Uploads from tklancer

Hidden Lake Beargrass

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:56:53 -0800

tklancer posted a photo:

It's been forever* since I uploaded a photo, so here's one I've been holding onto for a while. This is beargrass above Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park, taken back in 2009. Hope you enjoy it!

(*Technically not true, but it feels like it. It's not like I'm prolific anyway!)

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Protest

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:04:54 -0800

tklancer posted a photo:

I am a software engineer and a photographer, and my livelihood depends on intellectual property protections, but I oppose the misguided SOPA and PIPA bills. By now, you have surely heard of SOPA (the "Stop Online Piracy Act" in the House) and PIPA (the "PROTECT IP Act", or more properly, the "Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011", in the Senate), but if you haven't, it is an ill-concieved attempt to solve the piracy problem. There are so many problems that I genuinely don't know where to begin, but this is a good start:http://news.yahoo.com/sopa-vs-pipa-anti-piracy-bills-uproar-explained-013507326.html -- if you want more in depth information, try en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act or the technical blog.reddit.com/2012/01/technical-examination-of-sopa-and...

If you're an American citizen and you're as outraged as I am, please contact your Congressperson and Senators today. Senator Reid is planning on bringing PIPA up for a vote on January 24. If you're not sure who your representative or senators are, you can find out at whoismyrepresentative.com/

If you're not an American citizen, you can still have an impact -- this will still affect you if it passes. americancensorship.org/ has a petition for the State Department.

Surveying My Kingdom

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:17:33 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

A self-portrait I shot a while back on top of Hawksbill in Shenandoah. Don't worry, it's not as dangerous as it looks!

Shenandoah Falls

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:14:45 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

I've been absent from all forms of social media of late, but now seems like a good time to remedy that with a new shot! I took this waterfall detail near Overall Run Falls on a wet day during a wet spring. It had been threatening on and off all day, but shortly after I took this shot the skies opened up. And when I say "opened up", I mean "does anybody have an ark"-type weather. The car was a mere 1.5 miles or so away on a trail that suddenly doubled as a streambed... I remember going on water hikes as a kid, but I don't think I've ever been that wet before.

There stands Jackson like a stone wall!

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 07:16:36 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

Tomorrow, July 21st, is the 150th anniversary of the First Battle of Bull Run/First Manassas. It was the first major battle of the Civil War, and it was the one when the Union found out that ending the war was going to be a lot harder than originally thought. It was also the battle where Stonewall Jackson got his nickname, though if Wikipedia is to be believed it may have been pejorative...

secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/First_Battle_of_Bu...
secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Stonewall_Jackson

The Open Shenandoah Sky

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:12:04 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

A few lonely wispy clouds over a brilliantly lit fall scene in Shenandoah. Had to wait a while for them to drift into just the right spot, but I think it was worth it!

On a side note, I've been getting into google+ lately and really enjoying it. There's already a great community of photographers there, so look me up!

Kayak Serenity

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:54:12 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

A beautiful, calm day on the lake and a kayak gliding through the water... could anything be better?

(Well, yeah: this photo viewed large)

Rainy Canoes

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 07:52:17 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

Lake Louise is a beautiful place, even in the rain (and despite the big, ugly hotel). No exciting story behind this -- I just thought it made a quiet image of a tourist area in shutdown.

Going to Hawaii in a few weeks, so I'm going to try to post something else before that.

Check this out larger by clicking on it. It works even better if you have Brian Eno's Music for Airports playing...

Christchurch Cathedral (Donate!)

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:26:50 -0800

tklancer posted a photo:

I've just been watching footage of the aftereffects of the Christchurch earthquake, and I felt I should urge people to donate: www.redcross.org.nz/donate One of the buildings that suffered significant damage was the cathedral -- that iconic spire is now gone. More important than any building, however, are the people -- I found Kiwis to be some of the nicest, most friendly people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Now that they're in need, I can't imagine ignoring them.

