Some October Photo Faves

October.  The days shrink, the temperature cools, and there is a shift in the feel of the month that every sensory faculty in your body senses.  The air almost feels "thinner."  Less vibrant with sounds, less full of pollens, a little cooler and less "thick" with summer.  These are some of my favorite pictures from October around the farm.

 

 

My brother's combine ready for a long winter sleep after its toils



The sun abandoning the day long before the farmer does



Granaries -- the prairie monument

this yard, abandoned since the 60's boasts an unimaginable backyard for today's urban dwellers

After the harvest in the hills

Sunset and combine

Driving off into the sunset

The header, or spinny choppy bit for you city folk, in the sun

Twilight isn't just for vampires

This truck is "Prairie Thunder" and looks good in the moonlight

Short days but long hours

my mom wanted this shot of the trucks lined up

The sky Lexi cat loved to sit beneath

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Critter Cam

As mentioned, I finally bought a newer model of camera.  I only bought one lens, because that's as much as an unemployed girl can afford.  One thing about the camera is that it is full frame with a 36.3 megapixel sensor.  I was hoping to seriously amp up some of my photos.  I read somewhere that the non zoom lens would still produce a high quality image that could be cropped in on without losing detail.  And so, I set out to get some critters and see what kind of results I could get.

Critter 1 -- Hippie.  Close up with a 1.8/55 lens, I was pretty happy with the detail on this critter.



Critter 2 -- deer.  See the pretty doe?

And cropped.

 



Not bad.  Oh, did I mention she had a fawn?  That counts as Critter 3.

 

 

Then there was the owl checking in as Critter 4.  I learned a valuable lesson with the owl.  Owls don't sit still for photos, and you don't get a do over when your shutter speed isn't fast enough.  So this owl may look fuzzier than it did in real life. Who knew their feet looked like that?

 

 

Then there is Critter 5, Mystery Critter.  Not a mystery mystery, like sasquatch, just mean I am curious if you can pick the critter out in the uncropped shot.

 



It's a coyote for the record.

So overall there is definitely a lot better cropping ability with the new camera.  But limitations on the detail at a certain range, and it cannot fix a shaky hand or poor choice of setting.  A zoom lens is in my future once I stop flitting about taking pictures and get back to being employed.

But, since on the topic of critters, there are a few more to share, because Saskatchewan sure has an abundance of critters about.

Buffalo Bill and friends from the Wild West

Stinky, who thought he could be my new cat, because he doesn't know he isn't a cat

A whole herd of pronghorn

Who said Saskatchewan doesn't have a wild lifestyle?

North of Eden, South of Heaven

There is a very special place that I know of that sits just north of Lake Eden and just South of Heaven.  It's called Eden North Parachute School, and a place where I  once spent all of my available weekends, summer days and nights, and many brisk September and October mornings too.  This is where I did my first skydive back in 2003, and where I found another one of what someone has termed "my spiritual homes."  It was so nice to find myself back there for a couple of weekends this past September.

Skydiving?  How?  Easy.


step 1:  hop in airplane....

step 2:  hop out  (disclaimer, seek proper instruction first, obviously)

Where?  Eden North of course.  It's the yellow field just to the right of the pilots cheek in this photo.  Of course the first time you arrive you will normally do so by driving up Range Road 20 just outside of Stony Plain, Alberta.  The pilot by the way, Lee Goodyear, gave me one hell of a great plane ride with a very very fast very very steep descent....almost as good as freefall.  The plane is a Cessna Grand Caravan with some super tweaks...not quite nitrous oxide, but every bit as good.

 

 



Who can go skydiving?  Just about everybody.  You, me, people from all walks of life...the cast of characters I have met include doctors, lawyers, photographers, engineers, nurses, welders, soldiers, California firefiighters, radio DJ's, even some X-rated movie stars once, but also grandma's, a WWII female pilot, the list goes on and on and on.  But most often the people who go skydiving are friends.  Like this group who drove out from Jasper to each do a tandem skydive.  For those new to the terminology, a tandem skydive is when a very experienced and licensed instructor takes you for about a mile of freefall and a parachute ride, rather than doing the longer, and literally shorter, first jump course as a solo.

 Those who return fast find friends and a family within the skydiving community.  It is inevitable when you share a passion.  For those who continue, Eden North is a wonderful place to do so...throw a stone and it will bounce of multiple people with thousands of skydives...and at least one or two who have tens of thousands of skydives.  There is much to learn and experience in the world of this sport, and it is surprising how many lessons carry over into bigger life lessons.  Eden North is where a big part of who I am unfolded, and I was happy to come home to many familiar faces and welcoming smiles.

For those who carry on, there is a definite knack to the sport, and ways to continuously improve through thoughtful dive planning and performance analysis.  You learn how to execute a move correctly....

...and learn from moves made incorrectly.

There is a lot of freedom in the sensation of flight...

 

 

...elation following elevation....

 

 

...and a lot of fun in those dropzone days.

 

 

There are many people who make this little patch of paradise functional, but the two where most credit must be due are the owners -- Lyal and Cathy.  Be it your host on the ground or in the sky, you are in safe and wise hands with these two.

 

That would be super experience superstar instructor Monique hiding on the left, and THE Cathy, and Lyal on the right

 So, if you want to take a leap, head on out to Eden North in the spring.  You might be surprised at all you discover out there...at what you learn about yourself.  780-489-9000 just in case you were wondering.

September favorites

Well, it's November and the blog is hopelessly behind.  I am still going through photos from a month ago, well, 2 months ago.  Today I will just pick some of my favorite Saskatchewan photos from September.  These were taken on the old camera.

An old barn

An old house



And another grey day through the very dirty lens

And these were taken on the new camera.  I did end up sticking with Sony, and chose the AR7.

This old train bridge to nowhere stands by North Battleford, a reminder of times gone by

This house was built in around 1905 by an RCMP officer who manned the lonely outpost.  I loved the twilight sky

The sun setting on Lake Diefenbaker

The wind blowing through this white pony's mane

these two hanging out

My beautiful Lexi cat outside chasing grasshoppers in the sun

The lines of a metal Quonset against the sky

The golden glow of sunset over the fields

The changing hues at twilight

The gritty plume of diesel

Sullen Septmeber Skies

The end of my brother's harvest

The contrast of this combine, in use in the 1960's

Teamwork