Scott Crouse, journal entries Journal entries from Scott Crouse http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/501/ Blogging Good day all For those few who follow my blogging here on 1x this is to let you know that Ive moved by blog back to blogspot. Unfortunately not many people read me here and like to be linked with blogspot. This is not that Im displeased with 1x its still a great site that I love. They will continue to host my images and I will continue to be a full member. Im only shifting my blog due to popularity and ease of use to those who like to follow me.

So all new entries and my photos can be found at The Canadian LoonI hope you join me


Scott
 http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/501/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/130/ Arctic Update Greetings from the Top of the World<br /><br />Events have completely overwhelmed us up here and my time has just been nonexistent so my apologies for not being regular on my journal. I started out with the journal and I got buried with my website instead. I tried to get people over here to read the stories but many just wanted the single page website to see the stories and the pictures. Over time when I find some all the pics will land here on my OE site. But anyhow for those who want to see the day to day of what Im up to skip over to the website http://users.xplornet.com/scrouse/ve8rcs.html<br /><br />It was primarily setup for the amateur radio community but the photos have been getting lots of attention as well so I just carried on with it. Maybe Ill find a way to transfer it all over here to OE when were finished. Just another 5 days to go and Ill be winging my way south again but its been a great trip so far. Pictures have been a bit few in between as weve been overcast with very poor visibility but have gotten some excellent shots in my opinion.<br /><br />Anyhow check out the link I listed check out what the arctic looks like and what were up to. May even find a picture of my ugly mug hahaha : <br /><br />Im very far behind on everyones photos as the web link is way to slow up here for OE. Ill catch up when I get home. Cheers. http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/130/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/128/ A Wolf Named George Well we finally made it to the Top of the World in one piece and I have found internet connectivity. Not overly fast but it could be a lot worse. For those who need to figure out where I am find a map and look for 82.3N 62.5W and youll find Alert.<br /><br />Pretty uneventful trip on the 2nd attempt. We got a late start on Wednesday but did finally make it into Thule Greenland late in the day. Couldnt believe the weather 14c with beautiful sunshine. The sun did dip below the horizon at 11pm and came back up around 4am. We had a nice dinner and a relaxing evening with an old friend whos up there working and off to get a decent nights sleep after a long day of travel. Thursday we were up early again and off on the last 2 hour leg of the journey to Alert.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/6110.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />Finally arrived at 82.3N 62.5W and things havent changed much since my last visit here in 1999. Just a lot fewer faces then what were around in days gone past but much of the place hasnt changed. We spent the first day getting quartered into our rooms and receiving briefings on the dos and donts for the arctic. This is a very unique place with a very fragile environment. Safety and social issues are very important up here. A minimum of 12 hours just to get an aircraft up here for medical emergencies and people who have been this isolated for up to 6 months dont always act normal. So some sensitivities must be a part of your social interactions. Still 24 hours of daylight here but the sun should start to dip in a few weeks for a few hours each night. <br /><br />The evening of the first night was starting to setup for our radio operations. With the sun up we were chomping at the bit to get started. By the end of a very late evening we had our first antenna up and most of the equipment unpacked and configured.<br /><br />An early morning again today as we wanted to get the radio gear up and running as soon as possible. Then I can spend some time processing images hahaha. Took about 260 so far and have several that I like and wish to post. Just need time to keep up with them. Will be many more photos taken over the coming weeks.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/6111.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />So today we were outside working on the antennas and along came a visitor. Meet George. Ive had much experiences with wolves up here but always a joy to see and photography them. It seems that every wolf for the past 20 years up here has been named George. They are very curious and always wanna see what your going or if you have food. They are not aggressive unless you do something stupid and are just curious. Thus the name George Curious George. The rules with them are simple stand tall and do not crouch to their level cause then your not bigger so no photos from the down position NO FOOD number 1 rule here is not to feed the wildlife never reach your hands out to entice them or try to touch them. They will assume you have food and will mouth your hand. That happens and your in for several Rabies shot sessions. So this guy hung around for a bit and watched what we were up to. Im sure there are many around and well see them over the coming weeks.<br /><br />Were a bit restricted in our movements these days as there was a polar bear sighted near here over the past few days. These bears are dangerous as they have little experience with humans. So we stay away more to protect them then us. If something happens the bear would end up being put down and we are visitors to this land so we dont have the right to mess them up. So our travel right now is a bit restricted while we wait to confirm if the bear has left the area. In the past it was rare to see bears up here but with global warming and did I ever see the effects on the flight up Ill be posting pictures in the coming days the bears have been forced further and further north to find seals and ice.<br /><br />Well thats the update for now. Much more to come over the coming days. http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/128/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/126/ Travelling North and then south again So today was departure day for my trip north. It all started last evening after supper. Said goodbye to the wife kids and dogs and out the door I went. Drove 2 hours to meet a mate of mine who lives closer to the airfield and he and I just sort of sat around until 1.30am when it was time to go pick up the third person going on the trip. I did manage to get a few hours of napping on his couch before leaving. So in a 24 hour timeframe I had 2 hours of sleep. This should help me sleep on the plane I thought.