Grasshopper

grasshopper
As close as I could get to this insect

This was taken on August 18, 2013 on our deck, with an iPhone 4S. I saw this little guy jumping around and noticed that he wasn’t able to land right. Turns out he got injured. Perhaps one of the cats had batted at it or maybe he got stepped on. Really don’t know. Regardless, I saw him just sitting for a brief moment and I was able to capture him. His colors and details show up rather nicely.

Rhode Island Red

hen
I’m watching you, guy with a camera phone

One last place we visited before hopping the plane back to Utah was a vineyard and winery called English Estate. Once we got out of the car, my door opened to this hen. A chicken of great proportions. It had been years since I’ve seen a hen in the wild, especially this Rhode Island Red. She was shy, but obviously curious in my chasing her down and trying to get as close as I could get with my iPhone 5s. The two previous pictures I took were of a blurry hen. Those were promptly deleted. I’m glad I kept this one.

Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier

st helens mt rainier
So close, yet so far away

This was taken on July 8, 2014 with my iPhone 5s. On the flight from PDX to SLC, the plane gave us a nice view of the mostly clear skies that surrounded Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA. I didn’t have a window seat, but Ayla did and I asked her to take this photo with my iPhone 5s. It’s not too clear, due to photos taken through an airliner window never come out clear. I was amazed at how much of a difference both Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens are, yet so similar in their looks. Of course, St. Helens blew her top on May 18, 1980, losing 1300 ft of height.