Oregon Odyssey #2: Balmy and Zero Degrees

Well, after an unexpected delay, I'm back with the next photos from my Oregon trip. Being that much of the country is going to have a very, very white Christmas, I thought it'd be a good time to break out these two photos.

These were taken in the Three Sisters Wilderness in central Oregon. I did several new things here. First, I'd never been to this place before. Second, I'd never been show shoeing before. Third, I'd never backpacked in snowshoes before. And, last, but certainly not least, I'd never camped in zero-degree weather before. I did all these things in the same night, and let me tell you, it was exhilarating!

Remember my broken, dislocated hip from last March? (Yeah, so do I.) Anyway, when you factor that in, I was actually pretty proud that I was able to do this. I carried a 55 pound pack 1.5 miles up a mountain, through a forest, wearing snowshoes, in three feet of snow, in some very cold weather. Now, for a guy like Marc, that's nothing, but for me, it was an accomplishment. I'm going to continue to heal, and by next year, I'll be ready to go further.

The next morning, we rose before sunrise, and trekked the last half mile to the top of the pass. From there, I captured the photo you see below. I call it Three Sisters Sunrise, and I hope you enjoy it. The other photo is of yours truly, and is just for laughs. Which is usually what people do when viewing photos of me anyhow.

I'll have more photos from the trip soon. 'Till then, take care. And, maybe go buy some snowshoes -- looks like many of you are gonna need 'em. ^_^

Three Sisters Sunrise

Look, Ma! I can't feel my face!

Oregon Odyssey #1: Lines In The Desert

They say time flies when you're having fun. Turns out they're right. I ended up having so much fun in Oregon with Marc that I never made it to Yosemite National Park as planned. Instead, we ended up criss-crossing Oregon to the tune of 1,700 miles in just nine days. Rainforests, deserts, mountains, sand dunes, lakebeds, cities -- you name it, we traversed it. The roads varied from smooth pavement to very rough dirt axle-breakers. My minivan damn near mutinied on me.

At one point, I stupidly left my very expensive tripod on top of my vehicle and forgot about it. So, guess what? Yep: we had to backtrack 150 miles looking for a proverbial needle in a haystack. I think it was my minivan's way of exacting its revenge. But, I had the last laugh, because, against all odds, we found my tripod laying on the side of the road. It was a high-five moment, to be sure.

Below are two of my favorite images from the trip. They are from the Alvord Desert region of Oregon. It's one of Marc's favorite places on Earth, and I can see why. It offers things you just don't see anywhere else. The lines you see in the photos are salt deposits left from lakeshores that evaporated. These photos are from the very last 24 hours of our trip. The Alvord can be very rewarding if you are willing to make the journey.

I will be back soon with more images from my Oregon Odyssey. 'Till then, take care. And be nice to your car. ^_^

Alvord Desert Sunrise (Large version here.)

Meandering Salt Line (Large version here.)

Three for the road!

Prepare yourself for some crippling disappointment: I'm not going to pontificate much today. I know, it's hard to accept, but after you've finished bawling your eyes out, read on.

My reason for being to the point is this: it's late, and early tomorrow morning, I leave for a three-week road trip to the Pacific Northwest. I will be shooting in a place I've always wanted to, but never been: Yosemite National Park. Even better, I will once again be rendezvousing in Oregon with world renowned landscape photographer Marc Adamus. Last year, he and I really hit it off, and I expect this year will be no different. He's going to take me to some rarely seen places, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

For now, I have three images to show you from my recent trip to Olympic National Park. I was caught off guard by how diverse and beautiful the park is. This was primarily a scouting expedition, as the main reason I was in the area was to visit an old friend in Seattle. Thus, I only had a day and a half in the park, along with only my camera, two lenses and a tabletop tripod.

I will definitely be back in the future for a proper photography trip, one where I can really give the park its due.

Autumn Rainforest

This is from the Hoh Rainforest area of the park. This is an image I've always wanted to make, yet have never been able to, because A) I just don't get to the Pacific NW very often, and B) forest images are notoriously difficult to shoot. Finding a spot that has the right light and room to make a good composition is not easy.

Old and New

I was surprised to find such vibrant fall color. The juxtaposition of the young and old tree along with the vivid colors was what persuaded me to make this image.

