Musings from the last best place - Thoughts on living and working in Montana

More Shots from Our Bozeman Photo Walk

Here are several more shots taken last week during a photo walk in downtown Bozeman. I took these shots at the Farmer's Market in Bogert Park and near the Bozeman Public Library and Lindley Park. All shots taken hand-held with my Olympus e500 and 14-45mm lens. Raw files post-processed in LightRoom.

                 
Click here to download:
More_Shots_from_Our_Bozeman_Ph.zip (4379 KB)

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Filed under  //   Bozeman   Montana   Photo Walk   Photography  
Posted September 21, 2009
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Jason Lezak Swim Clinic - Bozeman, Montana

Today, my daughter had a chance to learn from one of the best: Jason Lezak. If you watched the Beijing Olympics, you saw him come from behind in the anchor leg of the 4x100m relay to defeat the favored French team. He explained in his remarks that he had previously been a part of several 4x100's that were not quite so successful, which made the win in Beijing that much sweeter.

Jason's presentation was great for the kids to hear: he focused on the importance of priorities, goals, and banishing negative thoughts or using them to create positive energy.

In the afternoon, Jason gave a two hour freestyle clinic to master swimmers and several members of the Barracuda swim team. Emily was thrilled to be a part of it and left the pool exclaiming, "You can't believe how much faster I can swim now!" Only time will tell if that's the case, but I am pleased that she was inspired by the experience. Kudos to the Bozeman Master's swim team for bringing Jason to Bozeman and to Eagle Mount - the organization here in town for whom the visit served as a fundraiser.

Here's an image of Emily and Jason on deck after the clinic.

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Filed under  //   Bozeman   Jason Lezak   swimming  
Posted January 31, 2009
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Drinking Horse Mountain HDR

I've been intrigued by HDR photography for several months now. In fact, I've started manually bracketing several of my shots just so I could try my hand at HDR when I was ready. In layman's terms, HDR photography involves combining several images taken at different exposures into a single image. By combining the separate images, you are able to create a final image that has a greater dynamic range than a single digital image capture could ever contain. You can read more about HDR here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging.

Because I don't own Photoshop, I was at a bit of a loss on where to start with HDR. So instead of trying to manually pin and merge the images using Photoshop Elements, I decided to investigate several commercially available HDR software packages.

Using the default application settings and stubbornly refusing to read more documentation than absolutely necessary, I tested three different packages: FDR Tools, Dynamic Photo HDR, and PhotoMatix Pro. The point of this post is not to describe the workings of each, but rather to show the source image files and the output each application created for a beginning user.

The first eight images are the source images - the bracketed shots I took that go from properly exposed for the sky to properly exposed for the hills and trees in the foreground.

The final three shots show the output of each program, in order. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on which look you prefer. I think my eye is drawn to the PhotoMatix treatment.

                     

Click here to download:
Drinking_Horse_Mountain_HDR.zip (3684 KB)

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Filed under  //   Bozeman   Drinking Horse Mountain   HDR   Montana   Photography  
Posted October 20, 2008
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Biking and Hiking in Bozeman, Montana

Yesterday, I took a personal leave day from scheduletown.com to spend some time with my family. In the morning, we went mountain biking up Sourdough Canyon. We only went up about three miles - don't think I'm ready to take the kids on the Wall of Death just yet (Am I ready? Probably not!). There's an outhouse along the trail, and it was near there that we had a bit of a close call with what we suspect was a bear - we chose not to stick around long enough to find out for sure. But the fresh scat on the bushes down by the river was a pretty good sign, along with the huffing in the underbrush. Needless to say, our idyllic moment beside the creek didn't last long.

In the afternoon, we decided to hit the new Drinking Horse Mountain Trail. It's been open only a few weeks. If you're familiar with Bozeman, it's located directly across from the 'M' trail and starts near the fish hatchery. It was a cool little hike (about four miles round-trip). We took the 'easier' path; the wife and kids weren't feeling particularly energetic after our morning ride. At the top, I took a few snapshots before we returned down the same trail.

All in all, it was a mentally, spiritually refreshing day. It's always good to spend time outdoors - especially when you're living in Montana!

           

Click here to download:
Biking_and_Hiking_in_Bozeman_M.zip (4427 KB)

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Filed under  //   Biking   Bozeman   Drinking Horse Mountain   Hiking   Montana   Mountains   Photography  
Posted October 18, 2008
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Bozeman .Net User Group Rides Again!

Tonight I attended the first Montana .Net User Group meeting to occur in 16 months. It was cool to meet other developers from the valley and hear about their various projects. The current plan is to meet every other month - I hope I can encourage some of my co-workers to attend in the future. Tonight I was joined by Chad Coley and Adrienne Herren from ScheduleTown.com. The more interaction and involvement we can get, the more vibrant the conversation and value to everyone involved.

Special thanks to Joe Walkuski of TexBase and Prairie Lee of TechRanch for helping get the user group back on its feet. And thanks to Eva Skidmore of Microsoft who presented details on the Microsoft Partner Program tonight.

