Opera House Bell Tower

California Tee Shot

Praying For You Daily

We think about you constantly.
We pray for your strength, courage and wisdom every day.
Tara ... never forget the words of David found in 2nd Samuel 22:2-4.
He said:
"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior
from violent men you save me.
I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies."
Love you always!
Mom & Dad

Old Town Fountain

Woodstock Station Arrival

Seated For Graduation Ceremony

Graduation Day

Flying Over To Your Neighbor's Place

Jazzin' With Gene

Happy Jazz Saturday! This week give a listen to a piano player that always makes ya feel good. Don't run away too early. Let this song build on ya and let the incredible Gene Harris blow the doors off with his version of the great jazz standard, "Summertime". Ray Brown introduces Gene. I wish I could have met these jazz greats. Ray is perhaps the most recorded bass player in the jazz history due to his long standing career with Canadian great piano artist, Oscar Peterson. Hope you all have an awesome weekend.
NikonSniper Steve

Packed For Fort Sam Houston

Tara received word late last night that she will ship out at 1AM to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Words can not describe the gammit of emotions captured by my camera lenses. Some of the photos will be shared here on NikonSniper. Some of the very best moments were only captured by our eyes and ears. They are memories of great pride in our daughter and in the men and women that serve us all. These moments will be cherished by us forever.
Tara will now enter another chapter of her military life. Advanced Individual Training or AIT begins this week. We understand this will be roughly 19 weeks. Tara's world gets a little bigger every day. We covet your continued prayers for her life and safety. Thank you so much for all the kind thoughts and words you have shared with us as we enter the Army family life in new ways.
God bless all of you who minister to us in these ways. Tara has had no internet access during basic training and so she is getting to read all of your comments on several posts made since Memorial Day for the very first time this weekend. You are priceless! Thanks.
NikonSniper Steve

Basic Training? We Can Do It TWO TIMES!

Military Hellos And Goodbyes

I Just Got SKooled In Photography Again!

Based on the response to various posts over this summer, I would say that I have discovered that Bloggies really want ya to say stuff. I guess I'd rather just post the photos and walk away but so many comments thank me for the writing. I really don't know why writing stuff seems so difficult for me because, if you knew me ... you would know that I can go on and on about life's minutiae. I have full command of my ability to misspell the King's English.

I’d just rather think that a picture is worth just short of a thousand words ... which means that I have now written my version of War and Peace on this blog. As for the photos, I know I continue to search for new and better ways to shoot things ... but sometimes I hit mental blocks and want to throw my camera against the wall because it all feels the same. The idea of travel to new places always seems to motivate me to charge the batteries and get me ready to shoot again.

Tonight, I have to share a recent find with you. One of my new followers really skooled me in photography. Check out the photos from the Jackal. Do yourself a favor and page back into the older posts at the bottom of the pages. This is a really gifted photographer! I sit and look at these and have a great appreciation for the patience required to shoot like this. Enjoy! Many of you inspire me in this very same way. I enjoy a new look at the world through your eyes.

So, if you find yourself in a photographic rut ... look at what others are doing ... and keep on shootin’!

NikonSniper Steve

Our Army Basic Training Graduate

The summer just keeps on chugging along. WELL, I had to get the lawn cut today between the rain. There was no getting around it ... it absolutely had to be done.

Our lawnboy son, Kyle has returned to Northern Illinois University for his senior year in Engineering. Yes, it does seem kinda early to be heading back to school ... however, Kyle is one of many dorm floor sheriffs (so to speak) ... so every year he heads back a few weeks before the regular students arrive. They review past problems and continue to train them on how to stop a riot with paper and pencil. As a Dad, I guess I am glad he learned how to stop small wars by the more conventional Irish ways as well. But, his CA job is paying his way through school so I guess it's important to be a diplomat with all. I am just saying ... if a biting incident occurs ... he has already learned not to pull away ... rather feed the biter more and more and more. Well, you get it!

So anway, today, it was I who had to climb aboard our 26HP tractor to cut the lawn. Some of you are thinking ... "Real men push the mower!" Well, you'd have to see my yard and experience the mosquitos this year. When you start cutting ... you better keep moving.

