Chapel of the Transfiguration, Grand Teton National Park



Still playing catch up from the craziness of June. These shots were taken the same morning we did Mormon Row. The light was pretty contrasty by the time we got there, but with a setting like this, who the heck cares?

 

The Chapel of the Transfiguration is a tiny church with a breathtaking view of the Tetons. A large picture window frames the alter, so every service is dominated by the beauty of the mountains.

 

 

This doesn't do justice to the view...

 

 

The approach to the Chapel is guarded by a rustic bell tower.

Inside the fence is all sagebrush and yellow balsamroot.

Probably could have composed this better - the brilliance of the aspens is sharply contrasted against the dark base of the mountains.

Here's on one of the Chapel's front door hinges. Look how deeply it's been driven into the wood.

 

A detail of the bell tower.

 



 

 

And the bell itself.

 

Tall Ship Lynx

I had a little bit of fun messing with Lynx. The layout below has a couple of Kim Klassen textures, a water color layer and kind of a pencil sketch layer. The font is Blackadder, which seems appropriate for this old-time sailing ship.

I hope the Tall Ships come back again soon - they are just beautiful!

A quick shout-out to Kim Klassen - she has amazing textures available, for free, on her website, along with photography, texture and Photoshop classes. Check out Kim Klassen Cafe for a dose of inspiration from a really talented artist.

Tall Ships Parade of Sail, July 3, 2013

Tall Ships arriving in Cleveland Harbor, July 3, 2013:

 

Above, Pride of Baltimore assembling for the parade.

 

Fire boat, Tall Ships, and hangers-on (really, did they not know to get out of the way of the photographers?:))

 

Above, Peacemaker.

 

 

Pride of Baltimore under full sail, above.

Above and below, Swedish ship Sørlandet entering the harbor.

 
Below is Lynx, flag streaming in the wind, one of my favorites:

Scientific Vessel (S/V) Denis Sullivan out of Wisconsin, not a state you'd think of for Tall Ships. The triangular topsail is unusual.

 

Below is Cleveland's abandoned Coast Guard station. Very cool design, the photo doesn't do it justice. Even though the clouds looked threatening from time to time, we never got rained on.

 

The Cleveland skyline from Wendy Park, below.

It always amazes me that these giant freighters can wind their way up the Cuyahoga River to dock.

 

I didn't know what we'd get from Wendy Park, but it turned out to be a great place to shoot the Parade. Thanks for the suggestion, Lisa!



Grand Teton

Just a couple for now - this place is breathtaking!

This is Mt. Moran, at Oxbow bend, the location of one of Ansel Adams' iconic photographs. We we there before five am, overcast and raining. Got some nice cloud drama, and then the sun came out, to highlight Mt. Moran.

Top of Jackson Lake, from a little turnout on Rt. 89. More snow on the mountains this year than is normal. Just beautiful!

Both shots are with the iPhone and Snapseed, might have gone a little overboard on Mt. Moran.

Love this place!

 

April Outside in Hocking Hills

Love this place in the Spring! We were lucky enough to get rain Thursday overnight, and the streams and waterfalls in Hocking Hills were gorgeous. This is Cedar Falls. We took the easy way down, since the bridge on the rough but beautiful path was taken out by a falling tree. As you can see by the photo, where I had to lay on the rocks to use the boulders to cover that ugly downed tree, falling trees are fairly common. The soil's really thin, and no matter how burly the roots, wind and water will have their way.

The upper falls at Old Man's Cave. Beautiful old stone bridge.

More falls, leading down to the bowl below Old Man's Cave.

 

A beautiful view from the Conkle's Hollow rim trail. Took this a few minutes before I realized that the drop, straight down, is about 250 ft. And the trail is roughly three inches wide....

Rock House, a very cool cave, and very full of hikers on a Saturday.

Another great trip to Hocking Hills!

 

April Outside: Zoar

Did a little side trip to Zoar before the photo workshop in Hocking Hills. Had lunch at a German restaurant, and took this photo of the footbridge over the Tusc and the remnants of the Ohio and Erie Canal.

Hard to believe the Army Corp of Engineers is considering letting Zoar drown instead of repairing the levee or reducing the height of the dam. Worth a side trip on your way down 77 to Amish country.

 

April Outside: Home and Away

Spent Monday evening (almost two weeks ago now!) laying mulch around the remnant of the rhodos I planted last year. Never ever have had a problem with deer eating the rhodos until now. They have buds, so perhaps they'll come back.

This was a pleasant surprise: the robin is nesting under my deck after a years' absence. She gets pretty annoyed when I work in the garden near her though.

And peonies, just starting. They're much taller now, but not leafing out yet.

Which reminds me: so much weeding, so little time!