Steve and I took a little road trip down the Fernberg and then over to the Echo Trail today. We started out looking for Showy Ladyslippers, and then took photos of whatever looked interesting. A few from the day:





Pro Tip #4 - Sometimes you have to get down and dirty to get the shot:










Just a great day! Thanks Steve!

I really like the grouse, but what kind of wild animal is that laying in the weeds, in the third shot? I can't find anything like it in my books. Actually, I pretty much like them all.

Love them all as well, the first and the waterfall and the other shot of the...un-named species on the ground. Steve you are braver than I. I would have poison ivy just looking at the ground! You are really under the gun this week Ken, payback might be an issue!

Ken, I love the Lady Slippers and the waterfall. Very nice. Steve must really be a nice guy to forgive and forget about the other day.

Must say, Steve knew all the places today, and helped me with a couple of tech issues I've never dealt with before. I meant the "down and dirty" as a compliment. He would go to no end to get the "great photo". I'm sure he's going to post some from today, and I think a couple will knock your socks off!

Hey, no sock knocking! But here they come. Ken's a great companion and an easy fella to be around. I kept joshing him about buying one of my spare bodies (camera bodies, dudes!) so I could upgrade to a better backup and he took it like a champ.

Figured I owed him one after the fat, dumb and irritated pose he caught me in the other day.

I even found a piece of gear a photo excursion client lost last week, and man was HE happy to get an e-mail a few hours ago letting him know.

Good company, good subjects, good country, good day. What's better than that?

All with the Canon 30D or Canon 350D, all at iso400


Cotton grass in a bog
Canon 17-40 f4L at 17mm, 1/100 at f22, handheld





You are SO busted
Canon 400 f5.6L, 1/500 at f5.6, Manfrotto 680B monopod





Momma grouse
Canon 400 f5.6L, 1/100 at f5.6, handheld





Baby grouse
Canon 400 f5.6L, 1/160 at f5.6, monopod




Little Indian Sioux River (he!! is spelled m-o-s-q-u-i-t-o)
Canon 70-200 f2.8L at 85mm, 4 sec at f32, Manfrotto 724B tripod, remote shutter release, custom functions including mirror lockup and noise reduction at long exposures




Dewy showy
Canon 17-40 f4L at 17mm, 1/400 at f7.1, handheld




Quite the pair
Canon 100 f2.8 macro, 1/1000 at f2.8, handheld




Fungus boy, with one BIG oyster mushroom
Canon 17-40 f4L at 19mm, 1/60 at f8, off camera 430EX flash at -2 flash exposure compensation, handheld flash and camera




The only image I call art that I took all day. It's an underneath view of the pair of mushrooms in the above image
Canon 17-40 f4L at 29mm, 1/30 at f8, handheld, silver reflection disc to bump light into shadows, no fancy Photoshop filters or other special effects applied

Very nice Steve! I really like the last one. I'd call it art too!

Sounds like a great day.

Great stuff Ken and Steve! You both took many fantastic shots.

Hey, some great shots, Steve!. Well all but one anyway. The mamma grouse, Little Indian/Sioux River and that gill 'room are competing as my favorite. Great day!

Oh, and instead of being known as "fungus boy", "funguy" would suffice!

What a great bunch of photos the two of you got. I envy you guys for the photo ops that abound, in your neck of the woods. You guys sure had a productive day.

I rethought the crop on the oyster mushroom and here's what I came up with. I warmed it up a bit (it had been at 3800 degrees originally) and decided this version makes a much clearer statement without the clutter of the first image.

They both have their good points. I think you're right, though. The second is more focused on the pattern of the gills, and the light makes almost ethereal!

Great pictures guys! Ya'll must have a great time together