Disqualified in the photo contest

[zoobyshoe]

I was going to use this for the close up but due to the prevalence of arachnophobia I decided against it.

That's a great shot, though. I've never seen a green spider like that.

 

[Janus]

Okay, this was a submission I considered for "Bridge over Troubled Water" I was going for a little word play here, as the picture is of a "bridge".

http://home.earthlink.net/~parvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/bridge.jpg

However, I PMed ZZ first to ask whether it would pass muster. He said that it didn't meet the intent of the contest.
This forced me to go out and take the photo I submitted, which actually ended up winning.

 

[larkspur]

That's a great shot, though. I've never seen a green spider like that.

I had never seen one either until that evening when I went to check on my eggplants! Still makes me say EEEEWWWW!

 

[Mk]

Yeah, it is a great picture, but kind of negative.

I love the shine on the thorax.

 

[zoobyshoe]

This would have been my entry for bridge over troubled water but I was gone on holidays and missed out on the contest.

That's a great old bridge, and beautiful scenery.

 

[larkspur]

Yeah, it is a great picture, but kind of negative.

I love the shine on the thorax.

Wonder what the purpose of the pseudo face on the thorax is? I guess if a predator grabs it by the thorax the spider can turn around and bite in self defense.

 

[larkspur]

Here are three that I was debating about posting in the closeup thread. Eventually I went with the eyeball closeup and set these three aside:

I think I like the eye the best. Do you ever play with the white balance on your Lumix?

 

[scorpa]

That's a great old bridge, and beautiful scenery.

Thanks. I had to go stand in the river to get a decent shot of the bridge, luckily the water level was fairly low at the edge...but oh my god was it ever cold. By the time I had taken the picture my legs were numb.

 

[GeoMike]

Some more Mount Washington Cog shots I was going to enter:
http://www.mcschell.com/cog2.jpg
http://www.mcschell.com/cog3.jpg
http://www.mcschell.com/cog4.jpg
http://www.mcschell.com/cog5.jpg
http://www.mcschell.com/cog6.jpg

-GeoMike-

 

[gravenewworld]

I missed the 'where we live contest'


Good ol Philadelphia

http://myspace-925.vo.llnwd.net/01076/52/96/1076636925_l.jpg

 

[zoobyshoe]

I think I like the eye the best. Do you ever play with the white balance on your Lumix?

Yeah, the eye was obviously the most...eye catching.

I played with the white balance once, couldn't seem to get the desired results from it, and, therefore, proceeded to forget it existed.

Thanks. I had to go stand in the river to get a decent shot of the bridge, luckily the water level was fairly low at the edge...but oh my god was it ever cold. By the time I had taken the picture my legs were numb.

Probably worth it for a good shot of such an interesting old wood structure.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Some more Mount Washington Cog shots I was going to enter:
http://www.mcschell.com/cog2.jpg
http://www.mcschell.com/cog3.jpg
http://www.mcschell.com/cog4.jpg
http://www.mcschell.com/cog5.jpg
http://www.mcschell.com/cog6.jpg

-GeoMike-

Those are great. My favorite is the third one showing the engine going down the crest of the hill with the long smoke trail.

I missed the 'where we live contest'


Good ol Philadelphia

http://myspace-925.vo.llnwd.net/01076/52/96/1076636925_l.jpg

[/URL]
That's really cool!

 

[Evo]

I missed the 'where we live contest'


Good ol Philadelphia

http://myspace-925.vo.llnwd.net/01076/52/96/1076636925_l.jpg

That[/URL] is really cool. What part of Philadelphia? I used to work in Bala Cynwyd.

 

[Gokul43201]

I was just getting ready to head to school, picked up my bad and what did I find?

A bad kitty?

 

[scorpa]

A bad kitty?

Lol I picked up my BAG as in Backpack. It's fixed now

 

[Gokul43201]

Lol I picked up my BAG as in Backpack. It's fixed now

So, did you let the cat out of the bag?

 

[Moonbear]

So, did you let the cat out of the bag?

S/he looks pretty ticked off to have been kicked out of bed so early!

 

[scorpa]

Lol yes unfortunately he had to give up his bed, it was either that or he had to come to class with me and in the long run I doubt he would have enjoyed that. He seems to have a love of small spaces...I'm always finding him in my backpack, suitcase, desk drawer ect

 

[gravenewworld]

That is really cool. What part of Philadelphia? I used to work in Bala Cynwyd.

