# Yeeeeeeehaw! Photos from the Wild West.



## Coral Moore

So, I'm sure I've mentioned this around the boards a time or two, but I love driving vacations. My husband and I have taken two so far. We didn't get to take one last year because we were trying to buy a house so I've been pining for a getaway. We live on the east coast, but I'm in love with the western half of the country. So as a way to sate my vacation lust, I'll share a photo every couple of days. (Really just whenever I remember to post one.)

First up, I give you a hungry bison:



He was eating grass next to the parking lot of a general store in Yellowstone National Park. He didn't mind the cars or the people, or much of anything.


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## ◄ Jess ►

I went to Yellowstone when I was much younger and I loved seeing all those guys! They really just don't seem to care about people or cars. I went around a corner and nearly ran smack into one, haha.


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## John Hamilton

Yellowstone Bison Grazing at Sunset by johnchamilton, on Flickr

Yellowstone! My favorite place in the world.

A herd of bison grazing in a meadow at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. I shot this on the west side of the park, heading north on the main park road, at a wide meadow past Madison Junction but before the Norris Geyser Basin.

No dodging or burning here--that's the light I saw, shot on Fujichrome 100. The sun broke out from under the clouds for less than a minute, then disappeared for the night.

I had the place to myself. Totally quiet except for the snorting of the bulls, and the breeze in the trees. There's nothing like an evening in Yellowstone.


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## Coral Moore

That picture is beautiful John!

This is what being stuck in traffic in Wyoming looks like. We were stopped for construction in Yellowstone for about 45 minutes, but there was certainly no complaining about the view.


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## Coral Moore

Scarlet asked for two posts today. So you can thank her for a multi-colored hot spring from the West Thumb Geyser Basin.


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## John Hamilton

Grand Prismatic Pano by johnchamilton, on Flickr

A two-frame panorama of Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Grand Prismatic is located in the Midway Geyser Basin, just north of Old Faithful. Most people see it from the boardwalk, which is cool, but to really see the scale and colors of this magnificent feature, you have to do a little work. Just south of the main parking lot, there's a pullout that marks a small trail leading to Fairy Falls (a wonder in its own right). First you cross a small bridge over the Firehole River, then you walk maybe a mile or so until you're on the back side of Grand Prismatic.

Next you bushwhack up a small hill on your left, not unlike the hill you see in the background/right of this frame. There are a couple of well-worn paths up the hill (it's not exactly a secret), but the loose rock can be slippery, especially going downhill. Hiking boots recommended, but not required. When you're about halfway up the hill, this is the scene you'll see before you. Take a picture or two, but be sure to stay and drink it all in.


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## John Hamilton

Cowboy Lyle Glass by johnchamilton, on Flickr

No set from the Wild West is complete without a cowboy!

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota. Saw Cowboy Lyle sitting on a park bench and struck up a conversation with him. Neat guy. That's all natural light bouncing into his face from the concrete sidewalk.


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## lpking

John, do you sharpen your pix at all?

That one on Fujichrome made me all nostalgic. I just gave away my last film camera.


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## John Hamilton

lpking said:


> John, do you sharpen your pix at all?
> 
> That one on Fujichrome made me all nostalgic. I just gave away my last film camera.


Oh, yes, definitely. All images could use at least a little sharpening. Do you use Photoshop? I have some good general settings for you, if you're curious.

I know what you mean about film cameras. I haven't shot film in about 10 years. I can't say I miss it all that much, but it does make me nostalgic, too.


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## John Hamilton

Coral said:


> He was eating grass next to the parking lot of a general store in Yellowstone National Park. He didn't mind the cars or the people, or much of anything.


LOL. Those bison wander around like they own the place, don't they? Nice shot, Coral.


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## ◄ Jess ►

John Hamilton said:


> Oh, yes, definitely. All images could use at least a little sharpening. Do you use Photoshop? I have some good general settings for you, if you're curious.


I would love to hear your tips for sharpening in Photoshop! I typically don't sharpen my pictures, but I'm sure they could use it. I'm still learning my way around Photoshop.

I'm loving all these pictures, btw! I have some scanned in pictures from Yellowstone, but I took them way back in 1998ish, before I knew how to work a camera. I might look through them later and see if I can find anything worth posting.


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## Coral Moore

Gorgeous photo John! I'd be interested in hearing some sharpening pointers too. I don't usually sharpen my pictures, and usually just use the default color correcting tool.

