Uploads from MikeJonesPhoto, tagged supershot

Back To The Balloon Fiesta!

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:26:51 -0700

Well... It's that time again. Today was the start of the HUGE Albuquerque balloon festival! No, I'm not there yet. But, I am going again. I should be there by Monday. This is an old photo. I just changed the date posted. This was my favorite balloon photo from two years ago.

(OK... To be perfectly honest. The only reason I changed the date on this photo is THIS... My very good friend Wes (flickr's BamaWester) has this one photo that has something like 1100 faves. He always likes to mention how many faves that stupid photo has, and how it has SO many more faves than any of MY photos. This is my most faved photo and it's sitting somewhere around 1000 faves. So... If you could PLEASE, PLEASE fave this I would REALLY appreciate it. THANKS! If you fave it, I'll send you a dollar. (Well... Maybe not) Ummmmmmm.. OK, I can email you a picture of a dollar. Hows that?)

It would really be fun to pass him, just to piss him off. THANKS!

A Toasty Sunset

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:54:20 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

I used to hate the winters in New Jersey. I think the most annoying thing was when I was in a hurry to get going in the morning. It would take a whole extra half an hour to get moving. Put on a coat. Find where I left my hat and gloves. Scrape the ice off the windshield. Warm up the car...

I never really imagined what the opposite of that might be. Now, I'm still in Mesa, Arizona, where it is rapidly becoming summer. Here's the routine for heading out in southern Arizona... Put on SPF 800 sunblock. Find where I left my Sombrero. Pull several bottles of bottled water from freezer. Open car. Burn hand on door handle. Get in car. Burn ass on seat. Find towel to put on hot seat. Crank up air conditioning. Burn fingers on air conditioning knob. Put car in gear. Burn hand on gear shift knob. Put on sunglasses. Burn nose on glasses. Drive. Burn hand on steering wheel. Try to steer with my knee. Knee is too sweaty to turn steering wheel. Get back out of car. Run back inside and get oven mitts. That's the routine.

This is another from a great sunset in Saguaro National Park, eastern section.

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The Havasupai Adventure

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:31:52 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

I shot too many photos last year. I mean, seriously, I could spend the next year going through all the crap I shot last year. I have been reminiscing about all the amazing places I saw, and I realized that it was exactly one year ago, right now, that I was down at Havasu falls. It's a series of three big waterfalls, on an Indian reservation, down at the base of the Grand Canyon. Without a doubt, one of the most beautiful, amazing places I have ever seen in my life. I'm so lucky to have gotten there when I did. It's so sad that just two months later, the entire area was devastated by a huge flash flood. Sometime in July, after several days of rain, a dam broke somewhere upstream. In the middle of the night, a massive wall of water ripped through the area. There is a campground right near the base of Havasu Falls. Campers described hearing what sounded like thunder. People started screaming, "GET UP! GET OUT OF YOUR TENTS!" Within seconds tents and camping gear was washing downstream, and campers were clinging to trees. The river had cut around both sides of the campground, so they couldn't get to higher ground by foot. Hours later, National Guard helicopters showed up and began airlifting people out. The entire place has been closed to the public ever since. I read a story a couple months ago by a reporter who was allowed to go down there. He said trees were ripped out. Several footbridges were ripped out. There are massive piles of debris everywhere. I would love to go back sometime, but I'm sure this summer it will be a complete mess down there.

This first shot is of the base of Havasu Falls.

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The Balloon Fiasco

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:41:49 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

Continuing the review of my nine month roadtrip... After three months in Colorado, I finally made it to New Mexico. First stop... The Albaquerque Balloon Fiesta. I thought this title was appropriate. Unfortunately, the Balloon Festival was a complete disaster this year. It was really disappointing. I only went to the last four days of the festival. The last two days it was completely cancelled. The day before that was cancelled shortly after it began because of high winds, so I got nothing that day. So, my first day there was my only day to shoot, and I only put in a halfhearted effort that day, because I thought I would have three more days.

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Delicate Arch

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:40:25 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

Next stop... Arches National Park. This was my first of several side trips I took during my nine months on the road. I left the motorhome at my aunts house, and drove to Utah for a few days. Arches is an absolutely amazing park. I could spend a month shooting in that area, and this summer I hope to do that. This is once again, the famous Delicate Arch. I know it has been photographed to death, but it is just so damn cool.

