The Camping Machine Feature Photo Page

Welcome to the Featured Photo page of The Camping Machine website. This page will display, in a larger format, some of my favorite images. Some were taken on camping trips, others were captured during hikes with my family or at other times. I will usually include a description of the equipment used and any other notes or observations that add to the image. Please feel free to share your comments by sending an email to CampingMachineGuy (at) gmail (dot) com.

Photo was taken with a Nikon CoolPix 570. The advantage of having a nice point-and-shoot camera you can slip into your pocket is that when you run into a scene like this, you can capture it at a decent resolution. This photo was adjusted slightly in Photoshop to correct a bit for color balance.

With that said, those who make a point of visiting Capitol Reef National Park are in for a treat. Beautiful red rock vistas appear at every turn of Route 24. In the right light, the cliffs glow with a golden hue, the green sage lights up and the shadows give substance to the 'purple mountain majesty' phrase. The photo above, in it's original full high resolution form, captures the light beautifully, courtesy of the Nikon D300 and the Nikkor lens. Alas, this web-optimized version loses some of the saturation and sharpness that makes the image stand out. But don't settle for this image - go there and see it for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

A summer thunderstorm moved eastward across central Montana, following I-94 just past Billings. I was following the thunderstorm on my way to North Dakota. It was golden light time to the west, as the soon to be setting sun spread its soft, warm light across the prairie. The Golden Light was a welcome sight as I still had several hours of driving ahead on the virtually empty freeway.

Suddenly a shimmering rainbow appeared in front of me to the east. A glimmering band of color danced against the retreating storm clouds. My spirits lifted as I chased the rainbow for nearly ten miles. Alas, the rainbow could not be caught. Night soon fell and the sky grew dark, but the image of the brilliant rainbow stayed with me, captured by my little Nikon CoolPix S560.

I had the opportunity to attend an Air Show at the local Air Force Base not too long ago. We spend about 6 hours on the base and were able to walk through several Air Force planes, as well as see some amazing acrobatic aeriel performances. The highlight of the day was the performance of the US Air Force Thunderbirds. I was able to capture a few images, one of which is below. When I first saw this images as my photos were uploading to my computer, I thought "How would you like to see that in your rear-view mirror!" This image was taken with a Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 70-300 mm zoom lens. I was shooting on auto, but I'm guessing my exposure was probably about f8 and shutter speed was 1/500 or so.

The Wasatch Front is beautiful at any time of year. In the fall, with snow dusting the mountain peaks, it is even more dramatic. Darkness comes earlier, foretelling the coming of colder temperatures and winter storms. The anticipation of the coming Holidays as well as the skiing and sledding to be enjoyed are a part of the winter season we very much enjoy.

This photo was taken from a pedestrian overpass along one of the major east-west arteries of the Salt Lake Valley. The light trails of the autos bring color and motion to an otherwise static image. Photo was taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT at f/16 with an exposure of about 25 seconds. I took several exposures over a 10 minute period to get the exposure shown here.

If one were to go beyond the gas stations and drive into the town of Scipio, one would see a small rural town like so many others. Older homes, some well-kept, others less so, The remnants of a once-thriving Main Street, with some storefronts still clinging to life, others given up. In the case of the Garage above, this business saw its last customer many years ago.

It happened to me awhile ago as I was straightening up the kitchen after our boys had been coloring. As I bent down to pick up the bucket of markers, I noticed the pattern they made. Then I noticed the variety of colors. The only camera I had handy was Canon point & shoot, a little 4 mega-pixel model. In existing light I snapped a quick photo and got on with cleaning up. It wasn't until I downloaded the image, along with dozens of others that were on that camera, that I saw this image for what it was.

One a particular evening not long ago I found myself making this exact hike just before sunset. As luck would have it the blood-red ball of the sun began to set. Quickly setting up my tripod and Nikon D300, I took several exposures, trying to capture the color of the sun as well as the grasses blowing in the gentle breeze.

On a lonely road in eastern Montana there is some sort of industrial complex. I happened to be driving along this road in a driving rainstorm and saw this enormous stack of colorful 55 gallon drums. Parking along the side of the road, I took a half-dozen shots out the window of my Suburban before quickly rolling the window back up and getting back on the road.

