I was not sure where I was heading, I just knew I needed to cross the Puget Sound and head west. After catching a boat to Bremerton, I headed north on 3, caught the 104 to the 101 and eventually cruised along the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the 112. Five hours later the Explorer pulled into a campsite in Ozette, WA. For the next few days this secluded plot would serve as our base camp as Caitlin, Sharat, Emily and I explored the very western edge of the United States. Above is Emily jump standing on the coast of the Pacific at the Dungeness Spit.

After a luxurious night sleeping on cushy inflatable mattress in a rented four person REI Hobitat, I woke up before my fellow campers and noticed a spider spinning a web in our camp. I hauled the Manfrotto, set up an external flash and took a few shots of the little guy.

Later in the afternoon a deer wandered near our F-Noc game (AKA Friz Knock AKA Polish). As there are hardly any people in Ozette, this creature didn’t seem too scared of our troupe.

I did a little photo sesh with Sharat and Caitlin on top of a huge rock on the Pacific Coast. Emily kindly volunteered to be my VAL and held a SB-600 flash outfitted with a LumiQuest Softbox II. I triggered the flash remotely using Nikon’s CLS. Sure, I took some pictures of them looking serious (you can see them on Flickr); but I like this one the best.

The rock we climbed dropped off about 160′ into the ocean. A plethora of flora grew along the edge of the cliff. I crawled around on my belly with a wireless SB-600 and took a handful of shots as the sun set. There is no doubt that I looked very bizarre to the hill billy kids fooling around several feet away.

The Pacific Northwest coast is characterized by big sea stack rocks. Explosion 5K readers will remember a similar geologic feature that I encountered in Oregon.

I’m not sure how this whole Zen rock stacking thing got started, but I see it a lot now that I live on the West Coast. I found this particular stack while we wandered up the spit, a long sliver of sand that extends out into the ocean, in the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.

Sharat the flower child on the spit.

On our way back to Seattle, we timed the Edmonds-Kingston ferry so that we caught the sun set over the Olympics. This shot is looking southeast at a passing ferry with Mount Rainier and Seattle catching the last red rays of the day.

Check out these pictures and more on Flickr, or watch the slideshow below (be sure to go full screen).

“Buddies!” Twenty seconds ago Alex was taking a nap in the rear seat of my Explorer. Now he’s perched between the two front seats with his arms around Josh and my shoulders. He cackles a little, looks around and once again exclaims, “BUDDIES!” The three of us had been driving northbound towards Seattle for several hours. It was the third day of a mini road trip that took us down the Oregon Coast and over to Portland. We dined on yak burgers in “Come as You Are” Aberdeen and ordered breakfast from a cracked-out, coffee spilling waitress at the Pig ‘n Pancake in Astoria. Having last seen each other at the World Series of Beer Pong in Las Vegas, there was plenty to catch up on. More importantly, the six months that had passed gave Alex plenty of time to develop a fresh lexicon of nonsense. The latest burst of comradery repeating from the back seat is as sincere at is sarcastic—in other words, it’s vintage Alex.

The photo above is from the Astoria Column in Astoria, OR. I used a Nikon 18-200mm VR lens with a polarizer and cranked the saturation up in the NIkon D300′s vivid mode. I further adjusted contrast using curves in Photoshop.

The town of Astoria is nestled along the south bank the Columbia River and its neighborhoods wind their way up bluffs along the water. Once we saw this view we pulled over to grab a few photos. Pictured here is the Astoria-Megler Bridge which connects Oregon and Washington.

After bumming around Astoria for a few hours and checking out the Goonies house, we jumped on the 101 and headed south to Cannon Beach. Even though Mouth, Chunk and Data were able to make it to Haystack Rock rather quickly on their bikes, it took us a good 40 minutes in the Explorer.

Since I was fumbling around with camera equipment, I ended up a couple hundred yards behind Josh and Alex. I dialed the 18-200mm VR to 130mm and grabbed this shot of Alex and Josh in front of Haystack Rock.

