Posts Made By: Jerry Mason

We have had a week of non-stop rains, which is unusual for us, then last night it poured. I knew the hillsides would be moving when I woke up in the morning but was still surprised to see how much changed in just one night. Here are two shots of my neighborhood through my bedroom window.

I introduced my daughter to rimfire shooting in July. At that time she was 11 years old and just barely fit our Ruger 10/22 rifle (my girl is very petite). She's been a crack shot using open sites at the Disneyland Frontier Land shooting gallery for years but joining me at the real range had been on her wish list for some time. Her first shot, target placed at 50 yards, resulted with a hole at 2 o'clock touching the 1/2" center dot (I've included an image of the target which shows her 1st 20 rounds -- plus one from my .308). It blew me away that a beginner could have such good results and attributed it to Ruger's quality product.

Fast forwarding to this week we found ourselves trying out her new recurve bow which Santa left under the tree. Like rimfire shooting, archery has also been an interest of hers and something she wished to try. As with her first shot with the 10/22 her first arrow touched the bulls-eye at the 2 o'clock position (to me uncanny). She's getting pretty darn good at 30' although she still needs work lowering her anchor point a little bit.

Yeah, I admit I'm a proud father and guilty today of using this forum as a brag board but thought I would risk the wrath from all the folks who feel I've placed dangerous weapons in the hands of a babe to find out how many other dads enjoy shooting with their children. When I chat with the old timers at the range I hear a familiar lament... the lack of interest and participation from young people is endangering the sport/hobby.

Jerry

Late last year I posted some shots of Arches National Park but forgot I had a batch of images from Canyonlands to look through. We were at this park for less than a day but I thought I would upload two stereotypical shots that anyone visiting the area would/should expect to see.

Here's a wide shot of Mesa Arch.

Jerry

We had a chance to hunt some interesting rock art while in Utah over Thanksgiving where I stumbled upon PROOF of alien visitation -- well, okay maybe it wasn't exactly "photographic proof" but it was the next best thing... petroglyphic! I am sure the Native American artist who chipped these images out of stone was being faithful to what he had witnessed.

Speilberg got it right (except he forgot the antennae) when he made his E.T. movie.

Jerry

p.s. I know these are technically not landscape photos but since they were of the earth and found outside in nature I thought it might be okay to post them here -- or maybe they count as "Landscrapes"?

We had a whole three hours to spend in Organ Pipe National Monument in Arizona on Saturday and were able to snap a few pictures. Arriving during dull midday lighting conditions and leaving well before sunset, when the colors and dramatic shadows would have been best, we still managed to find some interesting cactus angles and have an enjoyable afternoon in the park.

Here's a shot taken of the waxing gibbous moon rising behind Arch Canyon. Arch Canyon's namesake arch can be seen at the right.

Jerry

Hey All,

We went back to Death Valley this weekend and I thought I'd share some shots. We had some transitional weather which made the skies a little more interesting than our last trip in 2007. Here's a shot of the salt flats looking North up the valley.

We decided to make a mad dash through our local desert this weekend and stopped by the Salton Sea Mud Volcanos (also known as Mud Pots) and found them to be lots of fun. Noisy, stinky and messy fun.

Here are three images I think some might find interesting.

Jerry

Venus rising over the Salton Sea. This shot was taken Sunday morning from the Western shoreline looking South East.

One really needs to be able to suppress his gag reflex while visiting the Salton Sea but if you squint it is possible to see the beauty of the place. Just try not to breathe.

Anyone else visit the Sierra's this weekend? Fred maybe? We built a snowman, exercised the 4 wheel drive, witnessed a few spin-outs and even passed some Aussies wearing short pants and flip flops on the General Sherman Tree trail. Good day mates!

This years spring bloom in Anza Borrego is far from phenomenal yet it's still very pretty. My wife took this shot of a Phacelia or Wild Heliotrope near Coyote Canyon on March 13, 2011.