<br /><br />Arrived in Trenton where the airfield is at 3.30am and checked in with the counter at 4am as directed. We finally boarded out Hercules transport plane around 6.15am and were airborne about 6.45am. Not bad. A bit behind schedule buy hey I could live with it. It got even better when they told us that we expected to be in Thule Greenland in about 7.5 hours vice the usual 10 hours. The flight was smooth flying. Couldnt get to sleep due to the noise for those who have never been on a Hercules and I expect that is most of you its EXTREMELY noisy. Even my MP3 player couldnt cut through the racket. Everytime Id start to drift off someone would trip over me and Id be awake again. So I resigned myself to getting sleep in Thule. <br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/6056.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />This image is the passenger area inside the Hercules. Not bad for a transport plane. Everything behind me is cargo so nothing really to show back there. Notice the meals in a box hahaha. No hot food or TV on this flight.<br /><br />3 hours into the trip I noticed the crew chatting and digging out books and calculators. This cant be good. Having flown in the arctic on transport planes for the past 20 years I could tell something wasnt right. Sure enough one of the 4 engines had failed. Now this far into a trip wed normally carry on with 3 engines since were almost half way to Thule. Nope not this time. Someone made the decision to head all the way back to Trenton. So 3 hours all the way back to where we started.<br /><br />So the summary for day 1;<br />Time travelled = 6 hours. <br />Distance travelled = Oh Id guess 1500kms. <br />Effective kms = 0 <br /><br />Apparently we are to try again tomorrow. Wish me luck http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/126/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/125/ Going to the Top of the World Part II of my summer and what Im up to these days;<br /><br />So now Im packing for a special trip back into the High Arctic. Located just south of the north pole 700kms on the last piece of land before hitting the North Pole is a place called Alert. This is a Canadian Military station so closed to the public where I spent almost 2 years of my life to date. In my early days in the Canadian military I was stationed to this high arctic station for 6 months at a time doing communications for the government. From the mid 80s until 1999 I spent almost 2 total years combined up there. A very interesting spot and I can proudly state that on several occasions I was the most northernly person in the world. Also managed to grab a chopper ride to the pole itself and have stood at the pole. For those who cant find it on a map look at 82.3N 62.2W. Yup its wayyyyyyyy up there.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5724.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />Anyhow the point is this year is the 50th anniversary of the station. For many many years the only communications in and out of the station was via amateur radio. Many people would line up each day for the hope of being able to talk to their loved ones or families via the radio facilities. No phones or even a satellite link until the early 80s but nothing reliable until in the 90s. So many folks took their turn operating the amateur radio ham so others could phone home. Amateur radio operators all over Canada volunteered their time to have peoples families in their radio shacks to be able to talk to their deployed husbands. Everyone got very used to saying I love you dear over. Naturally over time the radio station became very famous and recognizable to the radio community as it was the worlds most northern fixed amateur radio station. Callsign VE8RCS also known as Real Cold Spot or Real Cold Soldier . With reliable telephone and eventually internet access the radio station was officially shut down in the mid 1990s. But its memories remain to many radio operators all over the world.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5727.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />Well I was one of those operators. I logged many many conversations all over the world with fellow radio operators. I also had the opportunity to talk with the world furthest south station KC4AAA at AmundsenScott station from Alert. It was a great experience to talk pole to pole. I was one of the lucky ones to be chosen to go back to Alert for 2 weeks to reactivate the amateur radio station for a 2 week period. So for the past 2 months myself and 3 others have been packing and shipping equipment to the top of the world to be able to reactivate the station. On 26 Aug Ill be travelling via a huge C130 Hercules transport place for 11 hours into Thule Air force Base in Greenland. Followed by another transport plane the next day into Alert. Ill spend 2 weeks up there setting up equipment and working amateur radio operators throughout the world. This will be my first trip back with a digital camera in hand so I also plan on spending much time documenting many of the things that I did on film and video tape back in the 80s and 90s.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5726.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />As I stated I should have Internet access while up there so I plan to post pictures here and hopefully submit journals on a regular bases throughout my visit. In the past we had numerous wolves foxes and rabbits throughout the camp to take photos of. All very friendly as they have little fear of man. May even see some icebergs if the ice is back in. The sun will still be up 24 hours per day but ringing the horizon in a sunset for most of the day. No pollution so little colour in the sunsets hahaha. <br /><br />For those who wish to see some info about Alert although dated and not the most accurate you can look at some of these sites<br /> http://jproc.ca/rrp/alert.html <br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFS_Alert<br /> http://www.troywoodintarsia.com/alert/alert.html <br /><br />So if your interested check back regularly to see the Top of the World<br /> http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/125/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/124/ My Poor Neglected Journal Here it is mid August and Ive completely ignored my journal this summer. I cry your pardon hahaha. Its been busy thats my only excuse that I can give. <br /><br />So lets recap the summer to date and fill you in on my next movements. When I last wrote I was getting ready to head off to San Jose California. Well what a great time I had. Id never been down there before and naturally my biased impression was that California would be a crappy place. Well I sure have had a change of heart since visiting. Had an absolutely terrible flight down and the dinky little airport sure didnt help my mood. As one of the workers there described it the capital of technology with a Nebraska airport haha. They sure got that right but they are building a nice new shiny airport to handle the traffic. <br /><br />Stayed at the Fairmont right down town and its once classy and nice place to stay. In fact the entire downtown area is very nice. Although strangely very quiet. I suppose thats because few people actually live right downtown so on weekends and evenings folks commute home leaving the downtown quiet. Everything was very clean and tidy. The first morning I was rather jet lagged and found myself up at 5am walking around snapping pictures. Felt very safe just walking the streets.