Storm Clouds On The Mountain

The latest storm is blowing threw the area and bringing us some rain, though I would prefer snow or at least snow up on the mountains. Hopefully later today it will switch to snow up higher and give the resorts some needed snow. Last night liking the way the clouds were looking on the mountains I decided to take a quick walk up on a small hill top near here to take some photos across the valley. Mt. Rose is looking nice with a little snow on the runs giving some contrast to the dark mountain.

Hiking Mt. Rose

I think every year we do a hike or two in the fall and ask ourselves why we don't get out and hike more during the warmer months as we live so close to many different scenic areas. This fall I did get the kids out on a few hikes to enjoy our area, although they are guaranteed to be forced on a few hikes to go exploring for fall colors to photograph.

These photos are from a hike I took the kids on up on Mt. Rose in October. The trail we were on will take you all the way up on top of Mt. Rose Summit and we made it.....well....not very far as they got a little chilly where the trail goes threw the shaded areas. The portion of the trail we did hike had some nice views of the valleys below and the kids had fun climbing on the rocks and doing some exploring.

I think we did more hiking this year and hopefully next year we will do even more.

Ryan STA

This Ryan STA is one of the planes that was in the static display at the Reno Air Races this year. It was an interesting looking 2 seater plane from around 1937. I like how the shinny chrome finish picks up interesting reflections and some blue from the sky. A lot of the images I did in the static display area are more close crop/detail shots as I was trying to find some interesting images and at the same time minimize the amount of clutter and people in the scene. Over the next few weeks I will be doing more blog posts with other photos from this years Air Races.

Display Plane in B&W

This is an image of one of the planes that was in the display area at the Air Races. I was working on finding different angles and ways to crop images to get something interesting and at the same time not have all the people that are walking around viewing the planes in the image. I thought this one with all the shiny chrome paneling would make a nice Black & White image.

More Snow

We got just a bit more snow here last night, nothing compared to what they got in the mountains, and there is a chance for snow all week. Now that we have plenty of snow pack around here I think I am ready for the Spring and getting outside more often. These were taken first thing this morning in the back yard before it melted.

Bryan and Julie

Couple more photos of Bryan and Julie from the other day.

My Head Must Be In The Clouds

Looks like we have another storm stacking up on the mountains today. As I was looking out towards the mountains I liked how the clouds were looking so I figured I would try to get a couple shots. Then when I turned around I took one of the broken up clouds in the opposite direction. Then converted them all to black and white so the darks and lights would be more of the focus.

Snowing Again

It is snowing around here again today. We have probably had a few more inches accumulate in the yard today, not near what they are getting in the mountains I am sure. I am taking Hannah to the father and daughter dance tonight so I am hoping it stays like it is now, just a few flakes now, as she is really excited to go. Anyway this is just a quick shot out the back earlier that I converted to black and white just to play around a bit.

Classics In A Classical Way

For these classics I was thinking I would do black and white to give them that more classical look. I like the way they look presented in a black and white format that is more common for the day these planes are out of.

Black and White

We went for a drive out to Crystal Mine today and dug around the rocks a bit. On the way back out I stopped a few times to photograph a few different flowers and these plants. I am not sure just what they are but I thought they would be good for doing some black and white conversions. The lines created by the leaves and the tonal range of the scene is something that works well with black and white photography. I liked playing with this one and I have a couple different shots from this spot I will probably do the same with as well as I will have to make it back to this spot sometime to get some other angles and compositions.

Knees

Took me a while to come up with an idea for K that I somewhat liked. Then I came up with this idea of using scrabble pieces but I did not want to just photograph the letter K for this and be done, so I had this idea of spelling out the word knees with the scrabble letters and then having someone in the background (ended up being me yet again) with mainly their knees showing. I also liked the idea of the person being out of the focus area and blurred out slightly, for me this makes the word the focus with the background helping to reinforce the idea (also my knees being blurred out hopefully does not scare anyone away). I also felt a black and white conversion would bring more to the picture than leaving it in color.

The Stump

I was out taking pictures of the fall colors and came across this stump. I thought the lines and tonalities in the wood would work well for a black and white photo, therefore, in the post processing for this image I did a simple black and white conversion and this is the result.

Pumpkin Plant

The pumpkin plants are growing really well and looks like we will get several pumpkins from it. The leaves are pretty big and interesting so I thought they would make a nice black and white picture.