We have had a ton of rain all summer and that is adding to the problem. Corn around here was 7 feet high by the fourth of July. That's a little psycho! Part of our yard remains under an inch or two of water and the ground is extremely soft.I called my son about cutting today because he cuts all summer and I guess I was looking for advice and he says ... "Just cut through the water Dad, ... the tractor will just blow through it." It never really bothers me to watch him drive through it ... because I know if he gets stuck he can rock that 800 lb. horse out of the mud. I think he didn't get that my main concern wasn't if the tractor could take it ... it was how long would it be stuck there until he got home to dig it out. So I didn't get the whole yard cut today. Just the dryer portions. Getting the lawn cut is important ... because a few of us will take a quick trip to Fort Sill in Oklahoma to see our daughter Tara graduate from Army Basic Combat Training. She will head to Fort Sam Houston within hours of her graduation to begin her 68 Whiskey or 68W Field Medic Training.

Tara was able to get off the military base for a few hours today and she sent us this photo of her in her beret. She left us on Memorial Day and has survived the heat and obstacles laid before her. As you might suspect, her whole family in Woodstock, IL is proud of her and we all look forward to seeing her again.

Some of the things I heard in phone calls and read in letters from Tara this summer will never be forgotten. I guess it seemed strange to hear about her experiences in a gas chamber, throwing grenades, the rifle range, drills and PT at 0400. Tara said in her last letter that they didn't know what to do with themselves when they had a whole hour to kill prior to a meal. She said she could now sleep anywhere and in any position. She described the longest hundred yards of her life while crawling under and over barb wire and logs while being under fire at night. Repelling towers, hand to hand combat, and sneaky games galore. I just couldn't believe this was my daughter. It just sounded wierd ... like ... "Dad, everyone knows ya don't shut off the engine when ya park the tank." It'll never be totally understood that this is my little girl.

Congratulations Tara. We love you and will see you soon!

Love, Mom & Dad and the rest of us!

Family Day! Hooo-AHHH!

Airborne Chicago Taxi

Canyon Lighting

Mom Are We Moving Again This Weekend?

Thick Fog

Mud Skiing Opens August 1st

Was It Something I Said?

Did you ever have one of those days when you received 41 useless emails offering you everything you DON'T want? You know, ... offers that include everthing from identity protection and discount cruises to aluminum siding for your brick house. Obviously, ... It's the summer! Not as many significant emails. Our regular informers and many of you are just looking in on NikonSniper on the fly between swimming pools and patio barbeques. And I don't blame ya! I had messages this week from some of you traveling on vacation. I had an e-mail from someone that said they were trying to get on NikonSniper for 20 minutes in a hotel lobby. Now, that's a compliment! There always seems to be a line for computer access in a hotel lobby. Everyone arrives at the same time to check their email.
Well, I hope there has been a well deserved lull in the action over the past few weeks because you are getting to do things you can't do in bad weather. I hope you are all taking in the summer! I know it's officially summertime when 3/4 of my emails are offers for Viagra. UH, ... Was it something I said? Who puts you on that list? I also think it's funny that the same e-mail address sends these things every 15 minutes ... as if to say, How 'bout now?
Well, I pray all your travels are safe. May you inhale some relaxation ... even if you can only manage to find those moments in the midst of everything else going on in your everyday life. God desperately wants you to hear Him. It's a lot harder to hear Him if we are always running with an iPOD blaring in our ears. We all need to find stillness. I'm praying you find times to relax, read His word and think for a bit!
God bless you all.
NikonSniper Steve

