Some of my photos from 2011. At least from the ones that I've been able to get at :) I still have several hundreds to go through. All of them are as-is from the camera except for scaling to reduce the size and cropping in some cases. Apart from #4 and #5 which I might have published on Newsvine, the others are new. (I've published them elsewhere.)

At 13 million acres, Wrangell-St.Elias National Park is the largest national park in the country, almost six times the size of Yellowstone National Park. One could fit 438 of Orlando's Disney World Resorts in it. It is also the home of nine of the 13 highest peaks in the nation, including the second highest, Mount St. Elias (18,008 ft). This map gives you an idea of the overall layout.

A thermal image that I took in a museum. You can see the thermal imaging camera at the top of that monitor.

All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.

This is a part of the Foto-Friday feature of the Newsvine Photographers group.

Last week, you saw the steamy side of Lassen Volcanic National Park. This week brings you the icy side.

Lassen National Park is located in Northern California, east of the I-5 freeway. This year saw record rain and snow in the Sierras. The snow pack was about 200% of normal. No wonder that when we got to the park, we were greeted with solid ice packed 10-15 feet high. This would have been okay if it were January, but this was on the July 4th weekend. One might wonder if they were in the southern hemisphere.

Up came the July 4th weekend and out came the coin. Heads we go to Lassen Volcanic National Park. Tails we go to the Fourth of July Lake. Eschewing the mundane details, suffice it to say that a few minutes later we found our ourselves on the way to Lassen. Getting there will take you through miles and miles of farmland. This time of the year, they were covered in a sea of yellow - tens of thousands of sunflowers. By the time we got there, we'd seen almost a 15-20 degree drop in temperature because of the gain in elevation.

As seems to have become the annual norm, we found ourselves in Eugene, Oregon this weekend for the 2011 Prefontaine Classic. This year was a bit different - they had a special set of events on Friday, a day before the actual event on Saturday. Three events, each with an amazing lineup of runners - mens 25k/30k, womens 5,000m, and mens 10,000m. The cool thing was Friday's events were free.

We got there a couple of hours before the event started only to find out we needn't have. As can be seen in the photo below, we found a grand total of one other person there. The weather was great however and killing two hours was easier than guessing which event Galen Rupp would be running.

A cow that we came across while hiking in a regional park. We hiked up a hill and saw these cows enjoying an organic all-natural vegetarian dinner. Ruminated on the thought that some of them might eventually find their way to the meat section of the grocery store in the city down below.

All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.

Found this deer without its head while hiking in the Point Reyes National Seashore area. Strangely enough, there was also a deer's head without its body nearby. Unbelievable but true. No image manipulation; straight from the camera.

All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.

This is part of the Foto-Friday series of the Newsvine Photographers group.

Last weekend we decided to go hunt for wildflowers. There were a variety of flowers but not many "carpets" of flowers. Nonetheless, it was a fun experience. Here are some of the flowers we saw. These were in California, mainly in Sequoia National Park and along Highway 46 and 41 between the I-5 and the coast (near Cambria). A couple of good wildflower resources are desertusa.com and theodorepayne.org.

If you're interested, check out a couple of earlier reports from 2010 (Anza-Borrego State Park) and 2009 (Southern California).

All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.

This is part of the Foto-Friday series of the Newsvine Photographers group.

A Tule elk we came across while in the Point Reyes National Seashore, just north of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, California. Notice that one of its antlers is missing.

All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.

This is part of the Foto-Friday series of the Newsvine Photographers group.

Because it wanted to escape before the storm dumped snow all over it.

Photos taken in Reno, Nevada.

All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.

This is a part of the Foto-Friday series of the Newsvine Photographers group.

Pictures taken in Yosemite National Park, California about a month ago. A great place to visit in the winter.

This is part of the Foto-Friday series of the Newsvine Photographers group.

All rights reserved. Please do not use without permission.

On a rare, sunny day near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. After looking at the photo on my camera LCD, I figured I don't need to ask for a release consent.

This is part of the Foto-Friday series of the Newsvine Photographers group.

All rights reserved. Please do not use without permission of the author.

The October Photo Challenge called for movies.

Extra points for horror themed movies.

So, here it is - The Hills Have Eyes:

The Hills Have Eyes is a 1977 American horror film directed by Wes Craven and starring Susan Lanier, Michael Berryman, and Dee Wallace. It is about a family on a road trip who become stranded in the Nevada desert, and are hunted by a clan of deformed cannibals in the surrounding hills. The film was released in cinemas on July 22, 1977, and has since become a "cult classic".