Story time: I was traveling by myself, and I had a hard time finding a place to stay in Christchurch due to a triathlon and a rugby match around the same time. Once I *did* find a place to stay, I wandered off to a restaurant not far away and settled in for a dinner and a bit of journaling. Shortly after my arrival, a group of people were seated at the table next to mine -- but there wasn't really enough room for them to sit comfortably, as my table was in the way. Unfortunately, my table was quite heavy and there was a post on the other side anyway, so there was nowhere I could move to. Instead of dealing with it, or asking their waiter for a new table, the group invited me (the scruffy traveler) to join them.

It turns out they were old friends, welcoming one of their friends back to town for the triathlon. We sat and ate our food and talked about whatever crossed our minds, and they plied me with wine (and more wine, and more wine...). Finally, as the restaurant was closing, we went to settle the (very expensive) bill, and they flat-out refused to let me pay a single penny. They took me in, made me feel welcome, and treated me like a friend. It's one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. That generosity and kindness has always stuck with me, and I've always felt like I should do what I can to pay that forward. It's why I feel a connection to Christchurch. Of course, it's also why I spent the next day wandering around the city in a hung-over stupor, but that's a different topic!

So, to sum up: www.redcross.org.nz/donate

Crepuscular Ray Tree

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:22:08 -0800

tklancer posted a photo:

As I was driving home from work last spring, the late sun and passing clouds produced some fantastic crepuscular rays (or "god beams", "jacob's ladder", "sunbeams", etc.). It made it really hard to focus on the traffic on the road. I instantly knew I wanted to pair them with my favorite tree, but I figured I wouldn't be able to get there in time. Surprisingly, I not only managed to avoid swerving off the road, but I actually was able to get home, grab my gear, and book it to Manassas Battlefield before sunset and before the sun and clouds stopped being interesting. A plane did have the temerity to fly through my shot, but a bit of Photoshop got rid of the contrail...

Now... is it summer yet?

This one really should be viewed large and on black. Click it! Do it! Do it now!

Moon Over Big Meadows

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:17:19 -0800

tklancer posted a photo:

[UPDATE: I replaced the original upload with one that has had the saturation bumped and had the color profile conversion re-done. For some reason, the photo looked great on my high color gamut monitor, but when I looked at it at work I noticed that the color saturation was way down (the clouds looked plain white, rather than sunset orange/pink). So, here's a re-upload -- please tell me if it looks good or if it looks overbaked! Unfortunately, it looks terrible on my HC monitor -- not sure what's wrong anymore...]

Shenandoah has just about everything a photographer would want -- great hikes, scenic vistas, and lots of deer to jump out in front of your car unexpectedly. Seriously, I swear the deer of Shenandoah have formed a club to kill me. One of them came pretty close to achieving the club goal this summer. It was a nice relaxed nighttime drive through the park with my girlfriend, high beams on to catch their fiendish little eyes reflecting back at me, and I thought everything was safe and they'd all settled down for the night... until one leaped out of the underbrush and came within inches of intersecting with my bumper at high velocity. I think I saw him grinning as I slammed on the brakes, too... See, I used to think they were dumb beasts -- wandering around the trails, licking salt off the middle of the road, occasionally running in front of the car, but now I know better. Don't let them fool you -- they look cute and dumb, but they're evil, I tells ya.

Oh, right, the photo. I took this right around sunset as some impressive clouds rolled over Big Meadows. Fortunately, they left a little room for the moon to peek out. I had a 2 stop grad ND on, but I did a bit of layering in Photoshop to lighten the bottom half a little more. Really though, you should be viewing this large and on black. Just click on the photo... there you go.

Pink Waves

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:00:47 -0800

tklancer posted a photo:

I pulled this one out of the archives after seeing Phijomo's excellent shot of the same sunset from a nearby mountain. This was my first shoot with my 7D, on an extremely crowded day in Shenandoah. Unfortunately, I got a really late start AND I forgot my tripod, not to mention the hordes of people, so I didn't get a lot out of the day, but seeing this sunset made it completely worthwhile. It was one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen -- just incredible waves of pink and yellow. And to think, it looked like it'd be a bust beforehand!

