Don’t Blink: 392 MPH RC Glider Tears Through the Air: By cleverly using the wind currents coming off ridge lines, hobbyists can get radio-controlled, unpowered gliders to fly at extremely high speeds.
(Via Wired News.)
This is excessively cool.
So I spent a couple of more days at Humbug and hiked up the hill again. I think that Humbug may be habit forming.
I was surprised to see that the campground was not full. While there are definitely more people in the park than last November, the campground is not crowded. I did not have anyone in the adjacent sites for the two days I was there.
Little has changed in the camp, the one site that was flooded in November is still closed and coated with a layer of dirt. Brush Creek is still flowing to the north, but has moved outside of the big rocks on the beach. The waves are trying to form a lagoon, but for now, the creek is winning.
A crowd of Western Gulls has taken to the beach and are using the creek as a bath. They are only disturbed when you get too close or bring a dog to the beach. They will let a person get within about 50 feet, but any dog within 200 ft will get them flying.
The Black Oystercatchers are a little more skittish.
On of my goals for this trip was to climb Humbug again, but use the “West Trail”. This trail did not exist when I first tried in 1966. For tradition, I took the “East Trail” when I went up two years ago.
The West Trail is a little steeper (getting you to the summit in 1.5 miles instead of 2.0 miles) and offers a few glimpses to the north of Port Orford and Cape Blanco.
The West Trail traverses the southwest side of the mountain and once you are there, you are greeted with solitude. The road noise from 101 disappears. You might hear an song bird or a few sea lions barking 1000 ft below. Most likely you will just hear your footsteps. It is scary silent.
You work your way up a number of switchbacks, occasionally crossing over to the north side of the mountain where you are once again greeted by the drone of 101. Just below the summit you link back up with the “East Trail” and walk a few hundred feet to the summit.
There was a downed tree across the regular trail so I had to take an semi off-trail route to get to the top. As a result, I discovered the benchmark at the top. It was something that I missed the last time I was here.
The summit of Humbug isn’t awe inspiring, it is really just a little clearing with just enough trees to block your view to the south. But, you have to remember you have just climbed one of the highest points on the Oregon coast. I had the place to myself, so enjoyed a banana before starting down.
While walking down the East Trail I started to focus on the main dynamic of the mountain, the fallen trees that rip open new habitat. It is these openings that allow the diversity of plants and animals on the mountain.
While you might not notice it, it is a very dynamic environment. And not one that I would like to hike in during a storm in December.
More photos on Flickr.
Humbug Mountain at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail: GPS Community
Kodak winds last rolls of Kodachrome: “After 74 years of making the color film used by many of photography’s greats, Kodak announced that it’s ending production of the iconic product.”
(Via CNET News.com.)
If you still have some, shoot it now. According to the article, the only lab still processing Kodachrome film will shut down the line next year.
I am pretty sure that I have a few rolls sitting around that I should shoot.
My friend Dan Mitchell pointed to an exhaustive article on shooting baseball games. I responded in a comment, but thought that I would expand here.
I am going to start out by saying that the reason you go to a baseball game is to have fun. So, don’t worry about anything that I say or any one else says about shooting a game. You are there to have fun. Don’t forget that.
Now, I think that the best way to learn is by experience. So treat what I say as suggestions, thoughts that I have picked up through seasons of shooting ballgames, nothing hard and fast.
Start at College or Minor League Games, these will give you great baseball with better access than you will find higher up. It is also easier to get press/media passes. Like everyone else, you need to move up through the ranks.
If you want to shoot the players, find where they are captive, the dugout, the bullpen, pitchers mound, the batters box. Learn their names and numbers and faces. Tim Lincecum was number 49 as a San Jose Giant.
Get to know the players so they are comfortable with you around. Reading this sounds a lot like shooting birds, but it is easier than shooting birds, because you can talk to the players.
Always be aware of those around you and be courteous. If you are getting in front of a fan to take a shoot ask if it is ok. No one has ever said no. But don’t abuse the privilege, take a few shots and move on.
For your safety, always use both eyes. Pay attention to the game and know what is happening out side the view finder. You will also get better pictures.
Most of the action happens at first base. The ball almost always goes there. I like being down the 1st base line to see a baserunner as he strives to make it. You can almost be guaranteed a good shot if you camp out there.
The toughest plays to catch are pitchers fielding the ball. The plays are not common and the reaction time for you and the pitcher is so small that you have to be lucky. If you get a shot, feel blessed.
If you want to shoot outfielders, you need a big lens, 400-500 mm at least. You can get by shooting the right or left fielder from the out field bleachers with a 300 mm lens, but you are never going to get a good shot of the center fielder.
In most cases, you will be wanting to shoot with a fast shutter speed. If you want to freeze the ball in flight, shoot at around 1/2000th. The available light will be a limiting factor. At some night games you will be lucky to get 1/100th.
I also always shoot in burst mode, it leads to a few more images to look through, but I am more likely to catch the instant I want shooting at 5 frames a second.
There are lots of situational shots that you can get if you are paying attention. Stolen bases, pick offs, home run trots, and double play take outs fall into this category.
