into someone you are not.” — Paulo Coelho
“The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax.” — Albert Einstein
“Long ago I decided that if I get a second life, I will be beautiful and clever and rich, and that has allowed me to focus on this life.” — Robert Brault
“There are certain things you can’t get back, like the elastic in your socks.” — Eddie Futch
See previous STATUS QUOtes HERE
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As you can see from the photograph above, the desert is decked in gold this time of year. The Palo Verdes (along with some other flowering trees snd shrubs) produce an abundance of yellow blooms. There are streets that are lined with these trees and they build a seasonal hallway of gold.
The ground is carpeted with spent yellow flower petals adding even more color to the street. While the neighborhoods aren’t paved with gold, they are covered with pretty yellow hues.
Below is a picture of the branches of the Palo Verde tree laden with its delightful burden of yellow flowers.
See more JBRish gardening and desert gardening posts here HERE
I am fond of lupines because they grow well in our Sonoran Desert environment at spring time and if there is a reasonable amount of winter rains, they can be quite spectacular.
We saw a number of patches of lupines along the trails as we hiked at Yosemite. They are more purple than blue, but the yellow highlights and gray-silver leaves (not pictured above) give them added interest and appeal.
This particular specimen was growing through a fern so the leaves are not visible in this photograph.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
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Meta Data – Day 275 YOY – Year of Yosemite
File Name: 0317.NEF
Capture time: 11:16:59 AM
Capture date: June 8, 2016
Focal Length:50mm
ISO 360
Nikon D3300
“It’s not the having, it’s the getting.” — Elizabeth Taylor
“The letter ‘O’ stands for Opportunity , which is absent in ‘Yesterday’ available once in ‘Today’ and thrice in ‘Tomorrow’ so stay positive always.” — Unknown
“Folly is perennial and yet the human race has survived.” — Bertrand Russell
“A rumor is one thing that gets thicker instead of thinner as it is spread.” — Richard Armour
See previous STATUS QUOtes HERE
Thousands and thousands of quotes delivered since 2011!