Cold. Grey. Wrote off photography. NEVER write off photography! (DIAL-UP WARN)

[DemoTex]

A Pacific maritime push manifests with clouds streaming through the passes of the Sisters and Broken Top. I stood on the lookout catwalk in 20-35 MPH winds (54-F .. felt 20-F) for these outside photos.


My forest when the sun finally peaked out just before sunset. Great light, again.


My butte casts a long shadow.


The power lines are 7.25 miles away and function as an excellent distance gage for fire positioning.


I do love Cougar Mountain! It always looks ready to spring.


Some of the buttes of The Devil's Garden.


The Osborne at sunset.


Warming up at the oven after the outside photography work.

[steve2470]

1. absolutely wonderful photos, ty ! nt

[newfie11]

2. Beautiful pictures!! Thank you. n/t

[aquart]

3. That's you? Hi, there!

I've gotten kinda addicted to your pictures.

[Terra Alta]

4. What beautiful pictures!

I'm a huge nature lover!
Thanks so much for sharing them with us!

[Suich]

5. Those are gorgeous, Mac!

The "butte cast a long shadow" and "butte's of the Devil's Garden" go on forever!

That same system blew in here today and we're getting a little rain.

:hi:

[DemoTex]

7. We had 20% chance of thunderstorms, LAL 2, and Risk 2 & 3.

LAL is "lightning activity level." Risk 2 is lightning in the forecast and risk 3 is sleeper fires from previous lightning.

All I saw was a 180-degree wind shift at 4:30 PM and little virga.

:hi:

[tabatha]

6. Awesome!

Love the large swaths of trees, and glad you are protecting them.

[DemoTex]

9. It's hard to get good light to take photos of the forest from the lookout tower. BUT ...

My favotite shot of my forest so far this season from a couple of weeks ago. The ground fog was just burning off and the sun was not at all right, but the photo turned out stunning (IMHO)!.

[bettyellen]

25. wow gorgeous

[BrklynLiberal]

34. Looks like an old daguerreotype. FANTASTIC!

[lob1]

38. K&R. I love all your shots, but this one with the fog burning

off is outstanding. Thanks from a fellow photographer.

[Hissyspit]

39. Speaking as a college art professor...

That is a fantastic shot.

[dixiegrrrrl]

55. I hope you will cross post in the photography group, Tex.

If JeffR had not linked to you over there, I would have missed these photos.

Nice to see YOU, too....:hi:

[tabatha]

75. That is just wonderful.

Not only the image, colors, etc, but the sense of movement in the fog.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. My dear DemoTex!

You know, I NEVER write off your photography!

It's always worth looking at...

Thank you for braving the cold for us!

Wonderful pics, of course...

:hi:

[DemoTex]

10. Thanks, Peg!

You never know!

:hi:

[roguevalley]

11. awesome. you make me miss home terribly. very wonderful stuff.

[Vickers]

12. Nice butte.

:P

[Cirque du So-What]

17. It's a BeeYOOT!

And right pretty too!

[readmoreoften]

13. What forest are you in in Texas?

Maybe I'll come up for a camping trip. :)

[DemoTex]

20. Actually, I am in Oregon.

I am in the Deschutes National Forest in Central Oregon. I don't think Texas has any more active fire lookouts.

[jmondine]

21. I believe that's actually the Cascades in Oregon. Am I right?

[DemoTex]

22. I am in the high desert on the eastern slope of the Cascades.

My lookout tower covers the southeast corner of the NF. The western portion of the Deschutes NF runs right up to the spine of the Cascades in places.

[pinboy3niner]

14. Great pics!

But I'm also partial to the one in Post #9. It captures that eerie strangeness of the fog in the forest.

Still hot in SoCal hi-desert, with temps exceeding forecasts. Funny to hear from lowlanders here how "cool" it is. Worst is someone who prays for no rain in the middle of fire season--as you know, rain can be a real blessing, and a lifesaver.

Thanks for the pics, Mac. Sleep well, and give Nick a scratch...

[madrchsod]

15. thanks for the pictures...

