Zoom Zoom (x4)

Posted by dkrashb on April 13, 2013

I think his face looks distorted (shot with the 8x attachment on), but my husband thinks Tisen looks normal

I intended to take one of my new iPhone toys to the common-area balcony so I could test it on some distant scenery. However, I failed to notice how late I was working until it was well after dark.

Instead, I set up my iPhone with the 8x optical zoom lens in the office, positioned a bright lamp over some of Tisen’s toys, and decided to see what happened.

Since the lens was compared it to a Sigma 500mm lens, I thought I would pull out my DSLR and my 100-400mm lens for a comparison point. As it turned out, there really isn’t a comparison.

The un-enhanced iPhone lens captured this much of the scene:

4mm? Really? Wow.

By comparison, with the 8x zoom lens on, it captured this much:

As tight as the iPhone could get with the 8x telephoto attachment

Focus was a big problem–the way the tripod is designed, the clamp that holds the iPhone blocks a portion of the screen, making it difficult to touch the exact area you want to be in focus. In the wide angle shot, this resulted in focusing on the lens on my Canon, which was sitting on a full-size tripod right next to my iPhone on its mini-tripod. At least, that’s what I think it is–it seems to be the wrong color.

When I look at the difference between the two images, it does appear that Tisen’s cow is about 8x closer, although I’m not exactly clear on the mathematical formula one uses to calculate that.

Since I’d gone to all the trouble of setting up my 5D Mark III with the Canon f/4.0-5.6 100-400mm lens, I thought I should go ahead with the comparison, fair or not. Here is the Canon at 100mm:

At 100mm, the Canon is still far tighter than the iPhone

As you can see, this is not at all comparable to the iPhone without the zoom lens. I was surprised to realize for the first time that the iPhone lens is a 4mm lens! Now that is wide!

At 400mm, Tisen’s cow shows just how badly she needs a bath:

I was quickly bored with shooting Tisen’s toys. I decided Tisen was a more exciting subject. I rotated the lamp around in attempt to shed some light under the desk where he was hiding while all this was going on.

I tried to back up with the Canon to do more of a comparison where Tisen looked the same size in both the iPhone and the Canon images. I had to back up far enough to be outside the lens’ minimum focusing distance, then I zoomed in a bit at 220mm to get something close to the size of the iPhone image.

My Tisen holds still for a portrait shot (DSLR)

I don’t know if you can see the quality difference in these low resolution images, but it’s quite obvious to me when I make this comparison what is superior about the DSLR. On the flip side, if you’re posting low-resolution images to Facebook, the iPhone images are probably all the quality you need.

Tisen holds still, but the iPhone doesn't quite do him justice (iPhone with attachment)

Tisen holds still, but the iPhone doesn’t quite do him justice (iPhone with 8x attachment)

Breaking a Lens

Posted by dkrashb on April 12, 2013

Twiggy decided on a dip in the river before the storm started

This evening, I slipped out with Tisen in a hurry to get him out and back in before it started to rain. A storm was promising to break lose at any moment–the smell of rain hanging in the air as if the deluge was over instead of yet to begin. Whether it was the tickle of electricity forming far away in the clouds or the accumulating energy evidenced by the swirling winds, Tisen and I both had extra spring in our steps.

We didn’t make it very far before we ran into some neighbors–everyone was out with their dogs. Tisen made a couple of new friends and caught up with several old ones. Then, Twiggy and her daddy arrived on the scene. Tisen was beside himself.

I let Tisen follow Twiggy, his favorite trail leader. We meandered along and followed the dogs. Distracted by Twiggy’s feminine wiles, Tisen was suddenly oblivious to the impending storm.

Tisen looking worried after the first clap of thunder

When a loud clap of thunder sounded, he became momentarily airborne and immediately started looking for shelter. I had trouble keeping him out from under Twiggy’s daddy’s feet as underneath our friend seemed to be the best shelter Tisen could find.

