August 10, 2008
This month’s Second Saturday show at Park Your Art was another success! Thanks to everyone who stopped by, including the repeat visitors (and customers!). Your support is truly appreciated. And a big thanks is also in order for the McMartin Realty folks…the event you have put on has become huge! As artists, we really appreciate your support and the venue.
Hopefully I’ll have some new display pieces next month, but that’ll only happen if the Governator changes his mind. 
August 7, 2008
It’s time once again for Second Saturday, the monthly art event that is held in Midtown Sacramento. I will be displaying my work once again at the Park-Your-Art event outside McMartin Realty, on K St. between 20th and 21st St. New this month will be my two canvas pieces, as well as some new work available in the print bins. Stop by and say hi if you’re out and about!
August 3, 2008
Tunnel View Drama
Heather and I are hosting a French exchange student for the month of July, so we took her camping at Yosemite. It was just a weekend trip, so there wasn’t much time for photography, but I still fired off two rolls of Provia anyway.
The first day was spent in the Valley, which, in the summer, is about as crowded as Disneyland. After a stop at Glacier Point, we headed back to the campground at Bridalveil Creek for some dinner and S’mores.
The next morning, I walked out of the campground to a flower-filled meadow. The skies were cloudy, so I tried some close-ups of the sunflowers and lupine, but the wind was not cooperative. After returning to camp, the plan was to hike the Mist Trail. However, an impending thunderstorm led us to scrap this idea and instead head over to Mono Lake. On the way down, we stopped at Tunnel View, where construction has greatly reduced the parking space. The light at this time was poking through the clouds, and gave us a very dramatic view of an oft-photographed scene.
Mono Lake, for those who haven’t been there, is a surreal place on the eastern side of the Sierra, near the town of Lee Vining. The lake is famous for the strange formations that are present near its shores, called tufa (too-fah). We walked the loop trail around these photogenic formations, then hit the road back to Sacramento. It was a good trip, even if it was very short.
July 16, 2008
On my way back to California from my storm chase trip, I decided to take a slightly longer route. Instead of heading up to Nebraska and catching I-80, I went west through KS and Colorado on I-70. The goal here was to visit Arches NP, in eastern Utah. I had been there a couple of times, but my last visit was in April of 2005, so it had been a while.
Garden of Eden, Arches NP
July 13, 2008
I’d like to thank everyone that visited my display last night, Saturday July 12. It was great talking about photography and travel with all of the interesting people, of all ages, who visited my booth area. Thanks to the nice weather, my display experienced quite a bit of traffic and website hits have already increased. I’d especially like to thank the great folks at McMartin Realty, who allow artists to display work in their parking lot. I had a fantastic time doing this show and look forward to doing more in the future.
Next month, Second Saturday is on August 9. So, if you’re out and about looking at the art, or even just people-watching, feel free to stop by the art displays on K St, between 20th and 21st and say hello!
June 30, 2008
If you’re out and about in Sacramento for the Second Saturday art walk on July 12, please stop by the McMartin Realty office and check out my booth. The outdoor venue is on K St. between 20th and 21st streets. I’ll be showing seven framed pieces, and will have plenty of smaller matted images available for sale. I will be showing my work in August as well. I hope to see you there!
June 6, 2008
A high risk of severe storms was forecast by the Storm Prediction Center today. The area extended from Oklahoma northward to southern Minnesota, and all modes of severe weather were predicted. We blasted east from Goodland KS in the morning, and by the time we reached Hays, storms were already forming. They were taking on a linear appearance, which wasn’t good for tornadoes. They were also moving at 50 mph or faster, which wasn’t good for visibility or chasing. Sheesh…what to do?
We decided to get ahead of the developing line and camp out to watch the individual cells blast by. This was marginally-successful, as we watched some strong rotation go by near Bennington, KS. But overall it was a bust, thanks to fast storm motion, linear storm mode, and unfavorable chase terrain (hills and trees of northeastern KS).
In Salina, the three amigos decided to cut off the chase. Manross headed back to OKC, and Al and I caravaned west. I stopped to take some pics of a pretty storm in Gove County, KS, but otherwise, my convective pursuits are done for the year. I’m heading back to California, stopping for various photography opportunities along the way.
As an aside, the Safemark repair shop in Scott City, KS is highly recommended. We rolled in here on Tuesday with a compressor problem, and they were very kind to us when they had every opportunity to take advantage of us. Their names escape me now, but the three mechanics that helped us out were fantastic. Thanks Safemark!
June 6, 2008
After getting the vehicle repaired in Scott City, we moseyed around central KS for a while until it was apparent that the cap was suppressing everything. Some cirrus moving over the area was helping to keep convection down as well. There were storms in southern NE, so we headed toward Holdredge, NE to catch them.
We made great time in getting there, so we headed west toward the storms. This was a similar route that I had taken the week before, so I warned Kev about the NHP patrols here. The storms were severe-warned, but looked very cold and outflowish. Not really what we want for tornadoes. So we re-evaluated, and decided to head southwest toward a couple of tornado-warned storms near McCook, about 100 miles southwest of where we were.
I plotted a course through Gosper and Frontier counties, and was surprised by an unpaved state highway. But it was well-maintained, so despite the heavy rains, it was really quite passable. Near the town of Stockville, the first storm came into view. Oh my, was it pretty. There was a barrel-shaped updraft region, beautiful cloud striations, and a dark green hail core. It was tornado-warned, and heading for the town of Curtis, which was just NW of us. We watched the storm for a while, and succeeded in killing it (Manross and I have a knack for doing that).
We dropped south after another storm, but it was merging with more convection to its south and becoming linear. Again, not really what you want for tornadoes. So we stopped to take some lightning pics, then headed down to Goodland KS (again) for the night.
June 6, 2008
We left Goodland and targeted south-central KS, namely the Medicine Lodge area. Severe chances were marginal today, and hopes weren’t really high for tornadoes.
Around Oakley, Kevin noticed that the A/C wasn’t running very cold. We headed south on US83 toward Scott City, and the A/C still wasn’t cold. We also noticed a grinding sound coming from the engine. Ruh roh. We found a repair shop in Scott City, and the mechanic directed us to an A/C repair place on the west side of town.
This put us down for the day, so we found a motel. It was a scary place. Let’s just leave it at that.
The day was not completely lost, however. Some storms rolled through the area in the evening, and we could still drive out a few miles, so we went north out of town to take some pics. We ended up getting some really nice shelf cloud pics, and some fantastic lightning.
June 3, 2008
Started out in Goodland on Monday, looking to hang around the area for a while and wait for storms to get going. The target as of late morning was the NE panhandle, so we headed that way shortly after noon MDT. However, enhanced cumulus development, along with merging outflow boundaries, pulled us back south to I-70 in eastern CO. A storm soon developed right over Burlington, CO, and quickly went severe.
We hauled south to catch up, but were too far north to get there before it moved across the state line into KS. The storm was producing grapefruit-sized hail over I-70 in Kanorado, KS. We headed east toward the storm, but it met a rapid demise as it left the boundary convergence that helped it form.
Our friend Al works at the NWS office in Goodland, and he has a nice farmstead north of town, so we went there for brats and beer. That ends Day 8.
