Selective Focus Photography

2011-06-07T06:21:00.005-05:00

2011-06-07T06:21:00.003-05:00

2011-06-07T06:21:00.001-05:00

Goblin Valley State Park - Utah

2011-04-21T14:30:00.004-05:00

I made a business trip out to Western Utah and found a "shortcut" back home via Escalante, Boulder and Capitol Reef NP. cutting cross country back to I-70, I saw a familiar sign, one that I had passed several times, Goblin Valley State Park. Decided this was the day to run out there. the time of day was ideal but close. Started a little late and spent a few extra minutes in Capitol Reef, a good excuse for not being optimal in the lighting situation. Goblin Valley is just off the highway between Green River and Capitol Reef NP. I short 15 minute drive and I was sitting at an overlook seeing literally hundreds (ok, maybe thousands) of mounds capped with dome of rock. Looking like a HUGE field of mushrooms, the park is just downright fun to walkabout and explore.

Away For Awhile

2011-04-21T14:26:00.001-05:00

I almost forgot I had this blog so I need to get back on it soon. Maybe I can finally do something with it?!?

Tanzanian Photo Safari

2010-02-21T08:32:00.004-06:00

The trip to Tanzania in 2011 is being finalized with exact dates, rates and accommodations. If you are at all interested in making a photo safari to this fabulous country please send me an e-mail asking to be added to the mailing list. I know that several people have already asked to be added to the list. I expect to have things ready to send out in about 6 to 8 weeks. I am also posting information on my web site at http://selective-focus.com along with some information about the areas we will be visiting. I have made every effort to keep the costs reasonable while still making this a photo safari with fewer people per vehicle and the same excellent guides and drivers we have always had on these trips. We will be using Unique Safaris, wholly owned and operated out of Tanzania. The trip will start in late May 2011 and we will return to the US in early June. There are many photos from previous trips available online at Flickr.

Hope to see you onboard this great trip!

Jim & Cindy Griggs

Store in the Flint Hills

2009-12-31T14:20:00.004-06:00

Interesting little store in the Flint Hills. The store was built shortly after World War II and continues to operate to this day by the same proprietor, actually the wife of the original builder. She lives across the street and walks across to open the store with her walker which is in the photo near the steps. Amazingly, she is legally blind or at least close to it. We stopped in to buy a soft drink and package of chips/pretzels. I try to stop every time I drive passed the store and it is open. My total was $1.65 and I handed her a $5. She held it up to her glasses and asked what it was. I told her a $5 and she said, "OK" and counted out change. I am told that local residents and people that she knows make their own change. Not telling exactly where this is because some idiot will want to go rob this poor woman who is on her own and spritely! Got to love that generation!

Fall Grass and Buffalo

2009-12-12T16:42:00.002-06:00

From an earlier trip to Maxwell, when the grass was spectacular in color and texture. This morning found the buffalo along the roadway and close enough for some nice images. I must have shot 8 gigs worth of shots that morning. Several were just excellent and this one turned out OK as well. I read a post by Clark Crenshaw about a technique he used overlaying a B&W version with lowered opacity. I will try that with this image and post it soon.

2009-12-12T16:40:00.001-06:00

Could not resist cropping this as a panorama. The bison that day were in a line across the prairie and moving my way. I shot several images like this one before they got too close to get many of them in one shot. The flowers were at their peak or near peak for fall.

Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge

2009-12-03T18:59:00.003-06:00

I try to get through the refuge several times a year. the best time to be there is in November and December when the snow geese are in town, towing along their "friends" the bald eagles. The geese count has been very low this year, maybe 150,000 vs. the normal 300,000+ that usually show up by T'Day. The eagles were there, official count showed 18, but none were anywhere accessible for visitors except for one lone guy who was silhouetted against a very bald sky.

Squaw Creek is about 3 hours from home, maybe 4, but is on one of my normal routes to see customers. Stopped in for sunset on Monday night then I was back for sunrise the next morning. Shots below are from both days:

Depot - Shawnee, OK

2009-11-27T19:36:00.003-06:00

One of the earliest things I can remember doing as a child was riding with my mom on a train from Shawnee, OK to Houston, TX. I was almost 4 years old. It was an exciting time to be boarding a train. I don't remember much but I remember the seats, the window and getting to travel all night. OK, maybe I was asleep for a lot of it, but it is still a memory I can recall. The year would have been 1950. My brother was not around yet but was "in the hanger" which is very appropriate since he became a pilot eventually. I always drive by the station when I am in Shawnee just to see what photo ops exist and every time it is cloudy or dreary. Thanksgiving day was EXCELLENT! Required a delay before lunch so that I could get out and walk around this fine bit of architecture and history. It is now a museum and warrants a return visit to see the inside, not that I remember anything about the old depot, but somehow I want to see that part of history. Having traveled in Europe by train, this station has none of the size and grandeur of some of their stations but then most of the ones in Europe I visited were new, the old ones demolished in conflicts.

Photographers in the Mist

2009-11-22T19:14:00.003-06:00

Just completed the annual meeting of the Great Plains Nature Photographers here in Kansas. Attendance was almost 140. Our featured speaker this year was none other than world renowned conservation writer and photographer, Boyd Norton. Excellent programs were presented about his work and the history of saving places both wild and beautiful all over the world. We also had a very interesting presentation by Gene Worsley of MPIX concerning color and color space.

I have been a friend of Boyd's since 1981. he and his wife, Barb, drove in from Denver on Thursday and spent the weekend at our place in McPherson. Great evenings of wine/beer/food and conversation. To make the weekend even that more special for me we also had Keith Schwamkrug (an excellent photographer and teacher of Photoshop) here along with great friend Allen Crenshaw (I worked for Allen in his studio in Denison, TX back in the 70's) and his brother Clark Crenshaw (a fine art photographer from Dallas, TX). WOW! Could not have been better for me in any way.