This is Jenny Lake, a little stop off the road between Jackson, WY and Yellowstone.


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## John Hamilton

Hi Guys, I feel like in my enthusiasm I've hijacked Coral's thread, but here goes:

Almost all images benefit from sharpening.  There is much debate on the best method to use, from using Photoshop's unsharp mask to luminosity sharpening to using propriety software. A *great* reference book is Scott Kelby's "The Adobe Photoshop CS5 Book for Photographers."  (Or CS4, etc, whichever version of PS you have.)  The different variations will boggle your mind.  A lot of it is more art than science. I use several methods in my workflow, depending on the image and end use.

That said, here are some basics that work for me when I put on my graphic designer hat and I'm working in "fast and simple" mode: 

Make sure sharpening is your last step in processing your image.  Especially make sure it's resized just the way you want it.  For example, if you sharpen, and then downsize for the web, you'll lose most of the benefit of sharpening.  For Web display, I like to size my photos at 1,000 pixels on the wide side, at 72 pixels per inch.  That's big enough for most web uses, but small enough to thwart most people from ripping off your photos and using them in print.  It's not perfect, but it's a happy medium.

(An aside: I typically process a photo at full size, then resize different renamed versions, some for web, some for print assignments, etc.)

View your final, resized photo at 100% so you can scrutinize the sharpening effect.  Because of the large file size of today's DSLRs, many photographers instead now view at 50%.  The debate rages.  I still view at 100%

Go to Filter--Sharpen--Unsharp Mask.  I won't get into what all the settings mean (this post would get awfully long), but here are some good starting points:

Basic workhorse sharpening
Amount: 85%
Radius: 1
Threshold: 4

Moderate sharpening
Amount: 120%
Radius: 1
Threshold 3

The photo is too soft but you really, really need to use it:
Amount 65%
Radius: 4
Threshold: 3

I hope this helps!


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## Coral Moore

John Hamilton said:


> Hi Guys, I feel like in my enthusiasm I've hijacked Coral's thread, but here goes:


Not at all! I love taking pictures and learning new tricks to improve. Thanks for sharing! 

PS - Anyone is welcome to post pictures from the Western US. Come one, come all!


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## Coral Moore

A nifty rock formation called Black Dragon in Utah.


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## Coral Moore

A moose having a midday nap in Grand Teton National Park.


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## Coral Moore

This is my amazing husband enjoying the view in Zion National Park.


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## telracs

Coral said:


> Not at all! I love taking pictures and learning new tricks to improve. Thanks for sharing!
> 
> PS - Anyone is welcome to post pictures from the Western US. Come one, come all!


I'll post after my trip....


Spoiler



in OCTOBER!



by the way, love the black dragon picture, and hi to your husband!


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## John Hamilton

Coral said:


> This is my amazing husband enjoying the view in Zion National Park.


Oh, I love Zion NP! Nice shot. That's one of my favorite destinations. I was on a book assignment there a few years ago. Here's a view halfway up Angel's Landing. Not for the faint of heart. 


Zion Angels Landing by johnchamilton, on Flickr


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## Coral Moore

John Hamilton said:


> Oh, I love Zion NP! Nice shot. That's one of my favorite destinations. I was on a book assignment there a few years ago. Here's a view halfway up Angel's Landing. Not for the faint of heart.


I love Zion too! It's definitely one of my favorite places. I'm not quite as adventurous as you though, I didn't go up any of those crazy climbs.


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## John Hamilton

Coral said:


> I love Zion too! It's definitely one of my favorite places. I'm not quite as adventurous as you though, I didn't go up any of those crazy climbs.


It's only a 1,000-foot drop. And at its narrowest, the path is a good two-feet wide. Sure, that sandstone can get a little slippery, but that's why you don't hike and text-message at the same time.


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## Coral Moore

A view of the Teton Range from the Idaho side. I know how crazy it sounds, but I adore Idaho.


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## Casper Parks

Thanks for sharing those photos. Loved the Buffalo grazing.


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## Coral Moore

This bison decided he was going to cross a bridge over the river, because it was easier. He passed only a few feet away from the driver's side of our car and stopped traffic in both directions for about 10 minutes.


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## Coral Moore

Another one from West Thumb Geyser Basin:


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## Coral Moore

I forget which geyser basin this is from, but I love the picture.


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## Coral Moore

Aspen, Colorado. No idea what it's like at the height of ski season, but when we were there at the end of April it was quite lovely.