[Solly Mack]

16. Your pictures would make a great book.

Thanks for sharing!

[xchrom]

18. your picture are a wonderful diary of your summers there.

i'm so lucky to see them.

[11 Bravo]

19. I can't tell you how much I look forward to your posts!

Easily some of the best stuff to appear at DU ... every time!

[Odin2005]

23. I always LOVE your pictures!

:D

[dionysus]

24. dude, you rock. awesome pics.

[LWolf]

26. Beautiful, as always.

You look mighty cold, but down here at the bottom of the mountains I've been celebrating the break in the heat.

Last night was cool enough that I actually turned off the fans. Didn't close the doors or windows, though.

[The Straight Story]

27. Great job, your posts here are always a treat! (nt)

[dana_b]

29. aren't they?! I love it!

[stevedeshazer]

28. Maybe it's because I once stood on it's summit, but I never tire of gazing at South Sister

Thanks again for the great pics.

It's very cool in Portland today, we won't break 70 F.

Hot next week!

:hi:

[kentuck]

30. Thanks a lot!

I always enjoy those.

[kentuck]

31. You might enjoy this view from fire tower on Pine Mountain...

above Pineville, KY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9jivTGgT_I&feature=related

[BrklynLiberal]

35. Breathtaking..and the sounds of the birds added just the perfect touch..

[misanthrope]

32. These are great! Oregon is a beautiful part of the country...

...From the angle of Cougar Mountain, you must be somewhere toward Paulina Peak. Are you on Lava Butte? That's a pretty active lookout!

[BrklynLiberal]

33. WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW!

:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:

and BTW..What did you do with Mr. Hemingway?? LOLOLOLOL

[Fire1]

36. Terrific pics, Demotex!! A good one of you, too! n/t

[OnyxCollie]

37. Wow. Nice pictures.

Great job. (Fire lookout, that is.)

[elleng]

40. GREAT pics, Demo, as always! and great to see YOU!

How's Nick?

[Callalily]

41. Awesome shots!

I particularly like Cougar Mountain, although Osbourne sunset is great too!

[NV Whino]

42. Wonderful!

Thanks for posting these.

[ljm2002]

43. These are wonderful (as usual)...

...thanks for sharing your experiences and wonderful vistas with us!

[awoke_in_2003]

44. almost all were great pics...

but I have a big beef with that last one- warming up on an August night. I think I like you a little less now :hi:

[lunatica]

45. For photography every moment of light is a jewel

[liberation]

46. Simply beautiful...

... what an amazing world we live in, and what a stupid species we're for not relishing in that fact and waste all that time with our petty issues.

[Desertrose]

47. Awesome...light is EVERYTHING as always.

Hope ya got warmed up.
Thanks. :)

[jwirr]

48. Went to the county fair yesterday and they have a tiny restored

ranger's cabin from 1929. About the size of the Walden's Pond cabin. I thought of you.

[stuntcat]

49. hey cutie, these are WONDERFUL

Wow they're so beautiful! TY!!!

[BumRushDaShow]

50. K&R

I always love looking at your beautiful photos! :hug:

[hayu_lol]

54. Here in the Cascades...this is the coldest summer I've ...

experienced in over 20 years. Am about 130 miles south of DemoTex on Hwy 97 in Klamath Falls. Have worn sweatshirts all summer and still have winter blankets on the beds. Rest of the country sweltered while we are just barely out of winter.

Hope the winter will be mild. People have remarked that we may be in for a very long cold one. K-Falls is at 4100 feet and usually has very hot summers(four seasons: July, August, September and winter). Have had recent night time temps of low 30s.

[alfredo]

51. Excellent. K&r

[tomm2thumbs]

52. thanks for the escape ~!!! beautiful stuff

[Arugula Latte]

53. You and your photos only confirm my happines in our choice to live in Oregon.

:)

[Skittles]

56. is that you Mac?

YOU HANDSOME DOG! :hi:

[DemoTex]

57. Old Dog is more like it!

My blood is too thin for this cold weather. It's forecast to go to 28-degrees F tonight.