On Friday we drove out early to Maxwell Wildlife Refuge near Canton, KS. The goal was to photograph bison and elk on the refuge. The fog was so thick we were not sure we would even see any much less get chances to shoot images. Refuge worker and wildlife expert, Owen, took us out on the range in the refuge pick up. Within 10 minutes he had us in the middle of a herd of Bison. Owen apologized for not having sunny skies little knowing at the time that we were delighted to have the fog, a nice change for the type of images we were seeking. After 45 minutes with the Bison we left in search of the Elk. Again, Owen had us in great shooting range within just a few minutes. The elk, all big bulls, were spread across a hilltop with a row of leafless cottonwood trees faded into the foggy background. WOW! Excellent shooting again!

The photographers in the truck are left to right: Boyd Norton (www.wildernessphotography.com); Clark Crenshaw (www.clarkcrenshawphotography.com) and Duane Graham, my great friend from Hesston, KS and a shooting companion on many trips! Hope you can join us next year. www.gpnp.org

2009-08-27T21:42:00.002-05:00

Great Blue Heron and his reflection in a small pond near the entrance to the drive around Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge. On the way home and found a "short cut" thru the refuge. Added about 45 minutes to the drive home but when I am that close....

Dad and Oslo

2009-08-22T18:54:00.003-05:00

Jenny came to town to let Dad meet his great grandson, Oslo, for the first time. Dad was all grins! In addition, Dad's brother came in from Oklahoma for the afternoon. We have my brother and his family here as well. Dad was really worn out by about 3 this afternoon. His brother has since headed back home but Jenny, Jeremy, Olympia and Oslo are here for the evening. My brother is staying in town but his family has gone back to Goddard, KS.

Original 7

2009-08-22T10:09:00.002-05:00

When I was a senior in high school back in 1964/65 I had the opportunity to spend a Saturday with the 7 original NASA astronauts. WOW! That was inspiring and awesome. My favorite was Wally Schirra. Little did I know that 12 years later he would be the VP of Marketing for Johns-Manville. I was a productin manager at our plant in Texas. I met him in my boss' office during a trip from a plant in Texas to HQ in Denver. My boss asked if we had met and I said, "No, not really." Wally blurted out, "Didn't we meet in Texas a few years ago? You were in high school and on a tour?" I was floored. No wonder he was an astronaut and I was just a production manager in a pipe plant! These guys were gutsy, full of life and adventure, ready for whatever was thrown at them. I wanted to go into flying and maybe into the space program but being 6-1 and 185 pounds made that impossible so I went to Engineering School so I could design things that were exciting, like rockets maybe. Did work on some weird science stuff like terrain following radar and laser guided bombs. This was back in the late 60's and early 70's. Had a secret clearance and had a blast working on conceptual ideas and prototypes but that soon faded and I got out of that business.

Welcome - Oslo Ryder Gegg

2009-07-26T15:29:00.003-05:00

Thursday we were joined by our fourth grandchild, Oslo Ryder Gegg. Oslo is in keeping with the capitol theme, joining his sister Olympia. At 9 pounds 5 ounces he came in as about half grown already! We got online with them on Skype last night in dad's room. The little guy brought a big smile to his face except dad was upset that Oslo has more hair then he does.

Interview Released

2009-07-22T19:10:00.002-05:00

http://www.fly2houston.com/hasVideo

Not sure how long the link will be up but this is a video about the 40th anniversary of the Houston Intercontinental Airport. It just so happens that the airport opened on the day we got married AND my dad worked the first shift that the new airport was opened, starting at midnight on 6/8/1969. He came home from work in the morning, slept a little then got dressed and was at the church for our wedding. Our little portion of the video is short and near the very end if you have the patience to wait for it to show up. There is also a quick shot of dad sitting in the cockpit of a 727 at the new airport.

A Week of Ups and Downs, but mostly Downs

2009-07-22T11:17:00.002-05:00

Last Friday we lost our dog of 13 years, Ranger. Dad was fairly well upset about it as this dog was very special to him as well as us. Dad, at 92, has been having some difficulty breathing the last few weeks. We took him to the ER last night and he has been in the ICU portion of our local hospital since then. We were here with him until late last night and back again this morning. I am staying in his room. Cindy went home to pack. She is on call to go to our daughters house to take care of our 5 year old grand daughter. Jenny is 8.999 months pregnant and will need someone there to help for a few days. We are sharing duties here and I need to be here with dad. We have our fingers crossed that dad gets better and can come home soon.

Ranger and Colet

2009-07-22T06:29:00.003-05:00

Our daughter has a cat that got along OK with Ranger. It was not a matter of him getting close to her. She had to let him get close. One year Colet, the cat, sent Ranger a Christmas present of his own to open. When Ranger had finished passing out the presents that morning, we told him this one was for Ranger. His eyes lit up and he tore into the package like a three year old kid. When he had the small football out he tossed it around a few times then brought it to me to throw for him. I tossed it into the air so he could catch it.

More Ranger

2009-07-21T22:48:00.002-05:00

This time a video of his favorite "trick"; well not so much of a trick as a service to mankind:

Ranger was really proud of this one. It took a total of 6 takes to get this final version that was edited down from all the different shots. He waited patiently while I set up each shot. The amazing thing is it took no more than 5 minutes to teach him to do this and he was always ready go get one for us!

Our Friend - Ranger

2009-07-20T19:10:00.007-05:00

I went through some of the photos we had of Ranger and made a small composite in Photoshop. Some of his favorite things. I also have a couple of images with Ranger and our grand daughter, Olympia together. She was sad to learn that Ranger had died and wanted to know where he went. We told her he had a room full of tennis balls and someone to throw them for him as well as a laser light to chase whenever he wanted one.