Cold Winter Back In 1938

Way Way Too Kool For Me

Colorado Skies

Growing Up

Maybe, ... I am really growing up now. Oh, I'm not really betting on it yet.
I'm nearly 52. I still behave like a teenager with access to a bank account, credit cards and wheels just waiting to take me anywhere I feel like going. Gosh, I love my wife! She still let's me go out to play. I have five kids ... uh, she has six.
I really do live a willy nilly existence and I think it helps me feel a bit younger. Well, ... I just had one of those weekends that was a bit like taking a tour with the ghost of Christmas Past. Where did the years go?
I saw the last of our five children graduate high school and had another daughter leave for Army combat basic training on the same weekend. It was a bit over-whelming. Emotional ping pong. That's the kind of day that make ya feel a little older. OK, I will admit I have a few gray hairs now ... mixed in with the ones that are completely white. I feel tired quicker than I used to. Naps have become great entertainment between acting retarded for my 5 grandkids. I have pills for everything. Wrinkles! Yes, and now ... I have discovered I even have smaller wrinkles in my wrinkles.
I don't ride the rides at amusement parks anymore. I'd rather photograph them from the parking lot than feel weird. I mean weird like ... Is that a heart attack or just gas? I am the idiot that was rushed to emergency with chest pains after eating 2 bags of salsa flavored sunflower seeds. Get off my back ... they were good. I coulda ate three bags.
I listen to music louder than ever because my wife swears I can't hear anything she says. I have been told that my favorite word is "Huh". Q-tips are now as important as soap. It isn't that I don't want to hear ... I just can't. Honey can you fix the washing machine? Huh?
Not only could my boys kick and enjoy kicking my butt ... but this has now also become true of my daughters. I ache! I used to be able to throw a football 53-55 yards (not that long ago). Now, I just own a football. Warming up is critical before I warm up. I wear snow gear to football games in October just to keep my blood flowing.
My kids, usually led by Braff Zackton mock me openly because they know I won't waste the energy to get up and challenge them. I have to remind people that I used to be more active and that I had a pulse that was easy to find. I wonder sometimes if I should just get my name and address tattooed to me so that they know where to take me when I wander off aimlessly.
But am I really growing up? Nope! In fact, I really wonder how many of you feel like your growing up versus just getting a higher number attached to your age. I think I want to continue feeling young by doing stupid things right up to the end. I hope I can do some really embarrassing things for my kids to have to witness. That would be awesome! I might even be able to fake it for a few years just to get them back. "Mom, Dad wet his pants again!"
It's one thing to remember having a foolish period of time in your life ... but I might just prefer being stupid forever.
Yeah, that's me!
NikonSniper Steve

Jazzing Up Your Saturday On NikonSniper

Give a listen to Diana Krall and a favorite jazz standard of mine called East of the Sun!
My neighbor had to endure this kind of music blasting in my backyard till all hours of the night for the entire summer of 2008. I never had a complaint! This is what I like to do when the mosquitos are dead and gone.
NikonSniper Steve

Moving Troops

Happy Birthday Mom

Mom, ... You remain such an encouragement to me.
May God continue to use you for His kingdom as you speak of His power and ability to meet and exceed all of your needs. Watching His hand miraculously provide for you has been a great and very visible evidence of His love and care for His child. May God allow you to effectively minister for Him all of the days of your life.
Thanks for giving me a good beatin' when I had it coming and for washing my mouth out with soap! Thanks for lovin' me when I was hard to love. Thanks for the prayers you uttered that kept me somewhat sain. Thanks for the tears when you hurt for and with us. Thanks for the laughter at my goofey and repetitive sense of humor. Thanks for loving God and pointing me to Christ. Thanks for being real. Thanks for saying you're sorry. Thanks for soup.
May you enjoy a birthday today knowing that your labor is not in vain. Press on for Him who is able to deliver you and present you faultless.
Love, Stephen

Happiness Is Two Xanex And A Country Ride

Day Off At Fort Sill

We heard from our daughter Tara again today after several days of silence. In the top photo, Tara (left) is pictured with friend Brandi Gallegos from New Mexico. In the middle photo, Tara (left) is pictured with friends Shellby Bailey from Alabama (center) and Shaila Clark from Wyoming (right). In the bottom photo, Tara poses with Shellby with their weekend barrack gangster faces. They are all getting a well deserved day off training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Days off are full of joy as you might well imagine. They have been working for weeks in 90-105 temperatures. This week they completed the gas chamber tests. Here is the Fort Sill Basic Training Video that shows a bit of what their daily life is like in their hot weather training. Next week they head to the rifle range. The photos from Fort Sill often lack quality due to poor lighting and using cell phone cameras but the happiness of a day off still comes shining through.
We are praying for you all!
Love, Dad

