2001 Ford F-150 Supercrew

2001 Ford F-150 Supercrew

New to me! After a three month search I finally found the truck I had been searching for, a Ford F-150 Supercrew 4×4 with the Triton 5.4 V-8. This truck had been patiently waiting for me in Windsor Colorado. Rose (yes I gave my truck a name) met most of my criteria. Low mileage (86K), Supercrew, no dents or dings, clean interior, power windows, cruise control, running boards and a tonneau bed cover.

The previous owner, Bill, appeared to have taken good care of the truck, though he lied to me about keeping it garaged and omitted the fact that the driver’s window had noise issues. That notwithstanding, I’m very happy with the truck. Bill was on top of oil changes, radiator flushes, had just installed new tires – the kind of tires that get good gas mileage and run quite rather than wicked looking giant mudders.

Easter weekend gave me the time I needed to get to know her. I spent about $100.00 in product, mostly Meguires and set about detailing the heck out of the truck; it took three days! When the final coat of was had been applied and buffed to an amazing shine, I drove Rose out to one of my favorite spots along Boxelder Ditch at 5:30 Easter Sunday morning, parked her on the railroad tracks (a train had just passed), pulled out my Nikon D500 and Bogen tripod. With the Nikkor 18-55 attached I took several bracketed shots with the intention of processing at least three consecutive into a HDR via Photomatix.

The shot came to life once processed and I was thrilled with the result. The full moon was a bonus I hadn’t counted upon.

 

Boxelder Cabin Winter Snow HDR Photography

Boxelder Cabin Winter Snow HDR Photography

Our family, since moving to Colorado, has made a tradition of heading into the woods to cut down a ‘Charlie Brown’ Christmas tree. This year was a little different. With both boys otherwise engaged with work and school, Jan Baby (the wife) and I made a solo trip. The downside was not having the boys there for our annual christmas photo.

When the boys finally made it home for the holidays, we packed them up, grabbed the camera and dog – not necessarily in that order, and headed over near Boxelder ditch. My plan was to get that family photo for the Christmas card and hopefully, explore HDR photography with the snowy cabin as a subject.

Trekking to Boxelder Cabin

The weather was perfect, cold, windy with a light snow coming down. Max, being the generous and helpful man he is, grabbed the tripod. When I saw the sun tryin to break through the clouds I raced ahead to get a shot of my Christmas compatriats trudging through the snow; following their fearless leader <ahem>.

This year, Molly the dog actually looked somewhere near the camera. She was more likely looking to where she knew something dead may be waiting to be rolled in, or something live was begging to be chased. She has never caught anything yet and as she grows older and slower it is doubtful she ever will.

Digital images captured, it was time to head back to our warm Fort Collins home, get the decorations up inside and outside the house and Photoshop our selected image into a Christmas card. Our card would be going out late this year given the proximity to December 25th, Shutterfly and postal holiday schedules.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

Christmas 2014 Family Portrait for Card

Max Helping Setup the Shot

Max at Boxelder Cabin Winter 2014

Snow Masked Cabin

With the Nikon D5000 on my sturdy Bogen tripod, I framed up the angle that looked best to me at the time and grabbed a series of bracketed images. The result I found to be pretty interesting, but I can never leave well enough alone and after a round in Adobe Lightroom, then a bout in Adobe Photoshop, I was finally satisfied. It just needed more snowfall in the image to give it the vibe I was getting while standing in the snow at eighteen degrees. The light flurries didn’t come across in the images so I added my own.

 

Other Side of the Tracks Panoramic

Other Side of the Tracks Panoramic

After having driven by it fifty times, I suddenly saw it!  All I had to do was ‘look’. This abandoned ranch popped out in front of the fall foliage and with just the right lighting, lent itself well to HDR. I shot a couple HDR’s off my tripod, then as I was leaving I looked over my shoulder and seeing the expansive nature of the area, I setup anew and shot a seven frame 180 degree panorama.


Free Stock Images

The series of Boxelder Cabin images are available for free from my Pixaby account.

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Victoria’s Secret

Victoria’s Secret

Downtown La Jolla, CA

Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: AS-F Nikkor 18-55 f3.5-5.6
100m | f14
Post Processing:
Photomatix (Hand held 3 shot)
Photoshop
Topaz Clean

Poudre River Area Winter Scenes

Poudre River Area Winter Scenes

After a “major’ storm passed, and a new “monster’ storm ‘slammed’ Fort Collins (maybe eight inches), I grabbed by Nikon D5000, a warm coat, my favorite hat and the green and purple gloves, that often times are the sole remaining pair, after other family members have made their glove selection. One short whistle for Molly the dog had her running for the door, eventually taking up her position in the back seat of my -94 Aerostar van (207k!). Together we drove slowly over snow covered roads to the Arapaho Bend natural area and the Poudre River.  I’ve been itching to grab an HDR shot of the historic remains of Strauss Cabin. My father and I had photographed Mr. Strauss’ cabin in the summer of 2011. I wanted to have a contrasting cabin shot with a winter snow comparison.