The snow shot in the composite is not very easy to understand so I will add a short video to explain. Even this spring when he was not feeling well and the cancer was keeping him slowed down he begged to go out in the snow with us to "help" shovel.

O's Birthday Party

2009-07-12T09:55:00.002-05:00

After a short drive - 4 hours - we went to Olympia's birthday party at the YMCA on the south side of Lincoln. We had the pool for 90 minutes then time for cake and ice cream in the pavilion! She is now 5 and really getting to be a young lady.

Cut Short

2009-07-06T20:47:00.003-05:00

Our extended four day weekend in Colorado with Boyd and Barb Norton was cut short with a simple phone call on Sunday morning. My dad had been taken to the emergency room with some pains in his chest and shoulder. We packed up and headed back. Within about an hour of leaving we learned that they didn't think it was too serious, no heart problems, but at 92, we take everything serious with dad! We elected to keep driving home. My brother was able to drive up and be with dad until we got home that evening. We took a short detour off Interstate 70 to visit Castle Rock again. This time the truck was home and we were in the Honda van and hurting for ground clearance. I am not really afraid of bad roads as long as they are not muddy or icy. The Honda has very low ground clearance but if you know how to drive it, the roads there are mostly passable. We had to go slow over some parts and take some small detours but we did get to all the places I wanted to see. Excellent! The clouds were perfect. The lighting was a little "young" but we dealt with it.

Fourth of July Hike

2009-07-04T16:08:00.003-05:00

My friend Duane Graham and I took a short hike in one of the open space parks in Evergreen, Colorado. We are in Evergreen with our wives having a great visit with Boyd and Barbara Norton, www.wildernessphotography.com - check it out. Nice recollections of our trips together to Tanzania, the Galapagos Islands, Photo Workshops in Colorado and Wyoming.

Kansas Sunset

2009-07-01T22:44:00.003-05:00

I was headed home from Arkansas this evening, called home and found out the farmers were burning the wheat stubble left in the fields. This always makes for great sunsets so I diverted my route from the fastest way home to the best chance for a sunset in the Flint Hills which took maybe 15 minutes more. I barely made it to a slight hill to be able to screech off the road, pop the trunk and grab my 100-400L IS and Canon 40D. No time for a tripod so I braced off the roof of the car. Time for 34 exposures before the sun was down. I like this one the best; double processed to get the foreground to show a little.

Junk Yards

2009-06-28T19:29:00.003-05:00

Years ago, I spent a weekend in the east Texas piney woods in an area known as the Big Thicket. After shooting wildlife and fauna all weekend I headed home. There was a light drizzle and it was fairly cool. I was only thinking about getting home to some warm soup and relaxing for the rest of the weekend. I had to turn on the defroster. You know those days when it is not that cold but the dew point is low enough that your windows fog up. As my side window cleared I saw a field full of old cars, mostly 40's and 50's vintage. I had to stop! I grabbed one of the Canon F-1's and added a macro lens for some close up work. WOW! The rain had made the colors spectacular. I had planned on being home by 3 in the afternoon. I think I made the turn into the driveway about 6 pm. I could not drag myself out of the field of old cars.

More Scans

2009-06-27T09:15:00.000-05:00

I am really utilizing my spare time scanning older slides on the new Epson Perfection V500 scanner. I am amazed at the quality I get from this excellent piece of equipment. Back in 1998, my company sent me to Moscow to help our agent there sell some equipment. We were successful but my visa was expiring and I had to get back home. Unfortunately my trip over was in haste and they were unable to get me a flight home so.... ....I had to fly to Paris and spend over 4 days there on company money just walking around seeing things and taking photos. I had some great adventures since what little French I knew was from being in Montreal and useless in France. My first morning I visited the Notre Dame Cathedral and tried to get in to the Hotel De'Ville but was stopped by some rude policemen. It looked like a very swank hotel and I just wanted to look around the lobby. Later when I got home I learned that Hotel De'Ville means "City Hall" in French. Crazy Americans! Later that same day I followed a group down an escalator, put my small backpack thru the x-ray and went into the Louvre for 1/2 a day. I was amazed the place was free!!!! The next day I went back and tried to get in the same way and was told that is the employee entrance. I had to get a ticket for $20 and stand in line to get in. Ignorance is bliss. I did figure out the Paris subway system and rode out to the Arch de Triumph and the Eiffel Tower. The experience there was sublime. Contrary to what I had always been told, the French people were very friendly toward me and would go out of their way to tell me about things I must see and some I could skip. I have always wanted to go back but the chance to do so has evaded me. For the same money I can go to Scotland or Tanzania, places where they also speak foreign languages.

I made it to see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. I think hype has a lot to do with the painting. It was crowded and not easy to view. There are literally thousands of paintings in the Louvre that I liked much better than the Mona Lisa with no one looking at them. I could have spent the entire 4 days inside and not have seen 1/2 the place. Amazing!

Epson Perfection Scanners

2009-06-23T21:53:00.000-05:00

Just acquired the Epson V500 scanner, the low end of the Perfection series. Been scanning some slides, some old, some not so old and the results are very nice indeed. The shots below are from 1977 in New Jersey where I lived for two years. One is an ice storm near our house where I went out with my golf spikes on to keep from busting my butt and the other is from a place called Jockey Hollow, one of Washington's winter encampment areas where I had been cross country skiing.

Pop Ups!

2009-06-23T19:52:00.000-05:00

In this case we are talking about thunderstorms and not anything to do with the internet! We get these from time to time here in Kansas once the heat starts to build and there is sufficient moisture. Monday evening I was working on some images in the downstairs (basement) office when I flipped on the radar and BAM! Sitting right outside was a fairly large pop-up. I ran upstairs, took one look and grabbed the gear. Drove out into the country west of town and took a few images. The storm was absolutely stunning and the colors went from chalky white to the orange of Florida's Best after the sun went down. A couple of shots here:

Teterville and Teter Rock

2009-06-20T07:56:00.001-05:00

Rather than sit at home and eat a nice meal, we chose to make a trip out into the gravel road country of the flint hills. The rewards were some nice bird images adding to my "fence post collection" of the critters and some spectacular skies at Teter Rock (Teterville). Teterville was once an oil boom town. Now only a few foundations are left along with chunks of steel and other remnants of a town gone bust. The rock was erected as a prank and has been there since the 30's. It will probably out weather the spray painted love notes that cover the surface.