Second Beach Sunset

This was taken at Second Beach, which is one of the many spectacular beaches in the coastal section of the park. I visited about ten different beaches in the area, and this was the one that was the most visually stunning to me.

Well, that about does it. As usual, you can see larger versions of these photos in my Best Of Gallery. Thanks for looking and take care!

It's been an honor.

Well, at long last, the photographs from Darren and Erin's wedding are done. Rather than make my usual pontifications, I'm going to keep it short. I'd just like to say that I was honored that they asked me to do this for them. I hope that I lived up to their expectations.

Below you will see some of my personal favorites from the big day. To see larger versions of these and all the rest of the photos, please go to Darren and Erin's Wedding gallery. (If you can't figure out the password, just email me.)

Thanks for looking and take care.

Nearly nerve-racking nuptials.

(I know what you're thinking: "Wow! Kory actually updated this photoblog TWO days in a row?!". Yep, it's true. If you look out your window, you'll probably see pigs soaring through the air.)

As I said in my last blog entry, I recently shot my first wedding. It was, to say the least, quite an experience.

If I learned one thing about shooting weddings, it's this: it ain't easy. While overall I don't think it's as demanding as landscape photography, it definitely has its own set of challenges. It's much more fast-paced and stressful, because A) these are some of the most important photos people will ever have taken, and B) you only have one chance to get it right. Try telling Mr. and Mrs. Newlywed that you screwed up the shots from their wedding kiss and see how many milliseconds it takes them to pummel you.

And, that's the biggest challenge of all: the people. It's the people you are working for that can really make or break you. Every family is different. Some are easy going and some are... not. Ever seen that TV show Bridezillas? Think about actually trying to work with someone like that, and worse, trying to satisfy them. Ahaha... hoo-boy. I'd rather take an acid bath.

Luckily for me, I got to deal with some of the nicest and warmest people ever: my friends Darren and Erin.

We've been good friends for years, so when they asked me to photograph their wedding, I was happy to do it. Sure, the pressure to "get it right" was still there, but just knowing that my employers were people with hearts of gold made it manageable. And, in the end, I feel that I did a pretty good job. Yes, there were some snafus, but overall I'm quite happy with the results. I think they will be, too.

Before I go, I have one piece of sage advice: "It's not easy to both be a guest at a wedding AND photograph it at the same time. Tread with care all who consider doing so."

And now without further ado, here's that teaser shot I promised last time. It's of the stunningly beautiful bride, Erin, and her four brothers. It's one of my personal favorites from the day. Enjoy, and I'll be back with the rest as soon as I can, probably in a couple weeks.

Bride and Brothers

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

I'm tired.

It's been about 10 days since I returned from my trek through Colorado, and I've scarcely had a moment to think. I've been volunteering all of my weekends at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival for the past six weeks. (No, not as the village idiot. I asked; they said I wasn't smart enough.) That, combined with regular work, has robbed me of nearly all of my time. Only in the last couple of days have I been able to begin the gargantuan -- and, let's face it, dull -- task of reviewing and editing all the photographs from the trip.

But, what a trip it was! In addition to my usual pursuit of landscape and wildlife photos and all that entails (getting up before sunrise, long hikes through the wilderness, long drives, etc.), I also shot my first wedding. I'll write more about my wedding experience next time. For now, I have one photo from the trip to show you.

This picture does a pretty good job of illustrating what I'm going through right now. It's a long, arduous trek to the top of Great Sand Dunes National Park, let me tell you. The wind was whipping, the weather stormy. But, despite the exertion involved, we carried on because it's all worth it in the end. So it is with me. I know that, despite the long hours that I will soon face behind the computer, once the photos from the trip are done, it will be worth it.

I call this one The Climb. Enjoy. I'll be back soon with a teaser from the wedding.

The Climb (large version HERE)

Close but no cigar.

Being that I'm still recovering from my hip injury, I don't do a whole lot of running these days. So, it's kind of funny being called a "runner-up". Yet, that is indeed what I am.

I ended up taking second place in that photo contest I mentioned last month. I really would've liked to have won, but placing in the top 5 out of almost 600 entries isn't too bad I guess. Plus, I did win a bit of cash, and that's never a bad thing. THANK YOU very much to all who voted for me!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Boudary Waters trip was a blast. The weather was much drier this year, and our campsite was one of the best I've ever seen. It was like a fairy tale.