Rated R for Ruminant.

All rights reserved. Please do not use without permission.

These are a couple of shots from the Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon. It was a cloudy day which is nothing abnormal for Portland :) However, everything now and then, the sun would pop out and say howdy before disappearing back into the clouds. These two photos were taken during those brief moments of sunshine.

All rights reserved. Please do not use without permission.

This is part of the Foto-Friday series of the Newsvine Photographers group.

This is from a store I went to in Barrow, Alaska - the northernmost city in North America. After a nice stroll around town enjoying the breeze from the Arctic Ocean, what better way to warm up than a nice bag of potato chips where you will enjoy each and every chip as if it were Beluga caviar rather than wolfing down the whole bag like a hungry bear.

This was from the only supermarket in town. The reason it's so expensive is that no roads lead to Barrow. You either fly in or take an ocean ferry to get there. I'll do a longer write-up soon.

All rights reserved. Please do not use without permission.

This is a part of the new 'Weekend Exposure' feature of the Newsvine Photographers group.

This is what happens when you see things through the exhaust fumes of a fighter jet. Sure makes for a warm image.

This was taken at an air show after the jet had landed and was taxing back to its position. You could see the exhaust from a distance and imagine the power the jet was putting out. You wouldn't know that the jet had artistic talents until much afterwards when you look at the photos.

jobs

All rights reserved. Please do not use without permission.

This is a part of Foto-Friday, a feature of the Newsvine Photographers group.

Today is the Harvest Moon. A little bit uncommon since it's on the actual autumn equinox which is later tonight. Apparently, this time it's a rare treat. I took this a few minutes ago. There were lots of birds around but I had to take about a dozen shots before I got that bird in there.

There's a slough nearby which connects to the bay. Usually when I go running in the evenings, I see a ton of birds. Having read about the harvest moon earlier in the week, today, I decided to walk there with my wife and camera. I found a spot such that some of the water was in front of me and so was the moon. Every once in a while, a few birds would take off from or fly by over the body of water. The only thing was to focus on the moon and wait. And hope. Once in a while, I'd turn my face away from the viewfinder and quickly scan the skies for any approaching birds. While doing so, I'd still have the camera in its original position, waiting for the moment when bird meets the moon. I got this one after about ten minutes or so. Even with all that preparation, it took me a dozen shots to get just this one. I'd set the camera to shoot in burst mode. I guess a tripod would have made it a bit easier. (Thanks to etva for asking the question below in #2)

jobs

All rights reserved. Please do not use in any form without prior permission.

Like most things in life, the answer is it depends. It's like going out for dinner - you have a whole range from a $5 fast food meal to a $100 meal at a fancy restaurant. Let's take a look at how things add up.

For the most basic running, you need a pair of shoes, shorts, and a shirt. Some may argue that some or all of these are optional, but I think it's safe to say that for 99% of runners these three things are the most essential. Say $30 for shoes, $10 for a simple shirt, and $10 for shorts. You're looking at about $50 and that's about as low as it gets even if you get stuff on clearance. How long will this last? Assuming a runner does 20 miles/week, he gets 1000 miles in a year. Let's say he gets 1000 miles from his $30 shoes which is stretching it for most people. Assume he can get by on wearing the same shirt and shorts for the whole year. With all these assumptions, he can get by with $50 a year. Typically this is not the case.

Been busy lately. These are some photos taken on different days at sunset. One of the things I noticed is that sunsets near the coast are different (much different) from day to day as compared to those inland. Any of you feel the same? Or maybe it's just that living inland, I've just gotten used to the sunsets to notice any difference ;-)

jobs

This is part of the Foto-Friday series of the Newsvine Photographers group.

Rummaging through some old stuff, I came across an old kaleidoscope. What do you do but start looking at the world. Soon, it set its sight on some tangerines sitting in a basket and this is what I got. To get the photo, I put the tangerine in front of the kaleidoscope and the kaleidoscope in front of my camera lens. It was a bit difficult to photograph since I had to hold the kaleidoscope and shoot while looking through the camera's viewfinder which was looking through the kaleidoscope. The thing that saved my day - keep rotating the kaleidoscope a wee bit to the left and then to the right and keep clicking away. Digital technology to the rescue. Pretty soon, I was rewarded with the fruits of my digital-mechanical labor. The tangerines didn't last too long afterwards either.

jobs

This is part of the Foto-Friday feature of the Newsvine Photographers group.