Moody Gardens - Galveston, Texas

2009-06-16T21:37:00.000-05:00

After my appointments today I had a couple of hours so I made a quick trip to Moody Gardens in Galveston. The area is still recovering from the effects of Ivan. The hurricane left the island devastated. The signs of the invasive weather are still evident all over the place. Moody Gardens was inundated with 14 feet of storm surge. The pyramids were flooded and lots of destruction took place, based on the photos on exhibit there. The Gardens are open. I only had a short time so I limited myself to the rain forest pyramid. Unlike the last time I visited maybe 5 years ago, the birds, butterflies and monkeys are gone, visiting the zoos in Dallas and Houston, waiting on the rebuilding of the rain forest facility. The plants were there and appeared to be intact although I was told that a lot of reconstruction was needed to get to where it is today. This fall the facility will be closed and totally remodeled with a bridge walk overhead. At the end of that project the exiled will be allowed to return from their temporary homes at the zoos.

Seattle Skyline - 1947

2009-06-14T20:40:00.001-05:00

My uncle was aboard a troop ship returning to the USA from where he was stationed in Korea. I was at his house almost all day Saturday scanning old images. Having recently visited Seattle and seen the skyline from the same basic vantage point I found it interesting the differences since then. I converted my image to sepia for comparison so that the flashy colors don't take away from the rest of the image comparison.

Monument Rocks - More Images

2009-06-07T14:07:00.000-05:00

After the trip to the Pacific Northwest I have been thru the rest of the images and found more that I wanted to add here:

PNW

2009-06-04T18:53:00.000-05:00

I never pass up a chance to come to the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and this was a lucky week. I had the opportunity to visit a great group of people in Langley, BC. Because of air fare differences I flew into Seattle then drove up to Langley. I drove back to Seattle today and decided a route across on the ferry to Port Townsend would be about the same amount of time based on where I needed to be this afternoon. Had my wife's nice Panasonic/Leica with me and took a few shots on the ferry ride. This is one of them.

Castle Rock

2009-05-31T17:45:00.000-05:00

Finally made it to Castle Rock. Glad we took the truck as the roads were not that great following the wet spring. Lots of ruts and deep fissures in the dirt and gravel keeps the regular autos out for now. This is not an easy place to find coming from the south but I am certainly glad we keep at it until we found the place. Hoodoos available for photography and plenty of neat photo ops exist. Even found a nice cooperative snake. Sure is nice to find a miniature version Utah, right here in our home state and only about 2 hours away.

Fossil Finds Some Fossils

2009-05-31T17:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we took a geology hike with two guys from the Kansas Geological Survey. The hike took place on the Smoky Valley Ranch, owned and operated by the Nature Conservancy. We learned a lot about the history of the ranch in addition to the geology of the surrounding area. We then got a chance to look in the erosion areas for fossils. One young lady (maybe 9 years old!) found a sharks tooth. I stumbled onto something I could not identify. Bob and Rex came over to look and were shocked to see what I had found, the fossilized remains of an invertebrate creature, predecessor of the starfish and similar species. It has never been identified in this area nor in this strata. The fossil is approximately 65 million years old based on the layer it was associated with. I took photos for the geologists and sent them on to the guys today. They geo-tagged the post and made some mental notes about the location as well. As soon as I find out the real name of the fossil, I will add it to this post. For now, these are the images.

The name of the fossil is Uintacrinus, a crinoid, which is in the starfish family.

Kansas Divided Highway

2009-05-31T14:08:00.000-05:00

To a few of us, all roads should be dirt or at least no more than gravel. We spent the better part of the weekend on dirt and gravel roads or on foot on hiking trails in central and western Kansas. Glad we left my company car at home and took the truck. Ground clearance was a necessity in a lot of the places we visited. This happens to be the road into and out of the Castle Rock formation. Great place to visit but take a truck, four wheel drive if it has been raining.

Monument Rocks

2009-05-29T22:47:00.000-05:00

Made it to Monument Rocks in Western Kansas in time for the sunset light. Lots of rain out here recently as can be seen by the abundance of flowers and a few mud holes along the gravel/dirt roads. Get me off the pavement and let me drive on gravel or dirt and I feel at home. Beautiful evening. 80 degrees when we started shooting and 66 when we stopped. Headed to the Nature Conservancy Ranch tomorrow for some geology and to meet with them about using some of my images on their web site and in their magazine.

Flint Hills Day - Kansas

2009-05-23T22:55:00.001-05:00

Spent a great afternoon in the flint hills at a car show in the small town of Burns and then went hunting for likely suspects. The birds were out and showing off and the sky was littered with puffy white clouds. Nice day to be out with our friends, the Graham's.

Down the Dusty Road

2009-05-21T19:56:00.001-05:00

Made a quick trip to SW Nebraska today. On the way home I must have really made my GPS lady, Agnes, mad. I missed a turn because I changed my mind about the route to take home and after a few blaring "Recalculating's" she tried to get me to take this road. NO WAY. I had to have a photo. There was a sign at the start of the road that said, Unimproved Road. No kidding.

Stanton Airfield

2009-05-14T15:15:00.000-05:00

Stanton Airfield is located in Minnesota south of MSP. Great history. I was driving thru the back roads on the way to an appointment which I was WAY early to attend and saw the open hangers and old airplanes. Had to stop. After walking around for a few minutes I went back to the car and picked up my camera for some images.

