Visit Jerry Blank's New Blog Page!

To My Readers:

I’ve moved my blog page to my “Beyond Boundaries” website. I think you’ll like the new look!

I always look forward to sharing my adventures and images with you.

You can still read and enjoy all the weblog entries I posted prior to September 2012, below.

To visit the new blog, click here.

Mountain Goat Kids On Mt. Evans, Colorado

Last week I shared some of the mountain goat images I captured at Mt. Evans in Colorado, at the end of July. As promised, the yearlings and kids are in the spotlight this week.

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

The goat herd was not large, but it did have many youngsters. There was a stiff chill breeze blowing down the mountainside, and four of the kids decided to tough it out atop a large rock by huddling together as close as possible.

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

Nearby, a yearling paced to and fro at the base of another rock while working up the nerve required to leap up to join a couple of kids. As the yearling placed its small hooves against the rock, one of the kids was peering down at it. If not for the wind, I’ve no doubt I would have heard it telling the yearling to circle uphill around the rock, to access it from above as the kids had done. “Jumping’s too much work, you dummy! Go around!” Humiliated, the yearling summoned its courage and easily made the leap to the top of the rock.

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

Meanwhile, the other kids in the herd rested with the grownups on the patchy tundra, in a small sunny space with a nice view of Mt. Bierstadt and the Abyss Lake drainage. Meanwhile, another kid napped near a less-exposed rocky niche as my camera clicked softly but steadily, capturing its every movement.

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

While we avoided making sudden movements toward the herd, the experience was fun because the goats were used to gawkers and didn’t mind being watched. That doesn’t diminish the respect I have for those who specialize in capturing wildlife images. We got lucky on that morning late in July. Good wildlife shots normally require a thorough knowledge of the animals and the paths they travel...and even more patience.

— Jerry Blank

Mountain Goats On Mt. Evans, Colorado

On July 28, my son and I traveled to Mt. Evans, a 14,264-foot peak located about 1½ hours west of Denver. The route is paved the entire way, ending just short of the summit, and is the highest paved road in North America.

The highlight of our morning’s journey was a small herd of mountain goats right near the highway, at about 13,600 feet.

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

I pulled off the highway as far as I could—at that elevation, the pavement is narrow and shoulderless—grabbed my camera, and scrambled down the rock-strewn slope with my son. Thinking back upon it, as dizzy as I felt in the thinner air, I was fortunate not to have tripped over my own feet, to say nothing of all the rocks!

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

It turned out that there was no need to rush. We soon realized the mountain goats were soaking up the bright morning sun at that particular area, and weren’t in the mood to move away just because some two-legged creatures wanted a closer look at them.

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

As you can see in these images, the goats were the picture of contentment; in fact, their expressions were amazingly humanlike when compared to animals I had seen on previous trips to the northern Rockies.

In my next post, I look forward to sharing photos of the young kids in the herd with you!

— Jerry Blank

Rescuing A Fawn In the Grasslands

I often find that in spite of my careful planning, I don’t always get the photos I expect to. But just as often, I get some nice surprises I don’t expect, which more than makes up for it. June 20, 2008 was such a day.

The Little Missouri National Grasslands in western North Dakota can be accessed, weather permitting, via U.S. Forest Service roads and oil well access roads. While exploring one such access road in the Grasslands, I stepped out of my car to look for wildflowers or interesting scenery. As soon as I stopped walking noisily through the dry grass, I heard a rustling sound to my left and whirled round, expecting to find a rabbit.

No rabbit did I find, but a tiny fawn which I might not even have noticed, had it not lost its nerve and stumbled to its feet. As it did so, one of its front legs got wedged between two branches of the small cedar tree under which it was hiding, and now it was obviously in trouble. I knew I could not take a photo of the fawn in its pitiful condition; it needed to be freed quickly before its leg got sprained or broken.

Kneeling by the cedar tree, I reached underneath gently to lift the fawn’s leg up and out of the branches which had trapped it. I got up and cradled the fawn in my arms like a baby as I walked back to my car, while it bleated loudly for its mom. I envisioned getting my butt kicked by an angry doe, and said: “Okay, I’ll put you down. Just sit tight a bit while I get my camera, okay?” Fat chance. Though my camera was close by when I set the fawn down, it dashed down a nearby coulee with amazing speed.

