Interesting sights

My son and I had the pleasure of attending an important banquet function last weekend for his Cub Scouts Troop #168.  It is an annual celebration of the group known as the Webelos II moving on to Boy Scouts.  Of course, it is a large dog and pony show(sometimes literally), to give the younger scouts something to strive for in the future.  Start with a nice chicken and mostaciolli dinner, then do the awards and graduation for the scouts moving on, and then entertainment, which is usually some kind of animal show, magician, or some other age appropriate entertainment. I was the event photographer this year so I had to keep my eyes open for anything interesting even if wasn't pertaining to the scouts themselves.  Here's a couple shots I found interesting.  The first of some sort of lizard, that while appearing friendly and calm, I am sure is quite a sharpshooter for any insects that come within 10" of him, The second of a little princess girl humoring herself amongst a sea of boys.  I am sure she is the sibling of a scout who was dragged along only because the whole family attended.  But, at that age it can be easy to transport yourself into your own little world and that is exactly what she was doing during the awards time.  I caught her doing her own little dance, not caring who was around or who was watching.  Probably from The Little Mermaid or Frozen or something.

Celebration

Many of you have probably seen this pic since I posted it on Facebook this weekend.  But, I have been informed that not everybody is on Facebook (Shocker!) and that I should repost the shot on my blog.  So, here it is.  The backstory to the pic is my son and I were coming home from attending an overnight sleepover at the Museum of Science and Industry with the Cub Scouts. All the activities were the night before so everyone just left as they got up and got their stuff packed.  We hit the road home around 7 am.  It was a pretty morning with the sun not quite up yet.  While driving up Lakeshore Drive to catch the expressway back home, we decided to detour and follow the drive up into Chicago since I knew there was going to be a spectacular sunrise with the clear skies, and being south of the city, I knew there would be a shot in there of the city catching the early rays.  The trick is to find a spot along the lake to park.  Luckily, we hadn't gone too far north when I found a parking area within 50 yards of the lake and it being that early on a Saturday morning, there were spots open.  My son was game so we parked it and sat and watched the sun coming up and finally, I said I wanted to get closer to the lake and see what develops over the city.  I was just 20 yards from the lake when I saw a couple in front of me waiting for the same thing as me- their shot.  All of sudden the sun popped and at the same time, I saw the young lady do a jump and raise her arms in the air.  I was just raising my camera and got a couple shots fired off while she was basking in the sun's glow and caught her excitement.  I knew it was a neat shot right away and since the boy was already bored, we didn't hang out anymore to get shots of the city.  That will be for another day.

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat

We've all seen it. Years ago for anyone anywhere close to my age, we all saw the agony of defeat every Saturday afternoon as the opening of the Wide World of Sports.  Gruesome, but, like a good train wreck, hard to turn away from.  That may be why I so look forward each year to the Norge Ski Jump held here in the area.  110th year of the event.  In Olympic years it plays a big part in determining which jumpers that go. Jump events are held year round there.  In summer, they put plastic pellets down that mimic the characteristics of snow.  In winter it is, of course, snow, either manmade or natural. 

This year seemed like a perfect weekend for the event with enough natural snow down on the ground and temps hovering around 30 degrees.  They had the usual participants from around the world and the United States.  Saturday is the junior division with jumpers as young as 7 and 8 and Sunday is for the big boys.  Due to finishing late Saturday, they had the award ceremony first thing on Sunday right after the parade of nations and states.

Skiers all hike the 760 stairs to the top of the jump for each of their jumps.  Yeah, that's why I'm not a ski jumper.  Put an elevator in, I'm in, too.

Time to jump
Get ready.

Get set.

Jump!

Stick the landing.

Or not!

Don't worry.  He ended up walking off the hill.  But, it was a nasty wipeout that opened the eyes of the officials.  Unfortunately, this was not the best day for jumping.  We didn't feel it on the ground, but I guess the winds up top were wicked.  Therefore, the rest of the day moved at a slow crawl with the officials measuring the wind and trying to send guys off in between gusts.  Crazy.  So, I only got to see about 5 more jumps in the next hour and a half.  And all the rest of the jumpers landed safely.
But, I did get to see alot of people with dead animals on their heads and honoring the European traditional garb.

All in all, a fun day.

Introducing "The Destroyer"

Yep, that is his name.  Today was the start of league play for my son for basketball. As he came out of the tunnel, each kid's name was announced.  And he was, to our surprise, called out as Derek "The Destroyer" Zelazoski.  Even more surprisingly, our last name was pronounced properly. Unfortunately, league play started with a loss, but it was a good game (the other team had a ringer or two), and Derek played well and had fun.  The best part is we like the team, we like the coach, and we like the league.  Not often you can say that in the childrens sports environment these days.  Its going to be a good season. A few shots of "The Destroyer" in action.