Roaring River State Park

2009-05-12T20:15:00.000-05:00

I visited Roaring River State Park back in 1970. Always said I wanted to go back but never did until.... ....last week, while driving from one appointment to another in SW Missouri I saw on the map that I was only 20 miles away and had over 2 hours to drive another 10 to my appointment so naturally I had to make the drve to see why I was so intrigued that many years ago. Now I know I need to go back again, SOON and for a longer time.

For those keeping score - the top two images are composed of three exposures while the bottom image is a composite of two exposures.

May Day Parade - McPherson, KS

2009-05-08T20:12:00.000-05:00

The annual May Day (All Schools Day) parade was this morning. As it has for every year we've been, it looked like we would have rain. A series of strong thunderstorms rolled thru starting at 3 am and finally worked their way out about 7 am. Dad wanted to go this year to see the old tractors and cars so we made plans to get him there with a front row seat. Weather went in our favor for once. In addition, we had the Fort Riley Mounted Color Guard in attendance with a friends son part of the color guard. Turned out to be fun meeting him and doing some photos of the group including a special lunch for them. This same color guard was part of the inaugural parade this year. The horse in this photo was part of both Bush's inaugural and also Obama's. He has been at this for almost 14 years. Learned a lot about the parade groups and their uniforms. For local parades and when it is hot, they use their rodeo uniforms as worn today. During cooler or more formal occasions they wear traditional US Cavalry uniforms from the Civil War era, wool and HOT!

The Road Home

2009-05-07T21:10:00.000-05:00

Driving home today I decided to take a short cut through the Oklahoma Tallgrass Prairie Preserve which is run by the Nature Conservancy. Every trip through there I have been graced by the presence of Buffalo. Nice to see them again this trip along with the puffy clouds and the old and new grasses at their feet. This young bull posed nicely for me to get my normal vertical shot to include a huge section of the sky. This is after all, what the prairie is about, sky and grasses with a lot of SKY (or SKYY if you like!).

High School Senior Composite

2009-05-05T22:43:00.000-05:00

Composite image of a high school senior. We started shooting last summer and decided to put together a grouping of all the seasons. Worked well. These will be double matted and in the same frame about 32" wide. The prints will be 5 x 7.

McPherson College Car Show

2009-05-03T14:35:00.000-05:00

McPherson College had their annual car show yesterday. For those who don't know, the college offers a degree in auto restoration with scholarships from none other than Jay Leno. There were a number of excellent restorations there as well as some in process vehicles that show all the work that goes into this type of effort. We took my Dad, who will be 92 in about a month. He always loves looking at the cars he grew up with. There was one exceptional Buick, 1938 best I remember, that is identical to one he owned. I made him a sepia of it for his apartment. He stopped to explain to us how the vacuum fuel delivery system worked on the old Willys but we had to get back to the Model T's to find a car older than him. I think the highlight was a "running" Stanley Steamer. He had always wanted to see one. They were giving rides so we got in line (not sure he could climb up into it) but as they were driving off with the group in front of us something went wrong. Dad had wanted to see under the hood and he got his wish. Never got to ride in it but that's OK. If you ever get to McPherson, KS, the school offers free tours of the restoration area, well worth the time if you are a car guy (or gal).

Erosion

2009-04-16T21:38:00.000-05:00

As I was driving out of Palo Duro Canyon I looked left and saw the black stripe which turned out to be an eroded cave - mini slot canyon - in the cliff wall. Nice colors which were going away fast. Simple shot with the 100-400L IS braced on the window of the car, engine off of course. Ever wonder why the kids didn't like going on trips with me? Dad! Can we get going now???

More Bluebonnets????

2009-04-15T20:38:00.001-05:00

This trip to/through Texas was a different route and either the bluebonnets were at their peak or at least they were along this roadway. I had to stop again and shoot a few images. I used my 100-400L IS lens and a Kenko extension tube. Nice combination for close up work.

Cool Shadows

2009-04-15T20:34:00.000-05:00

During my short hike last evening along the stream in Palo Duro Canyon I came upon the neat shadows in this scene and took a few images; experimenting with the angle and the exposure to get what I liked. This was my favorite from the shoot.

Texas Turkey

2009-04-14T21:40:00.000-05:00

Made a sales call in western Kansas today then headed south thru the Oklahoma panhandle and into the Texas panhandle. Stopped at Canyon for the night and took a drive out to Palo Duro Canyon for a hike. Naturally I had the camera gear along and happened onto a tom turkey with three hens. They were about 100 yards away on the same trail but coming towards me slowly. I picked a nice secluded spot off the trail and waited. With two other toms clucking away behind me, this foursome was headed right to me to run them off. I was losing light but didn't want to move at all. Wind was in my favor. They advanced fairly close and in fact one of the hens came close enough to almost knock off with a rock. The tom got irritated with me and the other toms when he finally saw me sitting there with one of his hens so close. It was nice to be out of the car and walking but this was a real bonus!

Ziggy!

2009-04-08T19:43:00.001-05:00

Finally made it to Ziggy's place in Texas! With all the trips to Texas none have been close. This time was different. I came within about 10 miles so I had to go and shoot a bird or two with Ziggy in his front yard. Nice layout! Plenty of room for two shooters and the snag was hollowed out with bird seed inside.

Texas Bluebonnets

2009-04-08T19:40:00.000-05:00

Saw a large patch of flowers along a roadside in Texas on Tuesday so I stopped and took a few minutes to take a few photos.

Old Links

2009-03-30T14:01:00.001-05:00

http://kansas.sierraclub.org/ClearVoice.pdf - A brochure from the Kansas Chapter of the Sierra Club using a few of my photos.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/04/tallgrass-prairie/richardson-field-notes - National Geographic used one of my images on their web site to illustrate the field notes by Jim Richardson.