Yes, this is why we camp. This is why we bought The Camping Machine. This is why we spend four hours the night before packing clothes, coats, swimsuits; food, drink, small appliances, life preservers, books, toys, games, computers, DVD players, walkie-talkies, cameras, video cameras, and all sorts of other sundry items. This is why we spend $4.25 per gallon, get 8 miles per gallon and drive for six-and-a-half hours when Google Maps says it should take five.

Yes, this is why we do it. We do it to get out of the city, breathe some fresh air, and show our two young boys parts of our country that some folks only see in pictures. This picture does not do the scenery justice, but unless you go to see it in person you'd never know that.

This is why we camp. Image captured with a Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 28-200mm zoom lens.

We recently returned from our annual trip to Ennis Montana. One of the events we enjoy there each year is the 4th of July Rodeo. While no one in our family is a cowboy, even an urban cowboy, there's something fun about watching these guys ride bucking bronco's, angry bulls and wrestling steers.

This particular cowboy turned this steers head nearly all the way around - but the darn thing would just not go down. The cowboy lost his grip and the steer trotted off. Hard luck for the cowboy, who got no points for a valiant effort. Good luck for me as the photo is very nice.

I captured this image with a Nikon D300 and a 70-200 mm lens, wide open at about 1/250 sec.

During my recent travels to northeastern North Dakota I was struck by the number of rusting junked cars and trucks in fields and near homesteads across much of that part of the state. It literally seemed that every home, occupied or not, had at least one non-functioning vehicle parked somewhere on the property.

Outside of the sadness the cars seemed to convey - like so many of the abandoned homes I saw, the cars seemed to represent (to me, at least) the broken dreams of the families that owned them. Like their farming lives, the cars were slowly wasting away, despite the bright hope and promise the original purchase once offered by the shiny vehicle with the wonderful new car smell.

Yet the adage that one mans loss is another man's gain holds true here as well. For I found the cars to offer a photographic opportunity.

The photo above was taken in the town of Fortuna, North Dakota, about 8 miles from the Canadian border and about 20 miles east of Crosby, North Dakota. Fortuna is barely a town. The gas station is closed and I am not even sure anyone still calls Fortuna home. Certainly these cars have not been driven in decades. Still, I found them unique and took several photographs, the best of which is here.

I had the occasion recently to spend some time in northeastern North Dakota. Williams County, Divide County - hard against the Canadian and Montana borders. The area is possessed of a stark beauty - a rural, agricultural area with big skies, far horizons, vivid blue skies and miles of farmland.

The population of North Dakota peaked in the early 1930s and has been losing people ever since. 12 of the top 25 counties in the United States which have lost the greatest percentage of their populations are in North Dakota. While the farms are still being worked, the number of farmers has dropped. Fewer farmers are working more land.

Some who left the area left their homes as well. The image above shows but one of several I saw during my recent time in the state. These homes sit silently, the ever-present wind whistling through the broken windows, the empty doorframes, the broken planks of siding. It seems as if they want to share their stories, to tell of the family that lived there, to recall the times of warmth and better times. But all one can hear is the wind, the occasional creak of a door or plank. Nothing more.

The image above was shot with a Nikon D300 and an 18-200mm zoom lens. Some adjustment to the levels and contrast were made in PhotoShop.

Summer fun is almost here - and for us, that means our annual trip to Bear Lake is coming up.

Bear lake is a beautiful Alpine Lake on the Utah-Idaho border. At an elevation of 5800 feet, the summer season is short. The water in the center of the lake can be downright cold, even in August. However, along the west shore of the lake the water is shallow and in August, when we go, the water at wading depth is very mild.

Perhaps the most unique feature of Bear Lake is the color of the water - an aquamarine blue that is Caribbean-esque.

The image of the Jet-Skier above was taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT with a 70-300mm zoom lens. Despite the fact that the camera/lens combination does not have image stabilization, the image is reasonably sharp. The photo was taken near the 300mm end of the lens at a shutter speed of 1/500.

Sometimes it's good to carry a camera.

It was Labor Day weekend and our family was camping in southern Utah. We took a day trip to Snow Canyon state park, and in the early evening found ourselves hiking up a gentle red rock slope. The sun was getting low in the western sky as we stepped up onto the next level of rock. I happened to look back and saw our shadows were falling back on the red rock we had just crossed.

The rise we stepped up onto was only about 18 inches high, so I was unafraid to ask our kids to stand close to the edge so our shadows would extend more fully onto the rock below. After a few moments we found the correct pose. Holding my camera in my left hand, I took 3-4 images before the kids were clamoring to continue with our hike.