Ironically, the photography conditions weren't as good as last year's trip. All of the sunrises save for one were obscured by dense cloud cover. The sunsets were't much different, either. And, much of the area we based out of was fairly burned out by a recent fire. Still, I did come away with some keepers which I will elaborate on below. Most importantly though, we all had a smashingly good time and enjoyed getting the heck outta the city. That, my friends, is priceless. (Cue cheesy Mastercard commercial.)

Coming Together

This was taken right from our campsite during the only half decent sunset we had. Look closely and you can see many different islands in the lake. We never tired of gazing out on this scene.

Loon Family

This mother and her young ones visited our campsite many times each day. I'd like to think they were fond of us, but I think it was the campsite itself that drew them in. Even the wildlife knew that our campsite was awesome.

Fixin' Dinner

Sure it's easier to use a portable cook-stove to make dinner, but it's not as fun.

Going My Way?

This Ruffed Grouse was more than a little curious.

Ready for Adventure

On the dock and ready to depart less than an hour after sunrise.

Two for the road!

Recently, I was looking through my digital negatives from past photography trips and managed to find a couple of "keepers" that I had overlooked previously. Since I'm leaving on another trip tomorrow, I thought it would be a good time to show those new-found beauties now, before I'm inundated with all the new shots I'll have from the trip.

Fire and Ice (larger size)

This first one is from Hawaii back in '05. We were lucky enough to be up the summit of Mauna Kea just after the area re-opened after a snowstorm. This is an abstract of the red volcanic soil and the wind-driven snow and ice that was interlaced with it.

Teddy Bear Nightmare (larger size)

This one is from my road trip through the western US last fall. It was taken in a Teddy Bear Cholla cactus garden near Joshua Tree National Park. Despite being extremely careful, I still got stuck by one of these little buggers. OUCH! It hurts more than you'd think. Hence the image title.

So, where am I going tomorrow? The good ol' Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. I should have some treats to show you when I get back. Let's just hope the weather is decent -- last year I thought I was gonna see Noah's Ark pass by our campsite. ^_^

P.S. If you haven't heard, I entered a local photography contest and made it to the final 10 out of almost 600 entries! The voting for the overall winner ends at noon, so if you're reading this in time, you could help me out by casting a vote for me (mine is the one that says "K. Lidstrom"). By the time I return from the BWCA, the winner will be revealed. Wish me luck!

It's here!!

FINALLY! After what seemed like forever, my new camera finally arrived. I can't tell you how good it felt to have a camera again -- I almost cried when I saw it! I'm going to keep this blog entry short -- now that things are starting to return to normal, I want to spend more time taking pictures and less time talking about them. So, let's get on with it!

I thought the best way to break in the new gear would be to shoot one of my favorite subjects: butterflies. So, that's just what I did, and the camera performed flawlessly. I was able to capture several species that I hadn't seen before. Feast your eyes on these beauties, and remember that you can see these and many others in my Butterflies Gallery.

In the coming weeks, I have a Boundary Waters trip planned, among other things, so I should have more photos to display. Until then, take care.

A Paper Kite, also known as a Rice Paper butterfly or a Tree Nymph butterfly.

.

An Atala butterfly, also known as a Coontie Hairstreak.

A Red Spot Diadem butterfly hangs beneath a coneflower.

A Dark Blue Pansy. (Not what I'd want to be called if I was a butterfly.)

A Malaysian Lacewing.

An Emerald Swallowtail.

A Julia butterfly.

A Cydno Longwing.

A Common Mormon. (Does that mean it doesn't drink coffee?)

I'm back! Let's catch up!

Whew! It's been about seven weeks since my last post, and things have been looking up. So, rather than starting with my usual incredibly witty jokes, I'm just going to dive right in and bring you up to speed. (I know, missing my zingers will most likely ruin your entire week, but you'll just have to carry on. Think happy thoughts!)

First off: my hip. I'm happy to say it's getting better all the time. I've been off of crutches for about a week now. I can't walk perfectly yet -- I still hobble -- but it sure beats the snot out of crutching. I'm still battling with my insurance company, but I *think* I'm going to come out on top. Famous last words, perhaps? We shall see in the coming weeks. They've won the battle, but the war will be mine, methinks.

