Skywatch Friday ~ Indian Beach 12-7-09

We decided to go for a drive on one of our coldest days this winter and this is where we ended up. Indian Beach! The wind was bitter cold on the beach and of course we were unprepared and not dressed appropriately for the cold weather. These lighthouse pictures aren't as sharp as they should be do to my shivering. Andy was laughing at me, as I was shaking all over and my teeth were chattering uncontrollably. He even tried to hold me steady while I took the pictures! I think the first lighthouse turned out pretty good, but I had to try and sharpen the second one a little. It was quite an adventure......we even had to cross over some water on a skinny log to get where we wanted to go on the beach.....it was fun!

I love that I caught this helicopter over the lighthouse!

It was so beautiful!

There were no clouds in the sky, which was very strange to see!

I took this picture from up on top of Ecola State Park. I think I prefer the view from down on the beach!

These icicles were down on the beach. Brrr! It was sooo cold!

Please hop on over to SKYWATCH FRIDAY to see other skies from all over the world!

Skywatch Friday ~ Sunrise 12-6-09

Aperture: f/16, Shutter speed: 1/60 sec., ISO: 100
Ok, so get this.....I was actually trying to blow dry my hair and run outside and take pics of this sunrise all at the same time, in the bitter cold on that morning. My hair froze and dried weird, so I ended up having a bad hair day with no time to really fix it very well, since I was running late. It was quite comical, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to practice taking some more sunrise shots. While running back inside to try and fix my hair, I missed the sun when it first peeked over the mountains, but what's a girl supposed to do? I had to get beautified and that takes time! Anyway, it was worth sacrificing my hair to get these shots! lol

f/16 + 1/60 sec. + ISO 400

An eagle was flying around.....do you see it? They are so beautiful!

f/16 + 1/60 sec. + ISO 200

Please hop on over to SkyWatch Friday to see more beautiful skies all over the world. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

Skywatch Friday: Saddle Mountain ~ Just After Sunrise!

These pics are the last of the series, from the beautiful sunrise that I have been posting for Skywatch Friday, for three weeks in a row now. These are straight out of the camera. (So far, I have not edited any of my sunrise pictures with photoshop.)

This is the view that I get to see every day, right out of my living room window!

Please hop on over to SkyWatch Friday to see more beautiful skies all over the world.

Bitter Cold!

This was a bitter cold day, as you probably can tell, by all of the ice on the water!

I was able to get a quick shot of this crane before it flew off. I was so bummed that I wasn't able to get a better shot of him, but he had no plans of sticking around, just so I could get a shot that was more in focus! lol

ICY COLD at the Falls!

This was the view of the falls from the road last Tuesday. It looks beautiful doesn't it? From this point of view you can't tell just how cold it is down by the water!

Brrr! Believe me when I say, "It was freezing down there by the waterfall!" My hands were burning from the cold, my teeth were chattering and I was shivering so badly, I could barely hold the camera still, when snapping the pictures! Andy held on to me so tightly, so I wouldn't slip on the icy rocks, but unfortunately he didn't have anyone holding on to him, as he slipped on his rear. His only other concern was to protect my zoom lens that he had in his hands at the time. Isn't that sweet of him to take care of me and my lens like that? This is why I love him so much!!!

This isn't snow in these pictures! This is the freezing mist from the waterfall! I wish I could express to you, just how cold that freezing mist was, as it was hitting our faces.

This picture should be a good illustration as to just how cold the freezing mist was! This wall of ice was formed as the freezing mist sprayed upon a branch. I'm shivering just thinking about it!
This is my honey! He is so wonderful to drive me around from place to place to take pictures, just for the sheer fact that he wants to spend time with me and because he knows how much I enjoy photography! He is truly my best friend and soulmate! We had such an awesome day together despite the cold!

Skywatch Friday ~ The Sun Comes Up!

This is a continuation from last weeks series that I posted for Skywatch Friday. If you'd like to see my submission from last week go here!

I love the geese in this one!

***(Click on the pictures to see a closeup!)

Here comes the sun!

I was playing with the exposure and as you can see, I had to underexpose to get the outline of the sun, otherwise it was just a big bright blob like the picture below.

Please hop on over to SkyWatch Friday to see more beautiful skies all over the world.

ELK...

Aperture f/5.6 + Shutter Speed 1/30 sec. + ISO 100

This was my first attemp at photographing Elk and I'm really happy that I actually got a few good shots. These first three photos are my favorites!

f/5.6 + 1/250 sec. + ISO 100

f/5.6 + 1/40 sec. + ISO 100

f/5.6 + 1/85 sec. + ISO 100

f/5.6 + 1/320 sec. + ISO 100

f/5.6 + 1/100 sec. + ISO 100