We made our way back, but not in time to avoid a good soaking. I was prepared with my rain jacket, but it rained so hard, my pants were dripping and my sandals were soaked by the time we made it back to the building. Tisen was soaked through.

But I was smiling–it was our first summer storm.

The image that caused me to play with the positioning of my lens

When Pat came home, we sat on the balcony for a bit, watching the clouds and the rain, listening to the sound of gallons of water falling from the sky in a giant curtain of water hitting the pavement below. I had the sudden urge to take a fisheye photo of the sky and the rain and the distant ridge.

The fisheye lens for the iPhone attaches purely by magnetism. I made the mistake of fumbling while trying to get the lens centered around the phone lens. The lens popped loose and we watched in slow motion, our mouths opening, sound forming, and a long, “Ohhhhhh . . .” coming out of mine as the tiny lens tumbled to the floor of the balcony, landing at my feet, and rolled. It rolled for what seemed like 10 minutes while I stood frozen in place, still forming the word “Ohhh” and watched it roll right off the edge of the balcony and fall, and fall some more.

The bent rim of the lens after its fall

Still in slow motion, I leaned over the balcony and watched for another 10 minutes as the lens fell 7 stories to the patio below, and suddenly, the one piece became at least 2. I sighed and reminded myself it was a $20 lens, not a $2000 lens, but really, I haven’t gotten $20 worth of fun out of it yet.

I was able to retrieve the pieces and it may even be repairable–we’ll see.

The pieces of my broken lens

Summer Morning

Posted by dkrashb on April 11, 2013

Hipstatmatic version of the Chickamauga Dam shortly after sunrise

Someone flipped the weather switch from winter to summer. After a quick afternoon walk in the park with Tisen yesterday when I discovered it was suddenly August, I decided it was high time I get my bike out of storage and take it for a spin.

Camera! version of the Chickamauga Dam

It seemed like a fantastic idea last night. I got it all ready to go, putting air in the tires, checking the brakes, digging up my biking shoes and helmet. I even found appropriate attire and laid it out so I wouldn’t have to hunt around for what to wear.

When the alarm jerked me awake mid-dream at 5:15AM, it seemed like less of a good idea.

But, once jerked awake, it’s hard to go back to sleep. I stumbled into the kitchen and made some coffee.

Train trestle over the Tennessee River

I eventually made it out the door, still ahead of sunrise. When I told Tisen goodbye, he momentarily raised his head a fraction of an inch and blinked. Then he fell back into a state of involving loud snoring. I was jealous.

Hipstamatic makes high tension wires look charming

Once on my bike, I realized I had never headed to the Riverwalk from our new location before. I wasn’t exactly sure how to make it to the Walnut Street Bridge without having to navigate any stairs. I didn’t quite make it there stepless–I had to carry my bike up one flight of steps–but I did make it without riding on any streets, which was a nice way to start out the morning.

Structures I normally try to keep out of the frame

I took my time riding in the dark, breathing in the smells of spring, and watching the light gradually increase in the sky ahead of me. I saw Osprey and Great Blue Herons. Ring-billed Gulls and Tree Swallows. Dozens of Warblers teased me by flying ahead of me and remaining just visible enough to be recognized as Warblers, but not long enough for their particular species to be identified (even when I got off my bike and pulled my binoculars out of my saddle bags).

The iPhone might not be good for getting photos of birds, but it does pretty well capturing high-tension wires

When I made it to the last mile before the dam, as I entered the sculpture garden, I saw the strange exhibit I call “Abduction” glowing in the dim morning light as a cloud of mist rose off the grass and the sky turned pink in the distance. I thought it was an excellent time to make use of my iPhone camera.

Abduction Sculpture at sunrise with last bit of mist in the background

When I made it to the end of the Riverwalk at the Chickamauga Dam, I coasted down to the fishing pier. I decided it was another photo op, although maybe not the kind I usually think of. The large manmade structures used to generate the electricity that powers Chattanooga (and probably a lot of other places) may not be my normal idea of a subject I want to immortalize, but this morning I just felt grateful for the electricity instead of annoyed by the environmental impacts of the dam. And for once, I found myself smiling with appreciation.