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## Tippy

Oops -- 2nd Attempt

This photo of an old barn was taken near Ten Sleep WY


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## Tippy

Following are photos of petroglyphs taken near Thermopolis WY. . .


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## Coral Moore

Tippy said:


> Following are photos of petroglyphs taken near Thermopolis WY. . .


Those are cool! So many neat things to see there. My husband was just telling me today that there is apparently a mummy somewhere in Wyoming.

Here's a view of the Teton Pass approaching from the Idaho side. I love this picture because there's a big ray of sunshine beaming down right next to a nasty little snow squall that we drove through a while later.


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## Coral Moore

Home on the Range! We noticed these guys a long way off because of the dust cloud they created by rolling around in the dirt.


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## claytondb

I live in Idaho and recently I've been doing some HDR pics of this area. I love HDR photography btw.
Here are some of my pictures:


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## Coral Moore

claytondb said:


> I live in Idaho and recently I've been doing some HDR pics of this area. I love HDR photography btw.


*sigh* I love Idaho.  So beautiful there. I think I might have driven by that third picture, where was that taken?


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## Coral Moore

Yup, just us and the cows. And lots and lots of wide, open space.


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## Coral Moore

Midway Geyser Basin in Yellowstone. It's amazing to see how the acidic hot springs have worn away the rock.


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## Coral Moore

La Jolla, I guess that's really all I have to say.


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## Coral Moore

Eagles for the fourth!


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## Coral Moore

A waterfall in Yellowstone.


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## Coral Moore

This is a from the car picture while riding through Utah.


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## Coral Moore

Redwoods


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## Coral Moore

One of my favorite pictures ever. Looking down on Big Sur on a foggy day.


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## Casper Parks

Went camping in Big Sur, end of summer 1992... It was great.


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## Coral Moore

Rainbows in the sky over Wyoming.


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## Coral Moore

Just got back from vacation, so there are a whole mess more west photos coming up. To start with here's a panorama from the Beartooth Pass.


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## The Hooded Claw

If you love Yellowstone, you gotta go in Winter. I did a snowmobile photo trip several years ago, and it is one of the highlights of my photography life. The scenery here is beautiful, but these bison are too busy scrabbling for calories to notice:


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## R. M. Reed

I looked up HDR. How do you get those shots? Do you shoot in RAW? Do you need to take more than one picture of the same thing?


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## Coral Moore

R. M. Reed said:


> I looked up HDR. How do you get those shots? Do you shoot in RAW? Do you need to take more than one picture of the same thing?


My camera has a stitching helper. When you turn that on it shows you the right edge (or however you set it) of the last picture you took so that you can line up the next shot without too much overlap. Photoshop has a script that will do the work of connecting photos together in a panoramic. It was really simple.


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## Coral Moore

Here's one of my favorites from the trip, sunset over the Tetons.


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## Coral Moore

The Hooded Claw said:


> If you love Yellowstone, you gotta go in Winter. I did a snowmobile photo trip several years ago, and it is one of the highlights of my photography life. The scenery here is beautiful, but these bison are too busy scrabbling for calories to notice:


What a gorgeous picture THC! My husband keeps trying to talk me into a winter snowmobiling trip. That will probably be our next vacation.


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## The Hooded Claw

Another winter shot. Elk in the snow....This bull elk and a couple of cows stayed protected from the cold by spending most of their time wading through a small river fed by geothermally-heated water. The water was only knee-deep to them, and we saw them several times over two days, almost never outside of the creek.


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## tom st. laurent

These photos are great! Don't stop.


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## Coral Moore

Wapta Falls at Banff National Park in Alberta, complete with rainbow!


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## Coral Moore

Glacier National Park


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## R. Doug

R. M. Reed said:


> I looked up HDR. How do you get those shots? Do you shoot in RAW? Do you need to take more than one picture of the same thing?


This month's Popular Photography has a good article on HDR photography. There are a couple of ways to do it (although I've not tried it, so bear with me). One is to tripod the camera and take multiple, bracketed shots and then combine them in layers. The other is to take one shot and manipulate portions of the photograph in layers and then recombine the layers once you get the effect you want. The former case is the preferred method in still photography, while the latter is the only way to get the same effect in an action shot. In both cases, raw works better than JPEG, but JPEG can be made to give you similar results.

