Axtell Anceney Road Photo Drive (Southwest Montana)

Faced with a beautiful fall day in Bozeman, I had a decision to make: try to get in one more round of golf, or slip out for some fall photography. Given that I'm still limping around a bit on a bum leg, I decided it might be better to skip walking nine holes and go on a photo drive instead. It doesn't hurt that great photo shooting days have been hard to come by this fall, what with the sub-freezing weather we had in early October. We really didn't have any fall color thanks to the early freeze, but the crisp blue sky on display today was enough to entice me out with my camera.

I decided to drive the Axtell Anceney Road, which connects US 191 (the road to Big Sky) with SR 84 (the road to Norris). This road is impassable when wet, but we haven't had any moisture in the past week so I was good to go.

One of the things I love about Montana is how easy it is to find relative solitude so quickly. After driving Axtell Anceney only 4 miles, I had the road to myself for the next two hours - with the exception of two vehicles, two dirt bikes, and a guy driving a tractor.

I shot only 88 frames today - several bracketed exposures for HDR (which I decided were unnecessary after getting the photos into LightRoom) and several of the same composition using different lenses just to play. Here are my favorite shots from the day.

                     

Click here to download:

Axtell_Anceney_Road-84.zip (11479 KB)

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Montana Sunset from Little Bear Road

I took a photo drive tonight to capture one of the great sunsets we've been having in the Gallatin Valley lately. When you're scouting for a good location, sometimes you just have to take the best spot you can find when the light starts to prime. Tonight, I was driving the Little Bear Road southeast of Gallatin Gateway when I saw this vantage point. I drove another 1/2 mile or so up the road just to ensure nothing better was around the next corner, then returned to this spot. After double-checking the composition, I set up my tripod and waited for the light.

I took several exposures (just short of 100) as the sunset changed over the course of 40 minutes or so. I also walked back up the road to look north toward the Bridgers for the small pano shot you see here.

Pano shot with my 14-54mm; sunset shot with my 50mm prime. Source shots post-processed in Lightroom, then merged in CS4 using the Pano function and layer mask, respectively.

   

Click here to download:

Montana_Sunset_from_Little_Bea.zip (1018 KB)

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School House Memories - Bannack, Montana

I love shooting in Bannack, one of the best-preserved ghost towns in Montana. This August marked my second visit in as many summers - I hope to get back often.

Here, I let the post-processing run wild: an aged photo treatment and subtle vignette raise echoes of the past that you most certainly feel when visiting this special place. Shot with my 14-45mm lens at 14mm; 1/80 sec. at f3.5.

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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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It Ain't Called 'Big Sky' for Nuthin'

To create this panoramic, I stitched together seven separate shots taken at the Headwaters State Park in Montana. I sometimes marvel how blessed we are to live in a place like this.

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Crane at Dusk - Headwaters State Park, Montana

This evening, my friend Brant Nyberg and I trekked out to the Headwaters State Park near Three Forks, Montana for some golden hour photography. Headwaters State Park marks a special spot in Montana where three rivers - The Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin - join to form the Missouri. We had actually packed up and were driving back to Bozeman when we saw this crane standing in reflective water by the roadside. I nearly racked out my 70-300mm Zuiko lens to capture this image (on a tripod, of course). A great end to an enjoyable evening.

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Sledding - Cooke City, Montana

Spring has arrived in the high country! With our friends who were in town from Minnesota, we took the kids sledding yesterday in the hills just outside Cooke City, Montana. Here are a few pics from the afternoon's fun.

                                     

Click here to download:

Sledding_-_Cooke_City_Montana.zip (917 KB)

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Snowplay - New Years Day

Here are a few pics I took during our afternoon playing in the snow here at the cabin - we've got a bit of snow!

             

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New_Years_Snow_Play_7.zip (476 KB)

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Cooke City Snowmobiling - December 2008

We're finally at the family cabin near Silver Gate, Montana. This afternoon, we went out to the mountains above Cooke City for some snowmobiling. This area is a mecca for back-country snowmobiling - folks come from all over to enjoy the area's abundant snowfall (usually over 15' per season). We're still pretty early in the season - there's probably not more than 4' yet. Even so, we've had enough snow in the past week that the sledding is pretty decent. Most rocks are hidden and there's some good powder to be had.

I like to take a camera along for the ride to snap some powder pics. This can be a challenge given that my E500 is not weatherized. I carry my camera and a second lens in my Kata T212 Torso pack. Although I wear the pack under my coat to protect it from the snow, I still place the camera and lens in a sealed plastic bag to protect it from stray snow and condensation.

Here are a few pics I took today. It was snowing pretty heavily, so the light was not good. Still, I think we got some decent action shots.

         

Click here to download:

Cooke_City_Snowmobiling_-_Dece.zip (331 KB)

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Wine Start-Up Secrets

Some good friends of mine have just launched a new wine - plonk. The term 'plonk' has a long and storied history. The Boston Globe has a "Plonk of the Month" wine section that highlights affordable wines that are very enjoyable. They define 'plonk' as, "a word which was used to describe the cheapest wine available in a cafe, goes back at least to the first World War, and may have been an English corruption of the French "vin blanc" (white wine)". The name was perfect for my friends - they wanted to cut through the snobbery that sometimes surrounds the industry to create a great wine at a reasonable price.

The road to plonk launch was long and involved. In 2003, Michael (one of the partners) helped open a wine bar in Bozeman, Montana called "plonk".  About a year later, he decided to trademark the term to create a brand of wines. Since separated from the bar, he launched a company with two wine-loving friends (P3W inc.) to bring plonk to life. Their first wine, "plonk red," has just been released and is now being distributed throughout Montana.

Michael has started a great blog to chronicle the trials and tribulations of plonk launch. If you've ever dreamed of creating your own line of fine wine, you need to check this out. Follow the plonk path from a small town in Montana to worldwide distribution, fame and fortune at http://plonk.posterous.com.

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