A feather from one of the numerous birds that reside at Potter Marsh just outside Anchorage, Alaska. Less than a 10 minute drive from downtown, this 540 acre area is one of the most accessible wildlife viewing areas in Alaska, particularly birds. There's also a long boardwalk so that you can get close to the water and the birds. If you're lucky, you might even get to see bald eagles, moose, and salmon. Next time, I'll post a photo of a complete bird :)

This is part of the Foto-Friday series of the Newsvine Photographers group.

An early morning shot at the Sea Lion Caves along the coast in Oregon, about 11 miles from the city of Florence. Until very recently, these were the world's largest sea caves. One of the employees here told us that they had discovered a larger set somewhere in New Zealand. The website, however, is yet to be updated and they still show this as the largest.

The pathway in the photo leads to an elevator that takes you about 200 feet below. Depending on the time of the day, you can see 60 or more sea lions in the cave. There is another area outside where you might get lucky and see a 100 of them lying on the rocks. We got there before 8 a.m. That's why the mist. If you go later in the afternoon, it should be clearer and (hopefully) sunnier. You never know, it's Oregon after all; it can rain anytime.

A nice place if you have an hour or two to kill and more so, if you have kids. There's also the little ubiquitous gift shop inside and they have some amazing fudge. Try the jalapeno fudge. There's also a web cam inside so that you can see what's happening in the caves before you decide to buy your tickets to go down.

jobs

This July 4th weekend, I went to see the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon; the fourth consecutive year for me. This edition was a special one since the Pre Classic is now part of the IAAF Diamond League. The day was beautiful - blues skies with occasional clouds, and a gentle gust of wind or two once in a while. Not too warm either. A sold out crowd (they apparently had to build some 500 additional seats at the last minute) and there you have it - all the elements for a great start to the July 4th weekend.

The first event was the women's hammer throw. It is not part of the official IAAF Diamond League any more. However, the Prefontaine Classic decided to have it anyway, albeit as a separate event. It started at 11 a.m., before the Pre Classic which was at 12:00 noon. The meet kicked off with a powerful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by someone from the Eugene Symphony (I think). Incredibly powerful vocal chords. That's him on the live display screen of the stadium. (Photo #2).

The first official event was the International Men's Mile. (Photo #3). It had a large field with at least four wearing Oregon colors including AJ Acosta and Galen Rupp who drew some enthusiastic crowd support. Unfortunately, green wasn't the one to win. Ryan Gregson of Australia won in 3:53.19 followed closely by AJ Acosta who was 0.57 second behind in a new PR for him by over four seconds.

In a compressed 3-hour meet such as this, you always have multiple events on at the same time. At some points, we could see a track event, a shot put, a pole vault, and a long/triple jump simultaneously. The men's discus throw event was won by Piotr Malachowski of Poland with a 67.66m throw. The men's shot put winner was Christian Cantwell with 22.41m, adding yet another notch to Hayward Field's record as the reigning home of the most 70 foot throws anywhere in the world. Nadezhda Alekhina of Russia won the women's triple jump with a 14.62m effort.

From where we were, it was a bit difficult to see the pole vault on the other side of the field because the protective net for the discus throw was up. This is what it looked like through the net. (Photo #4) Fabiana Murer of Brazil won the women's event with a 4.58m effort. Too bad Yelena Isinbayeva couldn't make it. Murer gave a nice interview where she looked genuinely happy and thankful to the crowd for their support.

The women's 5000m was won by Tirunesh Dibaba in 14.34.07. Shalane Flanagan put up a great fight to overtake a few over the final lap and ended up in second place. That's Dibaba gliding her way to victory (Photo #5).

The men's 1000m was the next event. Abubaker Kaki of Sudan had gone on record in his intention to set a new world record. Nick Symmonds, the local favorite was there. So were Alfred Yego and Boaz Lalang. In the end, Kaki was the victor with a 2:13.62 effort, about 1.66 seconds off the world record. Valiant effort nonetheless. That's Kaki in Photo #6 followed by Lalang, the second place winner. Symmonds hung back for the first half as usual, but kicked hard in the last lap to finish third.

The women's 400m hurdles was next. Lashinda Demus took victory with a 53.03 in a new Hayward Field record and a PreClassic record. The women's steeplechase followed soon. Milcah Chemos of Kenya won with a 9:26.70 performance. That's her in Photo #7 followed by the eventual runner-up, Marta Dominguez of Spain.

