The view from Dead Indian Summit Overlook

The view from Dead Indian Summit Overlook on Friday July 27 was quite spectacular as the view westward generally towards Yellowstone National Park show the steep mountain road on the right-center foreground and valleys and mountain ranges as we stopped here along the road between Cody Wyoming and the Northeast Entrance to the park.  Along the way, the road is steep and winding before entering the valley generally to the right third of this image and heading towards Montana to the Northwest of here.  You can even see some snow on the peaks just left of center on the horizon.  This 8 frame panorama taken with my 24mm lens and exposures of 1/500 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100 and was assembled with the Hugin Panorama Creator under Linux.

While at the overlook, quite a large crew of Chipmunks and Squirrels were there and not only entertaining fellow travelers, but happy to accept a small gratuity (of food, of course) from them.  This little guy didn't want to miss out on the activities as he climbed over rocks to get to the crowd of critters and humans.  This image was taken with my 75-300mm lens at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100.

This picture is a 2nd squirrel munching a potato chip given to him by one of the other tourists.  Both these guys were around 5 inches long (head and body less the tail) and I suspect they are Sierra Nevada Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100.

I didn't get a very good shot of the little guy below.  He's got the pointier snout of a chipmunk along with the markings on his head and he was a little smaller than the other critters.  This shot was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/1000 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100.

Sonoran Sunset III

When out taking photographs, don't forget to look the other way. As my previous 2 images show, I was out shooting the sunset, but the view the other direction was pretty nice too. This image was taken with my 24mm lens with an exposure of 1/25 seconds at f/4, ISO 200.

The Pier at Hanalie Bay

Although the clouds mostly blocked the view, it was obvious that the mountains southwest of Hanalie Bay could be a spectacular sight. The pier here appears to be used mostly for walking out into the bay a little ways but I bet the fishing might be good there as well. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/125 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Mt. Wrightson and Mt. Hopkins

With the air so clear last week, I also got this shot of Mount Wrightson and Mount Hopkins in the Santa Rita mountains south of Tucson. On top of Mt. Hopkins at right, you can even see the white building of the MMT observatory. In between the two peaks is Josephine Peak. Somehow, Josephine rated both a peak and a saddle, as Josephine Saddle is the saddle between the eastern complex which Mt. Wrightson is the tallest point on and the western complex which Mt. Hopkins is the tallest point of. Josephine Saddle is one our favorite areas to camp after about a 4 mile hike from the trailhead down in Madera Canyon. This image is cropped from a frame taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

4-meter telescope on Kitt Peak

The 4-meter Mayall Telescope on top of Kitt Peak is seen from the road up to the summit at around the halfway point. This image was taken at 50mm focal length with an exposure of 1/125 seconds at f/11, ISO 100.

Mountain sunset

During the game on Saturday, we were treated to a lovely sunset. This is the view of the Santa Catalinas north of Tucson. Finger rock is the spire in the saddle between craggy peaks on the right. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 1600.

Baboquivari - B&W version

Compare this B&W version of the image of Baboquivari from a few days ago. I cropped this one for printing it to 8.5x11 and converted it to B&W in the GIMP.

Morning Haze

The Santa Ritas from Kitt Peak on another morning just after sunrise. The morning haze made for a spectacular light show. This image was taken at 100mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Sunrise clouds

From my last observing run, this was taken just after sunrise. The mountains in the distance are the Santa Ritas where the Whipple Observatory is on Mt. Hopkins (the right of the two prominant peaks - the left and tallest is Mt. Wrightson). The MMT is on the top of Mt. Hopkins and several other telescopes are on a flank to the south (right). This image was taken at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/1000 seconds at f/8, ISO 800.

Snowy Tucson Mountains - color version

Here is the color version yesterday's image.

Snowy Tucson Mountains in B&W

This is a view of the Tucson Mountains wast of town from McCain Loop road west of the mountains. This was converted to B&W with Picasa usinga red filter. The image was taken at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/2500 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Cat Mountain rises out of the mist

Cat Mountain, on the southern end of the Tucson Mountains rises out of the mist and snow. The flank of Brown Mountain is on the left. This image was taken at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/8000 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Snowy Trail

Another snowy picture from last Monday morning, looking down a snow covered trai at the distant mountain peaks. This image was taken at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/6400 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Out of the clouds

Snow covered Golden Gate Mountain rises out of the clouds. This image was taken at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100.

Snow with cactus and mountains

On the way back home from Kitt Peak, after leaving the mountain road and heading back towards town, the snow level had dropped far enough to have fallen along the main road. Here, a Saguaro and a cholla cactus offsets the snow covered mountains behind. This exposure was made with the kit lens at 27mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.