Boat house row

 

[gravenewworld]

i also have a cat pic. this is our new cat cocoa.

http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/5303/2000280677292571938_rs.jpg



As you can see the weird thing about him is the fact that he has a solid brown coat, exactly like a brown lab.

 

[Moonbear]

As you can see the weird thing about him is the fact that he has a solid brown coat, exactly like a brown lab.

I thought the weird thing about him is he has no eyes! The way the flash reflected off his face, I did a double-take when I first looked at the photo, thinking he really didn't have eyes.

 

[turbo]

Some more Mount Washington Cog shots I was going to enter:
http://www.mcschell.com/cog2.jpg
http://www.mcschell.com/cog3.jpg
http://www.mcschell.com/cog4.jpg
http://www.mcschell.com/cog5.jpg
http://www.mcschell.com/cog6.jpg

-GeoMike-

More great shots, GeoMike! You submitted the best one for the contest, though. Mt. Washington is a beautiful place. On a clear day, the views from the summit are to die for. I wish I had owned a digital camera on one of my Baxter hikes - a crystal-clear fall day on Mt. Katahdin with gorgeous views of much of Maine. Katahdin is visible from our former home in Skowhegan and I tried in vain to spot it from the summitt. Then again, even with my binoculars, spotting a little white farmhouse at a distance of 80-90 miles was probably not going to happen.

 

[scorpa]

I thought the weird thing about him is he has no eyes! The way the flash reflected off his face, I did a double-take when I first looked at the photo, thinking he really didn't have eyes.

Ah you beat me to it!

 

[Cyrus]

Since I can only post 1 picture that is limited in size... here are some other ones I was considering.

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/1251/viennasj2.jpg

^^^I had to crop the picture becuase the size restriction made it look too small. (this one is still reduced)

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/738/00000011lw4.jpg

 

[Cyrus]

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5786/00000017sj6.jpg

 

[Cyrus]

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/6457/00000014um3.jpg

 

[Cyrus]

This one is here at MD where I volunteer. That kid is adrian. There are a few kids in high school that help me do restoration.

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/5189/02119zs9.jpg

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/7437/01210zh9.jpg

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/1484/01008bj9.jpg

...thats enough pics for now.

 

[GeoMike]

More great shots, GeoMike! You submitted the best one for the contest, though. Mt. Washington is a beautiful place. On a clear day, the views from the summit are to die for. I wish I had owned a digital camera on on of my Baxter hikes - a crystal-clear fall day on Mt. Katahdin with gorgeous views of much of Maine. Katahdin is visible from our former home in Skowhegan and I tried in vain to spot it from the summitt. Then again, even with my binoculars, spotting a little white farmhouse at a distance of 80-90 miles was probably not going to happen.

Thank you! Katahdin is great too, the Knife's Edge is one of my all-time favorite sections of trail. Sadly I haven't hiked it in about 4 years (from where I live it's about three time the distance to Baxter SP as to Mt. Washington). There are a few places around here where you can see Mt. Washington, but probably no chance of finding them from the top of Mt. Washington. I do know that if it is clear you can see the sun reflecting off the Atlantic Ocean at certain times of the day from the summit.
I think my favorite place in all of New England is Huntington Ravine on the east slope of Mt. Washington. Even in the middle of the summer, when the summit is packed, it's easy to be the only one on the trail through the ravine. And the ice under the boulders sticks around well into July creating natural air conditioning.

-GeoMike-

 

[Evo]

Cyrus, where are the pictures from? What restoration? Did I MISS this? Are you insinuating that as mentor of GD I don't actually read EVERY post?

Actually, I probably read 99% of them, that's why I'm on medication now.

 

[larkspur]

i also have a cat pic. this is our new cat cocoa.

http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/5303/2000280677292571938_rs.jpg



As you can see the weird thing about him is the fact that he has a solid brown coat, exactly like a brown lab.

Cute!

 

[turbo]

Thank you! Katahdin is great too, the Knife's Edge is one of my all-time favorite sections of trail. Sadly I haven't hiked it in about 4 years (from where I live it's about three time the distance to Baxter SP as to Mt. Washington). There are a few places around here where you can see Mt. Washington, but probably no chance of finding them from the top of Mt. Washington. I do know that if it is clear you can see the sun reflecting off the Atlantic Ocean at certain times of the day from the summit.
I think my favorite place in all of New England is Huntington Ravine on the east slope of Mt. Washington. Even in the middle of the summer, when the summit is packed, it's easy to be the only one on the trail through the ravine. And the ice under the boulders sticks around well into July creating natural air conditioning.

