Salt Creek

Salt Creek is an area of Death Valley that is both beautiful and intriguing. As you can see in the photo to the left, there is a long wooden boardwalk that stretches into the distance from the parking area. The boardwalk provides a path above the waters of Salt Creek. In the summer, the creek bed is mostly dry and the boardwalk rises over cracked mud and vegetation for most of its length, though there is at least a small amount of water year round.

In the spring, however, the water flows and the streams can be several feet deep and the boardwalk is quite necessary. It's at this time, the Salt Creek Pupfish population explodes and the clear waters of the stream allow clear viewing of these small creatures.

Salt Creek is a beautiful and, in the summer, empty spot. We wandered there shooting photos, even some outdoor glamour stuff, for well over an hour without seeing another soul. It would be a wonderful place to visit again.

Memories and Photos

I bought my first "real" camera in late 1978. A real camera for me was an SLR (Single Lens Reflex) that used interchangeable lenses, had built in metering, and could use an automatic flash. I had always been interested in photography, but had never owned anything more sophisticated than a Polaroid that my then fiance bought me for a birthday present.

I was inspired to get a better camera by one of my best friends and room-mates. He purchased an Olympus OM-1 SLR in the summer of 1978 and shortly afterwards a group of us (him, my wife, me and another friend and roommate)went on a rafting trip down the Snake River in Idaho and then traveled cross-country from Idaho to Georgia passing through Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park along the way. The quality of his photos, compared to mine was like night and day. So, for Christmas in 1978, I got a Canon AT-1 SLR camera and a 50mm f/1.8 FD lens. I still have both the camera and lens and they still take great photos nearly some 30 years later.

Of course, I wasn't very good at first. I had to learn about exposure, depth of field, sharpness, composition and all the other aspects of real photography. I loved every minute of it. So, by 1988, I felt I had a pretty good handle on things. When I look back, though, I find many flaws in the photos I took back then. It was fortunate that I had a willing a patient model (models if you count my kids, who were willing but usually quite impatient).

The photos in this post are from the 10th Anniversary trip that my wife and I took to Florida. These were taken on the beach at Fort Lauderdale. She got a lot of catcalls and whistles while we were shooting and totally enjoyed the attention. These photos are scans from the original print and so lack the clarity and "pop" of the digital photos I currently take. But these photos have a history and they bring back memories of a wonderfully fun vacation in the hot Florida sun with a beautiful woman. And bringing back memories are what photos do best.

Catching Up

Obviously, it’s been a while since I wrote. Since the trip to Hawaii in April, life has been quite busy. Hawaii was a lot of fun. We spent 5 days on the Big Island and 5 days on Kauai. I thought Kauai was much more scenic than the Big Island, but both locations were a lot of fun.

On the Big Island we hiked in Volcano National Park and drove down the Chain of Craters to the shore where the lava was flowing into the sea. Although we couldn’t get close enough to see the actual hot lava hitting the sea, the steam cloud and the lava cliffs were quite impressive.

We also went to a traditional luau with pit roasted pig and all the trimmings. This was followed by a demonstration of local and South Pacific dances. A couple of days later we went on a dinner cruise along the Kona Coast. I was able to shoot the sunset from the ship as well as the shoreline in the evening light.

I think the best activity, though, was snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay. This is the bay where Captain Cook was killed, and indeed there is a monument to his memory located on the shore. The entire bay is an underwater wildlife preserve, and there was lots to be seen.

On Kauai the highlights were the helicopter tour we took around the island, and our ride up to Wamea Canyon. We stayed in a lovely condo overlooking a garden, and we found that the beaches in Kauai were much prettier than those on the Big Island.

On the return from Hawaii, it was time to get the yards and the house ready for summer activities. The deck had to be washed and painted, the hot tub drained and refilled, new flower beds built in the yards, a new grill to break in (yeah!), new window shades to hang, a bench had to be pulled out and replaced and new decorations for the yard had to be purchased and hung. The kitchen got new tile, the garage got a total overhaul, new sprinkler heads were installed in the in-ground system, and then everything was ready for our first event.

That event was a baby shower for our youngest daughter. We had quite a few people over for the shower, and we all had a really good time.

In June, our first grandchild was born (after 29 hours of labor and finally a c-section). Her name is Makayla Ann Nicole and she is, of course, adorable. A lot of my time has been spent getting to know her.

The 4th of July meant we held our annual Independence Day Cookout. This was the largest one ever. We had 31 adults and 8 children in attendance, with lots of food and drinks. Many of us tried a game of Ultimate Frisbee, but we wore ourselves out after about 30 minutes and had to switch to a game we call “500”.

Well, that gets us up to the Oregon Country Fair weekend, and I want to write about that separately. I’ll add some photos later.