4th of July in WA State

I spent yet another week in WA State. Here's a bunch of random pictures from the trip...what a beautiful part of the country.

Here are all the pictures from the trip.

Seattle and Mt Rainer

I was on a trip to Seattle last week, we also made a stop at Mt Rainer National Park. We stayed downtown Seattle and my room had a great view.

The best part was that it was about 75 degrees and sunny the whole week. Which, if you know Seattle, isn't normal.

Ill be headed back out to WA State a couple more times this summer. Hopefully I'll get some free time to explore some unexplored areas.

Click here to go to the full Seattle album...

Some Miscellaneous Pictures..Odds and Ends.

This post is kind of like a clearance sale...a little bit of everything. Some of these were just test shots while messing around with my camera. Some were single pictures I have taken while I was out and about that didn't fit in anywhere else. Most, if not all were taken within the last few months. I wasn't sure what to do with them, so here they are.

Miscellaneous and Odds-n-Ends Gallery

Florida Trip, Part 1: The Everglades National Park

I recently went to Florida and made a day trip out of going to visit the Everglades National Park. I have visited many National Parks and I'd have to say that this one had the most wildlife I've seen...so far.

Lots of birds and gators to see...I think it might be one of my favorite parks to date.

To see the whole gallery of pictures, click the link:
http://www.framehousephotography.com/everglades


For more info on the Everglades, click here:
http://www.nps.gov/ever/

Took a little nature hike today.

It was beautiful out today and I got done at work early, so I decided to go on a little hike on some of the Fort Belvoir trails this afternoon. I was pretty impressed with the wildlife I saw. I walked up on a wild turkey, but wasnt able to get a picture fast enough and for the record, turtles are hard to sneak up on too. I think I hiked about 4 miles total...I think Ill have to head out to Shenandoah soon for a real hike. Most of the pictures were taken with a 200mm lens and a 2X teleconverter. Most were also cropped, so the quality isnt as sharp as I wish they had been. I guess that just another reason why I need a 500mm lens.

All of the hike pictures can be seen here: http://www.framehousephotography.com/belvoirhike

Easter Baby Foxes

I went to my girlfriends parent's house for Easter. They live about an hour outside of DC in the country and have about 12 acres of land.

There is a Fox den in part of their yard and I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to see three young Foxes out playing around for a bit. I didnt see the mother, so I am not sure if they snuck out of the den or if mom let them go out on their own.

I tried to sneak up on them and it seemed to work as I got pretty close. They seemed too busy playing to notice me. However once I started snapping pictures, I think they could hear my camera, but still didnt manage to spot me. Finally I walked up on them and they retreated back in the den. One guy kept playing peek-a-boo with me. He'd pop his head up and look at me and then jump back down. When I got about 6 ft from the den, they went back inside for good and didnt come back out.

I got some pretty good pictures of them. Ive never seen baby fox, I was surprised what they looked like. Id say almost a cross between puppies and bear cubs.

The rest of my baby Fox pictures can be seen here: http://www.framehousephotography.com/babyfoxes

A nice little visit to Great Falls National Park

I spent a few hours at Great Falls National Park, which is like 15 miles from downtown DC. I was hoping to see some green and budding trees, but it was again to early for that. Guess I'll have to stop by again. I did get some descent pictures of the falls and of the hovering hawks. I really need a Nikon 600 f4 lens....anyone have about $8k laying around, let me know.

The rest of my pictures can be seen here: http://www.framehousephotography.com/p506603941

Information on Great Falls can be found here: http://www.nps.gov/grfa/index.htm

Old Town Bald Eagle

Supposedly this Bald Eagle has been living near Old Town Alexandria, VA for a few years, but I never heard about it or saw it until a few days ago. Its located on a golf course right outside of Old Town just off of GW Parkway.

Anyway, a friend and I decided to try and get some pictures of it. It was around 5pm so the sun was setting. It made for a few good pictures, but nothing that special. I didnt quite have enough lens to reach it and get a really good picture, but I got a few good sunset photos of it.

A few more of my photos of the Eagle can be seen here: http://www.framehousephotography.com/p879274498

The Wild Horses of Assateague Island

I went camping last weekend up in Assateague National Seashore in Eastern Maryland. It was the first real nice Spring weekend we've had so far, however, it was still cooold at night.

Upon driving through the main gates, we encountered 3 wild horse on the side of the road. Even though they were considered wild, they were pretty tame. Throughout the next 2 days, we saw numerous small herds wild horses. Being able about to walk right up to them, made it a photographer's dream. Just be careful that the Park Rangers don't see you approaching the horses...or you will get yelled at.

Between the horses and the gorgeous scenery, Ill be going back to Assateague for sure.

One final note, just as a learning point, do not do as I did and leave a cooler full of various foods out on your campsite picnic table unattended...even if it is only for 20 mins. Chances are that the horses will infiltrate your camp site, knock over your cooler ans steal your food.

My photos from Assateague can be found here: http://www.framehousephotography.com/p605521886

For more info on Assateague National Seashore, see link: http://www.nps.gov/asis/naturescience/horses.htm