Much later in the day, Tisen enjoyed sitting in the evening sun with Cow

More Bloopers

Posted by dkrashb on April 10, 2013

I actually kind of like this one

Who doesn’t love bloopers? I felt like it was time to pull out some of my favorite bloopers again (aka, I didn’t have any new photos for today’s post). As always, there are recurring themes amongst my bloopers.

Let’s start with the “Oops! Did I press the shutter button?” theme. This occurs in two distinct ways, dependent on whether I’m shooting with my iPhone or my DSLR. With my iPhone, different screen-tapping behaviors often get me.

For example, when you double-tap the “viewfinder” in Hipstamatic, it becomes full screen, making it easier to see what you’re shooting. In the Camera! app, if you touch the screen with one finger, it sets the focus and if you touch the screen with a second finger, it sets the exposure. To confound it all, most apps also take a picture when you single-tap the screen.

Nice keyboard

This was the article (on the left side) that got me started with the Hipstamatic app

You can probably guess what happens. Curiously, I seem to be mostly likely to mis-tap when I have my laptop in my lap. I don’t know why I would be tapping my iPhone screen while I’m working at my laptop, but I have a surprising number of random shots of my laptop. My second favorite mis-fire subject seems to be the ground.

I might be able to get away with pretending I took this one on purpose

Carpet

More carpet

By comparison, I have happy shutter finger issues when carrying my DSLR. This results in strange shots of the ground (usually out of focus) or other random objects in the frame when I accidentally depress the shutter button. Of course, these are more fun than when the lens cap is still on.

The next common blooper theme, which I will spare you a deluge of photos of, but I have plenty, is the “Oops, there’s a stranger in my frame!” theme. When we’re at a popular place for tourists, it’s a little hard to manipulate every scene to eliminate all people. But, I get a little frustrated sometimes when I actually forget I’m in a public place and I take so much time getting ready to take my shot that I fail to notice people walking into my shot until the shutter has gone off.

Where did the cyclists come from?

The next theme we’ll call “Oh shoot! The lighting was terrible!” While lighting is often terrible, a lot of time exposing for the thing you most want to be visible will solve at least the major issue of ending up with a too-dark subject that looks like a silhouette. Then there’s the approach of lighting a too-dark subject by using a handy-dandy tool like a flash light. Sometimes this works OK, but probably not when the subject is too far away for the focal length you have to shoot with and the flashlight is donned by a young tour guide who has little photography experience.

I know Pat is in this photo somewhere

With a macro lens and some better lighting, this would have been a cool shot

Finally, we have the “Darn it, hold still!” theme where uncooperative subjects decide to leave at inopportune moments, hide behind less interesting subjects, or move faster than expected and the camera’s autofocus can’t keep up.

Momma goat is not quite as long as her tiny rear legs suggest

Tisen doesn’t really like it when I try to play with his toys

Cody out flew my autofocus

Fishing Along the Riverfront

Posted by dkrashb on April 9, 2013

Tisen looks so happy rolling in the grass

If I am guilty of getting carried away with my new fisheye lens for my iPhone camera, please forgive me. It’s pretty darn fun. And combining fisheye with Hipstamatic is particularly fun–the square format works well with the round shape of the image created by the fisheye attachment. However, I do like the increased bulging effect of the fisheye lens in the rectangular format.

Tisen rolling Hipstamatic Tintype Style

The biggest problem with the rectangular format is that the lens must be perfectly centered over the built-in lens or I get uneven roundness and even wide black edges in some cases when the fisheye attachment gets bumped off center (which seems to happen frequently).

