Tuesday, October 21, 2008

It's That Time of Year


I'm on vacation this week so I'm going to be in the field as much as possible, taking advantage of this wonderful season of transition out here, then it is fall in the lowlands and you can see winter marching down the mountain, day by day.

As you all know, I haven't made the jump to a DSLR yet, I'm not convinced there is one out there under two grand that is tough enough to survive long out here with the sand and the wind and the rain and the hail and everything else we're blessed with in abundance. All the photos on this blog were taken with a point and shoot, most of them with a very cheap point and shoot.

With that said, I've become pretty good at wringing the most out of whatever crappy camera I'm taking pictures with at the moment but this time of year is always a challenge - auto settings will consistently deliver poor pictures when faced with snow and grass and blue sky. Taking advantage of any manual capabilities the camera has or locking in the settings based on the sky or snow isn't much better, it is just too broad a range and the foreground comes out too dark.

I took both these pictures this afternoon, moments apart, on a hike to Ugadaga Bay - I love the setting, but neither picture lives up to the beauty of the day. The top photo shows all the rainbow of colors in the tundra grasses but washes out the sky completely, and the bottom photo is too dark . . . what I saw was in between, and it was beautiful. You can see portions of the trail were a bit damp!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ha!!! I get to be the first to comment!!! YEAHHHHH!!!
Finalizing everything with HR this week, so I should be up there soon!!! (The HR person was on Vacation the past few weeks, darn the Luck) Humm, There is one thing missing in the photos........ Chico, the Wonder Dog!!(Yes Chico, I am getting you a big bag of Chicken Jerkey for when I arrive)
So what do You and Goldfish want from Florida?
Soon To be your neighbor
Brian

Lori said...

Wow - I'm envious of Brian and wonder where he's coming from in FL. More beautiful pictures and I think I will use the 2nd one for my wallpaper today - but love both perspective shots. Enjoy your vacation this week - Goldfish off too?

Lothian said...

Have a great vacation, you deserve it!

Alaska Steve said...

Lori, Brian flew up a few weeks ago to interview for a job and Goldfish and I had him over the house. I can't remember exactly where in Florida, but he is mighty excited to be relocating to Dutch. He's a character and I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't start a blog as well.

Lothian, Goldfish is using her vacation time to visit family the first two weeks of December. I'm taking my time now to get some projects done and enjoy the island.

Carlisleboy said...

Brian Here Again.
I suffer Florida in the City of Port Saint Lucie, near West Palm Beach. Surrounded by aligator and mosqueto filled canals and seemingly always at 90 Degrees and 100% Humidity. You might remember my county from the news this summer when Tropical Storm Fay Dumped over 18 inches of rain on us in less than 12 hours. I have been here two years with Hilton Hotels and CAN NOT WAIT TO LEAVE!!!
Unalaska and the Grand Aleutian seem just about perfect for me, and for those who do not know him in person, Steve is a Great Guy, Goldfish is BEAUTIFUL, and Chico is even more "entertaining" in person!!!!! LOL I have e-mailed Steve for a while now and kept asking him where her got such great views. "I go Outside" was his answer. I did not understand until I was there in person. Seriously, all you have to do to see what Steve posts for us every day is just walk outside. And NOW since I will be working at the Hotel and can score some deals Anyone who posts on here has an "in" at the Inn!!! So Start planing that trip of a lifetime. IT IS SOOOO WORTH IT!!!!

Yeah, I really am this insane
See ya all later
Brian

Alaskan Dave Down Under said...

Brian: So, you are, kinda, like... excited to be moving to Dutch Harbor at the start of winter... WOW!

That being said, I can totally understand you wanting to escape Florida; been there, done that (twice).

Steve: I hope the crab was good (yeah, like it won't be?) and that the crew is ok.

cheers from Oz,
dave

Kym said...

Both are lovely pictures but the bottom captures quite a bit of that pristine beauty up there. You do a wonderful job with your photos! I'm looking forward to the exchange!

I don't know if you are interested, Steve, but I use lightroom (adobe) as a development tool. It costs about $300 which is a chunk of change but I can take a point and shoot and wring a lot more out of the picture. You can download it for a month for free. Try it and see if you like it (make sure you have the 300 first--after I saw the results I was ready to sell my children in order to gather the money;>)

Lori said...

Steve and Brian - thanks! An "in" at the Inn - Hilton is always a great place to stay - will remember that and intend on looking you both up if and when I do get to Dutch! I appreciate Steve's pics every day. Let us know if you decide to blog Brian oh, and I'm with you totally Brian, I've been her for over 30 years and I definitely need a change of scenery!

Alaska Steve said...

Kym, Adobe Lightroom, I'll look into that . . . we're getting a Mac next month to replace our trusty laptop (do you notice sometimes the letter "B" is missing when I post?) so I'll wait until then, thanks for the tip!