In My Backyard

One last picture that I took at home over the Thanksgiving break. I took this just outside our kitchen window looking south through the trees that line our back yard.

Death Valley ~ 20 Mule Team Canyon

I'll keep this one simple. For our final sunrise we went to a lesser known canyon called 20 Mule Team Canyon, it is just up the road from Zabriskie Point. The terrain is somewhat similar but much more isolated and relaxing. We were also blessed with clouds which was a first for us, it had been bald skies the entire time. Basically it was beautiful and relaxing. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

And this is John, he will probably hate this one...selective focus, he's shooting digital, basically everything he used to chew us out for.

Death Valley ~ Zabriskie Point

Zabriskie Point...Ansel Adams and plenty of other very good photographers have set up their tripods on this overlook. I think that most photographers must adhere to some mystical power that forces them to this very spot to photograph. Like they would have their camera taken away if they didn't obey the promptings. Don't believe me, look at this picture I took at sunrise the last time I was in Death Valley. I have been in many beautiful and popular places for sunrise and I had never seen anything like this. The overlook was so swamped with tripods that I got discouraged and this the only picture I took that morning.

That is a daunting prospect. What makes you think you can take a good picture in the same spots, with the same lighting, and the same everything else that so many others have had. All the photographers before you, that will come after you, and of course those that are standing right next to you.

Then I remembered, it is just dang fun to be in such a beautiful place and trying to capture and comprehend the beauty around me. Then I also remembered that if all I think I bring to the table is originality then I am bound to be disappointed. Its sad how often people claim originality only to to be taught otherwise when they pick up the next book.

The world has been around a lot longer than you have and the world has far more to teach you than you have to teach it. Quit worrying about whether others have come before you. You are always going to be following in someones footsteps whether you realize it or not so why not pick some good ones to follow and just maybe you might get further than they did. While you are at it you might as well allow yourself to enjoy what others were able to enjoy before you. This time around I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and talked to some wonderful people who were doing the same thing I was...enjoying what the camera had to show about life, even in a valley named for death.

Here are my simple attempts at allowing myself to see without worrying that I was standing in a photographic shrine.

Jerusalem is Finally Done.

I have been postdating all my Jerusalem day by day pictures. Since you can't see that there is anything new I am letting you know. Even if you subscribe to the blog it is not showing that there is anything new. Basically days 15-24 are all new posts.

So if you are interested you can click on the Jerusalem label to the right to see all of them or here is a shortcut for you.

"Jerusalem is done"

As a special treat I saved all of my self portraits to show until I was finished. Since people often complain to me that I never take pictures of myself. (Which apparently means I have no proof that I was at those cool places that I have taken pictures of.) So here are my self/tianna portraits, starting with some encore pictures that I previously included in other posts but thought they deserved showing again in this group:

Street corner by Omar's shop

In Fares's living room

Dead Sea

Me & Fares in his living room

With the Bedouins

Parting my sister's hair on the red sea

The elevator at the Ecce Homo Hospice

This was my first self portrait (I'm in Tianna's glasses) At the Dome of the Rock

Western Wall

Garden Tomb

Hezekiah's Tunnel

Golden Gate

Tianna modeling at the Ophel

Ecce Homo Elevator (This is what happens when you hold the camera wrong)

Bus to Cairo

Giza Pyramids

Bus ride across the Sinai peninsula

Red Sea (Nuweba)

Crossing the Red Sea (doesn't it look like my hair is blowing in the wind? ...weird)

Jordan border crossing

Petra (The Treasury)

Bedouin Tent (Jordan)

Don't ask (Mount Nebo)

Mount Nebo

Jordan River (Baptism site of Christ)

Model City (Jerusalem, Israel)

Mount of Beatitudes

Sea of Galilee

Dead Sea

Bell Caves

Seven Arches Overlook in Jerusalem

P.S. please overlook the fact that I am wearing the same shirt in lots of pictures. I didn't have much room left after packing all my camera equipment and luggage issues. (But you will have to read through all the rest of the blogs to hear the whole story.)

More Cows...

Yet another picture of cows that live across the street from my front yard up in Idaho. I was inspired(?) to go photographing when I saw the cows out grazing while I was home during the thanksgiving break.



The other cow picture was posted a little while back and you can see it by clicking *here*

Death Valley ~ Sand Dunes

Needing a little R&R as recovery from the Olympic book, me and John Telford decided to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day and travel down to Death Valley. John had been once but was not able to photograph and after seeing some of my pictures he decided to check it out for himself. We took off Thursday after I got out of class and came back Monday after sunrise. It was absolutely what the doctor ordered. Highs were in the mid to upper 70's including a record high on Sunday of 81 degrees, perfect basically. (expect the sky was blank for most of the time, which can be boring)

These first few pictures were taken during sunset on Saturday at the sand dunes. The last time I went down I really didn't get enough time to hike out past the obnoxious tourist footprints so no real pictures were taken. I was glad I got out there this time around even though it came because of a change in our plans. We were supposed to go out to the race track but we discovered why we blew out a tire the last time I was there. John decided his tires were not up to snuff and did not go, which was sad. Anyways, here are the dunes and I will be posting some more very soon.