This problem is compounded by the inability to see the screen to tell that the lens attachment isn’t centered. This results in images like this one:

Oops–the fisheye adapter got bumped

By comparison, the Hipstamatic version (which is really the equivalent of a cropped image) is zoomed in far enough that the curved edges do not show. Even when the lens is well off-center like the one above:

Same shot with Hipstamatic

Of course, cropping the first image would eliminate the issue. For some reason, I just really like the bubble effect. I guess if I’m going to go fisheye, I want it to be obvious.

I really like the fisheye effect for putting Tisen into an image that includes local landmarks across the horizon. While I had fun with this in the images posted yesterday, I especially like the images of Tisen rolling in the grass in the foreground with the Market Street Bridge (and glimpses of Walnut Street Bridge) in the background.

Tisen on the steps is also cute, but then, I have a hard time not loving any picture of Tisen.

Looking through the railing

For those of you who are Tisen fans, you may notice that he is not carrying any of his beloved toys in these images. However, if you happen to look back at yesterday’s post very carefully, you might notice that Tisen has his armadillo/opossum toy with him in those images. Those images were shot on the same walk as today’s.

Tisen on the steps old style

This is a sign of SPRING! Finally!

As the weather gets warmer, Tisen’s interest in walking around with a furry toy stuck to his tongue decreases. He still insists on grabbing a toy before we go out the door, but by the time we get less than halfway through the walk, he’s ready for me to take over carrying it.

I, however, do not employ the same method of carrying his toy that he does. I feel foolish enough walking around the park with a stuffed animal. I’m fairly certain people who only see us in warm weather think I have some sort of phobia that causes me to carry stuffed animals everywhere I go–one more thing to blame on the dog.

No Tisen in this one, but I like the extra curve of the sculpture

Perhaps I should shoot Tisen’s toys with the fisheye? Why do I suddenly see a future of retaking every shot I’ve ever taken with a fisheye lens now?

And, yes, I shot it with Hipstamatic as well

Fisheye

Posted by dkrashb on April 8, 2013

Multiplying the effects–Hipstamatic Tintype with Fisheye lens attachment!

I have been on a new mission: to learn how to get better photos out of my iPhone. As those of you who visit my blog often have undoubtedly seen, this led to getting addicted to the Tintype-like settings in Hipstamatic followed by a shooting spree of many of the same landmarks I’ve already shot far too many times before.

Similar to first image, but shot with the Camera! app instead of Hipstamatic

Well, now I have a new toy. So, I’m on a whole new spree. I succumbed to the temptation of taking a simple, no-need-to-carry-anything-extra device for photography, and added stuff that complicates it and requires carrying more stuff. However, this is the stuff:

The three-lens set

Perhaps it’s not obvious from this image, but the size of these little lenses are about the diameter of a quarter. One acts like a 2x teleconverter for the iPhone (or any smart phone) camera lens, making images appear 2x closer than they appear through the phone lens by itself. A second provides both wide angle views and (by unscrewing part of it) macro capabilities. The third creates a fisheye effect.

Fisheye Tisen using Camera! app on iPhone

Nearly the same image but with Hipstamatic app and Tintype effects

I have often wanted to try a fisheye lens. There are just times when fisheye looks so darn cool. However, no matter how much I wanted to give it a try, with prices ranging from $600-$1600, I just felt like it was more than I wanted to spend for something I wasn’t likely to use all that frequently.

In contrast, the fisheye attachment for the iPhone would have been $20 if I’d bought it by itself and was closer to $15 because I bought the 3-lens kit. Now, of course, I’m not going to get the same quality of images shooting with an iPhone with a $15 attachment stuck over the lens, but playing with what fisheye will do allows me to find out whether it is something I will use regularly or not with very little expense.

Tisen heading down the path

The lens attaches to the phone by sticking a magnetized washer that fits around the built-in lens. Once the magnet is adhered, the lens itself sticks to the magnet. Or, it could be the other way around–the magnet might be in the lens. In any case, it’s a simple but not foolproof way to attach the lens. The magnet is not strong enough to keep the lens from moving around when bumped. Because the screen is hard to see in bright sunlight, it’s hard to tell if the lens is no longer properly centered. Other than that, it’s a pretty ingenious system.