Glaciers in Retreat

2009-03-29T11:56:00.000-05:00

The Glaciers are in retreat. House is now visible behind the retreat. Temperatures hovering in and around the 40's will help. Supposed to hit the 60's this week. Sure helped my weekend plans! I was going to have to mow the yard for the first time and I was not looking forward to starting the mower for the first time this year.

Aftermath

2009-03-29T11:42:00.001-05:00

This is the "HOLE" left by my car. Dug it out so that my friend with his truck and plow could get in and push the snow into glaciers which are now in retreat.

Blizzard of 2009!!!!!

2009-03-28T12:09:00.001-05:00

So I made it a point to get home early from my trip to Wisconsin because the boss said he didn't want me on the road Friday because of bad weather. We had some snow on Friday but it wasn't too bad...... ....but overnight the snow and the wind picked up and we got pounded with somewhere between 12" and 18" of snow along with blowing and drifting. My guess is that we will not even be able to get out of the driveway until Sunday afternoon. Ranger kept thinking he wanted to go out in it. He did and had to bound his way over to a tree where the snow was shallow enough for him to somewhat walk. he wasn't out long before he was back at the door saying, "Let me IN!"

Lake Superior

2009-03-21T19:24:00.000-05:00

Got up early this morning and headed to a place called Stoney Point along Lake Superior between Two Harbors and Duluth. There are a couple of old boats there that lend themselves to nice photography. Overcast and rather cold at 28 degrees, the snow was crunchy under my shoes but the soft light was perfect for what I envisioned the night before. Just down the beach from the boat was an old cabin nestled among some trees. Made a nice image as well. I used several lenses including 100-400L IS; 24-105L IS; 11-18; 100 Macro. Used the macro to document the old paint on the boat hull.

Ice Anyone?

2009-03-20T21:49:00.001-05:00

Drove along the south shore of Lake Superior late this afternoon. In a few places there were ice blocks shoved up against the shore. Stopped at one place and put on more coats, gloves and hats. Wind was blowing in off the lake and even though it was only 25 degrees it felt MUCH colder.

Timing and Instinct?

2009-03-19T21:12:00.000-05:00

Finished seeing customers this afternoon about 4 pm and headed to Rice Lake, WI where I am seeing another customer at 8 am tomorrow. The sun was headed down so I grabbed my camera gear and took off for some back roads in the area. It was almost getting too late to shoot when something told me to "TAKE THIS ROAD". So, knowing that I have had this feeling before and good things happened, I turned up a gravel road toward a local lake. Spotted a few deer and some geese in a corn field but nothing to write home about. Just then a large bird flew overhead. I could tell by the large chord of the wings it had to be some sort of eagle. It landed in the top of a tree just over a slight rise in the road ahead. I eased forward hoping to get close enough to get a few shots before it flew away but.... ....there on the side of the road opposite the drivers window (DARN!) was another eagle, a bald eagle, sitting on the head of a dead deer eating away. I slipped the car into park, shut off the engine, pulled the keys out of the ignition, slowly opened the door and slipped out to get a shot or two before it flew away. At 400mm the shots were good but the deer was about 2/3rds of the shot. I climbed back into the car, slipped the shifter into neutral and let the car roll closer. Climbed out again. This time the eagle took notice but still was occupied eating enough so that it almost entirely ignored me. This time I took a series including the one above. Sometimes if a road is calling it is best not to ignore it!

EAA

2009-03-17T18:15:00.000-05:00

Drove thru Oshkosh today and was just getting there at lunchtime so I drove up to the Museum of the EAA. Cell phone shot. I had very little time so I didn't go in or even get out of the car.

Maybe next trip if I have time. BUSY BUSY with sales at an all-time low.

For those not in the know, EAA stands for Experimental Aircraft Association. This is where the fly-in occurs every year with literally thousands of planes and owners and wannabees show up for a week.

Smack in the Middle!

2009-03-13T08:25:00.001-05:00

Connie, my GPS lady chose a route home right through the middle of the USA! Only one mile off the main highway was a spot designated the geographic center of the USA. One mile? I can handle that if only to say I was there. I listened to the chorus of "recalculating" several times, parked, shutoff the engine and reached for the camera gear. There is a nice plaque and monument marking the spot as well as a picnic table, a small chapel (maybe to pray that you can find your way back to the main highway?) and some trees planted to offer a backdrop and windbreak. Most interesting to me was the road leading to the center. it appears that the center of the USA has a strong gravitational pull and has folded the road drastically. The 400mm lens helps heighten the effect of the folds.

After being there the required number of seconds to record it and offer my appreciation of the daunting task of locating this exact spot, I was off for home, but really curious about how anyone determined this exact spot. I short search online yielded the fact that it was extremely scientific. A large cardboard cut-out of the USA was moved around on a point until it balanced. The point was somewhere in this general area. From the wispy, blurry beginnings this EXACT spot was located and saved for those travelers such as myself whose own Connie directs them to the middle of no-where; or is it the extreme gravity of the location that draws people here in huge numbers?

Dancing Cranes

2009-03-13T08:18:00.001-05:00

Driving from one customer to another yesterday I passed fields of corn rows loaded with cranes. There were literally thousands of them. Most were well away from the road. This particular group was maybe 50 yards from the edge of the road and didn't fly away when I stopped to photograph their mating dances. Maybe the dance had them occupied enough that they didn't mind me being so close. I was under a time restraint so didn't stay as long as I wanted but then it was entertaining for those 20 minutes I did sit and watch them dance!