The one shot I managed to fire off was a blurred image of its rear end. Happily enough, the coulee led to a beautiful evening view of the Little Missouri River, with interesting weathered sandstone formations and flowering cactus nearby. This view below was one of a few decent ones I managed to capture that day.

The fawn got away, but I captured this view instead...so it was all worthwhile.

To view this image in its full horizontal format, click here.

I felt lucky to have gotten up close and personal with the wildlife, despite the fact that I could only prove it with one blurry photo.

— Jerry Blank

Ducklings at Lake Eola

On May 30, a couple of dozen Central Florida photographers rendezvoused at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando. Just before sunset, some of us spotted four ducklings getting cozy on a bed of pine straw near the lake, with their mother standing guard nearby.

The people in the park were snapping photos at a frenzied rate. And who could blame them? It was a perfect Kodak moment. For my part, having just purchased a camera that can also capture video, I decided to try video.

Ducklings near the shoreline of Lake Eola, just before sunset

To view the HD video footage, click here.

The four ducklings made perfect actors, yet were simply being perfectly natural, snoozing as people crowded around them to capture the image. After awhile, some swans approached. The duckling’s mom, wishing to avoid a territorial dispute with the swans, quickly herded her family into the pond.

The ducklings seemed to be as happy swimming as they had been relaxing on the shoreline. They followed their mom into the sunset, occasionally poking their tiny heads beneath the surface of the pond to investigate what lay beneath.

— Jerry Blank

Cascade in Glacier National Park

After having visited Glacier National Park several times, I was finally able to bring my son with me in the summer of 2006. He was 14 at the time, and I took the greatest of pleasure in showing him all the scenic places I had discovered during my previous trips.

On July 7, we took Going-to-the-Sun Road westward to Logan Pass, and I decided to stop at the Lunch Creek cascade to take photos. As I did so, my son bounded over the rocks and was quickly out of sight.

He reappeared in a moment, pointing excitedly toward the massive stone shoulder of Piegan Mountain on the east side of the creek. “Let’s climb that mountain!” he begged.

We followed Lunch Creek toward Pollock Mountain, climbing stair-like rocks as the creek splashed down past us. Where the creek tumbles over a short cliff, we scrambled up a series of ledges that led away from the creek and toward the south face of Piegan Mountain.

Lunch Creek cascade, with Pollock Mountain as a backdrop

(To see this image in a larger view, click here.)

I was glad to have come up this far. From our vantage point, we could see the peaks of the Livingston Range to the west, and had a much grander view of the valley which sprawls in an emerald carpet from the foot of Reynolds Mountain eastward to St. Mary Lake. No way could we have seen it like this from Going-to-the-Sun Road two thousand feet below us.

This is the best way to see Montana, I realized—getting off the beaten path.

We turned back toward the cirque on the south face of Pollock Mountain. The downhill trek went faster than the upward climb. Before long, we found Lunch Creek and scrambled down alongside the falls till we were back at our SUV. We wasted no time in digging our lunch out of the cooler. Though we were both pretty hungry by then, I resisted the urge to inhale my sandwich, and took small bites while looking at the scenery and resting my tired legs.

“I just realized why they call this Lunch Creek,” I exclaimed as we ate. Corny, but it seemed funny at the time.

Summer Blossoms in Florida

I find it curious that, by June, the heat index in Florida has been in the 90s for a couple of months. Yet, it’s not until June that the crepe myrtles begin to blossom.

Having just purchased a new Nikon camera body and a macro lens, I braved the aforementioned heat index to capture some images of bees visiting the crepe myrtle blossoms in my yard. To view a full-size version of this image, click here.

I've taken many closeup shots of bees, probably because I haven’t been squeamish about being near them for years. About the time I bought my first Nikon body—an FE2—I spent a short time working for a beekeeper. After such an experience, one either loves or hates being close to bees.