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5295.jpg"><br /><br /><br /> An early morning street<br /><br />Later that morning we took advantage of having a free day before the start of the conference so we took a rental vehicle up to the Napa and Sonoma Valleys to do some wine tasting. We quickly passed through San Francisco which at first glance didnt impress me much on our way to the valleys. What beautiful country we entered. The wineries were just beautiful with all the character and history of the buildings and the wine making. The sites and smells were most amazing. The skys were very hazy from all the smoke from the forest fires burning in California but we still managed a few good shots. <br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5376.jpg"><br /><br /><br />Entrance to one of the Wineries<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5470.jpg"><br /><br /><br />Entering the Napa Valley from Sonoma Valley<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5345.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5306.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5036.jpg"><br /><br /><br />The Booze Train haha<br /><br />So for the day we quickly visited about 7 or 8 different wineries throughout the valleys before heading back to San Francisco for an evening on Fishermans Wharf. Now that we were stopped some of the character of the place started to come through. We quickly took a walk up Lombard Street and walked down to the wharf where we found a restaurant to spend the evening eating fish and drinking beer. Managed to snap a few shots of Alcatraz on my way down the hill to the wharf. After a great evening we walked back up the hill and with all the beer and food I thought I was going to have a massive heart attack but we survived haha.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5025.jpg"><br /><br /><br />San Francisco Streetcar<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5158.jpg"><br /><br /><br />Alcatraz Island<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5417.jpg"><br /><br /><br />Lombard Street<br /><br />Back to San Jose after a very long day. Needless to say I was cured of the jet lag. The rest of the week was spent at the conference so few shots or stories. Although if your hook up with me ask about being escorted out of a bar hahaha. Not something Ive done in a very long time. <br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/5296.jpg"><br /><br /><br />A San Francisco Billboard<br /><br />Another terrible flight back to Ottawa why do I fly through Chicago when I know whats going to happen each time? but arrived back to hot and sticky weather. Some final thoughts about California. The weather is just fantastic. For an entire week I can never remember being so comfortable. Morning and early evening temps were around 23C just comfortable late afternoons and early evenings were around 26C just nice for lounging on a patio and then the nights cooled down to a lovely sleeping temperature of 16C. No humidity at all. And it was the same very day. Never even bothered to look at a forecast the temps were just assumed. I stepped off the plane and a wall of humidity slammed me in the face. Yuck Although I only got 1 day really to view Napa Sonoma and San Francisco I was fortunate to see as much as I did. I have to say Im planing on getting back in the future to take a real vacation and spend some time down there. A great place to visit.<br /><br />So we returned just in time for my wife and kids to head off on their annual vacation of 2 weeks back in Newfoundland located on the far east coast of Canada. Yes my wife and I take separate vacations hahaha. I normally go to Bermuda each fall and she travels to British Columbia on the west coast but this year she decided to take the kids back to the island they were born on. We have 2 dogs and this works our great we dont have to put them in a kennel and I dont have to be dragged around seeing sights Im not interested in and she doesnt have to put up with my friends in Bermuda. A win win situation. So for 2 weeks I was on my own. Just me and the dogs chilling out. Unfortunately work was rather busy that took up lots of my time. But I did manage to get out in the kayak for a couple of short day trips.<br /><br />Last weekend I got the canoe out and took off for a lovely 2 day paddle along the famous Rideau Canal http://www.rideauinfo.com/canal/index.htmlmenu . Still havent gotten to the photos but should over the coming days.<br /><br />Was going to go on here about my upcoming trip to Alert but Im going to put all that in a separate journal entry. So end Part 1.<br /><br /> http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/124/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/109/ On the Road Again California baby Well Im off on my next trip. Wish I could say it was for photography purposes but not to be. Off to San Jose California for a week on business. That being said a light version of the camera equipment is packed and ready to go. Might have a chance to skip up into Wine Country Sonoma this weekend or maybe over to San Francisco. Ive never been to that part of the USA so looking forward to it.<br /><br />I should have internet access throughout so Ill keep stirring the pot....errrr I mean checking into OE from time to time when its quiet. :<br /><br />Cheers.<br /><br /><br />Scott http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/109/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/106/ Trying New Things Warning this is longer then I intended pour your coffee or tear BEFORE starting.<br /><br />Well I got myself over the motivation hump and have gotten back to filling up my hard drives with mountains of images. : The downside is now Im back to post processing. Anyone out there want to be my processing person? Ill take the shots and someone else make them look great? Hahaha.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4608.jpg"><br /><br /><br />During the past week Ive visited Upper Canada Village an 1860s reenactment twice and spent a day on Canadas Parliament Hill for the Canada Day festivities. Most of you the regular visitors anyhow have been seeing the shots and a few of you have left comments thank you so much.