Nick's Blog » Photography

Grand Tetons

Nick — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:30:04 +0000

After leaving Yellowstone, we drove south through the Grand Teton National Park. I wished we had more time to explore, but we had a flight to catch.

Early explorers named the mountains the Tetons after the French word for “breasts.” Not sure I see the resemblance (they’re kind of jagged…), but I guess after years of solitude in the wilderness you’ll take what you can get.

The mountains are probably most famous as the subjects of an Ansel Adams photo shoot. Here’s one of his well known shots:

How does Bryn’s version compare?

Hope to get back some day to ski Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee.

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Annoyed Dog

Nick — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:30:23 +0000

Last week it was pretty hot so we thought Mochi might appreciate a dip in the pool to cool off. He doesn’t look too pleased.

Also gotta love Sterling passed out in the background. What happened there?

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Male Bonding

Nick — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:30:40 +0000

Working from home allows me to spend plenty of quality time with the pooch. Although he spends most of it sleeping, sometimes we go outside. These are actually from Saturday.

Fetching and bringing it back. Making progress.

Whew that was fun.

And I’m spent.

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The Romanticism of the Open Road

Nick — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:30:35 +0000

I think this photo captures it nicely:

It’s a common theme in music:

Life is a Highway
Open Road Song
On the Road Again
Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)
Highway 20 Ride
Take Me Home, Country Roads
Everyday is a Winding Road
I am the Highway
The Long and Winding Road
Down the Road
Highway to Hell
What About Now
Runaway
Anywhere But Here
Want To

Photo credit: Bryn snapped this one on I-5 in central CA last October.

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Two Standard Deviations from the Mean

Nick — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:30:29 +0000

We found a height-to-age-estimator on the wall of the kids section at H&M. Poor Bryn, according to the chart, she’s only 13.

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That Can’t Be Cost-Effective

Nick — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:30:07 +0000

I see these signs all the time driving, but have never seen a low-flying plane or helicopter patrolling for speeders. There’s no way it could be cost-effective. Are the signs just a deterrent?

Has anyone ever been pulled over by a flying-cop?

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22 Reasons to Become an Affiliate Marketer

Nick — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:12:00 +0000

These were just some of the “reasons” I saw in the parking lot at Commission Junction University 2009 this week. There was also a Ferrari and an Aston Martin that were not captured on film.

Clearly some people have got this business figured out. My ride was out of place.

*Disclaimer: Cars don’t equal success. But I figure you’ve got to have a pretty successful operation if you can afford to blow big money on a car.

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Half Dome Climb

Nick — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:53:58 +0000

Bryn and I made our first trip to Yosemite this weekend, and summit-ed Half Dome with a group of 16 friends. At over 8800 ft in elevation, Half Dome is the centerpiece of Yosemite National Park. It is a 17 mile round trip hike, with 4800 ft in elevation gain — a serious endeavor even for an “experienced woodsman” like me. The kicker? We started at midnight to reach the summit in time for sunrise.

The group looks happy and ready to go, even with no sleep.

So we climbed and climbed and climbed. Because of the full mooon, we didn’t even need headlamps for much of the trek. And there were plenty of other crazies on the trail so we didn’t encounter any bears.

The final ascent is an almost sheer granite face that would be impassible without technical rock climbing gear. Thankfully the forest service has bolted a number of steel cables and 2×4’s into the rock to allow access to the summit. This is what it looked like when we showed up, around 6am:

We made our way up the cables and made the summit just before sunrise. It was beautiful, with amazing dawn-views of the entire park. We took a few victory shots and cheered with the rest of the crowd up there when the sun first peaked over the horizon.

Woohoo, the sun!

The way down sucked way more. It was a serious slog, now operating on 24+ hrs without sleep and developing some major blisters on my feet. Here’s a better (daylight) view the summit face, with people climbing the cables:

Very proud of Bryn who made it the whole way like a champ. I think this smile says it all:

We saw some cool waterfalls on the way down, but none that really compared with Iguazu.

It was noon when we finally got back to the cars — tired, hurty, and smelly, but mission accomplished!

Back at the campsite, there was a cold river just waiting to be jumped in.

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El Calafate

Nick — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:30:20 +0000

After Iguazu, we headed south to Patagonia. In fact, I believe our visit to El Calafate set a new personal record for “southern-most point traveled to.” Look at where we were:

Probably wouldn’t have made the trip if the nearby Perito Moreno glacier hadn’t been featured in the 1000 Places to See Before You Die book. It is one of the few “stable,” i.e. “non-retreating” glaciers in the world today. The river of ice is more than 30 km long, and 5 km wide where it ends at Lake Argentino. It advances up to 2 meters a day, and pieces routinely break off into the icy lake creating lots of icebergs our boat had to navigate through.

You could hear the ice cracking as it moved. Each time we heard it we’d stop in our tracks and look to see if something was going to “calve” — fall off into the water. We only saw a couple small pieces fall, but they were still very loud. Would have been incredible to see a huge piece come off.

Patagonia is beatiful country. Reminded me of Montana.

The glacier has an average height of 70 meters above water, plus an additional 100 meters below the lake surface. And it’s just one of many in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, and nowhere near the largest. It just happens to be the most easily accessible from civilization.

The town of El Calafate felt like a ski-town, but without snow or a ski-area. I think mostly because it was cold and had cabins and cutesy storefronts. If you go, we definitely recommend the America del Sur hostel — very nice place.

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Hakuna Matata

Nick — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:30:17 +0000

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