Next: my camera. Nothing but positive news here. Unlike my health insurance company, my camera insurance company is being a total rock star and is replacing my ruined Canon 5D with a new Canon 5D Mark II!! It's on its way to me now. I can not WAIT to take it for a spin. Going from 12 megapixels to 21 (!) will be quite something. Not to mention being able to shoot HD-quality video. Perhaps I'll become a videographer as well? Oh, they're also replacing my ruined Canon 24-105mm lens. Not too shabby.

And now, let's get to the meat: the shots.

Last time, I mentioned a shot I took at Creque Dam. You will see that below, entitled, "Lost In Thought". Also, in my tree post from a couple months ago, I mentioned that I'd be posting a better version of that shot. And, voila, here it is, entitled, "Magic Tree".

Below those two shots, you will find a couple more shots from my Puerto Rico trip. These shots are just for fun, and can only be seen here on this blog post. They are not in my Fine Art Galleries.

Lastly, you will see a shot of an X-ray. Unlike the one I posted last time, this one is actually of ME. Yep, those are six titanium screws and a plate holding my hip together. Now, when someone tells me to "go get screwed" at least their comment will make sense. ^_^

Next time I post, I should have some images made with my new camera. Until then, take care!

"Lost In Thought" Click here to see and learn more.

"Magic Tree" Click here to see and learn more.

"Travellers Beware - Kaelly The Tonguer" (Only seen here.)

"Slice Of Life" (Only seen here.)

"My Hip X-ray" (Ouch.)

GIMMIE A BREAK! No, not that kind...

Hell.

That single word best sums up my last few weeks. Let's take it from the beginning.

After my last post to this photoblog on March 3rd, I finally started to kick my photography here in the Virgin Islands into high gear. I had a very productive shoot in the rainforest in which I stumbled upon a very rare butterfly hideout. Some Zebra Longwing butterflies were loitering in a small enclave and were unusually photogenic -- most of the time, butterflies in the wild are notoriously difficult to shoot as they never sit still for very long. These were incredibly docile and gave me what is probably the best outing I've EVER had shooting butterflies in the wild. Needless to say, I got some very nice images from the shoot.

Even better, my assistant and I had an incredible shoot at Creque Dam, a very special and rare body of water right in the middle of the rainforest. I created some beautiful, moody compositions in which some last minute, blood red clouds cooperated beautifully and put the images over the top. I came away with what I feel might just be the single best image I've EVER gotten in St. Croix in all the years I've been shooting here.

Furthermore, we had scheduled a photo shoot of something I'd always wanted to do: a sunrise shoot at the secluded Jacks Bay where I was going to do both some landscape shooting as well as some model/swimsuit stuff (no, not of myself, silly).

In short, things were going spectacularly. And then came Hell: Monday, March 3oth.

Most of the day was great. I sailed my boat to beautiful Buck Island National Monument and had a very fun, relaxing day. But then, on they way back to the dock, my dinghy suddenly took on water and ruined my camera. Yes, my Canon 5D. Yes, the very same camera that had JUST gotten repaired from water damage only a few months ago. Dear God, why me?!

Well, the worst was over, right? Wrong. Oh so unbelievably, horribly and utterly wrong.

Later that same night, a mere couple of hours after the camera incident, I was running down the steps of my house, when I fell, dislocated and fractured my left hip! Sweet Jesus, I have never felt so much pain in my entire 33 years. I literally laid there screaming in excruciating pain for 30 minutes until the ambulance arrived. I spent 14 days in the hospital, completely bedridden and unable to move my left leg. Two hospitals on two different islands, two surgeries, two cat scans, several X-rays, and a crapload of painkillers later, here I am, back home on St. Croix. I will be in crutches for the next 6-10 weeks. I will be returning to Minnesota at the end of April.

Until then, I will unfortunately not be able to post my latest photos. You can be assured that sometime in May, I will be back in business and will have them posted here. Please don't worry about me. I am keeping a good attitude, and am thankful that I have health insurance and that it wasn't my neck or back that was broken. I am slowly on the mend and will be up and running before you know it.

Before I go, I wanted to keep with my tradition of always posting at least one picture. This is a photoblog after all, right? Here is a picture of an injury roughly similar to mine, courtesy of howstuffworks.com. I know it's not a photo that I took, but given the circumstances, I think you'll understand and give me a pass this one time.

Thanks for reading and take care.

Tree-mendous!