 

Going to the chapel...

As many of you know, I made my way to Arizona in September to visit a friend and goof around with my camera in a different environment.  Little did I know it was to be a pilgrimage as well.  One of the areas we explored was Sedona.  And, as well as being a beautiful place with all its red rock, it evidently can lead to a religious experience.  We found this cool historic church built into the existing landscape.  It is the Church of the Holy Cross.  Built in 1956.  It was a pretty neat place overlooking Sedona and its terrain.

Red Sector A

I often use song titles to title my posts.  Of course, I try to make it something people know and then I make sure it fits the picture being posted.  I veered a little tonight.  The title of the post is from a song by Rush that was on one of their albums in the mid 80's.  I know some of my readers picked up on it and even more are saying to themselves, "Oh yeah, I remember that."  But many others are saying, "Never heard of it."  Oh well.  Now you have.  But this song title popped into my head as we drove into Sedona, Arizona with all the red rock and monuments in the area.  I was amazed at the landscape of the area.  Its one of those things whereas, the Grand Canyon? Yeah, you expect to see an unbelievable spectacle.  It was great, but expected.  Driving into Sedona?  I had no idea such a place existed.  This is a shot of one of the most majestic scenes as we drove through the town.

What's Black and White.......and red all over?

Riddle for the day- see the title of this post.  Aw come on.  This is the oldest riddle in the book.  I'm not sure what the real answer is either. But here it is a black crow sitting in a snowy field in front of a big red barn.  Talk about your contrasting colors. 

Holiday Express

Being the lucky guy that I am, my son indulges me in my favorite pasttime........sometimes.  Coming back from our holiday up nort', I asked if he minded if we hit some backroads on the way back to Illinois to see if I could find any shots to take with my camera.  And he obliged.  We were about to finish and get back on the main road when I hear that whistle blowing and saw it rollin' round the bend.  A train.  And not a passenger train, but a freight train. Always fun to find a freight train en route.  Great sound.  Great visual.  And when on a backroad in northern Wisconsin, you can pretty much stand in the middle of the tracks until your own fear makes your feet move.  That's what I did, but as much as my own fear played a part, I felt I better move before I really freaked out the conductor.  Here is a shot that I got.  The only part that's disappointing is the conductor/engineer, who you can barely see in the cab in the right hand corner, was wearing a basic t-shirt instead of the classic idea of "conductor wear" of a billed train engineer cap and suspenders.  Oh well.

Off the beaten path

Traveling some of the backroads of Northern Wisconsin, it never ceases to amaze me some of the structures you find.  A turn down a gravel road and a few more zig zags brought me to this dwelling.  While obviously not lived in at the time, if ever, the area around it was nicely kept up with a little bridge going over a ditch and the remains of what was a little swingset.  The bridge was fairly new, nothing else was.  There wasn't another structure within 2 miles of the property.  Fixed up and the addition of a hot tub and a satellite dish would make it a nice little mancave for Sunday afternoons.

What did I do?

Out West, at almost any time of the day, I noticed, you could look around you, and in some direction or another you would find an incredible cloud bank. This would happen several times a day and it would kind of just creep up on you.  Here is a shot of just one of the many cloud banks we saw.  Even more impressive when you have a mountain or something in front of you and you come around a corner and see a mammoth spectacle like this one.  But, what bothered me here, is I always had the feeling someone, or something, was flipping me off.  I don't what I did, but I got over it.

We've Got A Jumper

Growing up in Northern Wisconsin, there was a local river spot where, as kids, we would hang out some in the summer.  One of the highlights was the crazy guys and gals who would jump from a set of rocks down into a small pool of water. It was a 40 foot leap of faith.  Trust me, it looked much higher standing at the top of those rocks.  I experienced it. And each year 99.6% of the people attempting the jump survived.   While out West, my buddy took me on  hike to a similar area.  Known about only by the locals.  About a mile trek along a river to a secluded area.  Perfect for the younguns' to hang and sip some "soda pops".  And they, of course, could not pass the opportunity to live on the edge.  Or jump from it.  I took a few moments, and shots, of a young gal as she was coaxed on and tested by her friends to make her first jump.  She passed the test with flying colors.

May I have this dance?

Haven't been to a high school varsity football game in many years.  While on vacation in Arizona, I had a chance to go to one due to my buddy's hometown team was playing in the area we happened to be that night.  Sounded like a good way to soak up the local vibe.  And it was.  And we got to witness his teams running back score like 6 or maybe even 7 touchdowns while enroute to a 400 yard night of rushing.  Incredible.  I was able to practice some sport photography during the contest.  Unfortunatly, all that practice just proved I need to practice more, especially under the lights.  Not many keepers out of the bunch, but I did get one that shows the intimacy of the game.  Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Deer Arizona,

They aren't actually deer, but saying "Elk Arizona", doesn't work.  Some of the Arizona wildlife sneaking through the woods.  They were pretty skittish during my time there; it was hunting season for them.  Might have seen a nice bull with them, but I think we saw him in the back of someone's truck earlier in the day.