Bee visiting crepe myrtle blossoms

However, I’ve had more experience shooting them in the northern states. For reasons known only to God, the little buggers move twice as fast in the South...or maybe I’m just getting older? Luckily for me, my new camera can capture many images in rapid succession, and I can delete the ones that miss the target.

Off the subject, my little bro Mike just returned from out West with some extraordinary images. Head on over to his website and take a look.

An Evening In The Killdeer Mountains of North Dakota

When I lived in western North Dakota, I became acquainted with Tim and Sally Dvirnak of Killdeer Mountain Outfitters, who gave me permission to take pictures on their property in Dunn County.

At the end of May, I spent a full day in the Killdeer Mountains. The area is quite scenic compared to other places in North Dakota, so I had plenty of great photo ops. But, as sometimes happens, I captured my best image at the end of the day, when I discovered a chain of beaver ponds.

A perfect evening in the Killdeer Mountains of North Dakota

To view this image in its full size, click here.

When I arrived at the largest pond, the sun was beginning to sink behind the aspens and bur oaks, and cast golden highlights on the pond. The surface of the water was smooth except for the ripples a lone beaver made as it swam across.

If you're interested in exploring the Killdeer Mountains yourself, contact Tim and Sally at Killdeer Mountain Outfitters.

— Gerald Blank

Autumn in the Sneffels Range of Colorado

I decided to take my first trip to the mountains of Colorado in October 2008, hoping to find some nice fall scenery. After a few days in the northern half of the state, I realized the “peak color” time had already come and gone, and if there was any color to be found, it would probably be in the south.

So I traveled south on US Hwy. 550 to Ridgway and Ouray in the San Juan Mountains, where the autumn colors were at their peak. On the 7th, I decided to explore the Uncompahgre-Gunnison National Forest lands on the south side of the Sneffels Range.

The sky was a beautiful clear blue that morning, and the air had the crispness of autumn. I traveled west on CO Hwy. 62 from Ridgway, then left the highway and explored County Roads 7 and 9, which provide access to the National Forest lands. It seemed that every bend in the winding dirt roads revealed another breathtaking panorama of vivid fall color.

Autumn colors near Mears Peak and Ruffner Mountain

To view this image in a larger size, click here.

The San Juans may not sport as much red foliage compared to, say, New England—but they more than make up for it with the blow-you-away mountain scenery.

If you want to explore the area to find out for yourself, start by checking it out in Google Maps. Enter the coordinates "38.091066, -107.818623" (without quotes) in the search box.

August Thunderstorm in the Plains

I drove north of Williston, North Dakota one warm August evening to check out a thunderstorm approaching town. It looked like a promising subject, so I took as many ten-second exposures as I could in the hopes that I'd capture a few decent lightning images.

I kept at it until the first gusts from the approaching storm hit, kicking up clouds of dust as I made a beeline for my car. Once safely inside, I reviewed the images stored in my camera, and was happy to find this photo in the mix.

A lightning bolt illuminates the storm front

To see this image in its full size, click here.

— Gerald Blank

Moonrise over the Flathead Valley, Montana

After our last trip to Glacier National Park in Montana, my family and I spent a couple of days at Whitefish Mountain Resort west of Glacier, on the southern flank of Big Mountain.

A full moon was rising after sunset, so I hiked a farther up the mountain with camera and tripod in hand, and captured some nice twilight images of the moon rising over the Swan Valley in the southeast.

As the twilight faded away, the moon rose higher behind some spruce trees. From my vantage point, I could see Whitefish Lake and the town of Whitefish at the base of the mountain, and Kalispell and the Cabinet Mountains in the distance to the south. I was able to capture some really nice photos, which I liked better than the ones I had taken earlier.

Moonrise over Whitefish Lake and the Flathead Valley, Montana

To see this image in a larger size, click here.

Another hour passed before I finished up and hiked back down to the resort village in the moonlight. By that time, the rest of my family was sound asleep.

Upon returning home from our trip, I examined the raw image files on my computer monitor. Due to the fact that I was using a vintage 2005 digital camera, the image contained lots of noise in the dark areas—which was a pain, because the picture contained mostly dark areas. I applied enough noise reduction in Photoshop to make for a smooth sky, but that wiped out most of the detail in the foreground.