But Mummy ... I Totally Hate Dr. Suess

Hello From Fort Sill, Oklahoma

Well, after a long silent period we finally heard from our daughter Tara at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The soldiers in training were allowed to call home for this weekend.
Just to hear her voice describing things that she has been learning ensured us that she is making her strong presence felt. She spoke of things she liked and things she doesn't like ... but she genuinely sounds happy.
Physical Training, Drills, Marches, Classroom, Convoys, Food, Weapons, Combat, Repelling, and on and on. She said, "Dad, ... do you remember watching Renaissance Man? ... well it's kinda like that."
Just seeing her smile in this photo from her cellphone made our seperation a bit more joyful. Still praying for you out there little girl!
Love, Dad

Loving Tucson

Made a quick trip to Tucson and I am heading home this morning. It was 102 degrees in some parts here yesterday but it was nothing like the choking humidity of 85 degrees in Chicago. This was a very enjoyable jaunt. Los Angeles looks like it is again on the horizon. One of these days I need to press on to new territories out here in the Western USA beginning next with Utah. That may be July or August if other travel settles down.
As always I hope you enjoy what you see on NikonSniper. I always appreciate your comments when you have time. Hope your summers are relaxing. Prayers for all of you ... especially those of you who are unemployed or under employed.
God bless.
NikonSniper Steve

Arizona Drive

I don't know what it is ... but somedays like today, I feel like Jesus is trying to get my attention about every 50 yards or so. I know ... that's crazy huh?

A Few Reminders

Photo Usage By Churches - No Permission Needed

All images are copyright protected by NikonSniper and you must have written permission to publish any materials. One exception ... churches have my permission without written permission to use any NikonSniper photo for the purpose of large screen display to enhance worship services. No problems at all. In fact, thank you for this compliment.
If you would like to use a photo for posting on your blog, all we ask is that you credit the photo to NikonSniper and add a link back to the original posting of the photo on NikonSniper.
Please feel to contact us at nikonsniperguy@aol.com for support using these photos for any other specific requirements or needs. I tend to allow more things than you might think depending on the purpose!

NikonSniper 3000 Drawing

Also, don't forget to enter the drawing for a 750GB Hard Drive in the
NikonSniper 3000 Celebration.

GoodBye For Now Tara, God Protect You

Tara Raising The Flag For Memorial Day

Graduation Day Is Finally Here

Today with everything else emotional going on around our house in Woodstock, IL ... we are also so delighted and so proud that our youngest daughter Leah graduated from Woodstock High School. This is the last of our five children to graduate high school. What a relief! For the last 17 years we have had a Woodstock High School student living in our home and quite frankly ... my wife and I feel a bit like we have graduated too! Thank God I survived!

Leah is a fighter and I am sure like you, we are proud of all of our children. Each one is very unique. Leah, however, is very special to us for several reasons. Life has been an everyday battle for her since the summer prior to the eighth grade. Leah was diagnosed with severe Narcolepsy with all of the major symptoms and complications.

Regular everyday life has been struggle for her in so many ways. Some side effects can be devastating. God has been so VERY good to us all. Leah, now 18, has become a young woman just beginning to explore career possibilities. Severe narcolepsy usually sidelines a person from interaction with the outside world.

Leah earned a great GPA will she fought to stay active in Varsity Softball which is a very rare accomplishment for those with Narcolepsy.

She will start her continued education at McHenry County College this fall. We are extremely proud of what she did academically with the odds that were stacked against her. We look forward to watching new doors that God will open for her bright future.

Atta girl Leah!
Love, Mom & Dad

Happy Memorial Day 2010

This Memorial Day has the most incredible significance to our family in Woodstock, IL. My father was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. My mom was born in Toronto, Ontario. I was born in Toronto and my wife was born in Windsor, Ontario. Our two oldest of five children were also born in Canada ... which brings us to our third child.
Her name is Tara. She is by nature a peace lover. I mean she was for the most part a peace maker in a large family. She is the first Baird in our line of the family to be born in the USA and she leaves on Memorial Day for Fort Sill, Oklahoma to train to be a "Six-Eight Whiskey" or 68W Combat Medic in the United States Army.