But HDR may not be what you need in regard to the wonderful pictures Claytondb is displaying of that diner and the first two sun-lighted photographs. Much of that same effect could have been done by simply oversaturating the colors, although you'd lose some of the effect Claytondb achieved in the shaded portion beneath the roof overhang on the diner and in the shaded area below the cliffs in the first landscape.

That fourth photograph, taken in shade with sun-lighted foliage in the background, is something only HDR can really achieve. Otherwise, you wind up either blowing out the highlights or losing detail and saturation in the shadows.


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## Coral Moore

This is an alpine lake at around 12,000 ft on the Beartooth Pass.


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## Coral Moore

A lake somewhere in Yellowstone I think. Yes, it was just as peaceful as it looks.


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## The Hooded Claw

Winter waterfall at Yellowstone


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## Coral Moore

A lake in Glacier National Park that I can't remember the name of.


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## Coral Moore

Old Faithful.


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## Coral Moore

Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park.


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## Coral Moore

Some cool rocks in Wind River Canyon--I think Wyoming? Possibly Montana.


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## The Hooded Claw

Old Faithful in the snow.


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## Coral Moore

Very cool shaped mountain in Banff National Park.


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## Cindergayle

These are really great pictures!


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## Coral Moore

Another one from Glacier National Park.





Cindergayle said:


> These are really great pictures!


Thank you!


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## Coral Moore

Rocky Mountain National Park--yes it was snowing up there in mid-September.


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## Coral Moore

Just so you don't think I only take pictures of trees and water, here's Seattle.


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## telracs

hey coral. can i add to this thread when i get home?


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## Coral Moore

scarlet said:


> hey coral. can i add to this thread when i get home?


Absolutely! I hope you do. Anyone is welcome to post in here, as long as the pictures are westerly.


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## dihao

BEATIUFUL yellowstone


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## Coral Moore

Another panoramic shot from the remarkable Beartooth Pass.


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## R. Doug

Okay, y'all talked me into it. Here's a few from a blog I did back in April:


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## The Hooded Claw

Nothing like a hairpin curve to liven up a photo!










Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada


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## Coral Moore

Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone. (I think)


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## Coral Moore

Some kind of cute goat thing in Yellowstone


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## Coral Moore

This one's a little hazy. Throughout our trip we encountered a lot of haze that we thought was because of fires. Anyway, you can still see some of the neat shapes that glaciers carved in the mountains.


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## sebat

Let me know if you can't see these. Someone told me the other day that I could link from Facebook, so I'm trying it out. My albums are set to "friends only" so I'm not sure it will work.









St. Mary's Lake, Glacier National Park








Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park - View from my motel room.








Flathead River just north of Dixon, MT on Rt. 212


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## sebat

Stanislaus National Forest, Donnell Overlook, California








Sentinel in Sequoia National Park, California - Notice the two story building on the right side of the picture.








Kings Canyon National Park, California


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## Coral Moore

Beautiful pictures, sebat! They came through just fine.

Today's pic from me is a rainbow in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.


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## R. Doug

Beautiful pictures—both of you.


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## sebat

Coral Moore said:


> Beautiful pictures, sebat! They came through just fine.


Coral, I think your photo of the lake that you can't remember the name of is the same lake in my first picture just from a different angle. Your's looks like it has a little island out in the water, too. That's what made me start posting pics and then I forgot to mention it.


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## Coral Moore

sebat said:


> Coral, I think your photo of the lake that you can remember the name of is the same lake in my first picture just from a different angle. Your's looks like it has a little island out in the water, too. That's what made me start posting pics and then I forgot to mention it.


I believe you're right! You got a great reflection of the mountain in yours.


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## sebat

Coral Moore said:


> I believe you're right! You got a great reflection of the mountain in yours.


Just dumb luck with the time of day. I've never been one to sit around waiting for the perfect shot...too much to see and too much to do.


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## Coral Moore

Another shot from the Beartooth Pass.


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## telracs

Coral Moore said:


> Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone. (I think)


no, i don't think this is mammoth...


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## Coral Moore

scarlet said:


> no, i don't think this is mammoth...


Okay!  I always forget the names.

This one is sunset near Jackson, Wyoming.


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## Coral Moore

Rock overhang in Glacier National Park that I was pretty sure was going to squish me as we drove by/under it. As an interesting side note, I didn't notice at the time that it looks strangely like a face!


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## Coral Moore

It's just unfair that places look like this.