Fortunately, I had taken shots from the same location in the morning, when the lighting angle on the foreground trees was similar. With some careful copying, pasting, and clone stamping, I was able to restore the foreground detail in the night photo. It was a time consuming and tedious task, but I'm unlikely to get a second opportunity to capture the same image in the same place with my current camera outfit...so I consider it time well spent. I hope you agree.

— Gerald Blank

Shooting Stars in Montana's Bridger Mountains

In Montana, shooting stars and other wildlfowers can be seen blooming in moist areas as the snow recedes. That means most of them are found in the spring, but one can also find them in the summer near springs and waterfalls.

Driving north on Montana Highway 86 near Ross Peak in June, I was amazed to find an entire hillside covered with shooting stars. After receiving permission from the landowner to take pictures on the hillside, I got to work.

Shooting stars, with Ross Peak at left

As I did so, I realized that the soil of the hillside had a base of pulverized rock, which was laden with spring water from a higher elevation. The entire hillside was moist. As such, it made for ideal growing conditions for shooting stars. And with the snow-covered Bridger Mountains as a backdrop, who could ask for more?

Shooting stars are small flowers with bright colors, and are best viewed in person...but I believe I was able to capture the image well enough to share with you. To see this image in a larger view, click here.

 —Gerald Blank

Dusk at the Little Missouri National Grassland, North Dakota

In mid-June of 2006, I was driving home in a rain that had lasted all day and into the evening. But the rain began to let up, and I noticed a growing sliver of blue sky in the west. I lost no time in getting off the pavement and following a National Grassland road westward as fast as the rutted, muddy track would allow.

I arrived at a sandstone bluff overlooking a wooded pasture, with more bluffs visible off in the distance. But what caught my eye were the wildflowers growing in cracks in the sandstone—something one will only see in the springtime, if at all. Usually nothing but lichens can be seen growing on such barren outcrops.

Wildflowers growing in sandstone in western North Dakota

To view in a larger size, click here.

I hope you enjoy viewing this image, which was captured as the last rays of the setting sun backlit the wildflowers.

— Gerald Blank

Night view of the Orlando skyline

On a cool breezy evening in mid-February, my brother Mike and I hauled our cameras and tripods to the roof of the Geico Garage in downtown Orlando to capture some photos of the Orlando skyline. We would have preferred the roof of the nearby Amway Center, but neither of us knew anyone there with access to restricted areas.

Interstate 4 and the Orlando, Florida skyline

We both got the photos we wanted, but I delayed sharing mine for a while. The traffic lights and lampposts along Interstate 4 cut through the nice lines of the blurred headlights and taillights, so I decided to Photoshop them out of the image. It took some time, but I believe the end result was worth it. I hope you think so too!
To see this image in its full panoramic view, click here.

Red Mountain Pass, Colorado in Autumn

While visiting Colorado’s San Juan Mountains in early October 2008, I traveled southward on Hwy. 550 over Red Mountain Pass. A short way south of the pass, I spotted some golden-hued aspen trees on an embankment, perhaps 50 feet above the highway.

I parked my SUV as far off the highway as I could and scrambled up the embankment, and was rewarded with a view of Bear Mountain and the Animas River valley I simply could not have captured from the highway. It’s my pleasure to share that view with you.

Bear Mountain and the Animas River Valley

To see this photo in a larger view, click here.

— Gerald Blank

Twilight At Lake Eola, Downtown Orlando

A few weekends ago my brother, fellow photographer, and partner in crime, Mike, accompanied me to downtown Orlando. Or rather, I accompanied him. He knows the ins and outs of downtown better than I do, as well as the best spots for cityscape photos.
Just after sundown, we ended up on the shore of Lake Eola, looking southwest toward the Orlando skyline.

Lake Eola, Orlando

The lighting of the evening sky was ideal. It seemed like I was in the right place at the right time, which I consider to be most of what makes a great photo. I shot a series of photos, pivoting my camera after each exposure, so I could stitch them together in Photoshop to create a panorama.

