Nov
07
2010
Fall Foliage Photo Roadtrip By The Numbers
Road Trip
1 Vehicle
3 People
62 hours
850+ Miles
7 Mountain Passes
4 Stops for Gas
~60 Gallons of Gas
1 sunset
0 sunrises
1 Hostel
1 Hotel
3 Baby Raccoons
1 Mama Raccoon
~10 Mule Deer
2 bats
1 angry squirrel
1 Amazing red tail hawk flyover
5 fake animals
3 Gun Shots
4 Closed on a Sunday morning coffee shops.
13 shots of espresso
12 peaches
186 Shutter Actuations ( for me )
0 knock-my-socks-off aspen stands
5-10 aspen stands worth shooting
7 photos I’m keeping.
“You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit”
Oct
18
2010
Heather’s Macaroni and Cheese
It’s fall in Colorado again. The days are getting shorter and taking my precious sunlight with them. The aspens all over have been turning for the last month or so and while I’ve got photos of them I still haven’t processed them. So in lieu of that here is another food post.
With the temperature coming down we stop grilling so much and I start craving some good old comfort food. One of my favorites is Heather’s Macaroni and Cheese.
Ingredients
Besides being yummy this is super easy to make. Basically, after cooking up the noodles, you just mix everything together and bake it for half an hour. The way we make it is pretty basic because then not only we eat it but the kids will eat it too but when the kids were not around we made it with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce minced and it added a nice kick.
Family Dinner
Heather’s Macaroni and Cheese:
2 ½ cups Elbow Macaroni, slightly undercooked
1 Egg lightly beaten
2 cups (16 oz.) Cottage Cheese
1 cup (8 oz.) Sour Cream or Plain Yogurt
1 tsp. dried Oregano
1 tsp. dried Basil
¼ tsp. Celery Seed
¼ tsp. Onion Granuals
¼ tsp. Garlic Granuals
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 cups shredded Cheese divided (Cheddar + any of the following to make a total of 4 cups: Monterey Jack, Swiss, Mozzerella, and Parmesean)
Paprika and dried Parsley for garnish
Combine cottage cheese, sour cream, egg, herbs, and spices along with half of the shredded cheese. Add cooked macaroni and mix well. Poor into a greesed 9×13” pan top with remaining shredded cheese then sprinkle with paprika and parsley. At this point you can either freeze the casserole or bake in a 350º oven for 45 minutes. (When baking a frozen casserole do not preheat oven, cover with foil, then remove foil for an additional 15 minutes to the baking time.)
Tasty additions: 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce minced.
Oct
10
2010
Where the alligator roam, part 2.
This is the second part in the two part series, where the alligator roam, about two trips I took to western Florida this summer. In the first part I talked about my trip in March and visiting Myakka State Park. The second trip I took was in September, just a couple of weeks ago. The primary purpose of this trip was to help my parents with some much needed tech support so between that and the oppressive heat I didn’t do much outdoors. I did spend one day geocaching with my dad, a first for him, and another day we all went to the Florida Aquarium.
While we may not have enjoyed the end of summer heat, the spiders seemed to love it. The Golden Orb-Web spider was busy putting up webs that were between 4-8 feet in diameter. The female of the species would hang out in the center of these webs and was as big as my fist.
Looking At You
Golden Glow
Towards the end of my trip we took a drive into Tampa and visited the Florida Aquarium. What is unique about this aquarium is that it devotes a significant amount of it’s space to showing off and explaining the local ecology.
Alligator Friendship
Many people feel strongly about photographing animals in captivity. I understand both sides if the argument and really only have a problem with people misrepresenting where they took the photograph. I really like when you can find a way to include the enclosure into a good photograph. This was my take on a classic example of this.
Tank Silhouette
Eel Watching
After a week it was finally time for me to head back home. Every time I visit Florida I am amazed ( and a bit saddened ) at how people took a swamp and jungle and turned it into a state with the fourth highest population. If you take the time to venture out there are some very unique things to find.
Sep
22
2010
Where the alligator roam, part 1.
In the past 4 months I have had the unique opportunity to visit Florida, specifically the areas around Tampa and Sarasota, twice. The first time was in May when Florida is just creeping out of it’s winter and the second was just a week ago where the September heat was brutally oppressive. Where I stayed was inland where the city has given way to farmers and ranchers and the swamp is always just about to take over. The absolute night and day that Florida is to Colorado fascinates me and so I never go down there without my camera. Let’s be honest, I rarely go anywhere without it.
Looking At You
In May I was able to get up early two mornings in a row and go to Myakka River State Park and go to a site my dad showed me to photograph alligators and other wildlife. The alligators did not disappoint and I was able to photograph them as well as some blue herons.
Dinosaurs and Dragonflies
Ripple on the Throat
The next day my dad came with me and he showed me another place in Myakka River State Park to shoot where I was able to get the sunrise photo that I opened this post with. While the alligators were not so cooperative on this morning, the birds were more than happy to pose.
Morning Break On The Dam
Blocking The Light
Myakka River State Park was a really neat place to see a lot of the wildlife and habitat that is native in a state that is more well known for their large cities and voting faux pas. Our family also visited Busch Gardens on that trip but I left the camera home that day, choosing instead to enjoy the thrill of the roller coasters. Heather and I had a blast riding Sheikra with it’s 2 90 degree drops. ( Video not shot by me, contains cussing, jump to 1:00 to start the ride. )
In the next post I’ll talk about the photos I was able to take in September.