As always, click to view it large.

Looming Mountains

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 15:58:38 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

The weather on the drive home from work reminded me of this shot, so I thought I'd post it (though sadly, the scenery along the Dulles Toll Road is nowhere near as scenic as Jasper National Park). This particular view is from the trail to Cavell Meadows. An overnight storm had left a fresh layer of snow at higher elevations and the storm was clearing, so there was definitely a chill in the air. I love the spindly trees against the hulking mountains -- it was just the sort of thing I'd been looking for my whole trip.

As always, I recommend viewing large.

A Break in the Storm

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 06:59:09 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

I took this on the last day of my Rockies trip last summer. After kayaking around Maligne Lake for much of the afternoon, the rain that had been threatening all day finally moved in. There was a quick break, but sadly the storm came back with a vengeance, ensuring I wasn't going to get a final sunset or rainbow before I went back to Jasper. Still, I got this shot of the iconic Maligne Lake boat house, with a bonus stoic employee staring at the break in the clouds.

As usual, I think this looks better large and on black, but I think flickr has obviated the need for a link to bighugelabs with their zoom feature. So, hit the photo to zoom in.

Moraine Lake Evening

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:00:45 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

Another one from my Rockies trip last year. Moraine Lake is such an awe-inducing spot that it almost seems fake, like some product of human engineering. Geology and ice can do some amazing things, provided you give them a few million years...

View this large and on black ...please?

Last Light over Swiftcurrent Lake

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:37:26 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

Back to Glacier! I've got a queue of Glacier/Banff/Jasper photos ready to go, but life's been a bit busy this year. I'm hoping to get back to flickr now and post/comment/fave more frequently than I have been.

View this large and on black! Do it now!

Fwwwsh, POP!

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:26:31 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

A little Monday onomatopoeia for you. I took this last 4th of July (or Independence Day, if you prefer) as my friend launched a bottle rocket from a hand-held bottle over a nearby pond. Seems like a moderately painful way to launch fireworks, but hey, it wasn't my hand...

Happy (early) 4th of July!

"Celebrate the independence of your nation by blowing up a small part of it." - The Simpsons

This one really does look better large and on black.

Open The Light

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Sun, 23 May 2010 20:20:33 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

Light streaming through the clouds above Glacier National Park. I took this at the end of a long and enjoyable day spent wandering the eastern part of the Going to the Sun Road -- specifically, on the trail from Hidden Lake. I love crepuscular rays...

BTW, I haven't been posting to many groups of late, and I don't know who's good anymore. Anyone have any recommendations for good landscape/nature-oriented groups, preferably ones that don't require me to decorate the conversation threads of 50 other photos with sparkly badges to get someone to look at my photo?

Also: large and on black. You know the drill.

Maybe Sprout Wings?

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:17:37 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

A mountain goat relaxing on a ledge above Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park. I was amazed how many mountain goats were roaming around Logan Pass, and how unperturbed they were about all the people roaming around their home. Darnielle here (yes, I nicknamed the goat) decided to hang out on a ledge while I was around. I love the pose -- it's very relaxed, possibly even lol-goat worthy.

You know the deal, I recommend viewing this large and on black. As you can tell from his pose, Darnielle doesn't really care, but he's cool like that.

Hidden Falls

nobody@flickr.com (tklancer) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:49:00 -0700

tklancer posted a photo:

I'm still here, I swear! I took this last Memorial Day on the way back from Overall Run Falls. The day was overcast and drizzly, and it had rained a lot recently, so all the falls were in great form. This spot was just off the trail above the main falls, and I spent quite a while lining up different shots. Of course, that came back to bite me, as the last mile of hiking was done in a torrential downpour -- the trail became a stream, and no amount of rain gear was going to keep me dry (and it didn't...). Never mind that I also had to bushwhack around a trail-side bear that didn't seem to be bothered by my presence. Still, it was a fun day and I think I got a few worthwhile shots, like this one.

As always, I recommend viewing this large and on black -- even more so this time because the shot's fairly dark.