ATTENTION, ANY OF MY FLICKR FRIENDS IN THE PHOENIX AREA.
Sometime in the next week or so, I need to visit the Phoenix Zoo to do some shooting. If anyone would care to join me, it should be a fun day. I love visiting zoos. I might even let you touch my camera. Nah... Probably not. I would prefer to go on a weekday though so it's less crowded,

Maroon Bells

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:27:18 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

The next stop after Durango was my aunt's house in Paonia, Colorado. I don't have any photos from Paonia, or the immediate area around it because there was really nothing to photograph there. It is a cute little town though. I shot this on my way out of there, at the Maroon Bells area, near Aspen.

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Stormy Afternoon

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:21:25 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

Continuing the review of my nine month roadtrip. I spent over a month in Durango, Colorado, so I think it deserves a couple more posts. This first shot is another from the Lizard Head Pass, a little south of Telluride.

Bigass Tree

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:08:03 -0800

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

I just had to post one more of this absolutely amazing tree. This is the gigantic Ficus tree in Selby Gardens, Sarasota, Florida. This should conclude my Florida crap. I will now continue the review of my nine month roadtrip.

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Monument Valley

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:43:25 -0800

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

The next stop after the Grand Canyon's North Rim, was Monument Valley. This is the famous Ford's Point, where many old western movies were filmed. So, many, that most people in the east just thought that the entire western part of the country looked like this. It doesn't. Monument Valley is a unique, and absolutely amazing place. I was really excited to finally get to see it. This was taken in the last week of June.

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The Lion King

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 18:17:52 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

Well, here it is. My most viewed photo on flickr.

This is my first photo ever to receive over 100,000 views. I still don't know where everyone is seeing it. It just hit 100,000 today. I know for a while if you did a search on Yahoo for 'Lion' this was one of the sample images.

This was shot in the Naples Zoo in Florida.

Dusk

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Sun, 03 May 2009 20:34:55 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

Yes, it's another from my snowy trip to Bryce Canyon. Sorry, I just can't stop posting these. Every time I open this folder from that trip, I see a dozen more photos that I want to work on. It was an absolutely amazing time for photography. This was taken on the evening of the first day of the trip. My favorite time for shooting... Dusk.

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Bryce

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:35:18 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

OK, one more from my cold, cold, cold, trip to Bryce Canyon back in February. This was the coldest morning of photography I've ever had. Single digit temperatures. 50 MPH wind. Horizontal, blowing snow, all made for a FANTASTIC morning of photography... And really numb fingers. That's all I have time to write. I've got to get this beast rolling. I'm getting new tires put on the motorhome today.

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Sedona

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:28:25 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

A few more from last week's (cold and windy) Sedona trip. I think this is Courthouse Butte. I'm pretty sure. Not 100% sure. I'm maybe about 96 3/4% sure this is Courthouse Butte. It's really hard looking at all these little drawings on a map, figuring out which rock formation is which. They all look totally different depending on what angle you view it from. So, anyway... I have seen quite the range of weather this week. Last week, when I shot this, we were freezing our asses off!!! It was about 30 degrees with 50 MPH, gusty wind. Now, I'm back in Mesa, where it hit 100 degrees yesterday. YAY! Let the roasting begin!

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Sedona

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:50:25 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

Sorry, I've dropped off the face of the planet for a few days. Jill had to have some work done on her motorhome. She wanted to have an Engine installed. She bought hers in Canada, and peddling it uphill out here in the west was getting really tiring. So... As long as she was homeless for a few days, I figured we might as well go somewhere... I've been needing to get some photos of Prescott, and Sedona. So, that's where we went. Sedona is one of the most beautiful towns I've ever seen. Unfortunately, the beautiful weather and fantastic photographic conditions that always follow me around wherever I go, have now been replaced by the huge black cloud, and shit weather that have followed Jill all the way down here from Ontario. Isn't It APRIL?!?!?!? It was about 30 degrees, with 50 MPH wind the entire time!!!!!!! What the HELL?????? I brought my crappy laptop, but forgot my card reader, so I couldn't work on any new photos to post anything on flickr. Instead, I had to spend my evenings looking at internet porn.

So, anyway... This is Cathedral Rock, in Sedona. This was shot yesterday morning, during our ten minutes of nice weather, when the sun actually came out. It was NOT a good couple of days for shooting. I kept thinking, 'it's about to get nice.' The sky kept changing. Every five minutes it would be a completely different sky. One minute it would be a boring sky, then five minutes later, it would be a crappy sky, and five minutes after that, we would have a lousy sky, just five minutes later the sky would totally suck! Oh well... It was still nice seeing the place. Sedona is where all the cheap real estate is in Arizona.

