The Photog Formula

The weather here in Wyoming has been dreadful!  I don’t mind a little rain now and then to green things up, but this is ridiculous!!  Today was no different, with showers scheduled the sky was dark most of the day.

I was supposed to be downtown at 5pm to get some footage for a new commercial advertising the Sheridan Street Fair, which will be the third Thursday every month until September.  Then I had to be at the softball fields at 7:40 for the first of two games tonight.  Well, as luck would have it, the games were canceled and I was able to stay at the fair a lot longer than planned.

This allowed me to get the footage I needed, plus some extra photos for myself.  If you live in the Sheridan area, you need to try and get down to the next one, which I believe is going to be July 16.  There is live music, food and beverages, and plenty of booths to browse through.  (Don’t forget to get your own custom temporary tattoo!)  I’m actually thinking of setting up my own booth to do a little advertising as well.

So anyway, here are some of the best shots from tonight.  Please enjoy!

Nice little face painting!

This guy was pretty funny. I had no idea Sheridan had 82 religious groups!

These guys were pretty good, considering they are only young teenagers! (Like 14 or 15 young!)

They closed Main Street for about 5 blocks for the fair.

Even the Drum & Bugle Corps made an appearance. And almost made my ears bleed!

I really liked this band, and this image!

Here they are again, huddled around the mic like they’re trying to keep warm!

The violin player was pretty sweet, too!

Finger-plucking good!

And this is a Burmese Mountain Dog, which happens to be my wife’s favorite. Beautiful dogs.

(On a side note…is it “Burmese or Burnese? I found both spellings while searching the net. I think it’s Burmese, with an “m”.)

I know I could break these images up across a few different blog posts to keep a common theme, but what’s the fun in that?

Actually, I caught all 3 themes in one photowalk, so I decided to share.

The image I picked for today’s photo can be found on http://Phototerium.com.  It’s of a couple of deer trying to outrun my camera.  Luckily I was just as fast!

Here are the rest of the best:

3 Deer on the Horizon

Playing “Peek-a-boo”!

Deer Silhouette

Staring Contest

Through the Weeds

In a Single Bound

Ducks in Heaven

Blue Pond

Fields of Softness

Abstract Evergreen

I hope you enjoy the photos!

Living in Wyoming has its benefits.  There are the Big Horn Mountains with miles of wilderness.  It’s one of the least populated states in the country.  It has a lot of western history.  And it has four distinct seasons.

However, with those seasons come very unpredictable weather.  It’s April right now, and we should be enjoying nicer weather with maybe a rain shower or two once in awhile.

But NO!!

It has to snow.  And not just a little flurry either, I mean SNOW!

In the past couple of weeks, we’ve accumulated a couple feet of fresh powder.  Now, if I still skied and snowboarded, I’d be in Heaven right now.  But as it happens, I don’t.

I want to go outside in shorts and walk around and take pictures.  Not shovel my driveway over and over again.

But today I did manage to get a few shots.  One of which you can view over on Phototerium.com, for today’s picture.  Here are a few others:

So if you live in a warmer climate, I envy you! I’m tired of this and wish Spring would just hurry up and get here!

I woke up this morning to someone knocking on the front door. As I opened the door, my breathe was literally taken from both from the site and from the bitter wind whipping down the road.

The young man at the door needed to borrow a shovel to get his girlfriend’s car unstuck, as his shovel had broken.

After another 20 minutes they had freed the car. I don’t know why they even bothered. There’s no way I’m even leaving the house today, except in case of an emergency. Even then, it’s going to be rough getting my own vehicle out of the garage.

Here are a few photos taken from inside the house. Like I said, the wind is bitter and strong.

If you live in a warmer climate, be thankful you’re not dealing with this! This just solidifies my view of Wyoming and Wyoming weather; it sucks! Where’s the desert, because that’s my next destination!

I took a drive today, taking roads I haven’t been on in years. At one point I thought I was actually on private property. They were dirt roads with cattle guards and no signs. But as long as there was road in front of me I was going to keep driving.

That’s when I came to Fort Phil Kearny.

It’s an old military outpost that was built in 1866 at the base of the Big Horn Mountains along the Bozeman Trail. It’s long been destroyed, burned by Cheyenne Indians, but the history surrounding the area is still very much alive. The surrounding area is the site the Fetterman massacre and the Wagon Box Fight. At its peak it housed 400 troops and 150 civilians.

I love history and thinking of times when the only artificial light was a lantern; when eating depended on one’s knowledge of hunting and fishing. I spoke with the manager and told him I was a photographer wanting to get pictures of Fort Phil Kearny before the tourist season picked up. He had no problem with it, so off I went, walking the same ground as Col. Henry B. Carrington.

I plan on returning, when the weather is a little warmer and the ground a little dryer. Here are a few of the images taken at Fort Phil Kearny:

I’m a little embarrassed to say that I don’t know about the history of my own home town.  I’ve lived here almost my whole life, minus the 5 years in Germany, 1 year in Kentucky, and 3 years in Pennsylvania.

But I learned a little more today, all thanks to a little plaque on a statue.

The following image is of Sheridan’s founder, John D. Loucks.  This statue sits outside our City Hall building.  I’ve been past it many time, but never took the time to stop and read what it had to say.  Well, here is what it says:

• John D. Loucks
  Founder of Sheridan
  Nov. 1, 1846 – April 23, 1927

  John D. Loucks sat down on Court House Hill and envisioned a town before him.

  John was a dreamer as well as a pioneer.  He had dreams of great works he might accomplish.  He dreamed of helping to settle the west of yesteryear.  He dreamed of a city which would nestle in the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains in the country known as the Big Goose Country.  He lived and worked to see his dreams become realities.

  It was early Spring and the deer and buffalo were browsing in the valley.  It appealed to John as an ideal site for “our” city.

  On a piece of brown wrapping paper, John drew a rough sketch of streets and blocks and parks.  He named the streets after pioneers of the day.  Over the top of the map he wrote “Sheridan”.  The town was named for General Phil Sheridan, commander of the Civil War Regiment.  John served as a soldier in the Civil War.

  Thus, a town was born on May 10, 1882.

The next image is a small sculpture plaque that is attached to the front of John Loucks’ statue.  It depicts the way Sheridan looked in 1888.

John D. Loucks

For today’s image of City Hall, please visit http://phototerium.com

Thanks!