Another batch of pics while prospecting

Here are a couple pictures of the ferry from the east side of the river. As you can see the loading area was completely under water which caused it to be closed when i got there. The high water was also carrying down some massive logs which would have caused issues if the ferry hit them too so the only option was a six hour round trip detour to get to the other side.

Reaction ferries like this one have been in use on the Fraser river for a long time. The ferry has no power of its own and is attached with pullies to large cables strung across the river. When loaded the ferryman drops a plank on a pivot into the water which causes the ferry to turn slightly sideways in the water and the flow of the current causes the boat to be pulled across the water. It is a slightly disconcerting feeling being on one of these in the middle of the river when the ferryman has to change direction due to a floating log jam. Up goes the drag plank on one side then a quick sprint to drop the plank on the other side which causes a twisting direction change then another twist back into the current after the danger has passed. If you ever get a chance to ride on one i highly reccomend it.

First pic shows the ferry, pully block, and cable house on the far side.



Second pic shows the swamped loading area......there is supposed to be a wooden dock structure under there somewhere......although it may have been washed away already.



Last pic is a bright bird that flew over from the far side to show me how simple it is to cross the river.....just to rub it in a little bit..




Sampson

Thanks Garock, Fossilman, and Roller.

Here is one more shot before i head out for another shorter trip. This shot is of the old horseshoe hydraulic site on the bridge river west northwest of Lillooet B.C. Some people call it an environmental nightmare but i personally think it is quite beautiful and is now home to beavers, deer, many fishies and other wildlife. The old tailings are currently being mined for the gold that was left behind. Just think of how many hours you could spend searching through all those rocks and gravel.

This shot was a combination of a few new techniques for me and i am pretty pleased with the results. This is a combination of 21 seperate shots. 3 different framings of 7 bracketed exposures each, then processed from raw and combined in HDR and finally blended into one seamless panorama. It didn't turn out exactly as i planned and has taken quite a few hours of post processing but i learned quite a bit through the process and am fairly happy with the outcome. If printed at full resolution it would come out at well over 5 feet wide at full photo quality. Anyone else like this shot?




Sampson

That last shot is really stunning, Sampson. You should consider getting a part time job with National Geographic. IMO, your photos are equal to those I see in the magazine. And your comment about the ferry - "slightly disconcerting" - seems like a tremendous understatement!

Livin' vicariously through Sampson ...

Thanks
Paul

Thanks guys,

Yea George, many times it is just me and the Moose for a week or two but i also have a geologist that comes out at times to confirm my diggings and finds. The longer i lived in the city the more i realized i liked the wide open spaces and the company of a dog to the crowded noisy city stuffed with smelly people.

Thanks for the compliment Paul, but i'm not quite sure i am there yet. I have had a few pics published and am in the midst of having a professional webpage designed for me to showcase my photograhpy and hopefully get some more exposure and sell some more pics too. It is quite a journey though and i feel like i am still just learning the ways of the web as it comes to photos.

Yea Roller, this was the first time i had put together a picture like this and although it didn't quite turn out like i had envisioned as i shot it, i sure learned a lot through the process. I sure felt like i needed a photo professor to help giude me through it at a couple stages. The biggest thing i learned was to shoot each shot wider than i think i should so that once all the frames are stiched together i can crop out the distortion and curved parts and still have enough space to get the framing i wanted. Definitely a technique i will be using again in the future.

I am heading out later this week for just over a week and will be sure to post more pics when i get back.


Sampson

Got back a couple days ago from a longer trip. The bugs were some of the worst i have ever dealt with but i found some nice gold and some nice rosy quartz that i gathered enough for a small tumble batch. I got a few pics which i liked that i thought i would add to this thread.

First are a couple lakes that i camped at a few nights.

Stormy sky coming in over some driftwood.



Reflections on a still lake.



Next shot is some neat old stone stairs near one of the lakes. I spent some time clearing off the fallen brush and quite like this shot. Someone sure spent some time fitting all that stone together.



The next two pics were from a couple days ago (june 18) of a mother black bear and her cub(s). I had my camera around my neck but had a long lens on so i missed some great shots of her with her two cubs but since i was so close before i could see them there wasn't any time to mess around changing lenses....just enough time to snap a few pics then back away after she started giving my dog the evil eye. For those of you who know photography, these pics were taken at 70mm (105 eff) length which is waaaaay to close for comfort with a mother and cubs. The cubs were a decent size and looked like last years babies but were still just small enough for momma to get defensive about it. At first she kept eating the grasses while i took a couple shots then her demeanor changed and she started advancing slowly with her head low and staring down my dog the whole time. That was my cue to back away slowly with the dog in tow.

First shot is just as her mood changed and she got the mean look in her eye.



Secong shot is one of my favorite bear pics i have ever taken and was the last pic before i backed away. The look in her eyes made me a little nervous and since we were only a few yards apart i backed away pretty quickly with my dog in tow. She barely even looked at me but just stared at my dog who was close at my left side.



I didn't spend much time gathering rocks but i did find a whole lot of petrified wood on one of the claims which i think indicates the current creek cutting through an ancient channel somewhere just upstream. Most of the pieces i found were too large to pack out to the truck but i am going back next week to clear a trail much closer and i hope to have time and energy to pack some out.

Hope you like the pics.


Sampson

Hey everybody, i didn't get eaten by a bear (Like someone messaged me about) although i have been so busy for the last few months i haven't posted here in a while. I had a great prospecting season and have just recently finished moving to a great new location where i have already found some really cool rocks and specimens just outside my door. I thought i would necro this thread to add some new pics i have from some recent trips and i will soon be starting some new threads with some of the cool new finds i have, as well as some help ID'ing some of them.

On to the pics.

This one is kinda grainy since i took it pretty early in the morning and it was still pretty dark.





This big guy was prowling around my front yard yesterday morning. Then crossed the road and went up in the sun on the cliffs.






Here is another pic of more of the same group laying in the field out front a couple days ago.



And the smaller guy posing on a rock.



Last pic today is of a valley not far from my new place called "The Chasm", near the Bonaparte River. It is a reworked HDR with some very saturated colors to give it a bit of a surreal look.



Hey Paul, glad you liked the other shots but since many of my pics are so close to where i dig my gold i don't really want to put out coordinates of many of the locations although i can try putting some general locations names for you to search and find the general areas. Like the pic of "The Chasm" above, just do a google search for "Bonaparte river, Chasm" and you can find out a ton of info about it. Many of the previous pics i have posted that were of the dry sagebrush areas were from the Fraser River around the Lillooet area, mostly north of there. The big ol' hydraulic site was the "Horseshoe Hydraulic site" on the Bridge River. If you want some more detailed info about any of the specific areas in question just PM me with the area you want to know about and i will tell you all about it.

Hope you like these new pics,


Sampson

outstanding photos! glad you didn't get "et" by the bear!

KD

that was awesome thanks for taking us along on your adventure

That was a cool trip. Thanks