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Nice Hairdo

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:43:45 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

These are East African Crowned Crane's. I shot this a couple of days ago in the Phoenix Zoo. I just loved the colors on these guys.

First Light

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:01:53 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

After a couple of days in Reno, next stop was Lake Tahoe. I LOVED it there! This is Emerald Bay, where I met up with my flickr friend Rob, and we caught one of the most amazing sunrises I've ever seen. It just wouldn't quit. We got there nearly an hour before sunrise. This is one of the first ones I shot that morning, at dawn's first light. It's an eight second time exposure. It was still almost completely dark.

I'm not normally into posting youtube videos and stuff on flickr, but I just wanted to share this. I'm amazed how few people have heard of her yet. A month or so ago, I was watching some talk show, and they were talking about the "internet singing sensation" Charice. They played a clip, and I thought 'HOLY CRAP!' So I went on youtube to see what they were talking about. Her name is Charice Pempengco. She's 16 years old, from the Philippines. A little over a year ago, when she was only 15, Ellen DeGeneres discovered her and flew her over here to have her on her show. Since then, she's been back and fourth as a guest on a bunch of different shows and events. Now she's been discovered by David Foster who will probably make her into the next big superstar. I hate to admit, I watch American Idol. In all the seasons of the show, I don't think I've ever heard a voice quite like this. She sings Whitney songs, Aretha songs, and Mariah songs effortlessly. All the songs that always make Randy Jackson say "Yo Dog, that song was just WAY too big for you Dog"... I'm just blown away by this girl.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5au2XQO70iI

This one is from just a couple weeks ago...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f95so707134

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Rocky Mountain National Park

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:28:06 -0700

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

The next stop after my aunt's driveway in Paonia was Estes Park, where I visited Rocky Mountain National Park. My flickr friends Wes and Jill both flew in and we met up there, which was a lot of fun. I've been looking through all the photos I got there. I had forgotten how many nice shots I still hadn't worked on, so I'm posting three shots at once, and I still have several more to work on, so I'll be posting a few more soon. Wes and I hiked to a few waterfalls where I shot the photo below. On our way back we saw the most insanely spectacular sunset ever, which was when I shot the top photo. This was before the sky got really crazy, colorful. I kept thinking it was done, and then the colors would come back even stronger.

Now Back To Regularly Scheduled Programming

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:07:35 -0800

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

Alright... Sorry about that. I keep getting sidetracked from my review. I was planing to post one or more photos from each place I visited during my 9 1/2 month roadtrip, in order. Then I shot an unexpected snowstorm in Bryce Canyon. Then the Florida trip. Alright. That is is. No more shooting until I'm done looking through all this crap! When I left off last week, I was in Monument Valley. That was 2 1/2 months into the trip. Next stop, Durango, Colorado, where I found a fantastic campground. The first 2 1/2 months of the trip were the most action packed and crazy. I visited in over a dozen different parks. Saw most of northern Arizona, southern Utah, Vegas, California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Then back through Utah and Arizona. Durango was my only break from all the running. I stayed there for a month and started catching up on my Photoshop work. I loved Durango.

This was taken near Lizard Head Pass, a little south of Telluride.

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The Golfball

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:01:42 -0800

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

This really is one of the most amazing buildings ever! Here it the famous EPCOT golfball building, shot at dusk. The lighting on the building at night is incredible. This time the camera was balanced on top of a stone pillar near the entrance. I was here with Jill the junk. This was the only place we could find to set down the camera without a tripod.

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Sarasota

nobody@flickr.com (MikeJonesPhoto) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:59:56 -0800

MikeJonesPhoto posted a photo:

I was down in Sarasota a couple nights ago, shooting the sunset with Jill, and her Junk. When we turned around we spotted this great reflection of the sunset in this building. It's some kind of performance arts center. I just loved the reflections in the window and the lines of the buildings. It's been fun hanging out with Jill. I'm trying to get used to the GPS in her car. She has a Canadian GPS. It works pretty much like mine, but it keeps saying "eh" all the time. "Turn right, eh." "On ramp, turn left, eh" "Take exit, on right, eh" When I miss a turn, mine says "recalculating", hers says "Ya missed it, ya Hoser, eh"