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4770.jpg"><br /><br /><br /> The one comment that really touched me was from Anna ...they surprised me. People in costumes I never expected this from you. And its so fun to watch. That told me I was onto something new.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4767.jpg"><br /><br /><br />All my life I have been landscapes and when I was done with landscapes I did more landscapes. Last summer as a favour to a friend I photographed a wedding. Not as a pro or anything but just as one of the people shooting. I came away from the experience completely distraught. I wanted nothing more to ever do with people photography. So back to landscapes I fled. Nice safe and comfortable.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4765.jpg"><br /><br /><br />This past winter I was in Bermuda so again I lived in the landscape world but when I got home I was suddenly lost not knowing what to shoot. There are days where it seems that Ive shot everything of interest within 100kms of where I live. Nothing was appealing to me. Here in Ottawa we have no mountains lakes snowcapped hills few boreal forests or anything else. We have flat farm lands with crops. No hills water is all rivers and most of them are dirt rivers or many interesting landscape features. So I decided it was time for me to try something different. Time to narrow my focus down some.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4602.jpg"><br /><br /><br />Now when I say narrow down I mean exactly that. I love panorama shots 10mm wide images You can never have an image to wide. Just not possible : So Ive tried to focus my viewing angle down somewhat. So a week ago Saturday it was raining so I went down to the village. Cant take outdoor shots in the pour rain although I did a few to satisfy my landscape desires so I was forced to look around inside the buildings. By the end of the day I was starting to get an eye for things. I spoke to many of the people that worked there until they became comfortable with me sitting in the background taking pictures. Observations and things I learned;<br /><br />1. Focus points are an issued. Jeez with landscapes I point and shoot : Seems the eyes are the place to aim for.<br /><br />2. Just because a 105mm macro is really sharp doesnt make it a good lens. Everything I shot with it came out with do much DOF. Never thought I would see to much DOF.<br /><br />3. Really tough to find angles on set displays when your behind ropes.<br /><br />4. Dont over do it on processing unless you know what your doing. I have a few on here that are way over done with the LucasArt. Looked cool the first few days now I hate them.<br /><br />5. Jeez there is a button that makes the ISO change from 100. Ive always shot with a 100 if its dark I use a tripod. For some reason people dont want to stand still for 5 secs. Why not? Scenery doesnt move or complain :<br /><br />6. Flashes inside buildings suck. Even bouncing the shadows suck.<br /><br />7. Black and White can occasionally look good :<br /><br />8. People like portraits. Whats up with that?<br /><br />Anyhow part of the reason that I left flickr was so that I could get some true feedback. Go through my images and please critique them. Portraits and still lifes are so new to me. I really have no idea with what Im doing or if its good or not good. <br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4773.jpg"><br /><br /><br />I was telling someone the other day and they were surprised Ive never had a single course or anyone teach me much of anything about photography. Everything has been self taught through trial and error and reading on the Internet. A few people have given me great advice over the past year and that has gone a long way. Just learning the terminology has been hard but actually applying it has been even harder.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4764.jpg"><br /><br /><br />I wont say that Im a fan of Ken Rockwell but occasionally he does post a few things I agree with. The other day he posted this interesting piece about photography and artists. Called How to Create a Masterpiece http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/masterpiece.htm A very interesting read. If anyone out there would like to take the time and teach me how to do the art in some of those fantastic images Id love to hear from you. Maybe I just dont have the artist inside me but who knows until I try.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4719.jpg"><br /><br /><br />Although Im starting to get a loose handle on portraits and still lifes I still suck at street photography. I went up to Ottawa on Canada Day and gave it a try. Nothing that really grabbed me. Going to have to scout around a bit more when there are less people around and I can find some good venues.<br /><br />One thing that has come out of all this is that a friend of mine has asked if she can play model to let me give portraits a try. She wants new pictures of herself and I need to keep trying new things. Nothing fancy just outdoor natural light type work. Ive never done that before as Ive never had the courage to ask anyone my family completely shuns me when they see a camera present nor has it been my style so people dont ask. Mind you I think I scare them off with my gruff I dont shoot weddings or people attitude. So now she has me thinking of locations and potential poses. Were going to have fun with it at worst I delete it all and forget it ever happened. At best I find a new skill.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4586.jpg"><br /><br /><br />So for those of you who are going on about how boring your area is or are having problems getting motivated give something new a try. Get out there and do the opposite of what your doing now. If you landscapes go narrow. If your a portrait machine then go wide Youll discover a whole new world maybe enjoy it and definitely become a more versatile shooter. I think I have<br /> http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/106/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/104/ Happy Canada Day eh To all my fellow Canuks here on OE HAPPY CANADA DAY<br /><br />My motivation problems were definitely stomped after my day of shooting at Upper Canada Village on Saturday. I had a blast shooting for about 6 hours straight and talking to many people. Although not the greatest shots I did have fun playing with a very new discipline for me. All my life Ive been W I D E landscapes and have never really had a knack for people or objects. So I took the day and stopped doing landscapes and tried to move in closer. Some of the results were surprising to me others were a major learning experience. Focus points are new to me with landscapes almost everything is in focus lens choice is very big and post processing is scary. I have no idea what to do in post processing so keeping it to a minimum for now.