The key is paying attention to what is going on in the game and not focusing on what is going on in the stands. Of course this is a big mistake. Because there are lots of great shots waiting there.
There are also great shots before the game as the players are warming up. One of my favorite shots of Tim Lincecum was of him playing hackey sack before a game. It was a subtle reminder that the players are still kids.
I think that may be why I enjoy shooting baseball games so much. It is always a game. And while you can worry about the outcome, or whether enough people come through the turnstiles, or whether you capture the perfect image, it is still a game.
So, go out to the ballpark and do everything to perfection. Be in the right spot, have your focus and shutter speed nailed. And if you screw up, remember its only a game.
There is always tomorrow.
Yesterday’s system upgrade did not go so well. After the installation, the Frontier server was not available. It was up and running, but requests were not getting through.
The problem was with the port forwarding, so I fixed that and then found that Frontier was now getting all web requests, even those that should be handled by Apache. So Fluid Flow was down for a bit.
I got everything working again by restarting the system and making sure that Frontier started well after Apache. Now all appears to be well.
On Saturday, I got out on Coyote Creek to help clean it once again. The occasion was Nation River Clean-up Day and the Friends of Coyote Creek joined a number of groups in cleaning the creek and its banks.
We had a big crowd on the water and our boat spend most of the day acting as a garbage scow, ferrying the trash pulled by our volunteers in canoes to our dump site. If fact, I don’t think that I pulled anything out of the creek myself.
There was one logistical problem when we discovered the boat filled with trash would not fit under a downed tree, so we had to offload half our collection and then haul it overland to the dump site.
All told, we collected about a ton of trash, including 4 shopping carts, a couple of bicycles, a few bike tires.
The creek seemed cleaner than usual, though we couldn’t get to a couple of large trash rafts. We didn’t find any car tires, which I think might be a first.
I am guessing that the lack of trash in the creek is more the result of blockages upstream and a generally mild winter (with few storms washing trash into the creek) than anything else.
But I am pleased to say that the reach that we worked on is cleaner than it was. Many thanks to all of our volunteers
A really weird thing happened today at Fry’s in Campbell.
I was wandering the isles looking a little lost, when I was asked by a Fry’s Sales Associate if he could help me.
I told him what I was looking for, he led me straight to the products, told me which ones to steer clear of, and with a little more information from me, pointed out what I was looking for.
I have been shopping at Fry’s for over 20 years now and this is the first time that a Sales Associate has been truly helpful.
Thank you!
I wish that I had paid attention to his name so I could thank him personally. But, well done Fry’s.
So my bird books tell me that Grackles are found east of the Rockies. And before today, the last one saw was in Dallas, TX.
So I was a little surprised this morning when I saw a black bird with a long tail flying along Del Monte Ave. in Seaside. I drove around the block and confirmed that I had seen a Grackle.
Next I went home and grabbed my camera. While I would never imagined it, there are at least half a dozen Grackles making their home in Seaside.
Beautiful plumage!
Yesterday, I went out to Henry Coe State Park again. I suppose that this is getting to be a habit, I mean I have been there twice in the last two years. But really, I am just trying to catch up since it took me 47 years to make my first visit.
Yesterday’s hike was a reunion of sorts for a few Bay Area hiking bloggers, with Tom Mangan of Two-Heel Drive fame and the Winehiker himself, Russ Beebe. It has been a couple of years since we last hiked together.
Russ picked a route that started out at the Coyote Creek entrance at the south end of the park. We started climbing north along and above a branch of Coyote Creek.
Most of the way through oak forests. Around lunch time we got out of the oaks and into the more open grassy hills. At our lunch stop we were serenaded by a meadowlark, though couldn’t see him until he flew.
Unfortunately, that describes the birding opportunities. Lots of voices, but few sightings. Notable in the sightings were a House Wren near the trailhead and a Bullock’s Oriole a probable Cooper’s Hawk. There were also a number of Starlings, more than I care to see.
The wildflowers, however, were out in abundance. We saw dozens of different species and with Russ’ help, I actually remembered a few species. Probably the most spectacular were the patches of Chinese Houses. Though the patchs of false lupine, poppies, ithuriel’s spear and blue-eyed grass, were also impressive.
The thing that I enjoy most about a hike like this one is that it reminds me of why I love central California. While I took a break from hiking for a number of years, the hills, oaks, birds, rocks and flowers haven’t changed.
Now I am getting to see old “friends” that I haven’t seen in years.
The afternoon was spent climbing up a bit more as we headed east, almost getting run over by a Search and Rescue truck, and then heading back south, down some steep slopes to the car.
All told, we hiked 9 miles and climbed around 2000 ft. Just enough to make your feet ache and legs and shoulders sore for a couple of days.
As usual, I have more photos on Flickr.
Henry Coe State Park at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
Not sure how this happened, but I had never seen a Common Yellowthroat before yesterday.
I have a pretty good idea of the birds in the area and the birds that I have seen. So when a new one pops up, it is always a bit of a surprise.
And when it is a relatively common one, I have to kick myself and ask, what have you been doing all these years?
Oh well…