The primary role of 68W healthcare specialists in the United States Army is providing medical treatment to wounded soldiers. These medics serve as the basic or first tier of the Army medical system accompanying units as small as platoons (approximately 12-40 soldiers) during training and deployments. Medics provide initial emergency medical care, evacuation, and supervision to other soldiers with medical training (such as Combat Lifesavers) as well as provide medical advice to unit chains of command. Uh, ... I have no clue what this really means ... I just copied it out of Wikipedia. That's one of the benefits of having a daughter that is actually trying to do this stuff ... you are allowed to just copy stuff off the Internet like you're Al Gore. Like Bravo-Seven-Alfa-Four-India-One-Niner-Romeo-Delta-Zulu. Sounds cool when you are calling in coordinates to the nearest Panera Bread.

I guess I can say we are a bit nervous at this moment. And, this is a form of anxiety we are experiencing for the first time as parents. Honestly, I think I am a bit worried for her ... but it is being outweighed at this time by a sense of pride for her desire to serve her country in this way. Tara will begin basic training this coming week at Fort Sill in Oklahoma and I believe the plan is to go to Fort Sam Houston in Texas for advanced individual training if everything goes well in Oklahoma.

I am sure for centuries that American parents have worried about their children heading off to military service in very similar ways. For most of my life, I have heard that "freedom isn't free" ... but today it takes on new meaning in the Baird household. We wish you all a very safe and happy Memorial Day! Please take a moment to pray for our troops everywhere.
Tara! You know we love you. You know we have said it hundreds of times since you were a little girl. I will never forget the day you told me that this is what you wanted to do. Seek God in all things. He's where we can't be for you!
Psalm 32:8 - I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
We are tremendously proud of you.
Love, Mom & Dad

Totally New Antiques

Stocked Up For Memorial Day

More Half-Baked Thoughts

Just for this post:
1. Suppose I consider you one of my friends. And I do ... allbeit from a distance.
2. Suppose I have incredible wealth ... and I don't ... but just suppose for this post that Bill Gates is too poor to be my limo driver.
3. Suppose that I couldn't spend my wealth in millions of life times.
4. Suppose you are in desperate need.
5. And Suppose I make no effort to intervene and try to help you with my unlimited resources.
Am I really your friend?

Why do I want to paint this half-baked scenario? Bear with me and read on.

Well, OK ... I deeply believe that Jesus Christ is the only answer for the worlds problems and for the problems of each individual. I believe Jesus alone holds the keys to an eternity with God. Please understand that I am not declaring this to be true! I am merely stating that the Bible clearly teaches this within its covers. All I am saying is that I believe what the Bible says.

Again, if you disagree with me ... please don't be offended. I am not stating this in any judgemental or arrogant way. This is a faith issue. I am even now ... NOT good enough or smart enough to earn heaven! I am still a very flawed man. I DO believe that I am going to heaven because getting there isn't based upon me. I believe that everything I have eternally speaking is completely the result of what Jesus did for me on the cross.

Now, I told you that ... to tell you this!

Most Christians believe what I have just stated. We would definitely say it differently but most Christians DO believe what is declared in the Bible. In fact, Christians deeply believe that Jesus is the only way. They are placing their faith, belief and trust in his very own declaration to be "the only way." See John 14:6 and Acts 4:12. In fact, go ahead and freak out a Christian you know, ... walk right up to them and ask them, "Hey, Dude is Jesus the only way to heaven or not?"

Just remember that Christians aren't declaring that Jesus is the only way! Jesus himself declared that! Christians are merely trusting and believing in his words and placing their faith in him alone. Simply said ... Christians believe that Jesus IS who HE said he was. Jesus didn't come to earth, walk around, teach love and understand and leave to be followed by a bunch of Christians that sat around and said "Hey, let's tell everybody that Jesus is the only way to get to God." Jesus declared that for himself ... and by the way he backed it up by predicting his own death and resurrection! Christians only recorded that he did these things. Many Christians were put to death because they would not deny what they saw in his bodily resurrection. I think this takes it far above a religious experience and makes it one of fact for them. However, since I didn't see the risen Savior myself ... some 2000 years later it becomes a matter of faith for me based on those historic events.