If anyone is interested, TechRanch is hosting a networking event Thursday, October 16 at Pub 317 in downtown Bozeman. You must RSVP to Prairie Lee at TechRanch to attend. See you there!

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Filed under  //   Bozeman   Montana .Net User Group   Software Development  
Posted October 14, 2008
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Who's Getting Hooked Here? A Review of My Current Fly Fishing Expenditures

Recently I blogged about the fly fishing class I'm taking through Bozeman Adult Ed. I've been through two classes now, and I'm still an enthusiastic student. In fact, I've started 'investing' the cash it takes to get going with this hobby. The tally so far:
  • Rod and reel - I'm good here, as I have an 8.5' rod from Cabela's that I bought about seven years ago (it's cheap, but it will do the job for a beginner). The rod has seen precious little use - I bought it right before a trip to Alaska, thinking I needed to take a rod with me like every other guy who heads to the great white north. In fact, we went deep-sea fishing - twice - and I think I wet the fly line once for 15 minutes (with no success). Of course I had no idea what I was doing, so that's to be expected. I used the rod again late this summer in Montana's Beartooth mountains (Companion Lake) and caught a couple of small Rainbows; that was enough to remind me of the fun I had fishing during my childhood and suggest how cool it might be if I actually had a clue. Hence, the fly fishing class.
  • Waders - Were this August instead of October, I'd probably skip the waders for now and just learn by wet wading. But with winter fast approaching, I'm not overly thrilled at the thought of standing in water that's getting colder by the day. So yesterday, my wife and I (notice how I wisely invited the decision maker along) had lunch together and then slipped over to the big 3 day sale at the Greater Yellowstone Flyfishers shop in Four Corners. There, I picked up a set of Cloudveil 8x chest waders for an obscenely low price that I hesitate to mention. Let's just say I picked up a top-of-the-line set of waders at a price I should have paid for a good starter pair.
  • Wading boots - Waders are no good without wading boots. So after I got the great deal on the Cloudveils, I had to pick up a pair of boots. For that, I trekked over to Bob Ward's in Bozeman where I got a pair of William Joseph W20 wading boots for $60 - again, a great deal (retail is $98). I keep reminding my wife that it's not what you spend - it's what you save!
  • Bear mace - If you're going to spend time outdoors in Montana, you have to be bear-aware. Part of that awareness is carrying bear mace. It's basically strong pepper spray that will - hopefully - deter a bear in full charge if you manage to spray her in the face before she takes you down. Of course, the fact that the spray reaches only 30 feet means you've got to display some pretty big cajones to stand your ground until the bear is in range. Perhaps it's fortunate that a griz in full charge can cover that distance in just over a second - you won't have much time to worry about it! The stuff's not foolproof, but it's sure better than nothing. I paid $35 for a can at Sierra Trading Post.
That's it so far, although I guess I've also dropped a few bucks to pick up a handful of flys and nymphs. Now I just need to get out on the river - something that will hopefully happen next weekend.

This is gonna be cool...

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Filed under  //   Adult Ed   Bozeman   Fly Fishing   Montana  
Posted October 4, 2008
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First Fly Fishing Class

So I attended my first fly fishing class last night as part of Bozeman's Adult Education program (http://www.bozeman.k12.mt.us/adlted/). It's taught by Bruce Hemmings and offers five 2-hour sessions plus two field trips on the river for a measly $50. Count me in!

I've already picked up some good information that will help me as I take up this new hobby. This will seem pretty basic to those of you already in the know, but to a complete neophyte like me it was huge.
  1. Fish always face upstream. Therefore, if you fish from downstream (working your way upstream as you go), you'll catch more fish. By casting forward and letting your fly drift into the fish, you'll avoid being seen and bring your fly into the fish in the way they normally feed.
  2. 85% of the time, fish feed below water. So while catching a fish on a dry fly is more exciting, you'll likely catch more fish on nymphs. If you don't see fish rising, use a nymph.
  3. Caddisflies, Mayflies, and other aquatic bugs lay their eggs in riffles that are usually 6" to 2.5' deep. Trout will hang out downstream from these riffles - and sometime even spend time in the riffle to pick up a quick meal. Fish these areas of the river, especially when fishing nymphs.
I'm looking forward to the next four sessions and to the time on the water later this month. Hats off to Bozeman Adult Ed for offering this great class!

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Filed under  //   Adult Ed   Bozeman   Fly Fishing   Montana  
Posted September 23, 2008
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Cherry River Wetlands, Bozeman, MT

My family and I love the great trail systems that exist in and around Bozeman. Not three minutes from my office, I can be running on trails that lead all the way out of town. I shot this series at the Cherry River area, a wetlands just north of Bozeman.

           

Click here to download:
Wagon_and_cabin_in_Bannack_a_M.zip (355 KB)

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Filed under  //   Bozeman   Cherry River Wetlands   Montana   Photography  
Posted September 22, 2008
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