<br /><br />A couple of the better ones IMO;<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4613.jpg"><br /><br /><br />The Blacksmith loved this shot going to go back and spend some more time filming this guy.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4608.jpg"><br /><br /><br />I like playing with the LucasArt plugin. <br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4601.jpg"><br /><br /><br />The seamstress although Im not done processing this yet. Daria gave me some good advise on sharpening up the eyes and toning down the LucasArt a bit.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4602.jpg"><br /><br /><br />Ive been told this one might have a chance on OE whadda think?<br /><br /><br />Anyhow off to try another new discipline today. Im going into Ottawa the Capital City of Canada to try some street photography. There will be many people in the city for the Canada Day celebrations but Im actually going to stay away from the prime areas and play in a nearby area called the Byward Market http://www.bywardmarket.com/ to see what its all about. <br /><br />Continuing to try and find new and wonderful things. http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/104/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/102/ Motivation or lack there of For over a month I have really been in a slump shooting. My D200 sat in the bag for over a month without ever coming out of the bag. Excuses some legit some not that Ive used;<br /><br />1. My buddy Tom passed away. Tom was one of my main inspirations. If it wasnt for him my pics would have sat on my hard drive never to be seen by others. He pushed me into the open and was always encouraging and honest.<br /><br />2. Travelling to much.<br /><br />3. No skies. Its always all blue or all grey no clouds.<br /><br />4. Sunrise is way to early this time of year.<br /><br />5. Sunset is no good cause the bugs are so bad.<br /><br />6. Its raining.<br /><br />7. I get home to late.<br /><br />8. Im to tired when I get home.<br /><br />9. Oh itll be there tomorrow Ill stop then and take the picture.<br /><br />10. Ive got all that dirt on my sensor my camera is taking crappy pictures because of it.<br /><br />11. Ive shot every landscape for a 100kms in every direction. There is nothing left.<br /><br />12. I need that 1020mm lens to do landscapes my 18200 is no good.<br /><br />13. I dont have time to post process.<br /><br />14. I need a faster computer for post processing Imac 24 but I got no money.<br /><br />15. I dont feel like it.<br /><br />Well earlier this week I was sitting watching a little TV and a voice said to me Jeez man you better post a picture or 2 or Tom is going to kicking your ass then I remembered he was gone. But it struck me as to how vivid that voice was. I think hes still telling me to get on with it. Suddenly I had the bug again and some ideas have come to mind to try.<br /><br />So yesterday I went into the local camera store and bought some excellent lens cleaner and some proper equipment to clean the sensor well the high pass filter in front of it. I sat down and did the surgery. Talk about scary But in the end the sensor is much cleaner then it was. How does dirt get in there when you almost never take the lens off? And this wasnt dust it was caked on I had to scrub to get it off. Ive done some shooting around beaches and salt spray but have always cleaned my equipment right afterwards and NEVER opened the camera in those environments. How does that crap get in there?<br /><br />So I borrowed the 105mm and 200400mm from work. Those combined with my 18200mm Im pretty covered. Heading off to a place called Upper Canada Village tomorrow morning. Its an 19th century village where all the people dress the era and act the parts. Theyre used to cameras so going to see what I can do with people shudder. http://www.uppercanadavillage.com/<br /><br />Now I just need the weather to cooperate the forecast is for overcast skies and rain with occasional lightening storms. Fingers crossed. I have the motivation and will just need the weather to fall into place.<br /><br />Saturday morning update The rain is coming : The Doppler radar shows a wall of water. Upper Canada is looking scrubbed. Gonna have to find some stuff around the house to shoot or old images to make look new. Crap When I wanna play the weather wont cooperate.<br /><br />Saturday night update said screw it and went anyhow. Spent 7 hours shooting at the village. I think I got some nice stuff. One is in screening but dont want to spoil the vote by posting it here first : Anyhow dodged rain all day as I ran from building to building. But werent many people around bonus http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/102/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/101/ A Week in Algonquin Park Algonquin Park is an area in the province of Ontario that covers over 7630 square kilometres of forests lakes and rivers. Within the park is over 2400 lakes. The park was established in 1893 to establish a wildlife sanctuary. Today the park is home to wolves bears deer moose otters beavers and almost any animal that is found in Canada. It is a very close image of what Canada looked like hundreds of years ago. http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4470.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />For the 2nd year in a row my buddy Larry and I headed off into the bush for a full week of bugs and pain. Larry flies in from high in the Canadian Arctic from a town called Iqaluit located on Baffin Island. Not to many trees where hes from. Last years trip http://vp9mm.blogspot.com/2007/06/algonquinpark1623june2007.html I call it my annual feed the mosquitoes Algonquin tour. This year called for a very aggressive plan covering some areas we had previously done and some new unexplored areas. The plan called for 110kms of travel. 80Kms on water and 30kms on foot. <br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4469.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />The water part for me is easy 80kms of paddling is childs play but the portaging is tough. For those readers whos English is not your native language portaging is a term that refers to The carrying of boats and supplies overland between two waterways or around an obstacle to navigation. So in other words 30kms with a canoe on top of your head and all your supplies on your back. Not for the weak backed or severely out of shape.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4468.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />The first 3 days were excellent. Nice lovely sunshine with moderate temperatures. Even the bugs were not out of control. They were bad but less then the previous year. We dressed appropriately with full clothing and bug netting. Of course some bug spray on the hands and other exposed areas but overall not bad. Even took a swim on the second night out. Water was still cool but bearable. A good chance to wash some clothes as well. <br /><br />The pace was good we werent to dirty yet and the people had disappeared. We seen two duos of canoers all on their way out of the park. We never seen another soul until Friday night 5 days later.