As a result, Christians are taught in scripture (John 14, 1 Corinthians 15) that there awaits an enternal and glorious home for them. Scripture also teachs simply that if someone rejects Christ they spend an eternity separated from God. This separation from God is referred to in the Bible in many ways but we most often refer to it as hell.

Now IF I am a real Christian and IF I really believe that the difference between an eternity spent in heaven or hell was earned simply by faith in Christ ... and I really believed that with my whole heart ... Why on earth wouldn't I tell you out of concern for your well-being? If I tell you that you are my friend ... and I truly believe that heaven or hell awaits us all and that Jesus is the difference, in fact the ONLY difference ... How could I say you were my friend ... and yet choose to keep Jesus a secret or mystery from you? I should tell you if I really believe it and care for you. Shouldn't I?

The Bible teaches that we can't earn heaven. Jesus makes heaven possible for us if we will trust in him alone ... so I grabed that incredible gift! Jesus paid it all.

How could I let you live your life thinking that you need to be really, really, really good to get to heaven? Read Romans Chapter 3:10 & 3:23, it says no one is good enough. Read Romans Chapter 3:20, it says no one will be declared good enough by trying to be good enough. It also says that obeying the law was NEVER designed to save people. The law was made so that we would know we were sinners. If there was no law ... there would be no sin. God's standard had to be written so we would know that we were sinners. If there were no laws in your town ... you could do anything you want. The law was written but it wasn't written in order to make it possible to get to heaven by obedience to it! You aren't good enough. Me neither!

That means I could never even possibly be good enough to earn heaven and God knew that so he provided a way for all men to have eternity in heaven through His son, Jesus. Read Romans 6:23.

Now PLEASE hear me here! You can think I'm completely and absolutely WRONG! That's OK! I will still value your oppinion! You can think I am a complete nut job and that is also OK. And YES, you can tell everyone that I am turning into a lunatic. But I ask you again, ... IF I really believe that a decision for Christ is the difference between an eternity in heaven or hell ... and I never tell you ... How could I ever say that you were really my friend?

After you think I'm wrong, crazy or a lunatic, I just hope you know that I care enough to tell you and that I can't be silent. In no way would I even think of being condemning because I am not the judge and we are told not to judge. We are however, told to tell others about the free gift that is good news available to you from God through Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19,20). Too often I have been silent ... and the more I think about it ... being silent seems like I only care for myself.

Now, there's a nutty post for ya!
God bless. Jesus loves you ... this I know!
NikonSniper Steve

Watching Over You

Coming Tsunami

Winter Hangs On

I'm Going Home

Well, I survived! I am sitting at the Denver Airport having breakfast and reviewing all the photos I captured that I have yet to release. Colorado is an incredible State! But, believe me I will be glad to get back home after this 17 day tour of duty.
Colorado, you are a great host for we who pass through your wonders. I met some seriously friendly people here. I even had to be frisked by the State Police! Dad would have been so proud! No convictions. Great people. Colorado also has great landscapes. I know that isn't news. I have really felt the altitude at times. I can't wait to get back to Chicago's chewy air. But the beauty here is incredible. I know I made it to 11,200 feet above sea level at one point. I am sure those of you who seek altitude know where to find higher spots here but I was on a pre-chartered course ... and that's not too bad for a guy who fell off a turnip wagon in Maxville, Ontario, Canada.
I got to visit with a very close friend and associate pastor of a church in Montrose. He's the guy that climbed into the giveaway box in the photos. The trip was a hectic race through Colorado in many ways driving roughly 2,900 miles in 16 days but my visit in Montrose was very timely and relaxing ... even though Gary decided to take me to the edge of cliffs in sections of a mountain that were clearly falling down. At one point he looked out the window and said, "Look, an avalanche". How exciting, I thought! I tried not to cry too loud but it was dangerous in my book.
When I turned the car in to Avis this morning, the guy didn't even bat an eye at the mud. I don't think they care that much. I was so proud of my "mudder". That Saturn was a fun ride.
In the next few weeks I will continue to post shots from the Colorado trip as well as a backlog from other travels. I look forward to seeing family again. That's one thing that is tough about the road. But, I should be home for a bit of time now.
Thanks for all your kind comments and encouragement. Keep on shootin' folks ... you're bound to hit something! I know I shot 15,000+ on this trip so I am bound to have a few good ones.
NikonSniper Steve