For this shot of Josh, I used an off camera Nikon SB-600 through a LumiQuest II Softbox for fill light. I used TTL to set the flash power and triggered it wirelessly using Nikon’s Creative Lighting System (CLS).

I can’t believe I actually talked Alex into jumping. We started out by taking a few portrait style shots of Alex in front of the rock, then I half jokingly asked him to jump. Alex started bouncing on command. It was hilarious. He even inspired a few imitators. One older gentleman (in a Wisconsin Badgers sweatshirt) started mimicking Alex by jumping along the beach. Slightly annoyed with this old guy making fun of him, Alex yelled, “hey, hey! You know that movie the Goonies? I’m Data!”

For fill light, I had Josh stand a few feet to the left of Alex holding a Nikon SB-600 with an attached LumiQuest II Softbox. I triggered the flash using CLS. I used the D300′s pop-up flash as the commander, which was surprisingly reliable, even in the bright midday sun. I dialed in ISO 200 and put the camera in shutter-priority mode at 1/250th of second, which is the D300′s max sync speed. For EXIF data and camera settings on any picture, click through the Flickr page and select “More properties.”

More picture of Astoria and Cannon Beach are in my Flickr set. You can also watch the slideshow below.

Dad and I shot turkey and deer for Thanksgiving. Actually, it was the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Despite what you are already thinking–we’re not that Michigan. Well, Dad is pretty Michigan. This shooting involved cameras. We grabbed our Nikon D300s and Dad supplied the glass: a Nikon 80-400mm VR and a manual Nikon Reflex 500mm. Being a novice to this sort of photography, Dad let me shoot the 80-400 since it has AF. Armed with the long lenses, we climbed into the Mountaineer to begin our safari.

We first stopped at the Alticor facility on Spaulding. This used to be called Quixtar, but I think it’s called Amway Global now. Since I enjoy blogging about former Boeing executives, maybe Russ can clarify this for readers of The Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000. Once we cleared security, Dad took me on a driving tour of wildlife hot-spots on the Quixtar/Alticor/Access Business Group/Pyxsis Innovations/Amway Global/Worldwide Dream Builders/Eddie Funkhauser campus. Since leaving the company several years ago, Dad continues to work closely with Alticor to create nature friendly terrain on its sites. The Quixtar location features several viewing platforms, a nature trail and descriptive signs detailing relevant flora and fauna.

We began by driving along the back edge of the parking lot. With the passenger window rolled down, I hung out of the car with my camera poised to snipe any stray wildlife. When on safari, if you can arrange to ride in a comfy SUV with heated leather seats, I highly recommend it. I spotted some turkeys heading up a hill, but my reaction time was too slow and they escaped into the woods. “No problem,” Dad assured me. “There’ll be plenty more of them…”

With the sun setting, Dad noticed the light hitting the milkweeds and stopped so I could get a quick shot. Hanging half my body out of the car window, I angled the massive lens and took a few frames. According to his empirical research, Dad suggested shooting this massive rig in Aperture Priority at f/8 for the sharpest results. I then went into the Auto ISO settings and plugged in a minimum shutter speed of 1/125 and a maximum ISO of 1600. This setting guaranteed me that the lens would always shoot at f/8 and that it would push ISO up to 1600 before using a shutter speed slower than 1/125. Later in the day when the light faded, I boosted the maximum ISO to 3200. To a certain extent, this setting allows the photographer to hand pick his preferred aperture and shutter speed; the camera compensates by choosing an ISO to make the exposure work.

Dave shooting by his rig.
Nikon D300. Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. EXIF.

After grabbing a few milkweed shots, we continued to patrol the edge of the parking lot. Unexpectedly, Dad cranked the wheel and drove over the curve and into the woods. “This is a nature trail we had built for the employees,” he explains to me as he navigates the Mountaineer between trees. What is the fun of having a sport utility vehicle or truck if you never off road? “There’s a hill coming up, better goose it.” Dad switched on full time AWD and punched the accelerator in his cushy, now decidedly rugged ride.

Winter Pond.
Nikon D300. Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. EXIF.

