February 6th - King of the Hammers!

Last year while here in 29 Palms I was made aware of a week long event nearby in Johnson Valley, called the King of the Hammers - it is the ultimate Desert Racing / Rock climbing challenge...in fact that is how it got started - the Desert Racers challenged the Rock Climbers to a match race and the King of the Hammers was born!

There is racing all week - motorcycles, side by sides and then the ultimate challenge is the Ultras which was today and I was fortunate to be able to attend. These vehicles are custom built and can reach speed of over a 100 MPH and yet still have the ability to rock climb at 2 or 3 MPH. Amazing to watch!

I left early this morning for the 1 hour drive out into the desert and Johnson Valley. The cars were lined up at 6:00 am and the start was at 8:00 am - tons of traffic and a long line in, but was at my preferred location early enough to back the truck right up to the fence in one of the tougher rock climbing canyons - not early enough to get to one of the higher spots they were all taken, so my view was somewhat limited, but a great spot anyway! The race is 215 miles long and is a combination of flat (still rough sand) open desert and then three or 4 really tough rock climbing areas...and some real steep hill climbs.

It is amazing the "size of the town" that is created called Hammertown! Thousands of RV's tractor trailer and every off road vendor you can imagine!

Part of Hammertown from my viewpoint today!



A few of the spectators where we were!



The big screen in downtown Hammertown!



A few of the Racers!









Plenty of dust and dirt flying!



















Traffic Jam on the rocks!



It was a great day with perfect weather, warm sunny with a cool breeze! These were all taken with my new lens and I love it even more!!!

Stay tuned for more activity with the camera, my fill-in job as manager ends on Monday and I will be out shooting much more while this weather holds!

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - February 1st - non-photo info only!

Figured I would explain my absence for the past couple weeks! Two weeks ago while enjoying my coffee and reading emails in the morning - my coffee cup decided to tip over and dump coffee right on my laptop! Needless to say the laptop died a slow miserable death...took it to a local repair shop and they confirmed it would cost more to fix if it was even possible than a new computer.

So I did some shopping online and locally and found a super deal on Amazon for a Lenovo Think Pad with an Intel I-5 processor and room to transfer the extra ram from my old computer...so it was ordered on payday and arrived here in beautiful 29 Palms on Thursday. I spent some of Thursday getting Windows updated there were 188 updates, took most of the evening! Then Friday morning I realized that somehow all the drivers for the wireless and other accessories were missing and not installed. So Friday I took it to the office and hooked up to the hard wire connection and downloaded the drivers and all was well. Then I set about the task of re-installing all my software took all day and into the evening!

Luckily, I managed to get the hard drive out of the old laptop and put it in a USB Case and had access to all my files, which made things much easier.

I am back up and running!!

During this whole mess the manager here at 29 Palms RV Resort decided to make a quick exit and the owners asked me to fill in until a new replacement arrives next week. So I have basically been spending everyday working in the office and chasing down problems (maintenance issues) in the park! I will be filling in this whole next week!

It sure helps with a paycheck to pay for the new computer and other various expenses! Remember the lens purchase that was also out of my government check for this month! So short again for February! All is well now though.

Sadly I have not been out to take any pictures, but now that the computer is back up and running, the next clear night I will be in Joshua Tree National Park shooting some more star trails!

LIKE THIS!



Stay Tuned for more of these!

Last night I made 4 dips from my good friend KIMO'S DIPS! Click HERE they are great! For the Super Bowl Party in the clubhouse today!

This morning I put meatballs in the crock pot with my own special secret sauce and they will be ready by 3!


Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Love it when a Plan comes together!

Several years ago I took a trip down from Kalispell towards Salt Lake City and went through Yellowstone, it was late in the season, cold and the park was getting ready to shut down for the winter, I swore then that I needed to come back to this wonderful place and record my adventures with my camera.

Last year I applied for a summer job at Yellowstone as a fishing guide or tour boat guide and all the positions were filled by returning people, which says something for wanting to work there, if people keep returning it must be good! I really wanted to spend last summer there, but it just did not work out. I accepted the position at Lake Powell and we all know that did not work out as planned, instead I had to punt too late to find anything and had a wonderful summer in Kalispell, Montana and some great adventures with my good friend Jim Flinchbaugh!!

My plan for this year was to return to Yes Bay for one more season, however, I had some concerns about another FULL season at the Lodge...and always on the search for different and unique opportunities kept looking. Well, it is the decision time of the year to finalize plans for the upcoming summer. With 99% of the guides returning to Alaska and some major changes going on up there, it was questionable whether there would be a spot.

