Utah

I have been friends with Jed and Bob since around 1987. These guys are about as good a friend as you can have in this world.  Bob has been trying to get me to go skiing (snowboarding) for a couple of years now and I finally found a way to go this year.

Now I have not skied for about 7 or 8 years so of course I said NO PROBLEM!.  I started skiing in 3rd grade, I guess that I became obsessed with it (no big surprise for those who know me), I lived for skiing until I went of to college in 1983. After college I married my wife and skiing kind of dropped from my list of things that were possible.

Now I know Jed and Bob from Florida so skiing and Jed and Bob, well lets just say I was uncertain how well this would go once I arrived. I knew that I once knew how to ski fairly well so 25 years later could I cut it on a Mountain?  Well 3 days and I had the best skiing days I have ever done! The Powdermountain resort is simply stunning! I only wish that I could have spent more time with my camera on the slopes but it was either ski or photography, Jed had plans that I was to follow him through his favorite slopes so it was self defense you see Jed is fearless!

I think that you will see that this place is beautiful beyond description, the photos tell the story. Powdermountain Utah... simply a magical resort, great people, great snow, great slopes what more can anyone ask for in a resort. When one finds a secret you have to keep it or it isn't a secret anymore, well this is a secret in the skiing community.

See the beauty of POWDERMOUNTAIN!

 

Fall trip to God's Country

I love fall! It is the time that I always spent with my brother and father in the woods. Dad made sure we spent lots of time "scouting" for deer season in the woods together walking (no trails allowed). I think he would smile at my family's tradition that we have adopted over the last 5 years.

Every fall my wife Mary and our two children Daniel and Ashley head to the north for our fall color tour. We are not overly concerned with the color as much as just hiking and experiencing new spots along the Lake Superior shoreline. During the last five years we have scoured from Paradise to Copperharbor hitting a new trail each year.

It seems that we are continually drawn to the Munising area, from Munising east to Grand Marais we have hiked to most of the beaches and cliffs with the occasional waterfall and log chute along the way. We are not the hikers that throw on your back everything to exist for days, no we prefer to lug camera equipment, a lunch, and water to spend a glorious day on the trail and beach.

Ashley and I have had competitions of our hikes for several years, but this year Mary and Daniel joined in this adventure in there own Digital ways. Daniel took videos of the streams entering Lake Superior and of the surf itself. These videos are some of the greatest treasures of the day, simply mesmerising!

This year Ashley was taking a class on color photography for her photojournalism degree, her assignment for the week was stop motion photography. Ashley and I plunged into her assignment and tried each others skills to obtain the perfect stop action and blurred action photos.

I think you will see that this area of the UP is God's country shared for all of us to enjoy!

Blues on the river

There is a park near our house, not an ordinary park, but one set up for music.  We always have music at the Vet's park and they have music every Wednesday night for a really reasonable rate for everyone at this park, Winona park. This week they started a new venue called "Blues on the River". I am a real blues fan so I went with my daughter to the concert.  The first concert was Ronnie Baker Brooks and he really rocked the park. I think that this was the type of start that "Blues on the River" needed. The park was packed and I think they raised a lot of money for the State Theater in Bay City.

Ronnie Baker Brooks the son of Lonnie Brooks, Blues hall of famer can really play the guitar and is a true natural performer.  I attended the concert with my daughter who is a true blues buff, like myself or maybe even greater. Ashley really investigates her music facts and has forgot more than I have ever known.

Camera's have come so far that taking pictures at dusk and even at night without a flash is now a fact of life. I took these pictures after dark with a 200 mm lens, and some with a 400mm lense handheld.  I love the Nikon cameras and the ISO capabilities are truely remarkable.

The feeling that a guitarist must transfer to his strings through his fingers from his soul is important to capture in music photography.  I took quite a few pictures to get the emotions captured that I viewed at the concert.  The Bass player and guitarist interacted quite well and both were a pleasure to watch and listen to in concert.

Check this out and see if you could feel the emotion.

Corvette!

Ok, we all have wanted one, dreamed of them and covetted our neighbors that own them! I have never driven one before, but have talked to lots of people who have some liked them, some didn't like them. I have to say if you don't like this car you are just not being honest with yourself it is a work of art, without a doubt.

My brother and a his girlfriend drove one of these beaut's up to my cabin this weekend and let me check it out for a few minutes.  My first reaction was intense fear, I have seen the "Top Gear" where Jeremy calls the vette a beast (affectionately). I was expecting the car to be slightly undriveable, I mean all of that horsepower has to hard to handle, right? Wrong the clutch was smooth and easy to control and the six speed gearbox was crisp and easy to negotiate. The only drawback was that 5th and reverse seem very close when downshifting from sixth to fifth.  I took the car along the lake road to control my urges of my twitching right foot, (something which I have to work on with my BMW). I drove the vette along the not so great road and the ride was smooth and tight, no rattles or harsh suspension bumps or thuds. The heads up display is really convenient and not distracting at all, I really didn't notice it for the first few minutes you really don't have to look down while driving, very cool.

While driving the vette the exhaust gives such a tuned rumble that you know that this is a special car designed to make you smile, it does just that to you! I depressed the clutch and gave the car a couple of raps, it responded with pure liveliness, this motor has power in spades and it tells you so every time you push that pedal.  I don't know how fast this car really is because come on these were county roads and my nerve was only so great! I do know that I would love to take this car onto a closed track, it is a true race car in street trim.  The power is so raw when you dump the clutch and stand on the throttle you better be ready it hauls _ _ _ !

Now the vettes were always in there own class for American cars of the same time period, this car has true muscle car power with handling to match. The tires are beefy and the car sticks to the road like glue, corners are like riding on rails. I never dumped the clutch from a start or tried to roast the tires so I don't know what that is like, but from a 10 to 15 mile roll the car accelerated straight and strong (very strong). The car has close to 600 horsepower and is a fiberglass and plastic body so it will fly.

The vette is sleek and looks fast sitting still, a gorgeous bright red with white stripes and a black interior. I just love the look of this car sitting still or driving down the road both seem equally "artful". The corvette is for the person who has obtained the right to afford one and appreciates what it can give to you.  I sit on the sidelines and just admire what a production automobile can really be, from a world class workforce!.

I think you have to say that this car is a beautiful car and GM has done a great job with it! Bravo!

Blue Angels

"I FEEL THE NEED FOR SPEED", I think Tom Cruise nailed it when he coined that phrase or line in "Top Gun" the movie.  This feeling is so widespread that every year the Blue Angels draw record crowds pretty much wherever they fly, Traverse City Michigan is no exception. 

I love to go to Traverse City to watch the Angels, what better setting for the worlds best high speed spectator venue!  Traverse Bay is such a beautiful stretch of water, the water is very deep blue and the surrounding green hills contrast the landscape brilliantly.

So many people attend this event that parking is really a challenge, you must get there early and be prepared if you want to see this spectacle.  Everyone that I saw at the event had huge smiles and were really pumped to be by the bay.

I was really challenged this year as the group I was with didn't really get a great spot for photography, but pretty good for watching.  It is tough to capture these machines at low altitude and high speed with trees and traffic in front of you, but I captured a couple of pics that I am pretty proud to call mine.

Check these pictures out and see if you have THE NEED FOR SPEED!