After climbing the hill, we descended another one while dodging saplings the entire time. We pulled up to a pond that had just frozen over. Tree stumps reached out through the ice like limbs of caged monkeys. I set aside the 80-400mm for a moment and snapped on my 11-16mm. I dialed the camera back to Program Exposure. Holding it inches from the snow, I pressed the shutter without looking through the viewfinder. After quickly checking the LCD, I made a few adjustments and tried some different angles.

When I got home, I saw that the Program Exposure and Matrix Meter settings blew the sky out to a boring white. With digital, it can be difficult to properly expose for the sky and terrain without blowing out or underexposing one. Regardless, since I was not paying attention to this while shooting, I had to fix it in post. I used a new technique in Photoshop CS4 to restore the blue sky. I selected the Lasso selection tool, set feathering to 25 pixels, and drew a selection around the sky. I even included parts of the sky that contained the tops of trees. Once I set my selection, I went to Image, Adjustments and selected the Shadows/Highlights menu. I dropped Shadows down to 0% and bumped Highlights to about 60%. This restored the blue sky without having to use complicated (and usually fake looking) gradient layers. Also, this was done with a JPEG from the camera; this was not done in RAW.

Deer Quixtar,
Nikon D300. Nikon 80-400mm VR lens. EXIF.

Continuing down the nature path, Dad assured me that we would see some deer. Moments later, we spotted one up on the hill. Dad stopped the Mountaineer and I cranked the lens out to 400mm. To guarantee that the subject of my shot would be properly exposed, I switched from Matrix Metering to Center Weighted Average (like I’ve been doing recently at concerts). I selected the center sensor on the D300′s 51 AF sensor grid and locked it there. Since I usually sight in my shots using my left eye, my big Dutch nose has a tendency to bump the directional pad on the back of the camera and unintentionally change AF sensors. We were able to observe the deer for several minutes before he disappeared into the woods. While he was visible, I made a flurry of shots. Knowing I only had a few moments to get the perfect picture created a sense of excitement; much like an episode from Cambodia earlier this year. Except this time I did not have to ride on the back of a moto scooter for 50km and hike down a waterfall–I simply pointed a huge hunk of glass out the window of a leather trimmed Mercury Mountaineer.

Wild Turkey.
Nikon D300. Nikon 80-400mm VR lens. EXIF.

On the way to Alticor Headquarters on Fulton, we passed a flock of turkeys. We pulled the car over and I made a few shots, but the diminishing light caused my shutter speed to slow. I was able to get a couple of reasonably sharp shots, but those turkeys move their heads pretty quick! It was after this that I boosted my maximum ISO to 3200.

Despite their awkwardness, Benjamin Franklin preferred the Wild Turkey to be the national bird. He considered the Turkey to be a bird of courage, and he saw the Bald Eagle as a scavenger that was lazy. Much like the Bald Eagle, Wild Turkeys faced extinction at the turn of last century. An extensive breeding effort in the mid 1900s saved the animal and they now flourish in nearly every part of the United States.

Deer at Alticor World Headquarters in Ada, MI.
Nikon D300. Nikon 80-400mm VR lens. EXIF.

Over at Alticor Headquarters, we spotted several more deer. I rested the 80-400mm lens on the passenger side mirror and fired away. If you happen to be Jon Caldwell, Matt Wolterstorff, or have the last name of Strengholt, you’re probably wondering where you can “sight” these critters in for yourself. I would not suggest breaking into Amway with your thirty-aught six. Even though we had the appropriate credentials to be on the property, the ever vigilant Alticor security stopped us just to see what we were up to. I can only imagine how much these rent-a-cops would relish drawing their long dormant sidearms if they suspected a redneck hunting on the property. My advice: catch these deer on the other side of the Grand River.

Tankers.
Nikon D300. Nikon 80-400mm VR lens. EXIF.

This is not exactly wildlife; but as the sun set it reflected off these tankers and I thought it looked cool. These things were parked in back, just west of the heliport and near the prairie where we spotted the deer.

To see more pictures, check out the slideshow below.