I dug through some old emails from last year and contacted the person back at Yellowstone, in hopes to contact early enough to hopefully land a spot there as a fishing guide. Yesterday I had a great phone interview and last evening got an email with an offer for a position and I have accepted!

SUMMER 2015 will be in YELLOWSTONE!!!

I will be running a fishing boat on Yellowstone Lake and I am really excited about the opportunity to see a new area and fish for different species and enjoy my summer in a wonderful National Park and put some serious miles on my new camera and lens on the wildlife that abounds there!

There are buffalo! These are pictures from my brief visit in 2012!





I expect traffic jams as this park is heavily visited!



Spending more time at the beautiful Mammoth Hot Springs!



And I intend to Capture Old Faithful many, many times...and plenty of big animal wildlife with my new lens!







So my Spring Schedule is set and it looks something like this!

1. Remain here in 29 Palms until late March - very early April.
2. Depart here and enjoy a leisurely trip to Salt Lake City
3. Park the camper and fly to Ohio for my Gallery showing at 9 Muses Art Gallery in Ohio on the 24th of April - enjoy the opening then head back to Salt Lake and get the truck and trailer.
4. Quick trip in the truck and trailer to Kalispell and put the trailer to bed for the summer.
5. Pack the truck up with fishing gear and stuff to live for the summer in the dorms in Yellowstone and arrive there in early-May!

Stay tuned for more details and a great summer! And my Ohio friends better plan to have their asses at 9 Muses on the 24th of April for the opening!

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update January 8, 2015 - Living Desert Zoo Palm Springs and THE BREACH!

Time for an update, especially after the wonderful day I had yesterday - Road Trip to Palm Springs!

I bought a ticket to my good friend Mark Titus's documentary film titled The Breach, which as he describes it, is a Love Story with Salmon. Mark is a very close friend of Yes Bay Lodge, he worked most of his 20's at the Lodge as a Fishing Guide, he was the head guide and stayed at the Lodge year round for a couple years, after that he returned to his home in the Seattle area and started August Island Pictures and began his career as a film maker. Mark is the guy who put together out promotional film for the Lodge and he has done tons of Corporate work for clients like Microsoft and many others.

Several years ago he embarked on a quest to document the decline of Wild Salmon and search out the cause. This path led him on a multi year adventure and it is documented in his latest film which had its North American debut here at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. THE BREACH!

My trip to Palm Springs to see the film got me thinking it may be the perfect opportunity to visit the Living Desert and put a few miles on my new lens and show what it was designed to do!

So I got up early and loaded up the truck and drove 70 miles to the Living Desert - spent a couple hours putting some miles on the camera! It is a wonderful place and I certainly could have spent more time there, but did not want to miss the film premier, so left just after noon and headed to the Palm Canyon Theater!

I decided to make the most use of my new lens and the EC-20 tele-extender more on that in a minute! First, the details again on the lens, cause it is the finest piece of glass I have ever used or owned.

The Lens!



For my photography friends - here are the details and an explanation of my system. I specifically chose Olympus when I went digital because the format is what is known as 4/3 and is the only system which was designed from the ground up as a digital system, it has several unique advantages - my primary reason was the sensor size yields a doubling effect - which means - a normal lens for 35mm film cameras is a 50mm lens, on Olympus 4/3rds it is 25mm, which means telephoto lenses can be smaller and yield a much longer "reach". In the example of my new lens it is a 150mm or the equivalent of a 300mm lens in 35mm format! It also happens to be an F-2 lens so very good in low light as it captures a bunch of light. With the addition of a tele-extender which effectively doubles the focal length or Reach the 150 becomes a 300mm F-4 (you lose some light with the addition of the tele-extender. But this would compare with a 600mm lens in a 35mm world, which is a ton of reach and this lens being fast to begin with adding the extender has NO detrimental affect on the image quality. That's enough for the techies....suffice it to say it is an amazing piece of glassand one I am now proud to own and I prmise to make good use of it!

What it does!



This guy was a long way away so I added the doubler!



This is without the doubler!



I love these birds and they really show the clarity of this lens and the reach with the doubler!























I have only found one "down-side" to this lens - with the extender on it becomes very heavy and difficult to hand hold and get clear pictures - but I have found using my monopod solves the problem nicely and enables me to steady the lens for some amazing shots, with great detail and smooth creamy out of focus backgrounds!

Back to The Breach - fish farming, dams and pollution are hindering the wild runs of salmon - if there is NO MARKET for farm raised salmon then the business will die. So my friends DON'T BUY FARM RAISED SALMON! And STOP PEBBLE MINE! Demand your stores and restaurants only serve Wild Caught Salmon!

