Posts in Category: Sony a5100 with E 10-18 f4 zoom
Yellowstone! Old Faithful
I already shared the close up shot of Old Faithful. We arrived at the lodge, after about 30 minutes of looking for parking, just in time, according to the geyser clock in the lobby, for the next eruption, and made it out to the nearest corner of the boardwalk with seconds to spare. It does not matter how many times you see it, or how many photos or videos you see, there is nothing like being there. One second the mound of colored rock is all there is to see, and the next, after a tentative spurt of steam or two, there is a column of boiling water and steam 130 feet (or more) tall. The roar. The rush! I barely had time for a few shots with the a6700 and the Tamron at 75mm equivalent…and then to switch to the a5100 and E 10-18 f4 at 27mm equivalent, which you see here. Superior Auto with Landscape scene mode selection. Processed in Photomator. Next time video 🙂
Yellowstone! Surprise Spring
Off Firehole Lake Drive you come to Surprise Spring, a crystal clear hot spring with an intermittent steam eruption. It was not super active on the day we visited, but it is still surprising and surprisingly beautiful. Just look at those colors. The video captures it a bit better. Sony a5100 with the Sony E 10-18 f4 zoom at 15 and 27mm equivalents. Program mode and, obviously, movie mode. Processed in Photomator. Video edited in Lumafusion and VidDay (resizing for posting).
Yellowstone! Roaring Mountain
Roaring Mountain, Yellowstone National Park, September 2024 — A soft rock (solfatera) mountain with many fumaroles (steam vents). This mountain side has been an attraction since the early days of the park. Apparently it was much more active in the early days, and you could actaully hear the roar, but it still puts on a show when the temperatures are cool. The fumaroles are the hottest thermal features of the park, as superheated water flashes to live steam as it emerges and not just hot mist. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 75mm equivalent, and the Sony a5100 with Sony E 10-18 f4 at 27mm equivalent. a6700, Program mode. a5100, Superior Auto with Landscape scene mode selection. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Above Old Falls Pond
It would not be fall in southern Maine (or at least to me), if I did not get out to photograph the stretch of stream above the bride at Old Falls Pond. This is the Sony a5100 with the E 10-18 f4 zoom at 15mm equivalent. Superior Auto with Landscape Mode selection. Processed in Photomator.
Yellowstone! Mud Volcano
Seeing the grand sweep of the mountains of Yellowstone, or the vast waters of Yellowstone Lake, it is hard to remember that you are standing on a thin crust over one of the largest magma chambers of one of the largest super volcanos in the world. Two active magma domes under the park inflate and deflate on a long cycle, actually tipping the landscape in real time…changes that can be, and are being, measured. Then you come up on one the hydrothermal areas beside the road: bubbling hot springs and travertine domes and terraces, geysers blowing superheated water high into the air, or as here, steam rising from super heated, boiling mud…and the volcanic nature of Yellowstone becomes that much more real. The thickness of the crust of rock over the magma domes still is measured in miles…as little as 3 or as much as 12…but there are few areas in the world where the crust is so thin. Old Faithful may be impressive, and justly well known because it is, but it the sheer number of hydrothermal features in Yellowstone that is the most impressive. Sony a5100 with the Sony E 10-18 f4 zoom at various focal equivalents for framing. Superior Auto with Landscape scene mode selection. Processed in Photomator.
Yellowstone! Pika!
Pika: Sheepeaters Cliffs, Yellowstone National Park, September 2024 — Coming back late in day from our first day in Yellowstone, we decided to check Sheepeater Cliffs one more time for Pika. We had seen none on our morning visit, but we knew they were there. There is a very rough kind of trail off the left of picnic tables at the foot of the talus slope that climbs up to a little amphitheater like bite out of the cliffs. Though I really should not have, considering my heart, I climbed up there with Ken and Teresa Bonner, since we were still not seeing Pika down by the parking. It is a magical place with the basalt columns rising up on three sides, brushed with the last rays of the sun. And there were Pika. At least 4 that we saw. The scramble back down was even more difficult than the scramble up, but I made it…only to find that Robert Wilson had been photographing Pika at his feet while sitting on a picnic table. 🙂 Pika: Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zooms at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Cliffs with the Sony a5100 and Sony E 10-18 f4 at 27mm equivalent. Superior Auto. Processed in Photomator.
Yellowstone! Lower Falls and the Canyon
Though Yellowstone National Park is mainly known for Old Faithful and its other thermal features, and for wildlife, mainly the American Bison and Wolves (and maybe Grizzly Bears), the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Yellowstone Falls are also major attractions. This is Lower Falls, from the Lower Falls overlook and Inspiration Point and the canyon in that area. The Yellowstone River has been cutting the canyon for 100s of thousands of years through the thermally weakened rhyolite left over from the formation and infilling of the caldera. The falls themselves, Upper Falls at 109 feet and lower at 308 feet, are there because the rock at their lips is just a bit harder than the rhyolite of the canyon. Except for the close-up of the falls, which was taken with the Sony a6700 and Tamron 50-400 at 126mm equivalent, the other shots are from 15 to 27mm as needed for framing with the Sony a5100 using Superior Auto with Landscape Scene Mode selected. Processed in Photomator.
Yellowstone! Sheepeater Cliffs
If you read my other post this morning, this is Sheepeater Cliffs in Yellowstone National Park were we went several times to look for Pika. None on this morning, our first visit, but the cliffs are worth a look anyway, and this was the best light (and sky) we had on them. The Pika live in the talus slope below the cliffs. We did not see any this morning, perhaps because of the pair of guardians featured in my other post. The cliffs are columnar basalt from a lava flow 500,000 years ago and are named after the Tukudika, or Sheep Eaters—a band of Eastern Shoshone Indians. Sony a5100 with the Sony E 10-18 f4 zoom at 15mm equivalent. Superior Auto with the Landscape scene mode selection. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Aurora Borealis
We will take a break from our coverage of Yellowstone to bring you last night’s Aurora Borealis from the beach here in Kennebunk, Maine. I missed the 7PM maximum by two hours, but when photos began to appear in my wife’s Facebook feed around 9, we went down to beach to see what we could see. The moon was up by then and offering some competition but still, a long exposure captured an impressive green curtain with fading red above. Sony a5100 with the E 10-18 f4 zoom at 15mm equivalent. Superior Auto with Low Light scene mode for an exposure of 2.5 seconds at ISO 3200. Processing and noise reduction in Photomator.
Yellowstone! Goblin Rocks
Goblin Rocks is another spot for Pica and we stopped there several times…though we never did find any Picas. Still the rock formations are worth a photo or two. Sony a5100 with the Sony E 10-18 f4 zoom at 15mm equivalent. Superior Auto with Landscape scene mode. Processed in Photomator.