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4467.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />On Tuesday the rain started with on and off again showers. And it never ended for the rest of the trip. By this point we were so deep into the park there was no turning around. We had access to weather forecasts via Larrys IMARSAT telephone. His wife would text us the weather each day. Every day it would say chance of showers so we carried on thinking that is has to get better.<br /><br />For the next 4 days we endured shower after shower after shower. By the end we were damp and cold. We travelled some very rough terrain over those last 4 days making for very tired muscles but the scenery was amazing. There are few unspoiled places on earth like this part of Ontario.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4465.jpg"><br /><br /><br />Drying Boots and Hat by the Fire well maybe smoking them<br /><br />I dont take my big SLRs on these trips but I do take along my smaller Canon S3is so I managed to get a few shots in between the rain drops. Not near as many as I would have liked. In 2007 we seen a total of 17 moose several within 20 feet. This year we only seen 3 and they were at a very far distance. So the images didnt turn out all that well. So my pictures were pretty limited this year. Mind you my image taking motivation has been way down of late more on this in my next post.<br /><br />The one thing that I love each year is seeing the Loons. Every lake in Algonquin Park seems to have several Loons. In the old days I can remember 1 or 2 per lake but now there are numerous Loons. The population is rebounding nicely after all the acid rain of the 1980s. The Loon has always had a special place in my heart. I believe in what is called animal speak and the Loon has shown herself to be my spirit animal/guide through life. At every juncture in my life there has been Loons and I have always been at peace when they are near. Such a magical animal. <br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4466.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />By Friday night we had covered some extra ground and arrived back at the vehicle a day early so we called it quits. Bug bitten sore tired damp wet cold dirty crusty stinky hurting but feeling great in spirit and mind.<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4464.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />Next year I think were going to bail on a June trip and try for Sept instead. Less bugs less rain and just a few more people :<br /> http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/101/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/96/ Home Again Back from my week long canoe trip into the deep bush. We travelled about 110kms total with 30kms of that on foot with the canoe over our head. Were tired wore out bug bitten sun burnt sore achy wet damp soggy dirty stinky but feeling great :<br /><br />Still catching up on sleep and havent pulled the images off the camera yet but not sure if I got anything interesting or not. It was overcast and rainy for most of the trip so the camera stayed in the dry bag. <br /><br />Also need to catch up on everyones photos so Ill be around your pages over the next few days.<br /><br />A quick image not one of mine of me trudging through the bush on a portage. The bugs were bad so that is why the bug mask hat full jacket gloves full pants. The hiking boots are a must of the heavy terrain. <br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/4375.jpg"><br /><br /> http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/96/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/89/ So Long I039;m Outta Here Just for a week :<br /><br />Off to my annual feed the hungry mosquitoes tour of Algonquin Park. See everyone sometime after the 21st of June. Hope to have many new pictures.<br /><br />Tomorrow morning this will be the scene as I paddle off into the wilds;<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/2970.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />Cheers everyone look forward to catching up on your photos when I get back.<br /><br /><br />Scott http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/89/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/88/ Preparing for the Next Adventure What a wild 2 weeks it has been since my friend died. On just a few days notice I flew down to Bermuda and attended two services. The first was to spread his ashes into the Great Sound and the second was the actual church service. First time I have ever been to a spreading of the ashes and I thought it was one very nice touching ceremony. When my days comes thatll work for me.<br /><br />Thank you to everyone who sent me best wishes and comments both publicly and privately. It meant a lot to me. Tom was as much a brother to me as a friend. While on the island myself his friends and his family all spent time laughing and remember the great times and the wonderful things in Toms life. The way it should be.<br /><br />But now were back in Canada and way behind schedule in work pleasure and photography. The work has been almost caught up my poor camera hasnt come out of the bag in weeks tough when your sad but the pleasure is on its way <br /><br />This weekend a friend from Baffin Island located in the Canadian Arctic is flying in and were off on our annual canoe trip into Algonquin Park. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algonquin_Park The park is huge and is larger then some countries in Europe. It contains over 2400 lakes and can take a lifetime to truly explore. Here is a link to our trip last year http://vp9mm.blogspot.com/2007/06/algonquinpark1623june2007.html<br /><br />This years trip is similar to last year but will be a bit longer route and well be swinging to the south into several lakes versus last years swing to the north down a swampy river. So this week has been spent running around getting all the supplies that we need for a week equipment and clothing. Gotta keep everything as light in weight as possible as we will be walking a total of 30kms with the equipment and paddling 110kms. Its actually only 10kms of portaging http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portage but we cant carry the canoe and all the gear in one carry. So we have to take one load up walk back and then take the last load up. So everything is x3. So 10kms = 30kms.<br /><br />The bugs are bad right now but that is part of the reason why we go so early in the season. There will be few people. Last year we seen a total of 2 people in 1 week. The downside is that the long term weather forecast is for rain most of the week. So its going to be a wet buggy trip : But it should still be fun.