Dawn Patrol (DIAL-UP WARNING)

I got up at 04:30 ("What's the "O" for? Oh my god it's early!" - Robin Williams in Good Morning, Vietnam!)
this morning to shoot the sunrise with the remnants of last night's distant storms in the morning light.
I shot photo groups for HDR and panoramas, among other shots.

I'm still not too sure about HDR, in fact I haven't found the application
where I like it. I'm much more impressed with the Photomerge (panoramic shots)
feature of Photoshop. I'll post the panoramas, and a couple of HDRs for grins.


This HDR was three shots taken within about 10 seconds at -2EV - 0 - +2EV.


A panoramic Photomerge with Pine Mountain on the left and the Maury Mountains to the right


A standard (non-HDR) digital image from this morning (6/23/11), and no - I do not live on Mars. The colors are untouched.


Another panoramic image


Once the sun gets up, I have to get the Cascades in that wonderful morning light (L-R: South Sister, Broken Top, Middle Sister, and North Sister)


Another Oh-Dark-Thirty mission (I've done my share of THOSE in my career!)

Stunning Shots

Just another morning at the fire lookout tower (I jest).

:hi:

I'd like to say I could do that if I could get myself out of bed that early, but the reality is that if I did manage those kinds of shots, it would be more luck than skill. Super photos.

Amazing! The colors are stunning, and those vistas...

Thank you.

If I had views like these to get up to, I might (maybe!) turn into a morning person!

Thank you.

I went to bed - to sleep - at 7:30 pm last night. So I was getting up fairly naturally at 0430!

:hi:

My favorite time of year is when you post these amazing pictures. Hope you have a wonderful summer; looking forward to the wonderful sights to come!

Care to explain to avoid being misunderstood?

...And the Mouse Police Never Sleep

Muscled, black with steel-green eye
swishing through the rye grass
with thoughts of mouse-and-apple pie.
Tail balancing at half-mast.
...And the mouse police never sleeps ---
lying in the cherry tree.
Savage bed foot-warmer of purest feline ancestry.
Look out, little furry folk!
He's the all-night working cat.
Eats but one in every ten ---
leaves the others on the mat.
...And the mouse police never sleeps ---
waiting by the cellar door.
Window-box town crier;
birth and death registrar.
With claws that rake a furrow red ---
licensed to multilate.
From warm milk on a lazy day
to dawn patrol on hungry hate.
...No, the mouse police never sleeps ---
climbing on the ivy.
Windy roof-top weathercock.
Warm-blooded night on a cold tile.

after a hellish night of EMS, I loved O dark thirty, always good for OH MY GOD I AM STILL HERE... got a few of those hellish nights.

I know you know exactly what I mean by that too.

You are a heck of a photographer by the way.

Good to be back. Good to have you supporting our efforts.

I talked with an old Cali wildland firefighter at the motel in Bend the other night. He is my age, but was USFS in SoCal in the 1960s. We had grins over several old adages:

1: The basic "OH MY GOD I AM STILL HERE!(?)"

2: "Wind changes EVERYTHING!"

3: F.E.A.R. (my favorite): Fuck Everything And Run!

Mac

:hi:

one in that urban EMS in Tijuana...

But not a pretty acronym.

PLEASE! Translate as necessary for a gringo!

Bwaa haa haa.

:hi:

Thank you for sharing these photos.

My pleasure!

Loving the photos and stories again Demotex!

Hope you're rolling on E-rated/10-ply tires this year (recalling last year's conversation about your repeated flats...) and that the season remains beautiful and peaceful for you & your pup.

-app

I have some new American Racing Mojave wheels on back-order (black teflon) that I will put E-rated tires on. You have a good memory, app!

Mac


Arriving at the lookout on 5/21

Nice ARB/winch set-up, and the Toyota behind it is a fine choice of a truck. Does that hood scoop mean that a TRD supercharger package is under there? Hope it carries you many safe miles through breathtaking western beauty...

-app

Thank you so much for sharing these with us. I look forward to them. You obviously have a talent for photography, too, as well as incredible subjects. :yourock:

Between North and Middle Sister in your photo is Little Brother.

http://www.summitpost.org/little-brother/151942

I learn something every day in Or-E-Gon! Love it!

Thanks,
Mac

BTW: Did you know the real names of the Three Sisters? Faith, Hope, and Charity (the greatest of these, according to the Bible, being Charity), and Charity - the South Sister - is indeed the greatest - tallest, anyway.

I climbed South Sister on 09/04/80 with two of my best friends.

If you haven't taken the drive on your days off, I highly recommend Oregon 126. It goes from Sisters to Eugene and is best described as awesome.

Thank you for sharing.

And that HDR thing is kind of a pain.

I've been using Photomatrix Pro. But I always just use it as a starting point. I have to go back and do some (or a lot) of tweaking in PS with layers, etc.

:hi: