I found out that I could get a heated tent in Yosemite around New Years for not to much money so I decided to head up and take some photos. I parked at the Fresno Airport and took the shuttle so I would not have to deal with tire chains and idiot drivers. It was much more relaxing that driving myself and for 30 bucks I saved about 150 bucks on gas and chains. Win Win... Heated tent is a bit misleading. Yes it heated but every time a breeze blows cold air comes in the seams and the window at the door that only covered by a piece of canvas. That may not sound bad but when its 15 degrees it can get chilly. I was never freezing in the tent but was also never really warm. Pajama pants and a sweatshirt kept me comfortable. Home sweet home... With the temp that low I found another problem. My camelbak hose froze solid my first morning out. I had to tuck it into my jacket to thaw and then anytime I needed water I drank then lifted the hose up and pinched the bite valve and let the hose drain back into the insulated bladder holder. Even then the drops of water would freeze and I would end up with a pile of small ice cubes in the hose as they fell off and tumbled down to the valve and got caught. So the first sip was ice water. The trails were almost empty, i walked behind a decent size buck for about 3/4 of a mile and he didn't seem to care I was there. The few people I saw were laid back and no one was loud. I spent a few hours each day on trails that are normally teeming with people and never saw anyone else. With the snow it let me get some great shots with the sunlight playing off the rocks without much other color so it made for some impressive lighting situations where the sky really stood out It also meant people were not playing in the water. That let me get some reflection shots that I don't think would be possible in summer. Absolutely still water gave me this shot. Its actually inverted. What your seeing at the top right is the frozen lake I am standing on. Another reflection I would normally never be able to get. The lack of people also meant I could set my tripod up at areas that are normally to crowded to get a clear shot without anyone in it. Even then, one woman looked right at me and my camera composing a shot and then stepped directly in front of me to take a selfie... Some people are oblivious. The whole time I was there I would hear loud booms, I finally figured it out when I was taking pictures of Yosemite Falls and watched a massive sheet of ice that froze over night and warmed up in the sun calve off and tumble to the floor below. It was very impressive. Half dome on New Years eve was its own show, the colors kept changing as the light angle changed and the snow was reflecting a lot of them. This was my view every evening. I was able to sneak in a few night shots even though it was way to cold for the camera to work very long, last time it was that cold I was in Alaska and all the batteries decided to quit after about 20 minutes. So I cut it short this time. That is Half Dome sticking up above the horizon. Ill chalk it up as another successful hiking / photo trip...
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This weekend I went out to shoot a Meteor shower and although none were really bright enough to catch at a decent ISO setting that would not cause noise, I did snag some good shots. above is about 60 shots merged into one to show star trails and some aircraft lights. The cold weather (40s) and rain the day before made for a super clear night. The one below is two shots. A single twilight shot with the sun behind me and the White Balance adjusted to bring out more blue. See below And layered into it is a single night time shot with the stars. 2.8 ISO800 20 Sec shutter. When the two are merged you get the best of both worlds and a unique picture... This time laps its about 450 images. I just let the camera run until the batteries died, I need a powerpack for longer video. This is a shot from a few weeks ago. When I was testing the lens I got for my birthday. Its a 14MM Wide angle at 2.8 ISO 800 and 25 Sec. There is some noise and I corrected some of it in PhotoShop. This was the same night and I was playing with a head lamp. Same settings almost but with a light source it got interesting. The red glow is the back of my head lamp it has an LED.
Above is the Bronco as it sits today. The project involves a 1994 Ford Bronco with a 5.0 Liter motor and about 210,000 miles on it. The plan is to make it an adventure vehicle with alot of upgrades. I found it at a dealership in Southern CA for a steal - they just wanted it gone, it was trade in, I test drove it and handed them the check and away I went. Below is the day it came home, bald tires and all. When I got it the rear window was locked up, the safety switch that senses the tailgate is open or closed was shorted out so it would not allow me to drop it. I had to hotwire the whole assembly to get the window open. Once I did that I rewired the whole thing and bypassed the safety switch to avoid that issue again. I also replaced the key switch so I can open it from the rear with the key again. Now it goes up and down much faster and more reliably. Wiring, soldering and working inside a tailgate makes for some interesting words to fly out of my mouth and some burns from the iron... Below is the assembly for the key switch on the window Next was the general wiring. The previous owner for what ever idiotic reason decided duct tape was a good substitute for electrical tape, crimps and heat shrink. When the engine heated up it would turn the duct tape to goo and allow the starter to short. So I would have to jump the starter cell with a screw driver from under the hood or wait for it to cool enough to allow the tape to solidify and let it start. It took me two weekends to chase all that duct tape down and replace it. I also added a 10 inch light bar to the front bumper to offset the crappy stock headlights. There will be a larger one someday after I design and build a pre-runner bumper for the front. Next was the power steering. The pump whined like most old Fords do. I pulled the power steering mounting bracket off an E350 van with a V8 and the same mounting pattern as the Bronco and went and bought a high pressure PS pump and new hoses to allow the upgrade. I had to bend the metal hoses gently to make them fit in the area I needed them. Now I can turn the wheels left to right to full lock with just one finger at a dead stop. Try that on your vehicle at home without blowing PS fluid everywhere. Nice new powder coat on the bracket... Onto cooling. It now - due to a crack - has a larger four core radiator to beat the AZ heat and low speed trail driving heat. In addition I pulled the two speed electric fan out of a Ford Touras. For 45 bucks I now have a fan that pulls more air than the 350-400$ fans that they sell online. Just added a two speed controller that reads the radiator temp and starts the fan at 180 and high speed at 190 and we are good to go. I also wired in into the AC compressor so when I turn the AC on I get constant air over the radiator, it will stay cold even sitting in traffic. This also freed up horse power and torque as the manual fan is gone. The clutch on the fan was frozen so the parasitic drag in the motor really took a tole on HP and fuel consumption. The fan and components before install and the rats nest of wire before I cleaned it up. Not pictured is the bracket I fabricated and added later to hold it even more securely on bumpy roads. The tires were shot I drove from CA to AZ on them and that was sketchy enough... I didn't drive it much until I got some new rubber from Discount Tire. 33 inch Grabbers should keep me going through anything I can throw at it. The racing slicks, and the new tires. What a difference in ride quality and traction. The core support had finally let go at one crappy factory weld area so I spent a day in the parking lot of my apartment with a jack and the welder. I used the jack to push it back up to level and then clamped it down and welded it all back together - I got some strange looks from the people at the complex... I was originally going to do neon orange powder coat for everything but I found that the sun destroys the color in a matter of months. Here is a wheel that was done as a test before I decided to switch to Gecko Green. I also started work on wiring switch panels for the center counsel that will hold all the switches, radios, power plugs, GPS and other odds and ends. I powder coated it myself with the Gecko Green powder coat - amazing what you can do with a counter top oven.... The interior is trashed, I need to find replacement carpet to get rid of the rubber in there now. Its loud and hot and smells in the summer heat. I will put down sound deadening material for the noise and a backing for the heat then the new carpet over it. The seats have no support left in them and one is a captains chair out of an old van that is terrible and way to low. I also put in a head liner I refinished that I found in the junk yard - the original one was long gone. Next projects include new suspension. The front suspension will hold two 12 inch coilover shocks that I already have and a custom shock tower in the rear will house tow long travel res shocks with the option of adding bypass shocks for better dampining. I have the design in mind I just have to get the funds / time to do it. Stock vs coilover for the front Its coming along and has come a long way. Its a long term project that will take years to finish but its alot of fun and I still get people asking if I want to sell it every few months.
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December 2016
AuthorDirt roads, getting lost, dark nights in the middle of no where and photographing adventures. Travel
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