<br /><br />Last evening was checking the canoe and fixing any gelcoat cracks waterproofing my hiking boots and sorting out all our dehydrated foods. If you ever want to save weight buy these add water foods. An entire weeks worth of food for 2 people weighs about 1kg. After you add a cup or 2 of boiling water you get a great meal. The stuff they make in Canada has a great taste and is pretty filling. <br /><br />As weight is such a concern this means my big D200 and accessories have to stay at home. But I do lug along my trusty Canon S3is. If you checked out the pictures from last year in the link above the S3 takes lovely pictures. More proof that its not the camera that makes the picture but the turkey behind it. <br /><br />So Saturday morning were off. 7 days in the deep bush. Last year was 17 moose 1 wolf 1 deer numerous Loons and tons of Ducks. Lets see what this year brings. http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/88/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/66/ A Sad Day Today the world has lost a photographer but Ive lost my best friend. Tom you gave a great fight and you were always there for me mate I will miss you dearly. I love you man and Ill see you on the other side have a rum and coke waiting for me<br /><br />To see some of Toms work visit http://homepage.mac.com/ithappens/Introduction.html<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/3465.jpg"><br /><br /><br /> http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/66/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/63/ Weekend Happenings I hope everyone had a good weekend. I know our friends in the UK and the US are all still on their long weekend so wishing them the best. Here in Canada we celebrated the long weekend back on the 19th so was just a normal 2 days off for us.<br /><br />I finally got the kayak out on the water. What a relief to put a few miles under the hull. As it was my first paddle of the year I took it easy and went to a nice calm canal and paddled a round trip of 10kms. Kept the pace slow and did it in just over 2 hours. I spent some time talking to the lockmasters and a funny older Swiss fellow along the bank so the total time stretched to 4 hours. The weather was lovely so it was nice being out there. Unfortunately never took a single photo. Not much wildlife around to late in the day and the lighting was terrible. I did stalk a blue heron for awhile but never managed to get close enough. Shes normally not that cagey but she wasnt letting me near. Wonder if there was a nest around. <br /><br />Im still a bit nervous to take the big Nikon D200 in the kayak so I continue with my Canon S3is in a dry bag. A few blisters on my hands but this is a good thing toughen the hands up before my next big scheduled trip in June. Heading off into Algonquin Park for a full week deep into the back woods country. We probably wont see any humans for the entire week. Just lots of mosquitoes and moose Some of my shots from up there last year;<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/3019.jpg"><br /><br /><br />The mouth of the Nipissing River<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/3018.jpg"><br /><br /><br />One of the portage landings on the Nipissing River<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/2884.jpg"><br /><br /><br />One of 17 moose that we seen.<br /><br />Sunday was spent watching races Im a huge motor racing fan and Sunday was one of the biggest days of the year. Monaco F1 Grand Prix in the morning the Indy 500 in the afternoon and the Nascar race in the evening. First race was excellent second race was boring and Im not a huge Nascar fan so recorded that race and will watch it in fast forward this evening. Oval racing is always more enjoyable in fast forward :<br /><br />Submitted 2 photos for screening last night. I was hoping that at least one would make it though but both didnt make it through. Oh well. Landscapes are tough there is no doubt about it. Ironically the crew did away with the too common reason so now I get no impact with a comment of too common hahaha laughed when I read that one. Going to have to figure out a way to spice up my images a bit to make them stand above the crowd. Any suggestions out there? :<br /><br />Ok lunch break is almost over time to get back to work. Catchya later<br /><br />Scott http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/63/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/57/ Who is Scott Crouse? Since this is now my new home for day to day pictures and writings I guess I should introduce myself;<br /><br />As you may have guessed my name is Scott Crouse. Im a married 42 year old man who lives just south of the Canadian capital city of Ottawa. Ive lived here for the past 10 years and am still learning my way around this massive part of Canada. Naturally the exploring is always with a camera. Im originally from the east coast of Canada Nova Scotia and was first introduced to photography with a Pentax ME Super SLR as a gift from my parents during my teenage years. It was apparent that I liked the hobby and was pretty good at it but I found the developing costs very prohibitive Im a cheap bugger so the camera didnt get much use. Over the years photography was on the shelf. I moved around living in Bermuda 3 years and the Canadian Arctic about 2 years combined time and out on the island of Newfoundland. I got to see some very lovely places and made some excellent friends throughout Canada and around the world. Im also an amateur radio operation callsigns: VA3XA and VP9MM and meet many new people each year though the hobby. A few years ago when digital cameras became affordable I started out with a point and shoot and the photography bug hit again. Each year I travel back to Bermuda to house sit for friends and through them and Bermuda I rediscovered my love of photography. Such an excellent place to find great shooting locations. Im a massive computer geek so it just all came together digital photography computers = fun . Very quickly I traded in the P&S for a small SLR Canon S3is and my skills developed rapidly. I was being pushed by my wife and my buddy Tom a Bermuda mate to go to the next level. I then picked up my first pro camera a Nikon D200 and havent looked back. I gained lots of interest on flickr and started receiving comments from people wanting to buy my pictures. So I setup my commercial site and registered a business [htmlcode Scott Crouse Photography[/htmlcode. Unfortunately photography is still a hobby for me I have a regular day job to pay the bills so my photo time is evenings weekends and vacations. Although I get a few sales it doesnt even pay for the hobby at this point so if you want to help me out and like my images head on over and purchase away sorry shameless plug for business haha. In 13 years Ill be retiring from my regular job and at that time I hope to move to a more full time posture. Im still primarily a landscape photographer I just havent figured out how to shoot portraits or people. Right now it remains my Achilles heel but we continue to work at it. I have no models or people that even want to me take their picture so that makes it tougher to learn. In Canada most money is in wedding photography but I have no desire to even do that. I still shot for me and if people like my vision then great if they dont oh well. Dealing with clients is not something Im overly interested in at this point. So for now many of my photos are taken while canoing kayaking touring or while in Bermuda. So many of the themes are the same. Most of my images have been rejected on OE due to being to common doesnt exist anymore or impact. But when you hold my work up to some of the stuff that is being published I cant complain. Im just not different enough. But now with the OE homepages I still get to showcase my work for all to see. I hope the comments continue to be of the high quality that are on the regular OE page.