I love trees. No, I'm not a "treehugger" (although my friends would probably say I look and smell like one), but I do have a great respect for them. "Respect? Huh?" Yep, you heard me: respect. Didn't your mom ever tell you to respect your elders? Well, if mom was right, then trees deserve oceans of respect. They live a heckuva lot longer than we do, and some of them, like the bristlecone pines in the western US, are the oldest living things in the world, many being well over four thousand years old. (I bet the Vikings still had a crappy quarterback even then.)

But it's not just their long life that deserves respect. Trees do an incredible service to the entire planet by converting carbon dioxide, a harmful greenhouse gas, into life-affirming oxygen. Furthermore, they provide habitat for a plethora of life forms, as well as building material and a heat/fuel source for people the world over since time immemorial. And, who hasn't had fun in a tree house at one time or another? Or swung from a rope tied to a tree limb and leapt into the water?

By now I think you get my point: trees are pretty darn nifty, and I love 'em.

For a photographer though, especially a nature photographer, there is another, even more beloved aspect of trees: they way they look. They are among the most photogenic subjects in nature. Browse through the gallery of just about any nature photographer, and you will see images of trees. Ansel Adams? Yep. Jim Brandenburg? You betcha. Marc Adamus? Naturally. And yours truly? Of course!

So you can be sure that I was tickled pink when I (or rather, my assistant) spotted this tree in the rainforest of St. Croix, in the US Virgin Islands. I had driven right past this tree countless times, but never did it look like this. For some reason, its bark displayed colors that I've never seen in any tree. Maybe it's something in the air? Beats me. All I know is that it's probably the most interesting tree trunk I've ever seen. I spent quite awhile trying different compositions and waiting for the lizards to stop in the right spot. This shot is the best of the bunch. I'm not posting a larger version to my main galleries just yet, because I plan on returning and getting an even better shot. I'll post the results when I'm done.

Till then, take care. And go plant a tree. ^_^

We're experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by... while I smash my equipment into smithereens.

"Where in the heck have you been?!?!"

I'm sure that's the question that you -- my billions and billions of adoring fans -- have been frantically asking every hour of every day since my last post over two months ago. You've no doubt been unable to sleep and are probably feeling near suicidal by now. Well, you can climb down off that ledge because I'm back!

Oh, who am I kidding. Let me rephrase: for all seven of you that noticed I was gone for a long while, I have an explanation. You see, my equipment hates me and decided to mutiny. Apparently I haven't been giving it enough rum.

A few days after I got back from my big road trip out west, my camera -- a tried and true Canon 5D -- started acting up. Upon taking it to the local pro camera shop, I was given the news most dreaded by any photographer: it would have to be sent to Canon in Japan for repairs. This meant a four-week turnaround time at a minimum. The "good" news, however, was that the repair appeared to be fairly minor and should only cost a few hundred bucks. So, I bit the bullet and sent it in.

You can probably guess where this is going. A few weeks later, I got a call from Canon informing me that the problems were much worse than expected, and the cost of the repair was going to be in the four-figure range. Luckily, I had had the foresight to insure the camera, so I gave Canon the go ahead to perform the repair. By the time the camera was fixed and ready to be returned to me, I was already on my yearly visit to the Caribbean. Of course, Canon would not send it there, so I had to have it sent to a friend in the states, who then sent it to me. By the time I finally had it in my hands it had been gone for nearly TWO MONTHS. Ugh!

However, all that was behind me. I had my camera back and was free to get shooting! And, I did. I went to San Juan, Puerto Rico and got some nice photos, one of which is posted below. But before we get to that, I have to finish my story. Yep, there's (unfortunately) more.

Right about the time I got my camera back, my computer decided that I hadn't had enough grief and started crashing repeatedly. Fast forward to today and my computer has pretty much passed on to the great cyberspace in the sky. (RIP, lil' buddy.) I have another one on order, but it will be a month or so before it gets here. Right now, I'm writing this on a friend's computer.

So, I hope that helped explain my absence, or at least made you laugh half as much as it made me cry.

But enough about that, let's get onto the photo, shall we?

This was taken near the beach of the El Condado region of San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was a very surreal spot with the solo light and two chairs, which is what drew me to it. As always, you can see a larger version of the photo by clicking RIGHT HERE and going to my Fine Art Galleries.

I'll hopefully have some more images from San Juan posted in the next week or two. Until then, take care and be sure to give your computer some love! ^_^