I am really digging how much of the foreground and background can be fit into a single image with the fisheye effect. I love being able to put Tisen in the foreground (at the end of a 4 ft leash) and still have the skyline in the background. The only problem with the extreme wide angle of fisheye is the tendency to end up with your feet in the image.

Looking down into a courtyard

Hip Art

Posted by dkrashb on April 5, 2013

We arrived after the yoga class had already started

One of the unintended consequences of playing more with my iPhone photo capabilities is that I sometimes lose track of what photos I’ve taken. Take today’s selection, for example. When I shoot with my DSLR, I have to pull out my CF card, put it into a card reader, and plug it into the computer to download the images. By comparison, photos on my iPhone just magically appear on my computer without me doing anything. It’s so magical that I don’t always remember to go look for the photos.

Not everyone participated in yoga–or maybe they did?

So, today, when I discovered these Hipstomatic images from two weekends ago when my brother and sister-in-law were visiting, it was like finding a gift hidden in the back of a closet.

The continuation of the sculptures down the hillside

The continuation of the garden down the hillside

The Bluff View Art District is a lovely little area on top of the bluff across the Tennessee River. It’s a collection of historical houses turned into bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and a bakery and coffee roasting company. The entire district is rumored to be owned by one person. Although, the district is only one small square, we’re talking at least 6 or so large mansions that have been renovated and turned into successful businesses.

View down the hillside overlooking Veteran’s Bridge

The first time Pat and I came to Chattanooga, we stayed in one of the bed and breakfasts. The one we were in looks over the cliff and offers spectacular views from the patio and bocci courts.

It’s a good thing this hang glider can never take off–that wing won’t get him very far

However, it was January, so we didn’t really spend a lot of time on the courtyard. The other part of the Bluff View Art District we missed was the sculpture garden. It’s a beautiful garden that’s deceptive in size–from the street, you assume it is only a strip of grass. But once you enter the garden, you see that it rolls down the hill further than is visible from the road.

The sculpture of fish normally has water flowing over it, but it was cool looking with the water off, too

While I probably wouldn’t drive hours out of my way to see the sculpture garden, I thought it was worth taking my brother and sister-in-law across the bridge to check it out before they headed home. Given the weather was rainy and dreary, we decided to drive over.

Another view of the physics-challenged hang glider–if this is Icarus, it explains a lot

We made our way slowly through the garden, me exercising my Histamatic app thoroughly along the way. Many sculptures had been added since the last time I’d been in the sculpture garden. It was really nice.

Sometimes, Hipstamatic randomly changes the lens/film on me–I kind of liked this though

As we turned a corner to enter a stone patio area, a smiling young woman looked at us and said, “I just got engaged!!!” She was so excited, I almost laughed out loud. I realized she probably wouldn’t understand the humor. I don’t mean to sound jaded, but let’s face it, getting engaged is the easiest part of being married.

My brother and sister-in-law–looking as happy as ever

We got caught in her enthusiasm and took pictures of the two of them together with their camera. The boyfriend had managed to pull off the engagement as a big surprise. It seemed like they were going to get off to a great start.

Tisen doesn’t quite fit in the frame when I attempt an aerial view

Family Planning

Posted by dkrashb on March 23, 2013

Tisen’s collection of squeaky toys seems to have grown quite a bit since October

This was the majority of the collection in October–the family is getting out of control

There’s a reason people recommend planning your family carefully. I believe it’s because after so many family members, it becomes difficult to fit everyone into a camera frame.

While we successfully kept the human side of the family to plan, the canine side didn’t go quite how we expected. Our plan was not to have any more dogs until we had settled down somewhere. Our goal was all about mobility.

Tisen inspects the family portrait pose

But as things changed and we exercised our mobility less and less, I found myself home alone way too much. Working from home is not the same as actually being around other people, even on days when I’m on conference calls for 10 straight hours.