The other part of what makes a good image is an eye for detail, and one detail I missed was that, from my vantage point, the colored fountain at the other side of the lake was not centered between the two buildings beyond it. Had I chosen a spot 50 yards away, it would have been centered perfectly. By the time I realized this, the glow in the sky was gone. I was a little irritated at myself for missing that detail at first, then shrugged and thought to myself: “I’ll just fix it in Photoshop.”

That ended up being easier said than done, but I did get it done. The lesson was not lost on me, however: Taking a few moments to pay attention to everything in the scene would have saved me much trouble. If one is trying to capture an action shot, that can “make or break” the photo.

I hope you enjoy viewing this photo! You can see the full panoramic view I captured by clicking here.

Sunset at Elf Lake

I first explored the lakes in Montana’s Bridger Mountains in late June of 2007, well over a year before I moved to the area. It was late afternoon when I pulled off Montana Highway 86 and followed Fairy Lake Road westward toward Sacagawea and Hardscrabble Peaks.

I was amazed to see the variety of wildflowers along the route, and was so engrossed in capturing images of them that it was early evening before I neared the end of Fairy Lake Road. At that point, the road curved around a pond named Elf Lake. Though it was still long before sunset outside the canyon, the sun was about to disappear behind the saddle next to Hardscrabble Peak, and I realized I had little time left to capture decent images.

I photographed the setting sun using a variety of exposure settings and camera angles. In one of those images, the sun appeared to be shooting rays downward toward Elf Lake, probably an effect caused by the iris diaphragm in my Nikon “kit” zoom lens, but at that point I wasn’t thinking of technicalities; I was excited because I knew I’d captured a “keeper”. The size of the sun is exaggerated in the image due to overexposure; I was not using a telephoto lens.

Moving on to the end of the road, I found Fairy Lake at the end of a short trail. The lake itself was now in the shadow of the mountains, but the Gallatin National Forest behind it was still in full sunlight, and the rising moon could be seen in the sky and reflected in the lake.

Walking around Fairy Lake, I met a young couple who were camping in a tent near the lakeshore. I commented on the great scenery there, and the guy enthused: “It’s ethereal!” It seemed unlike ordinary guy-talk to me, but I couldn’t have described it better myself.

After I returned home with my raw digital images, I had my Photoshop work cut out for me. At the time, I was not familiar with HDR image capture techniques, so a lot of digital massaging was required to get one good, printable image of each lake. I think it was worth the time, though. After viewing the images, I hope you agree.

— Gerald Blank

You can view the Elf Lake image in a larger size at:
http://geraldblank.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Montana-Scenics/20499061_vR9rbP#!i=1728947841&k=qH39F3G

and the Fairy Lake image at:
http://geraldblank.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Montana-Scenics/20499061_vR9rbP#!i=1708430764&k=hjtcZZr

October Snow in the San Juans

I decided to take my first trip to the San Juan Mountains of Colorado in October 2008. Heading south on US Hwy. 550 through Montrose and Ridgway to Ouray, I found the trip to be scenic, even with the intermittent rain and overcast skies. This section of US 550 winds through the Uncompahgre River canyon, and the rock formations are a beautiful purplish red color which really pops out at you when moistened by rain.

As the canyon opened up to reveal Abrams Mountain towering over the town of Ouray, I felt I had made a good choice of destination, even if I could see little of the surrounding mountains.

The rain picked up strength as darkness fell, and when I awoke the morning of the 6th, there was a definite chill in the air. But the rain had stopped, and the clouds were beginning to move away from mountaintops that were now blanketed in fresh snow.

My hopes lifted with the clouds...this was exactly the kind of mountain backdrop I was hoping to find for my photos! I drove up the Camp Bird Road just outside of Ouray. After only a couple of miles, I was at an elevation where the previous night’s moisture had fallen as snow, which now blanketed both the aspens and the spruce trees...a winter wonderland in autumn. It was one of those “you had to be there” moments, but hopefully this image will give you some idea.

Still on my “to do” list is to return to the San Juans in late summer, which is wildflower season in the higher elevations.