I wasn't sure if I had captured a good shot until that night when I downloaded the days' images to the computer. Fortunately we did have a good one. This image was captured with my Canon Digital Rebel XT at about 50mm on auto. A bit of Photoshop cleanup was done to enhance the color of the rock to something closer my eye remembered it. Other than that, it was simply a lucky shot.

If you have a camera and have come across a beautiful garden, a field of wildflowers or your neighbors tulips, you've taken a photograph or two. Come on, there's no shame in admitting it. It's hard not to be attracted to colorful flowers in the right light.

It's also hard to take a photo of flowers that hasn't been done a thousand times before.

I admit, I'm the first one to fall into the trap. Every year my wife plants the same flowers in the same flower bed, and every year I take the same back-lit photos, each time thinking this will be the year I get that hero shot. And every year I find I've taken the same photo I did last year and the year before that.

This one is different. Taken in late afternoon light in a local community garden, I was struck not by the colors, but by the shapes of the stems and the lines they created, complimented by the soft fuzzy circles with their little back-lit halos. In fact, outside the green in the background, the colors are fairly muted, drawing attention, again, to the stems and circles.

You may not find this image as captivating or attracive as I do. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and all that. Still, as a flower photo is it not your ordinary tulip - and that, in itself, is an achievement for me.

This image was taken with my trusty Canon Digital Rebel on a tripod, shutter speed at 1/500 to freeze motion in the gentle breeze. Lens is a 70-300MM at somewhere north of 250mm with a shallow depth of field.

If you have seen the movie 'CARS' you'll remember one of the themes is what happened to the small but thriving rural towns when the Interstate Highways came along. Poor old Radiator Springs, along the famous Route 66, all but dried up when I-40 allowed all the traffic to bypass the town.

Most of you know of real towns that have experienced what happened to Radiator Springs in the CARS movie. I took the time on a drive from southern Utah through northern Utah to swing off of I-15 several times and visit several towns that have experienced, to some degree, a loss of traffic due to the efficiency of the freeway.

The service station in the image is in the town of Holden, Utah. I was drawn to to take this picture by the pattern the peeling blue paint on the exterior of the building, as well as the missing letters over the service bay doors. It is visually interesting, and at the same time sad. I'm sure at some point in recent history this was a thriving business.

The image was captured on a Canon Digital Rebel XT. I used a tripod and a slow shutter speed to capture as much texture as possible.

In a rural valley in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, a lonely two-lane road undulates toward the horizon. The pavement is not the traditional grey, but rather has a dull reddish tint. This gives the road a character unlike most of the other roads like this one I've explored across much of the West.

I took this photograph in the early afternoon on an overcast day. The cloud cover allowed for patches of sunlight and shade to give a mottled texture to the distant background that adds some character and interesting changes to the frame. The image was taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT and a 70-300 Zoom Lens at about a 200mm focal length. I used a tripod, bracketed for exposure and experimented significantly with framing and composition. This take, one of over fifty, pleased me the most.

As a side note, I don't recommend standing in the middle of a road to take a photograph, even on a road as deserted as this one. It is far too easy to get caught up in setting up your shot, framing your composition, bracketing your exposure and testing exposure lengths, all the while forgetting to look over your shoulder to see if a semi is barreling down on you.

With that said, I was able to stand in the middle of that road for nearly 20 minutes without a single vehicle coming from either direction.

This photo was taken in the fall of 1994, back in the days when I had a Hasselblad camera, three lenses and four different film backs. At the time I was a Television News Cameraman and and did freelance still photography on the side. I did weddings and portraits, but my real love of photography came out in my 'walks in the woods.' It was then, alone with my thoughts, my camera gear and occasionally my iPod, I would wander about and look for interesting image opportunities. I've always enjoyed rushing water, and this image of the fall foliage felt peaceful and tranquil to me. It was taken with a Hasselblad on Fuji Color transparency film at f16 @ 1/2 sec.

This image languished in my 'film file' along wih dozens of negatives and transparencies for many years. One day I decided to go through them and selected a few for some test scans. The transparency for this image was scanned on my Epson 3170 scanner at 2400 DPI. Reasonably extensive Photoshop work was required to repair scratches and remove dust spots from the scan. No color correction, balancing, enhancing or level adjustment was used - I simply repaired the damage to the image and cleaned up the inevitable dust spots.