Carrizo Canyon up Hwy 74 from the Art Smith Trailhead

I have added a new photo website link on the right (click on gottagolinda's photos) where you may view more of the photos I took instead of hiking today. I will continue to add photos to this gallery for your viewing.


Click on this photo to enlarge it and see the eyelash-like suckers!

I joined Flickr.com an online photo gallery so I can easily share my photos. When I saw this on their website I was sold: Do you have a Blog? You can post photos to your blog from Flickr!

I just uploaded some photos I took today. I intended to go hiking and get some exercise but I also wanted to practice with my camera. I put the Canon EOS Rebel XTi, fitted with a Canon macro lens EF 100mm 1:2:8 USM, in my backpack. I also found the little tripod I bought in Mammoth and put it in the backpack too.

After only 15 or 20 minutes, I reached the end of a canyon. (photos of this canyon hike may be viewed by clicking on the new photo link to the right). I could have rock climbed up and over but felt a little nervous doing so as I was hiking alone. I turned back to try my luck with another canyon I'd passed.

I found a nice wash filled with a variety of tiny flowers. I missed the flowers the first time I passed by them. I took off my backpack, got out and set up the macro and tripod (tiny, tiny tripod that only goes about 8 inches high)and got on my stomach in the sand.

An hour and 15 minutes later I had taken about 140 photos. I couldn't believe what I noticed once I got down on the ground and looked through the lens. This big green slug looking blob of a plant eating thing really surprised me. It was the same color as the leaves of the plant so it wasn't noticeable until I almost touched it while I was moving about on the ground. Yuk. The photos of him are interesting. The suckers on its underbelly look like eyelashes in close up view. It's fingers and mouth (i think) are scary.

Anyway, I had a ball. I could have stayed taking photos for hours.

Hope you enjoy them.

I still had trouble with a real crisp focus on most photos, but I'm getting a bit better. I need a shutter release and a small tripod that moves easily from one direction to another yet still has a stable locking structure. I noticed one or two interesting small tripods in a new photo book I'm reading: The Magic of Digital Close-Up Photography by Joseph Meehan.