-GeoMike-

Everybody in the NE who likes to hike ought to come do Katahdin at least once. The sheer drop on the South side of the Knife's Edge makes it seem almost like an undercut (like Table Rock at The Balsams - a baby hike for those not afflicted with acrophobia) and the winds there create strong updrafts/downdrafts that can enhance the effect. I joined some friends and relatives for a 3-day weekend at Russell Pond once and had a great time. There's a modest hike in and out (although 7.5 miles with several days' worth of gear on your back can be tiring if you haven't done it for a while), but the fishing was great, and we had to constantly keep moving our canoes to stay a "respectable" distance from the feeding moose, who frankly didn't give a damn if we were there or not. The rangers were gentle but insistent that if we had found a good spot to fish and the moose came there to feed, we had to give them space. That's all well and good, but I have been fly-fishing all my life (OK, over 40 years of it) and I know that if you are behaving yourself, feeding moose will get REALLY close to you and will never bother you if you don't bother them. I have pictures from a little pond in Pleasant Ridge when I was snapping shot after shot of a feeding moose, and when I looked up from my viewfinder, I said "holy ****", set down my camera and slowly paddled away. The bow of my little Old Town Pack Canoe was almost touching him. He was a really photogenic Swamp Donkey, and I just kept taking the shots until I realized I might be a BIT close.

 

[turbo]

Follow-up on the moose thing: When I was probably 10 or so, my dad and I went to a remote bog early in the morning to fly-fish. When we got close, we found a large, steaming placenta in the trail and my dad said "there's a new baby moose somewhere, and we've disturbed the mother." We located the "boat" made out of two Pontiac hoods cut off and welded together at their butt ends, and started fishing. The number of moose feeding in that bog was astounding and several of them swam out near us, just giving us "the eye" and moving on. About an hour after we got there, we heard some noise in a thicket of alders, and watched as a cow moose repeatedly moved her baby and got her muzzle under it to move it closer and closer to the water. She got the baby to the bog and he/she was a pretty cinnamon color and swam around freely, staying close to mom all the time. Before noon, she had him/her over near the trail that we had used to get to the pond, and the newborn was walking out of the pond, although a bit wobbly in the knees. TV and the internet is great, but I have never learned anything from them that has greater impact than my real life.

 

[Cyrus]

Cyrus, where are the pictures from? What restoration? Did I MISS this? Are you insinuating that as mentor of GD I don't actually read EVERY post?

Actually, I probably read 99% of them, that's why I'm on medication now.

Those are from the lovely, and I mean lovely Vienna. I.e. here:



http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5383/00000010uj1.jpg





The yellow one was taken at MD.

 

[franznietzsche]

Follow-up on the moose thing: When I was probably 10 or so, my dad and I went to a remote bog early in the morning to fly-fish. When we got close, we found a large, steaming placenta in the trail and my dad said "there's a new baby moose somewhere, and we've disturbed the mother." We located the "boat" made out of two Pontiac hoods cut off and welded together at their butt ends, and started fishing. The number of moose feeding in that bog was astounding and several of them swam out near us, just giving us "the eye" and moving on. About an hour after we got there, we heard some noise in a thicket of alders, and watched as a cow moose repeatedly moved her baby and got her muzzle under it to move it closer and closer to the water. She got the baby to the bog and he/she was a pretty cinnamon color and swam around freely, staying close to mom all the time. Before noon, she had him/her over near the trail that we had used to get to the pond, and the newborn was walking out of the pond, although a bit wobbly in the knees. TV and the internet is great, but I have never learned anything from them that has greater impact than my real life.

Ooooh.

Ok, I can't hold it in anymore: What sound does a moose make? What is the plural of moose? Mooses? Meese?

 

[GeoMike]

Follow-up on the moose thing:

Sounds like an awesome set of experiences...
I have yet to see a moose "on" the trail. I've seen a few on the drive to various trailheads, but never any on the trails.
I saw a bear once, through a pair of binoculars (even managed a camera shot through the binoculars. Blurry, but recognizable). I mostly see toads, snakes, Canadian jays (when they steal my food) and the odd grouse. Even saw the ass of a few deer as they took off. Not much else though.

I like to blame it on the high-use of the areas I go to, but I think the real reason is that I'm too damn noisy when I hike (I sing and talk to myself).

-GeoMike-