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## Coral Moore

The view out our hotel window in Banff.


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## Coral Moore

Some hot spring or other.  I liked how the clouds reflected.


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## geoffthomas

Great pics, folks.
I would add some......if I had them.
But I am sure enjoying yours.


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## Coral Moore

Why yes, I do like mountain saddlebacks as a matter of fact.


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## telracs

yes, I'm real...



















for coral..(if this is showing sideways, I apologize, photobucket is being weird this morning.


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## telracs

odd wo-
rd breaks....


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## crebel

Hooray, vacation pictures that include the vacationer!  I will quit giving Scarlet grief (on the subject of personal pics anyway) during chat!


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## R. Doug

scarlet said:


> odd wo-
> rd breaks....


That reminds me of a cartoon I once saw. The sign on the front of the building read, "Planning Departm," and then wrapped around the corner it read, "ent."


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## Coral Moore

Yay, Scarlet! Okay, since you did it, I'll post pictures of me too. This is me ATVing in Banff. It was a lot of fun, even if I did think I was going to die a few times.  Check out the cool desperado ensemble with the bandana.


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## telracs

btw, that is the monument at Little Big Horn....


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## Coral Moore

scarlet said:


> btw, that is the monument at Little Big Horn....


Ahh.

I love the Mt. Rushmore pic. They should make a place where you can sit and your head is right up there with all the presidents though! 

BTW, I love the Tattered Cover. Never been to that one though, did you get to go inside?


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## telracs

Coral Moore said:


> Ahh.
> 
> I love the Mt. Rushmore pic. They should make a place where you can sit and your head is right up there with all the presidents though!
> 
> BTW, I love the Tattered Cover. Never been to that one though, did you get to go inside?


I'm sure there are a few places that you can manage to put your head in the picture.... but i can understand why they don't mark it.

and no, i didn't go in.


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## telracs

and we start the tour....

Scarlet's favorite street no matter what the city....










Colorado State Capitol...





































It's official, I'm a mile high...









Denver city/county hall from Capitol steps...










Capital through the Greek theater arches...


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## telracs

statues in park near capitol..



















view from my hotel window...


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## The Hooded Claw

So where's Bryce Canyon?


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## telracs

The Hooded Claw said:


> So where's Bryce Canyon?


In Utah....


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## The Hooded Claw

scarlet said:


> In Utah....


Correct. You get a cookie.


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## telracs

Molly Brown Museum



















bridges...





































big blue bear by the convention center.


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## The Hooded Claw

The Big Blue Bear is cute.  He gets a cookie, too.


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## telracs

The Hooded Claw said:


> The Big Blue Bear is cute. He gets a cookie, too.


you better give him one, 'cause i ain't sharing.


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## The Hooded Claw

The Big Blue Bear isn't given cookies.  He takes all the cookies he wants!


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## sebat

Love the bear...lookin' in!


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## The Hooded Claw

Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly. I was lucky enough to be there in January a few years ago, when there was snow still on the ground.


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## sebat

Beautiful!


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## telracs

more pictures of me....


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## telracs

for THC....


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## R. Doug

That big, blank rock just to the right of Lincoln—I see there's still room for me up there.


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## telracs

Mount Rushmore closeups


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## The Hooded Claw

R. Doug said:


> That big, blank rock just to the right of Lincoln-I see there's still room for me up there.


HEY! That's my spot!


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## The Hooded Claw

scarlet said:


> for THC....


Thanks! But this must be low res or something. No matter how hard I look, I can't see Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint hanging off Lincoln's nose.


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## Coral Moore




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## telracs




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## telracs

Cobbie said:


> Scarlet, this is neat! It almost looks like it was done with effects which I know it wasn't because I saw it on your blog. I can't remember what it is. Refresh my memory, please.


it's one of the hot springs at west thumb geyser basin in yellowstone.


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## Coral Moore




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## The Hooded Claw

Cobbie said:


> I'll bet it's really beautiful to see.


I wish I was back in Yellowstone.


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## telracs

big cone...










old faithful


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## telracs

mammoth hot springs.


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## telracs

blue star spring










river near old faithful


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## Coral Moore

Some eye candy. Hands off though, this one's mine.


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## telracs




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## telracs

antlers for coral...


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## The Hooded Claw

scarlet said:


> antlers for coral...


Wow!


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## sebat

Cobbie said:


> Yes, wow! Where was this taken?


