A Hike to the Falls

Moss Brea Falls, Dunsmuir CA, is one of the most breathtaking sights that one can see. You hike on train tracks, heavily surrounded by ground rock, for about 1 mile ... you step to your right and just below you is the first sight of the falls. Water appears from nowhere and gently cascades down moss covered rocks into the river.

This is my 3rd trip to visit these falls and they are every bit as spectacular as the first time I laid eyes on them. They provide a perfect subject for the camera as well as a wonderful background for a few portraits.

The only trail to the falls ... Steep hill to the right and a sharp drop to the river to the left. The rocks make for slow, unsure walking. The falls however, make it all worth the hike.

Later in the day, we found ourselves in Redding looking at used lenses and I ended up getting a 30 year old M50mm f2.0 for $30.00. It is necessary to set the apperture manually as well as focus, however, it takes very nice images when stopped down a little. (Shot at the camera store)

Equipment Used; Body: Pentax K20d w\Battery Grip D-BG2

Lens: Pentax smc DA18-55 f4-5.6 AL II , smc-M 50mm f2.0

Flash: Pentax AF 360 FGZ

Shasta Head Waters

After Little League, we stopped by the Mt Shasta city park and the Shasta River head waters. Following are a couple of shots from where the water comes straight out of the mountain to form the river.




Using shutter speed priority (Tv) I was able to slow down the shutter (with the aid of a tripod) to the point of blurring the moving water which gives it the white, cloud like look.








The setting was good for some Andrew portraits;

I used high speed sync with the AF360 flash giving me a nicely exposed background along with the removal of harsh shadows on Andrew.

Equipment Used; Body: Pentax K20d w\Battery Grip D-BG2
Lens: Pentax smc DA18-55 f4-5.6 AL II
Flash: Pentax AF 360 FGZ

Opening Day

Today was my youngest son's opening day in baseball. Needless to say, it was a big deal in our household and I even wore red (team colors) which for me was an even bigger deal.


Along with opening ceremonies, there were team pictures and a hit-a-thon. So the camera got quite a workout ...


He managed a shot over the first base line for 149' ... good enough to ding Mon & Dad for a good sum of cash.
Mom was also in red ... no pics of Dad, one of the conditions for wearing red.

Equipment Used; Body: Pentax K20d w\Battery Grip D-BG2
Lens: Pentax smc DA18-55 f4-5.6 AL II
Flash: Pentax AF 360 FGZ

Bored Anyone?

We were forced inside for the weekend due to rain and snow. One can take cabin fever only so long until you begin to do things you never thought you were capable of. For instance, taking photos of water drops splashing in a bowl.


Impressive, right?

My son and I actually had a good time doing this. We played with different light setups and eventually settled on the built in flash as a master with the AF 360 as a slave, off camera to the left of the subject.

Equipment Used;
Body: Pentax K20d w\Battery Grip D-BG2
Lens: Pentax smc DA18-55 f4-5.6 AL II
Flash: Built In (Master); Pentax AF 360 FGZ (slave - off camera)

The Morning View

We live on the North Face of Mount Shasta in the far north of California. This is the view we get to wake up to every morning;

Equipment Used;
Body: Pentax K20d w\Battery Grip D-BG2
Lens: Pentax smc DA18-55 f4-5.6 AL II
Flash: None used

Another Day with the Family @ Turtle Bay Park

We once again had the opportunity to venture out as a family with the camera. This time we went to a local (Redding, CA) Exploration Park called Turtle Bay http://www.turtlebay.org/ . This park is located right on the Lower Sacramento River close to downtown Redding. At the time, they were featuring a Gecko exhibit that happened to provide pretty good subject material for the camera.

This Peacock Gecko provided a slippery target. He was quite fast and active. Patience finally prevailed and he stopped for a split second perfectly in the light.

Most of the Geckos blended well with their environments making them difficult to find and photograph.

There were, of course, turtles at Turtle Bay ...

Not only exhibitions, but hiking trails, gardens, playgrounds, picnic areas and now the Sundial Bridge all add to the charm of this park.

As before, the family had to become subjects of my camera.

Equipment Used;

Body: Pentax K20d w\Battery Grip D-BG2

Lens: Pentax smc DA18-55 f4-5.6 AL II

Flash: Pentax AF 360 FGZ (new)

A Day with the Family and Camera

My wife, son and I were able to spend the day playing with the camera on one of our local mountain rivers, the Upper Sacramento. With only the built in flash to provide fill, we endeavoured to do some portraits with the river as a backdrop. For the most part, we were happy with the results ... printing several of them.

We chose to use an online print service "Winkflash" http://www.winkflash.com/ and they did a very good job, they were on time and the cost was much cheaper than I would of guessed. Following are a few of those shots;

For the first time, I played around with the slow curtain to better expose the river background. As you can see, it worked pretty well.

Our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel had to get into the act;

Equipment Used;
Body: Pentax K20d w\Battery Grip D-BG2
Lens: Pentax smc DA18-55 f4-5.6 AL II
Flash: Built In

The Journey Begins

This blog will chronicle the journey with my new Pentax K20D digital SLR Camera. I have wanted this camera since if first hit the market ... and I just recently got it when the prices began to drop. Right now all I have is the kit lens, SMC DA 18-55mm f/4.0-5.6 AL II. While this is "only" a kit lens, I have been impressed with the build and performance. Following is a picture of the camera I have along with the lenses I want to get;

As with any piece of equipment of this sophistication, it will take me some time to become completely comfortable with it. For me, that means hundreds of shots around the house playing with every feature until I'm comfortable. Both the cat and the dog are becoming blind from the never ending barrage of flash attacks and my poor son now hides from me whenever he sees the camera out.

The Cat giving me the "What For"

We have a trip planned to the East Coast next month and I hope to find a whole half of the country unaware of who I am and what it means to see a camera in my hands.

Anyway, I plan on posting some of my images, and share some of what I learn, both of the camera and photography in general.

Mining Mill 1878

Equipment Used;
Body: Pentax K20d w\Battery Grip D-BG2
Lens: Pentax smc DA18-55 f4-5.6 AL II
Flash: Built In