You can see this image in a larger view at my website: http://geraldblank.smugmug.com/Waterfalls/Waterfalls/20528941_3nZG9d#!i=1625950781&k=CPSbZkP

Winter at Ross Peak

I live in Florida now, but living in Montana had its perks. For me, one of them was the fact that I could drive home from work, change clothes, and be at a Bridger Mountain trailhead in fifteen minutes.

The wintry mountain scene below is what one sees a quarter mile west of the Truman Gulch trailhead. Ross Peak is the one in the middle of this panoramic view.

The trail forks a short way in, and I would occasionally choose the lesser-traveled north fork, which leads steeply upward to a ridge looking directly toward Ross Peak. That ridge is visible on the right side of the photo.

Though I do not miss the long winters of the northern Rockies, I do miss the Truman Gulch trail. The area in this photo features many wildflowers in the summer months, which I will share with you closer to springtime.

To see this panoramic shot in a larger view, please visit: http://geraldblank.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Montana-Scenics/20499061_vR9rbP#!i=1623394774&k=wgqZC9z

Twilight Drilling Rig Reflected In Pond

Recently, I was asked by a client if my collection of drilling rig photos from North Dakota and Montana could be put on my website so they could order prints...so I spent a good part of this past weekend going through my image files.

I enjoyed taking the photo below, which shows Nabors Drilling rig 152 drilling a well for Samson Resources in Divide County, ND. It was taken in April, and just enough of the ice had melted off the pothole near the rig to mirror the rays of the setting sun.

I thought the reflected sunset would be a great shot—but shortly after sunset, the western sky lit up in the bright colors of twilight. So I captured a twilight image, and that is the one that I ended up selling multiple prints from.

I should add that I was just getting my feet wet in digital photography at the time, and the camera I was using was an inexpensive Kodak EasyShare, vintage 2005. I make this point because most of what makes a great image is being in the right place at the right time. The Internet has proven this out by the thousands of amazingly beautiful shots one can see on photo sharing sites—many taken with low-end cameras.

You can view this image in a larger size on my website at: http://geraldblank.smugmug.com/Commercial/Oilfield/21042695_4DDJ4b#!i=1674525018&k=xspP3Dx

Evening at Palace Butte

When I used to live near Bozeman, Montana, a place I visited often was Hyalite Canyon, just south of town. One evening late in the summer of 2009, I drove into the canyon until the Forest Service access road ended at the Hyalite trailhead.

By that time, there was no more sunlight in the canyon, but west of the canyon, the setting sun bathed Palace Butte and the nearby peaks in a warm glow. It was a great view, so I set up my tripod and captured several photos.

Recently, I was looking at the Palace Butte photos again and realized that darkening the sky in Photoshop would really bring the viewer's attention to the sunlit glow on Palace Butte...which was what I wanted to share all along. So here is the result. I hope you enjoy it.

You can see it in a larger view at my web site: http://geraldblank.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Montana-Scenics/20499061_vR9rbP#!i=1623345489&k=kwKX7MG

Dawn of a New Year

A great image of a sunrise is a little harder to capture than a good sunset. With sunsets, one can generally has more time to be aware of unusually nice colors or cloud formations developing in the western sky, and is therefore more likely to capture that perfect moment in time.

One summer morning in North Dakota, I arose before dawn to travel to the Little Missouri National Grassland. But when I walked out my door I found myself looking at an eastern sky colored in amazingly vivid hues of blue and pink. I threw my gear into the car and raced to the nearest clear view of the horizon I could think of: the banks of the Little Muddy River at the southeast corner of Williston.

By this time the colors in the sky were peaking in intensity, and a rich golden pre-dawn glow began to appear. I captured about a dozen images before the sun cleared the horizon, heralding the promise of another new day.

This New Year's Day brought that morning to mind. Though I spent the remainder of that day capturing other images of North Dakota, the sunrise picture, for me, was the “keeper”.

To view the image in a larger size, visit: http://geraldblank.smugmug.com/Landscapes/North-Dakota-Scenery/20425952_L7nF9w#1627733788_F4L9L6c