I know that one. I've spent a lot of time there. It's Jackson Hole, WY. There's actually 4 of those arches. One at each corner of the park in the middle of the square.


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## telracs

sebat said:


> I know that one. I've spent a lot of time there. It's Jackson Hole, WY. There's actually 4 of those arches. One at each corner of the park in the middle of the square.


So, you'll recognize these...


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## sebat

I sure do!  I've bellied up to that bar several times.  If it's still there, there's a darn good steakhouse in the basement of the Cowboy Bar.  The first time I went to Jackson Hole in the 70's.  I was in a western store on the square and was shopping across the rack from Robert Redford!  My parents have a picture of me standing in front of that statue, too.


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## telracs

sebat said:


> I sure do! I've bellied up to that bar several times. If it's still there, there's a darn good steakhouse in the basement of the Cowboy Bar. The first time I went to Jackson Hole in the 70's. I was in a western store on the square and was shopping across the rack from Robert Redford! My parents have a picture of me standing in front of that statue, too.


the steakhouse is still there, but only serves dinner, so i didn't get to eat there. 
the souvenir shop was selling stuff for breast cancer awareness, so i got a t-shirt with the logo in pink!


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## sebat

scarlet said:


> the steakhouse is still there, but only serves dinner, so i didn't get to eat there.
> the souvenir shop was selling stuff for breast cancer awareness, so i got a t-shirt with the logo in pink!


Very cool! I don't think I ever went into their gift shop.


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## Coral Moore

This is Wind River Canyon in Montana. Check out the totally artistic lens flare there, but ignore the roof of our rental car


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## telracs




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## The Hooded Claw

Ah, I'm not the only one who goes around photographing religious edifices!


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## Coral Moore

Beartooth Pass again


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## telracs

bryce canyon


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## R. Doug

Beautiful, Scarlet.  Great shots.


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## sebat

I haven't made it to Bryce Canyon.  It's one of those places I really want to go!  Beautiful!


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## sebat

At the top of Ulm Pishkun buffalo jump....between Helena and Great Falls, MT


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## telracs

The bus...










the people on the bus....


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## Coral Moore




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## lea_owens

The photos in this thread are just STUNNINGLY beautiful. I am definitely, absolutely, nothing-stopping-me, going to the U.S in 2012. I've had a trip planned out for years, which includes one of the major western horse shows such as Congress or the QH World Show, and at least one horse riding trip through some of the amazing scenery, and a trip along part of Route 66, and MUST see the Grand Canyon.

My 'Wild West' photos come from my 'wild west' of Queensland Australia, where my husband was born and grew up on one of his family's 36,000 acre sheep and cattle properties. I don't actually have many of those photos scanned to my computer as most of them show vast, open downs country (rolling grassy plains with a few sparse, small trees)... not that interesting to most people. So I'll find a couple that might be a wee bit of interest, although not of the quality I'm seeing in this thread (so my apologies for dragging the overall quality down a few pegs).

Here is one of a foal being abducted by aliens - you can't see the spaceship but you can clearly see that the foal is being lifted by an invisible beam to the mothership hovering somewhere overhead (this photo actually started a world wide fad in the past couple of years of having photos of horses as they leap into the air and putting them up as 'alien abduction photos' - I write for horse magazines and a few of my friends own and/or edit horse magazines, so they picked the notion up and it just seemed to spread everywhere, but I'm proud to say that I have the first alien abduction photo. Horse people, eh? *sigh*)









Some grey 'roos near our house... now, they may look cute, but the big 'roo at the right, third from the front (bending over and looking to the right of the photo behind the others) would stand well over 6' tall if he got up to fight and they can be very dangerous. My husband's grandfather was pulled off his horse by a big red (the guys in the photos are grey 'roos). He was tailing out about a thousand weaner sheep who can be a bit skitty, and a big 'roo was about to go through and split them, so he rode his horse between the 'roo and the weaners, trying to get the 'roo to jump over the fence and go the other way. Instead, he leaped up and pulled him out of the saddle, wrapped those 'little' arms around him and proceeded to rip the huge hind fighting claws down his sides by leaning back on his tail and kicking the back legs up to attack. Luckily, his grandfather was side on to the 'roo and not front on or he'd have been gutted. He managed to get a hand up to grab the 'roo by the throat and choke him until he let go and then he grabbed the tomahawk from his saddle (the horse had remained next to him... thank goodness for well trained stock horses) and killed the 'roo as it came at him a second time. To the day he died he had massive white scar lines down his side and leg as well as white dents in his shoulders where the 'roo had bitten chunks out of him. And, another truly amazing 'roo story... nah, I'll leave it, I do tend to prattle on too much once I think of these things.