Black and white Hipstamatic version using the D-Type film

Not wanting a long-term commitment, I decided to foster dogs for a local shelter. Tisen was my 3rd foster dog in Chattanooga. I am what is called a “foster failure.” That’s what it’s called when foster mom and dad adopt the dog they’re fostering. I can live with that kind of failure.

My boy kept stealing family members–Baby Beaver had to be omitted from the group shot to get Tisen to settle down

But, having failed to plan the permanent addition of Tisen to our family, it follows that I would be equally less deliberate about planning the additions Tisen would bring home. It started with the discovery of his love for squeaky toys. For the first year we had Tisen, he had no interest in treats. Only squeaky toys.

Tisen licks his nose after being reunited with Snake makes him sneeze

As a result, we kept getting him more squeaky toys. Soon, it became a tradition every time we went to PetsMart, Tisen gets to pick out a new toy. He carries it so proudly through the store with the tags still hanging off it. Usually, he tries to prance straight out the front door with it. He hasn’t quite gotten the “we have to pay for it” concept down yet. So far the store manager has been very understanding and hasn’t prosecuted Tisen for attempted shop lifting.

A more traditional image of the family yielded a pile of jumbled colors

Today, I decided, was the day to find out just how large the family had grown. I haven’t attempted a family portrait since October, when Cow Ball joined the family. I was a bit shocked when I gathered up all the family members and piled them on the sofa. This actually took two trips!

Tisen isn’t quite sure what he’s supposed to do with the huge pile of toys on the sofa

I got out the last inventory list I’d made and checked off the toys as I found them. Each and every one of them was accounted for, plus about 10 news ones added since October. There was even one extra–White Ball. White ball doesn’t belong to Tisen. He “borrowed” it from Twiggy, his girlfriend. It’s probably some ploy he’s using to try to get her to come over–she likes to play it cool.

Close up of Big Dog, Red Dog, Artie (the Armadillo/’Possum), and Puppy Luv cuddling

I had a little trouble fitting the entire family into the frame. I’m a little worried they’ve started multiplying on their own–how did we end up with 3 bears? Last time I checked, we only had Minnie and Eddie Bear. Now we have Flat Bear, too. This is why family planning is so important.

Had great fun with an overexposed shot–after much adjusting, it ended up reminding me of a crayon drawing

Dog Walk

Posted by dkrashb on March 20, 2013

The “Happy Puppy” face comes through even in the Hipstamatic blur effect

I discovered something about my dog last weekend. At least I think I did. I’ve always suspected he thinks he’s walking me when we go for our spins around the park. He has good reason to believe this. I take the approach that as a dog with no yard, his walks should simulate the experience of wandering around the yard amusing himself.

An urban dog’s lot in life is to enjoy the outdoors while attached to his people

Instead of expecting him to heel, I let him pick where he wants to wander within reason. If he meanders off the sidewalk and into the grass because he’s suddenly caught a really good scent, I follow.

Is it time to go? Are we going? Now? Now?

If I get impatient, I whistle to him and say, “Let’s go this way,” in my high, happy puppy voice and move my body in a way that suggests play. I hope no one has ever caught this on video. Usually, he will come with me.

But when an urban dog is at home, life can be pretty luxurious

Interestingly, he rarely pulls on the lead. When we’re in motion, we walk together like he’s been expertly trained. The lead hangs so loose, I have to loop it to keep it from dragging and tripping one of us. He walks at my side content until the next great scent piques his interest.

So, while on the one hand, he could have the impression that he is walking me, on the other hand, he stays with me nicely much of the time. It’s a win-win and I’ve never really worried much about it–he and I seem equally content in our style of walking together.

Cuddling in a blanket next to Mommy seems to be the highlight of the day

When we went for our little hikes in the Prentice Cooper State Forest this past weekend, we let Tisen off his leash when we were on trails where we were unlikely to run into anyone and far from ATVs. Because Tisen is the kind of dog that wants to have his people in sight all the time, we don’t have to worry about him running off (unlike an Akita we once fostered who seemed to think he needed to run 10 miles a day and that being let of the leash was an invitation to go do so).