:hi:

[Skittles]

60. I WILL TRADE YOU

105 f***ing degrees when I went to work - and I don't have a garage :mad:

[rtassi]

58. Breathtakingly beautiful!

[shireen]

59. Glorious!

Thanks for bringing that wild and beautiful place to us!

[Althaia]

61. National Geographic will be accepting entries for its photography contest in a matter of days

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/photo-contest/photo-contest

Your work is terrific, and I hope you are able to enter!

[dhill926]

62. stunned at the beauty......

and saddened by how much we are doing to ruin this great planet......

[drm604]

63. Stunning.

Thank you so much for these threads. :hi:

I use your photos for desktop backgrounds.

[FirstLight]

64. WOW! amazing and awesome

ya, never discount the weather for not making good pics, i learned that up here in the Mtns too.

That first one, when it finally gets down to the horizion line, looks almost like a drawing, not real!
And the shadow of your butte is truly beautiful ;) hehe

thanks so much for sharing your adventures this summer! :hug:

[liberal N proud]

65. Absolutely breathtaking

[Phlem]

66. Very very cool Bro!!

The perspective and scale makes one feel insignificant. I wish more people could understand that what we leave behind and what we preserve is on scale with the universe. If you ever get the pleasure to see the lava flows on the Big Island of Hawaii the real treat reveals itself after the sun sets. Talk about floating in space and sense of scale. One thing you must do in your lifetime.

Peace Brother and thanks for sharing!! :0)

-p

[NBachers]

67. Carrying on in the Jack Kerouac tradition

Jack, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen - their bloodline runs in your veins.

My older brother's a Kerouac fan from the '50's on- he's still a freak on it. I sent him Poets on the Peaks for Christmas.

I'm going to pass these photos on to him- Thanks for letting us see all this.

[DemoTex]

70. Gary Snyder is the only one of the three still alive (last I heard).

I recently read his book of essays On the Fire. According to John Suiter in Poets on the Peaks (I hope you got a change to look at it - great book!), Snyder's boss when Gary was a lookout at Sourdough Mountain (?) in the upper Skagitt once said of Snyder, "That's one calm son-of-a-bitch."

Whalen was much more esoteric. He became a Buddhist monk, IIRC.

And then there was Jack Kerouac. His stint at the Desolation Peak lookout gave us Desolation Angels and inspirations in Dharma Bums. I'm making video b-roll up here in the lookout (for a project this fall) that includes readings from Desolation Angels while doing mundane things like cooking.

"Hozomeen, Hozomeen .. most beautiful mountain I ever seen" - Jack Kerouac in the opening chapter of Desolation Angels.

[blue sky at night]

68. I wish you would shoot a panorama!

You must have a laptop, and do you have Photoshop? Great looking stuff, what a really cool place to live and work. And how is Nick?

[DemoTex]

69. I really MUST shoot a panorama .. thanks for reminding me.

I have Photoshop Elements 8. If it won't do panorama (and I think it will), I'll at least have the raw files to process later.

Nick is doing great. He is a little freaked by the high winds today (Sunday). It is now 41-F headed to 25-F as an early morning low.

:hi:

[blue sky at night]

71. Hey great to hear back DemoTex...

look under file, automate, photomerge. I keep the focal length at around what the human eye can see; between 35 and 50mm depending on the lens. The program doesn't care if you shoot left to right or right to left, but I always go left to right. I find hand held is more natural than the tripod, but it can work also. Hope the fires stay away, heard that Alberta is having problems. Keep warm and keep on posting! Give Nick a pat for us!

[guitar man]

72. I'm jealous

What I wouldn't give for some solitude like that in such a picturesque setting.

Beautiful pics! :)

[Stardust]

73. "My butte casts a long shadow." Why, yes it does, and what a nice butte it is!

:rofl:

Thank you so much for the glorious pix, Demo Tex. I had the great pleasure of living in Oregon many years ago and I miss it terribly.

[Oldtimeralso]

74. K & R + 100

It is a great job you are doing, not only as a fire lookout but also as a photographer.