Morning has broken

And when it breaks over the ridges of the Grand Canyon, it really breaks.  In my limited travels, I don't know if I've ever seen a better place to witness the dawning of new day, as I'm sure the guy in the picture believes also.  He was probably thinking that same thing,..... or planning a jump to end it all.  I'll go with the first option.

Sharp eye development

One of my memories as a kid growing up in Northern Wisconsin is my dad being able to pick out a deer moving through the woods while we are driving down the road at 50+ miles an hour.  I'm sure those abilities came with him being a deer hunter, boredom while driving the miles of countryside roads, and just a natural development of looking for wildlife.  Back in the day, you HAD to look for deer since they weren't as numerous as today and the roads were not as wide as today, therefore, it was a matter of avoiding an accident with the four legged creature.  I was always amazed when he would point them out standing in the edge of the thicket along the roads.  These days, especially since I started my photography journey, I have gotten quite good at it myself.  Sometimes deer, but often times Herons, Egrets, Hawks, and other small game.  Its always satisfying to spot these creatures when no one else around you does.  But, that is changing.  With all the times I've pointed said creatures out to my son, the tables are reversing.  While heading out to bring my son to school the other morning, he says, "Look dad" and points ahead.  I'm not seeing what he is seeing so he reemphasizes and points again.  Still not seeing what he does, he finally says "Look.  A hawk in that tree."  Sure enough, straight ahead just above eye level was a young hawk staring back. I pulled over and told him it was worth being late for school to get some shots of this guy.  He, of course, agreed. As I struggle to get my gear out, the hawk takes flight and swoops over my van, about 10" above the hood enroute to try and snag a young black squirrel(yeah, how about that, an actual black squirrel). He missed, but landed on a fence to wait for another chance.  That chance never came as he sat there for what seemed an eternity.  Even with me stepping closer and closer, snapping multiple shots with each step..  Eventually, again, a reversal of the norm, I got tired of shooting shots and decided to get my kid to the education system he needs while the hawk continues to sit there and check out his surroundings.  I got great shots, but the best part is knowing that the kid is always watching and learning from the old man even when you think he's not.  Wait a second.  That might not be a good thing come to think about it.

Rollin' In

A beautiful sunset over the Grand Canyon with the fog rollin' in to the canyon.

Isolated

Not much to say here but while walking down one of the sides of the canyon, I looked up to see this lone Yucca.  With very little greenery around and sunset approaching, it stood out like a lake in the desert.

Overwhelmed

We got our first look of the big hole in the ground near sunset.  Here was my first view and shot of the canyon.  So big.  So beautiful. So overwhelming.

Fields of Gold

So, we were driving in the higher elevations of Arizona and as we come out of a forested area we noticed to our left a sight that as a "photographer" made me scream "STOP" to my friend and driver, Brian.  At first, I think, he thought we were about to hit something or run off the edge of a mountain, but he eventually realized why I was in a panic to stop the car.  You see, usually when I do my photographic journeys, I am always the driver and by myself.  And when I see the shot, I hit the brakes.  Sometimes hard.  Me screaming "STOP" was my way of applying the brakes. I first noticed the neverending field of yellow, like the color that shows up in overhead shots of fields of tulips.  I always wanted to come across a field like that and try to get a great shot like I've seen in some of my photo magazines. Didn't think I ever would.  Next, as I scanned the field, it was hard to miss the mountain rising up in the background. What a great contrasting background.  Then, my eyes caught the farmstead to the right. Nice little addition to the grandiosity of the field and mountain.  Throw in a barbwire fence in the foreground, you got one of my favorite shots of the trip. I fired off a bunch of shots from different angles and camera settings and we finally continued moving on.  Most of the time after  trying to capture a scene like this, you leave and are not really sure if you got what you were attempting to capture. Often times, pics don't come out like you saw it with your very own eyes.  As we were driving out of the area, we discussed whether we thought I get a keeper out of my shots of the field.  We both nodded in agreement that there were going to definitely be keepers in that bunch of shots. Here's two of them.

Where's Hoss and Little Joe

You would think if you heard the terms "Ponderosa Pines" you would see Pa, or Little Joe, or Hoss hanging  around.  (Maybe I'm dating myself). But, I didn't see any of them.  The pines, though, were quite magnificent. Most of the mountains of Northern Arizona are covered with them.  I'm sure the ones I was seeing or had access to were not necessarily virgin pines.  Even so, they were very distinct looking and quite tall.  I can only imagine how big the originals were maybe 150 years ago.  Here's a black and white shot.  I have color shots, too, but the midday sun was playing havoc with colors and lens flares.