Hey! Where’d everyone go?

Tisen sometimes gets lost in a scent. He forgets where he is, who he’s with, and goes blind as all of his brain becomes occupied with deciphering what message was left for him. When we hike, we just keep going, figuring he’ll catch up after a bit. If he doesn’t show up before we get very far, we call him. Then, he usually panics and comes galloping back to us like he’s just had the daylights scared out of him.

The blanket is supposed to protect the sofa from Tisen–a point he seems to have missed

This isn’t new behavior. But, for the first time it dawned on me that he’s shocked to realize we can get away. He forgets we’re not on a leash. He expects to look up and find us standing next to him, waiting for him to finish. I feel certain his panic is proof that he really does think he’s walking us.

This photo may be blurry, but it still cracks me up–Tisen is so determined to hide his face, he sticks his head in the crook of Daddy’s arm

Not Snoopers Rock

Posted by dkrashb on March 19, 2013

Looking back up the trail, parallel to the cliff wall that makes up the bulk of Indian Rock House

On our weekend adventure, after going the wrong way and ending up at Signal Point, cowboying our way down a road made for ATVs rather than mini-vans and nearly removing our bumper trying to turn around, we headed towards our initial destination: Snoopers Rock.

We made our way slowly back up the ATV-friendly road back to the long gravel road that traverses the Prentice Cooper State Forest. At some point, I got a signal on my iPhone and looked up a map of the park. True to the rest of the day, I realized we had passed the trailhead for Snoopers Rock and we turned around. But, curious about what appeared to be a fire tower along the way, I asked Pat to stop, back up, and pull into the park headquarters to check it out.

Not the fire tower stairs, but still a little dangerous

When Pat put our trusty mini-van in reverse, something drug on the gravel road. Pat got out and discovered the radiator shroud was hanging far lower than it should be. I don’t know what a radiator shroud is, but was relieved that Pat thought we’d be OK for a few days as long as we stopped running over things with it.

The fire tower was open to the public with an ominous sign at the base of the terrifying stairs stating that if you enter, you have to assume responsibility if you get hurt. I made it up the first two flights of steep, narrow steps (less than halfway to the top) before a strong wind shaking the tower reminded me just how afraid of heights I am. I took what were, I’m sure, my best shots of the day of the tower. However, they mysteriously disappeared, making me slightly less enamored with shooting with Hipstamatic on my iPhone instead of my DSLR.

Side wall of Indian Rock House shot with the color verison of tintype in Hipstamatic

We headed back to the trailhead, parked, crossed the road and headed down the trail, expecting to arrive at Snoopers Rock in less than half a mile. Eventually, we saw a sign that said Indian Rock House was .9 mile away and Snoopers Rock was a couple of miles beyond. I was quite perplexed. We decided to head on down to Indian Rock House–we were nearly there. Our day was destined to be a day of detours.

A more realistic image of the entrance to the stone door shot with the Camera! app

Indian Rock House has a stone door much like the one at Savage Gulf, but on a smaller scale. The gap in the rocks leads down narrow, steep steps that rivaled the fire tower for hazardousness, but felt far more secure with the ground much closer.

The Rock House is a large indentation in the cliffside that provides a roof if you stay close to the rock wall. I wouldn’t call it a cave, but it did provide shelter to indigenous people at some point in history. It was pretty cool in any case.

Pat pointed out a “whale” in the end wall of the rock house–can you see it?

By the time we hiked back up to the trailhead, we decided we’d better call it a day. Some day, we’ll make it to Snoopers Rock.

I’m not sure why, but I find this image interesting with Pat blurred in the background and the foreground rock in focus

Nearly the same shot as above, only with Pat in focus instead

Nearly the same shot as above, only with Pat less blurred

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