Wal-Mart has a contract with several Alaska Fish processing companies and sells WILD CAUGHT SALMON - buy your friggin salmon from them and make sure it says WILD CAUGHT! Even if you are not a fan of Wal-Mart - do not buy farm raised salmon from anyone!!!

The Breach is going on a 15 city tour - if it is shown in your area make sure you go see it and support my friend Mark Titus, but more importantly support Wild Caught Salmon!

Stay tuned for more updates and thanks for following along on my life's adventures. I will be posting some email links in the near future to write your congressman and representatives to Stop Pebble Mine and other causes to support Wild Salmon! Eliminate Genetically altered salmon and stop fish farming!

It is my Cause, not a new one but a reinforced effort!!


Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Merry Christmas 2014

I must have gotten 10 emails asking me what it is like to spend the holidays on the road in an RV??

So much depends on where you are camped, I am lucky to be in an active park with plenty of group functions going on for the Holidays with a ton of nice people to share it with.

Sure, I don't have a "Tree" in the RV, but I do have Christmas Lights on the outside to contribute to the parks festive atmosphere! There is a tree in the clubhouse along with a ton of other decorations and I joined in to help with the decorating so it gets you in the spirit of things.

So my holiday plans are as follows!

Today, Christmas Day I will attend the Park Pot Luck Christmas Dinner at 2:00 pm - Park furnishes 4 Turkeys - 2 will be deep fried and 2 will be oven roasted and they are also baking a ham. The park residents all bring dishes to add to the main course and desserts - I am taking two pies.

New Years is another big party - with a prime rib dinner, live music and plenty of fun. We celebrate on Chicago Time so over earlier for the older folks...last year was fantastic and I expect this year to be the same.

What I have been up to!

I finished the Menu for the new restaurant nearby the park...nice place and great food!







Still loving my Camp Chef griddle and BBQ - Made grilled onions, foil wrapped baked potatoes and some boneless pork ribs the other night - this was just before I put on the BBQ Sauce!



Santa Arrived a couple days ago!

My followers all know I am in to photography and have a large amount of dollars invested in my equipment, well for the past three years there have been 2 items on my wish list and it looks like 2014 has been the year to acquire them.

Number one on my list was the top of the line weatherproof body by Olympus - I was lucky this summer to have a good friend, Toni Ard, who was selling her slightly used camera and we struck a deal and I got it in June. Three days ago my great Montana Friend Jim Flinchbaugh emailed me a link to the last item on my wish list - it was put up for sale by another photography forum friend and again was slightly used and the exact lens I have been wanting for a long time. It is one of Olympus's Super High Grade lens and rated as one of the best lenses they ever made. For the techie's it is a 150mm F:2 lens, affectionately called the Little Tuna. Olympus also makes a bigger telephoto a 300mm and it is called the Big Tuna, however not many people own that one as it sells for over $6000.00 new! And you rarely ever find one used. The 150 I am getting retails for $2499.00 and I am getting mine for less than half of that, so it was now or never.

The check is in the mail so to speak and I expect it will be arriving here at the park in another week or so!





Stay tuned - I will be shooting with this thing the moment it arrives and can't wait!

Merry Christmas my friends!!

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - sorry for the delay!

I got three emails today asking if I was alright - blog followers getting anxious. So figured I would do an update - have been busy since Thanksgiving the park is filling up and there were decorations to put up in the clubhouse and other tasks. The weather has not been that great, I am still waiting for a good clear night to go to Joshua Tree National Park and shoot some star trail pictures. But the rain and cloudy cold nights have been relentless.

I also had another project to revise the park map for the website and use in the office to direct people to their site. I finished that the other day and updated the website. Thought it came out nice - it was a challenge to create all those little RV Sites and label correctly and color code...but it is complete!



I have also taken on another project for a new restaurant and lounge just outside the RV Park - taking pictures of food and creating a nice menu....just starting on that but have taken the pictures we need. Great Food!

Just a little "Artsy" Shot of the name and the owner!



And another!



How about a Roast Beef or Turkey Wrap or a combination?





How about a Big Burger!



Or how about a Salmon and Artichoke Pizza!!!



I hope to have the menu designed in the next few days.

I have also been working hard on gathering photos for my Art Show in April...digging through thousands of photos to find the originals then get them cropped and sized properly and uploaded, it is a ton of work! Here are a few of the more recent finds and additions to the finalists...the number now exceeds what I will probably display, but we shall see!











The last three are very old pictures that were taken in the 70's in Philadelphia while I was in Photography school and I always liked them a bunch, so I scanned the originals and prepared them to print.

Stay Tuned for Star Trails and Christmas!! Merry Christmas my friends!

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!