Rowe Sanctuary - Nebraska

2009-03-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

Made it to the sandhill crane migration restign stop along the Platte River in Nebraska. Only had one evening to be there and just barely got to the Audubon Nature Center (Rowe Center) in time to get into a blind. Unfortunately, the river next to the blind was full of ice and no cranes came in very close. Flocks flew overhead, looked the spot over and turned away. No clouds in the sky so the sunset was less than optimum but you pay your money and take your chances. Rowe is not the best place to get close up shots of cranes but the shear number of birds is impossible to beat. The peak is about two weeks from now when more than 500,000 snadhill cranes will be roosting on the Platte every evening and feeding in the fields adjacent to the river during the day. About mid-April they are mostly gone on their treck to Alaska and Siberian nesting grounds.

Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys

2009-03-03T07:38:00.001-06:00

The Texas trip took us straight into Turkey, Texas, population of about 500 and per capita income of under $20,000 according to the last census. Home of Bob Wills. For those who don't know him, Bob Wills was known as the King of Country Swing. His music was very popular when I was a kid living in Texas. I didn't like it then but I do now, can't quite figure that one out. It was cool to ride around with my uncle in his '55 Ford convertible and listen to Bob Wills on the radio. I was about 10 years old and except for the music thought this was awesome. Now that I am older and wiser(?) I still think it would be a cool thing to do but with gas pushing $2 a gallon and the price of a '55 Ford convertible hiting maybe $50,000+ who could afford it.

The memorial is very cool. The images of Bob are very realistic with the exception of the missing Jack Daniels bottle, a fixture at the clubs where Bob and the Texas Playboys put on shows.

Turkey, Texas is not along the route to anywhere but is on the route to everywhere. I felt like every kids dream here would be to make a name and get to somewhere else. The town is not very vibrant and is run down, but then so are a lot of other small west Texas towns. Years ago, oil was king here and the small towns were booming. Now the oil is about gone and the small oil boom towns are dwindling. There is a small resurgence based on residual oil and new ways to extract what is left but that is left to big business and not to the small time producer like T. Boone Pickens in his early years. Maybe this area will be a good location for a wind farm or a solar collector?

Kopje in Oklahoma

2009-03-01T21:41:00.001-06:00

Kopje is a Dutch word meaning roughly "Cap". All across the Serengeti there are kopjes, the result of millions of years of volcanic dust and ash filling in the valleys between the hills and mountains. These "Caps" have all weathered into smooth, rounded boulders and hills of granite, intrusive igneous rock. In SW Oklahoma lies an ancient mountain range of granite which has been exposed to weathering for eons and has taken on the look of the Serengeti kopjes. I was amazed to see such similarities between the terrain in Oklahoma and what I had seen in Tanzania. I kept looking for the herds of wildebeest and zebra and the stalking lions on top of the kopjes. The shot above is a granite hill in the middle of a farmers field near Quartz Mountain State Park in Oklahoma.

Jumping Deer

2009-03-01T21:35:00.001-06:00

I watched a whole herd of deer running across a field of grass and cactus. They were headed right for the road where I was parked, but suddenly saw the pickup and turned straight for the fence. I get ready with the 100-400L IS and grabbed a couple of shots as they lept over the fence. The buck was huge and cautious. Turned away and went another 100 yards away to jump the fence. I did shoot thru the windshield but that turned out to be ugly with bug guts and distortion getting the best of my $1300 lens! Smart buck. No wonder he has lived to become a big guy!

Glimmer of Sunrise - Texas Panhandle

2009-02-28T21:41:00.000-06:00

Watching a herd of deer in the grass, I could tell the sun was about to burst over the horizon somewhere near the two windmills on the ranch across the shallow depression from where I was sitting. I waited for the first glimmer of sun and used my 100-400L IS lens to catch the first arc of the bright globe as it slide up into view. My spot was pure accident or maybe serendipity happened for me? Not sure I really care but the image was just a grab shot while photographing deer. Lucky works, sometimes, doesn't it?

West Texas - Palo Duro Canyon

2009-02-27T21:30:00.001-06:00

Palo Duro Canyon is always a neat place to hike and shoot. Today was no exception. Got there in the late afternoon and stayed until sunset. Interesting light as the shadows crept up the canyon walls. First trip to Palo Duro was in 1968 with a girlfriend while I was in college. We eventually got married, 1969, which is still going strong nearly 40 years later. Hard to believe she is that old!

West Texas - Caprock Canyon State Park

2009-02-27T21:27:00.001-06:00

This was a great surprise. Left Oklahoma this morning to see Caprock Canyon State Park. New one to me! It was actually a very neat place to hike and shoot. Our timing was bad - got here in the middle of the day - but the trails were very exciting. Highly recommended as long as it is not summer!

Near Summit of Mt. Baldy

2009-02-26T21:13:00.000-06:00

Ok - so I stayed awake a little longer to get a shot posted from "Camp V" on Mt. Baldy. To get to the top all I had to do was manuever thru the Ice Fall and over the Hillary Step and I could have been at the summit but I was out of Oxygen, bottle was depleted, and this was affecting my thinking. Ok, you alert readers know there is no Camp V here and all I needed to do was abandon my camera gear and scramble over some rocks and I would have been on the summit..... ....but it would still look like western Oklahoma below, just 150 feet higher. I have an aversion to leaving a 40D and a Rebel XTi sitting with a 16-35L 2.8 lens, a 100-400L IS len, a 24-105L IS lens, a Canon 100mm/2.8 macro and Tamron 11-88 lens sitting along a trail just to get you guys a shot from the real summit when mine was quite nice, thank you.

Quartz Mountain

2009-02-26T20:58:00.001-06:00

Quartz Mountain is one of the most spectacular places in all of Oklahoma and for that matter the plains states. I literally fell in love with it this trip (first time I have been here) and plan on making several return trips. I am staying in the lodge overlooking the lake right out my room for $59 a night. The room is excellent and the restaurant here is fantastic. Met the chef. He is from Nigeria but has been in the US for 24+ years. Excellent guy and the food is superb.