<br /><br />Part of the reason that I went with OE for my homepage btw I finished the trial with a payment to the crew well worth the money was to be able to combine my photography with my blogs. Prior to this I was on Flickr and Blogspot and I found both to be very unfulfilling. People just give a glowing comment dash and run. Although I dont get many published on OE I do like the quality of the comments and the honest opinions of people. So the idea is to phase out all the old blogs = [htmlcode Scott Crouse Blog[/htmlcode and [htmlcode Scott Crouse Photography Blog[/htmlcode and my [htmlcode flickr site[/htmlcode and restart here. Ive been poking around looking at everyones home sites here on OE and there are some very very impressive images and most Journal entries have been very photo related. Unfortunately that wont be my style.<br /><br />My journal will sometimes contain ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with photography and will be things from my mind and lots of my photography WILL NOT BE MY BEST. hahaha I like to keep things light hearted and more on a personal scale. I hope I dont start stinking the place up : If you look at the my OE homepage site you see such beautiful images Im almost scared to post some of my stuff cause its going to show on that page for a day or two. But were going to try and have some fun and I hope others join me and put up with my less then perfect work.<br /><br />For those who dont view the OE forums I highly recommend going over and reading Vernon Trents article on [htmlcode Spicing up an ordinary shot[/htmlcode. An excellent read. Well done Vernon.<br /><br />An image explanation for the day;<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/2934.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />The St Lawrence Seaway is a gateway for commercial shipping between the Atlantic Ocean all the way up into the Great Lakes of North America. Along that Seaway there were canals that acted as an inside lanes for smaller shipping that could not handle the open water. One is called the Gallop Canal located around the Iroquois region. This canal is decaying with age but a great opportunity for images. This is a foot bridge that crosses over the canal. It is an HDR image consisting of 9 exposures. I did try and remove the bushes on the left hand railing but could never get it right so left them in.<br /><br />Youll find that I write several times a week. I like to keep things light and cheery so please come back often. I love comments and chatter so speak your mind and visit often. Lets all have a good time. Cheers till later<br /><br />S http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/57/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/55/ Day 2 Slowly been adding pictures to the site. But I find myself wondering if I should upload them all at once or just a few at a time to get the greatest impact? I see from the unique views that Ive had a few visitors checking out my images but still no comments. I guess its the lurking folks ; Anyhow folks I love comments and chatter feel free to give comments good and bad. All that I ask of the bad ones is they be constructive. If you cant offer a suggestion on how to improve something then be careful in the wording. Once mans crap is anothers masterpiece hahaha.<br /><br />Upgrades Id like to see to the webpages;<br /><br />1. Built in spell checker my spelling sucks I get around this by using Firefox and the spell plugin.<br /><br />2. The ability to go to the next image vice having to go back to the front page and select the next image. Maybe in the Galleries we can go to the next one? Havent tried that yet.<br /><br />3. A site counter would be nice.<br /><br />4. Customizing the theme is coming so Ill not mention that any further.<br /><br />5. Allowing html tags in the About me sections so I dont have to put http:// on all my links.<br /><br />6. A place to put links to your favourite sites.<br /><br />7. A link in the upper corner so I can always go straight back to onexposure.<br /><br />But despite these few nit picky things Im liking it.<br /><br />Hmmmm someone gave me a fav on my Narrowbag Moose maybe I should submit it under wildlife? Whadda think?<br /><br /><img src="http://my.onexposure.net/media/medium/2884.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />Till later<br /><br /><br />Scott http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/55/ http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/54/ The trial phase A special thanks to the OE crew for allowing a free week trial of their premium membership. Its always tough to fork out 99.00 and find you hate something. So I decided to take advantage of their generosity and give this a try. Currently I have my commercial site http://www.scottcrousephotography.com my flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/vp9mm my blog http://scottcrousephotography.com and several others around. Way to many so what a great chance to consolidate a few of them. So if this works and it seems to work great the blog and flickr sites will probably disappear. This should save time and be a great way to blog and display my images all in one format. <br /><br />Ive enjoyed the OE website since the first day Ive gotten onboard but over time Ive had a tough time getting published. The quality of the images has gotten better and many of my images were falling into the common which is now gone or the impact reject columns. Must of what I do is landscape work so to get published it has to be very different or outstanding. But now I can showcase my work to other OE users without having to use a lesser venue as my photos are routinely rejected.<br /><br />I enjoy comments both public or private so feel free to mail me or leave your comments under the image. <br /><br />Scott<br /><br />ps site needs a spell checker hahaha my spelling sucks ; http://scottcrouse.onexposure.net/journals/54/