SIGNS OF THE TIMES

The Recession is Having an Impact on Everyone ------------------------- My neighbor got a pre-declined credit card in the mail. CEO's are now playing miniature golf. Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen. A stripper was killed when her audience showered her with rolls of pennies while she danced. I saw a Mormon with only one wife. If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you call them and ask if they meant you or them. McDonald's is selling the 1/4 ouncer. Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America. Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children's names. My cousin had an exorcism but couldn't afford to pay for it, and they re-possessed her! A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico . A picture is now only worth 200 words. When Bill and Hillary travel together, they now have to share a room. The Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas is now managed by Somali pirates Congress says they are looking into this Bernard Madoff scandal. Oh Great! The guy who made $50 Billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $1.5 Trillion disappear!

AUGUST VACATION PHOTOS

I just got back from a camping trip to the Ouray, Colorado area.  The weather was perfect-maybe too perfect!  How so, you ask?  Well, I went there to visit Yankee Boy Basin, Mineral Basin, and Molas Lake in Silverton to shoot some landscapes with my Nikon D5100.  For the most part, I was very pleased with the images I obtained, but was hoping for at least some clouds at sunset to color up after sundown.  Unfortunately, there were no clouds!

I did manage to get some good shots at Molas Lake regardless, such as this one with just the Grenadier Mountains lit up in the background and wildflowers in the foreground that I flashed.

While in the Silverton area, I visited Maggie Gulch northeast of town and took some photos of a waterfall cascading off a mountain. Here's a closeup I took of the lower falls. (I liked the colors in the rock):

One of my goals this trip was to experiment with starscape photography.  I've never tried this before and learned a lot about the procedure.  Of course, this requires a tripod and a long exposure.  I took the following image pointing the camera skyward between some pine trees and used my flash to light the tree branches to add some light and depth to the image.  I set the ISO to 1000 and exposed on bulb for about 45 seconds. I also set my camera to noise reduction for high ISO.  (Click on all images for a larger view)