Took a fairly long hike today around the base of Mt. Baldy, a fav for rock climbers and took a hike up the back of the mountain to within about 150 feet of the summit. Had to turn back with too much camera gear to do all the rock scrambling. Did get some nice shots looking out across the plains from up there. Will post one of them later. Headed for Palo Duro Canyon area tomorrow.

SW Oklahoma

2009-02-26T20:55:00.001-06:00

Been on the road since Wednesday morning and did make it to the top of Mt. Scott in Oklahoma in time for the sunset whcih was excellent. Mt.Scott is in the Wichta Mtns Wildlife Refuge near Lawton, OK. We were only there for the afternoon then headed over to Quartz Mountain for the next day.

Sunset in the Ozarks

2009-02-19T21:05:00.000-06:00

Driving from Jackson, MS to Mountain Home, AR yesterday afternoon with a side trip to Corinth, MS, I was watching the sunset in the Ozarks of Northern Arkansas and knew it would be a nice colorful sun sinking in the west. Not many good views were available with either trees or houses in the way, but as I topped a ridge, directly across the valley, the sun was resting on the trees of the opposing ridge. I dove off the road onto a small drive, shut off the engine, popped the trunk and ran around scrambling to get the Canon 40D and Canon 100-400L IS coupled and powered up. Quickly ratcheted in an appropriate ISO setting and selected AV mode at f/8 and braced the combination on top of the roof (no time to set up a tripod!). I got about 10 shots before the scene was gone. Luckily it came together. So many times when a setting like this is happening, there is no place to pull off or the foreground is BAD or the camera is not with me (seldom is this a problem) or some other issue exists. This time I won for a change!

Valentine's Day Banquet

2009-02-15T14:32:00.001-06:00

Last night was our Valentine's Day Dinner served by the youth at our local church. Great dinner and fun entertainment! I shot a few images using the 40D Canon and 24-105L IS lens as well as the 580 strobe with bounce and fill set to -2/3 at ISO1600. Worked out well. Put together the composite shown above and it was hanging on the bulletin board this morning in 13 x 19 size (Super A3 for those keeping score) - Excellent turnout.

J. Fibranz

2009-02-01T18:21:00.000-06:00

2009-01-28T20:35:00.000-06:00

Late last fall I took a small detour from one of my driving trips and made the loop through Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. It was cold, foggy and dreary. I didn't expect much pixel punching. To my surprise I saw a lot more than expected and had my CF card warm in no time. There was the nice immature red-tailed hawk that posed for me; the small buck that decided to wander along in front of me, a doe who thought she was hiding behind the tall grasses and several vultures who drooled over me (must have been the smell) until they realized I was still alive.

Chimney Rock - Nebraska

2009-01-28T20:27:00.001-06:00

So I had driven close to 650 miles and had consummed massive quantities of coffee, the sun was settling into the its resting place on the western horizon and I was 20 to 30 minutes away from Chimney Rock, a marker used by the pioneers along the Oregon Trail. I drive like a mad man, legs crossed (did I mention the amount of coffee I had consummed?) and arrived just in time to watch the last glimmer of sun drop along the shoulder of Chimney Rock. Took a few shots and headed out to find a gas station to fill one tank and empty the other (amazing how this always seems to balance out!). Fortunately there was a station within a few miles of the "Rock".

Alliance, Nebraska

2009-01-28T20:20:00.000-06:00

Alliance, Nebraska is one out of the way location. In spite of this, one of my customers is located there. Fortunately for me so is a most unusual roadside attraction, Carhenge! Wow! Here is one cool place, one that needs another trip by me for sure. Carhenge was built as a memorial site for the father of the building family, located on a portion of the land he farmed. It is basically a scale model of Stonehenge in England built from old cars all arranged and stacked to resemble the original both in layout and orientation. CRAZY is about the best explanation.

Kansas Wind Turbines

2009-01-28T20:01:00.000-06:00

Last week was spent mostly in Nebraska calling on customers. Drove over 700 miles on Tuesday to get to Alliance, NE for an afternoon meeting. Along the way I was captivated by the predawn colors of the sky contrasted with the wind turbines churning away almost silently. I found an exit off I70 and drove about 2 miles along a gravel road to get a few images registered on pixels. At the base of one turbines resided a simple "old windmill". I was impressed by the contrast between the "old" and "new" both in stature and construction. I spent part of the 15 minute stop shooting from several angles and with lenses ranging from 11mm to almost 400mm.

Trips 2009/2010

2009-01-01T08:52:00.000-06:00

I will be leading a trip to Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico, November 2090. Price and retails are not yet established. If you have never been to this exciting location you owe it to yourself to get there during the months of November thru February to witness the thousands of migratory birds visiting the area. I have been doing my photography there with a simple 100-400L IS lens although there are numerous photographers there with larger lenses. I find the 100-400 adequate for the images I am wanting to capture. If money were no object I would take along a 400/2.8 and 1.4X II and 2X extenders.

In 2010 Chuck Hamm and I will be leading a trip to Tanzania. This trip will be in June of 2010 during the "Dry Season" and will include several areas and parks of Tanzania not on your normal safari route.

For information, contact me at griggsjiml@me.com

See you in the field!

Bosque del Apache trip

2008-12-20T10:56:00.000-06:00

Left here the Sunday before Thanksgiving at 5am for the 10 hour drive to San Antonio, New Mexico, gateway to Bosque del Apache NWR. This would be our third trip to the famous refuge. Only there for 2-1/2 days but they were spectacular with some excellent shooting and fantastic light. The sandhill cranes and snow geese were awesome and cooperated very nicely. We had friends with us who had never been there. I was somewhat concerned that I would not put us in the right place at the right time but as it turned out within about five minutes of us arriving at any one place, Art Morris would show up with his group so I knew we were on track.

Clarissa

2008-11-09T14:53:00.000-06:00

Thanks Clarissa - Great posing and great location!