Next up was the women's 800m, this time without the perennial contestant and favorite Maria Mutola who retired a couple of years ago. Mariya Savinova of Russia made sure that Mutola's name was mentioned by breaking her 13 year old meet record by 1/100th of a second. Here's Savinova on her way to victory in Photo #8.

Irving Saladino won the men's long jump with a 8.46m jump beating out Dwight Phillips by 5cm. Last year it was Phillips who won and Saladino finished second. The men's 110m hurdles was won by David Oliver equaling the current American record of 12.90s. Oliver was elated. Big smiles and big victory celebration.

This was followed by the women's 100m event. Veronica Campbell Brown of Jamaica took victory in 10.78s.

The men's 5000m started soon after with a strong field - Tariku Bekele, Kipchoge, Solinsky, Tegenkamp, Merga. Solinsky looks much bigger than the rest in real life. Almost like a rugby player in comparison. The race itself was exciting. The Hayward Field crowd kicked into high gear in the last couple of laps and pulled Bekele in for a 12:58.93 win. Gebremeskel followed barely 0.37 second behind.

Two sub-13 performances and the first time ever on American soil as the announcer told us. That's Bekele in the Photo #9 on his way to number one. I wonder if Bekele has ever raced his brother Bekele.

Needless to say, a new Hayward Field and PreClassic record. Solinsky however looked totally spent afterwards. Here he is lying on the track with a concerned meet official looking over him. Matt Tegenkamp is the background a few meters away. (Photo #10)

The men's 200m race featured Tyson Gay, Walter Dix, Shawn Crawford, Churandy Martina, and Richard Thompson among others. Dix won in 19.72 followed by Gay 19.76. The post-race interview featured both Dix and Gay. Gay said that he was happy with the result and that it was "not bad for my first race." I guess that was his first race of the year?

The women's 400m was another tightly contested race. Allyson Felix beat out Amantle Montsho by 0.03 second. The third place was 0.01 second behind that - Shericka Williams. Here's a photo on them on the final straightway. (Photo #11)

The event that everyone looks forward to at the end of the meet - the Bowerman men's mile - started on time, in fact, about 15 seconds before the scheduled time of 2:47 p.m. The announcer informed us that until then Hayward Field had seen 221 performances under 4 minutes. A spectacular field lined up as usual, under the sunny Eugene sky. The biggest cheer, however, for Andrew Wheating who lined up for his last race wearing the University of Oregon uniform. What a race it turned out to be. The crowd played a big role, especially when they all got up on their feet for not the last, but the last two laps. That finishing stretch was just like you see on TV - incredibly fast and powerful, almost like a Bolt sprint. Kiprop and Laalou battled it out with Kiprop edging ahead to win by 0.49 second. Here's them on their final sprint in Photo #12.

Check out the super-thin legs of Kiprop. I read somewhere on the Internet (and therefore it must be true) that the "bird-like legs" act as a powerful lever and and push you forward real fast. Funnily enough, I was talking to a high school kid today who mentioned he can't really run because he has thick calves.

The race was amazing. I can't do a byte-based description well enough to do justice; you should have been in the stadium to have experienced the atmosphere. It was louder than a stadium filled with 40,000 vuvuzelas. Wheating came through in a PR-shattering 3:51.74. He gave a nice interview at the end where he said that now he knows that he has it in him and that "I think I can run with the big dogs". That's him waving to the crowd on his way out in Photo #13.

Another year, another great meet. A few meet records, field records, soil records, and American records. Everything but a world record. It was a great experience as usual. Nutrilite didn't seem to have their tent from last year with all the good stuff. I guess recession hit them too. Lots of people. For some reason, I noticed there were a lot more kids hanging around to get autographs and photographs of the athletes on their victory lap. I think it was Kara Patterson, the javelin throw winner, who spent at least 15 minutes doing that. Great overall entertainment for less than the price of a movie and a dinner. A great start to the weekend and as always, we made our way to the best ice-cream in Eugene, Prince Pucklers.

If it interests you, here is my report from last year.

jobs

A few days ago, I was sitting and watching these birds near their birdhouse. Judging from the chirping emanating from within, there were quite a few ravenous little chicks inside. These two birds (mama and papa?) would come back every ten minutes or so with a nice little protein bar bug in their beaks, sit around on a fence for a few seconds, and then pop into the birdhouse. A few seconds later, they would pop back out, and fly away, only to reappear with a new treat.

This is part of the Foto-Friday series of the Newsvine Photographers group.