lharrellfotoware

I had found a spot on the Mt Hood National Forest where you could see 5 major volcanoes all at once. Hood, Rainier, Jefferson, Adams and St. Helens. However, you need a clear day to see em all....lol. Smith Rocks is worth a few hours. Multnomah Falls is easily accessible. Crater Lake is worth about a week. The coastal rainforest has lots of picturesque waterfalls. The John Day Fossil Beds have wide open vistas and interesting geology.

The short stopover at the Bristlecone Pines could be well worth it. You can look across the Owens Valley and see the Sierra Crest all the way down to Mt Whitney and beyond. Last time I was there, I had storm clouds in the afternoon and a perfectly clear morning the next day.<div></div>

I agree, Christopher, having been in some other very nice mountains. The Sawtooths may not be as long or as tall as the Sierras but, they are truly incredible. The Canadian Rockies are breathtaking. The Cascades, both north and south have their own secret spots, very different, even from each other. I spent 3 months working out of Hamilton, MT and thoroughly enjoyed the ruggedness of those peaks. The mountains around Whistler are spectacular, as well. The Black Hills are more than just hills, too.

I've always toyed with the idea of taking the trail from Tenaya Lake, up and over Cloud's Rest and back down by Nevada and Vernal Falls. I'm sure people do that in one day all the time. If you're REALLY studly, you can bag Half Dome along the way but, it would have to be a very short visit. Personally, Id want to make it an overnighter, so I could take time to explore Cloud's Rest and the Quarter Domes.

 

I had a recent trip to Mount Watkins, almost directly across Tenaya Canyon from Half Dome. If you look on a topo map and follow the ridge southwest from Mount Watkins, you have a front row seat in front of Half Dome. It's a fairly easy day hike from the Olmstead Point area. Pictures and text from my trip:

 

http://lhfotoware.blogspot.com/2007/07/night-in-park.html

I went last year in July (when it was so dang HOT!). Here's a link to pictures and text from that epic trip. I didn't research the route before I went but, I had pictures and memories of a potential route starting between Vernal and Nevada Falls, directly accessing a narrow canyon leading up to the bottom of Snake Dike.

 

http://lhfotoware.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_archive.html

 

It's amazing that Ansel Adams took his hike up there in the snow!

There are gems everywhere throughout the Sierra. One place that stands out this time of year is Hope Valley, with all its abundance of aspens. Combine that with the alpine mountaintops of Freel, Roundtop and Raymond Peaks, the photo ops are easy to come by.

 

The Sierra Buttes area is easy to get to. Monitor Pass always has sweeping vistas, as long as it remains open. Horsetail Falls always seems to have plenty of water and is a short hike up from Highway 50. Iron Mountain road out of Pollock Pines area has some great ridgetop views of Desolation Wilderness. Twin Lakes!!! South Lake!!!! The list of places are nearly endless.<div></div>

While I love my Fuji S5000, I've gotten to the point where a little more

knowledge about this camera would surely help. Since I misplaced my manual and

software CD (lost somewhere in my house or garage), I'm needing to get some

kind of replacement for these essential items.

 

The main problem I'm trying to resolve deals with the accessory wide-angle

lens I bought along with it. Since you have to have a particular setting to

use the wide angle, is there any way to adjust the exposure settings in the

wide angle mode? I've taken pics of waterfalls and other subjects with bright

whites and the detail is washed out in those bright areas. I truly love the

way the standard lens captures and freezes the water, while still offering a

very nice flowing effect, similar to a long exposure. I think there's a way to

rachet up or down the light sensitivity but, I can't seem to find it in the

wide angle mode.

 

Regarding the software, my installed version of FinePix got corrupted and I

was lucky enough to restore its functionality using Chkdsk. Whew! I'm going to

need a backup disk so that I can make multiple copies of it and store them in

different places. I intend on hanging on to my S5000 for years to come.

 

Thanks in advance. I'm a newbie here and have found immense talent and

friendliness here in the few days since I've signed up.

Thanks, John. More questions for you all: Does it take some tweaking of the settings to get a problem chrome to scan right? Are there some slides which will never scan well on this Nikon unit? Can bad scans be fixed with software?

 

Thanks, again

Thanks for the enlightenment. I ordered one on the 11th and it's still backordered. The price I got was good enough to have me wait, begrudgingly though.

I've been wanting to buy a new Nikon slide scanner and I find that many

retailers are out of stock. Since the one I want (Coolscan V ED) is nearly 3

years old, is Nikon maybe about to release a new product line? Any "inside

news"? Also, I read something on the Internet about an alleged problem with

Nikons scanning Kodachromes. The reviewer of the Nikon said there was no

apparent problems with his unit.