And this is just a photo borrowed from a friend of the Devil's Marbles in the Northern Territory - of interest to me because my stepfather used to own McLaren Creek Station, the big run that had the Devil's Marbles down one end, but then the government took this section of land of back as they are one of the major Sacred Sites in Australia (along with Ayers Rock/Uluru not too far away). The marbles are about the size of houses, but difficult to gauge their size without a person or car next to them. Outback Australian TV personality, Troy Dann, spent his early years on McLaren Creek after my stepfather sold it to his parents, and then the station was purchased for the Aboriginal tribes who had remained in the area.


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## telracs

gee, should i pull out my pictures of western Oz?


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## Coral Moore

San Diego Zoo


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## R. Doug

Friday's blog was on some pictures taken during a photo safari of downtown El Paso. Here are a few examples from that blog:


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## telracs

R. Doug said:


> Friday's blog was on some pictures taken during a photo safari of downtown El Paso. Here are a few examples from that blog:


okay, what's really weird is that I could swear I saw this statue in Washington DC...


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## R. Doug

That piece was removed from the entrance of the El Paso Museum of Art in early October of last year.  It's to be installed at the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art in Bentonville, Ark.  As for Washington, I'm unaware of it having been displayed there, but perhaps it was.


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## telracs

lunch at Cameron Trading post...


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## telracs

R. Doug said:


> That piece was removed from the entrance of the El Paso Museum of Art in early October of last year. It's to be installed at the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art in Bentonville, Ark. As for Washington, I'm unaware of it having been displayed there, but perhaps it was.












okay, it's similar, not the same....


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## R. Doug

It probably is the same, just not the same _one_. Ursula tells me that she believes there were eight copies of The Vaquero made by Luis Jimenez before his fatal accident.

Meanwhile, today's blog shows two back-to-back sunsets we had just a few days ago:









And a couple of the sample photographs:


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## telracs




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## telracs




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## R. Doug

oooOOOooo.  Love the composition on that second shot, Scarlet.


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## telracs

R. Doug said:


> oooOOOooo. Love the composition on that second shot, Scarlet.


thank you sir. i love using something that other people see as being "in the way". i've figured out that I take shots from odd angles because I don't have enough patience to wait people taking the "perfect" shot to get out of my way. I just wander down a bit, and get my fun shots.


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## telracs




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## telracs




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## The Hooded Claw

scarlet said:


>


Ah, I misunderstood this in B&W. I thought it looked like a long-angle view of an airport runway! Color makes it more clear. Yep, definitely an alien landing site.


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## The Hooded Claw

scarlet said:


>


And is that the shadow of an alien here? I think I see an antenna on the top of the head!


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## telracs

just realized i never posted my favorite shots of the Grand tetons


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## telracs




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## telracs

Lake Powell


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## lea_owens

Absolutely beautiful images! I, too, misunderstood the black and white image of that mountain and thought it was actually a long tract of tree covered land running into the distance.


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## telracs

lea_owens said:


> Absolutely beautiful images! I, too, misunderstood the black and white image of that mountain and thought it was actually a long tract of tree covered land running into the distance.


guess since i know what it is, i can't see anything else...


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## telracs




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## telracs




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## telracs




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## telracs




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## R. Doug

Love the Vegas shots, Scarlet.

A short pictoral blog on yet another spectacular West Texas sunset that I photographed last Friday: Another Day, Another Sunset


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## R. Doug

How about the west coast of . . . *Mexico!!!*

Another three-parter this week. Today, Part 1 of The Mexican Riviera-Acapulco

And a few of the photos:


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## R. Doug

Today it's: The Mexican Riviera-Ixtapa and Puerto Vallarta

Some sample pictures:


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## R. Doug

Today's blog: The Mexican Riviera-Cabo San Lucas

Some sample shots:


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## dori chatelain

Wonderful pictures. I love yellowstone park. We went there in the spring of 1999 and we took our film slr camera I would love to go back someday and take our digital slr. I know that the film slr is a nice camera that is now a dust collector. But this slr that we have now has some much more than the film camera had and we have really big lenses that would be awesome for taking great pictures of the wildlife.


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