Colorado Cliff Climber

Braff Zackton To The Rescue

Well folks, ... I did it again and I have finally got the courage to write about my extrodinary stupidity. Sure anyone can run out of gas. But can you do it twice. Last time I ran out of gas I was on the top of a mountain and coasted 2 miles into Payson, AZ to get to a gas station. I coasted and pulled right up to the pump. Can you believe it? Well, ... not this time.
I pulled into La Junta, CO a couple of days ago for my last stop of the day. I noticed I needed gas but I also noticed some cool things to photograph. I kept taking pictures for almost an hour and started my way back to Pueblo, CO. I looked down when the car started screaming at me and it was flashing "YOU MORON ... YOU ARE OUT OF GAS ... AGAIN"! Neat feature on the Saturns. It said I was out of gas but I was still going for about another mile ... then I was officially out of gas.
While sitting on the side of Highway 50 ... I called Braff Zackton. For those of you who don't know ... Braff is the guy who bails people out of trouble in transport trucks all day long for a living. Braff is my go to guy when I do really stupid things on the highway.
Well, Braff ... started laughing and hung up on me. When I called back I could still hear him laughing and he hung up on me again. The third time I realized I was actually losing power from a cell phone that was empty and he might not be hanging up. So THERE I WAS ... No gas. No phone. Coyotes starting to howl. I was feeling a bit like dinner.
I charged my cell phone for a few minutes while people screamed past me ignoring the old white haired man with his flashers blaring on the highway. I would have had better luck getting help if I parked in the middle of the highway. After enough juice got into the phone I called Braff Zackton again and shouted my GPS cordinates into the phone as he typed furiously into Delta Gas Force. The next thing I know a Colorado cop is looking into my eyes saying, "Sir, Braff called me and said you are a Moron and that this isn't the first time you have run out of gas on a highway". I said, "Uh, that's me. The officer gets me to show him ID and then says he will take me to get gas.
The funny thing is that he was required to "pat-me-down" or "frisk me" or "search me" depending on your taste in being personally scrutinized. I would have killed for photos of me with my hands spread on top of the squad car. In my head I kept hearing, "Bad boys, bad boys ... whatcha gonna do when the come for you".
I was in the back of the squad car when he had to walk around and let me out of the back door at a crowded gas station. I had to buy a gas can inside the store. I felt like saying, STICK em UP! You know, as a joke, but the guy behind the counter was one of the crazy looking Colorado guys that probably had a few funnier jokes of his own that could send me back through the store wondow in some kinda tazed state running from buckshot.
The Colorado State Police Officer was a great help. He just kept smiling at me and looking in his rear view mirror and saying, "Dude, you better not spill that gas back there". Well, I didn't. The officer did ask me if I wanted to wear the cuffs while I tried putting the gas in the car. That was funny.
Well either way. Braff kept me from walking out into traffic during my two hour prayer meeting on highway 5-0 ... so I guess I will live to photograph again. Thanks Braff.
NikonSniper Steve

Basilica Of The Immaculate Conception

NikonSniper 3000 Celebration

Need extra storage space? Make sure you enter this NikonSniper drawing for a Western Digital – My Passport Essential 750GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive.

That’s right! In the next few months we will cross the 3000 follower milestone and in an effort to say thanks we will host a drawing for a 750GB Hard Drive.

I wish I could give these to everyone to say thanks properly but I haven’t won a lottery yet. I can tell you that the comments on this blog and all over the Internet on your blogs have been very encouraging and indeed humbling. Believe me … I know I am not as good as some of you declare … but it is so nice to know it is appreciated. Many thanks to all of you.

Contest rules are simple!
1. You must be a listed follower of the NikonSniper blog. After the drawing, I will check to see if the winner is in the list of followers.
2. Respond to THIS post in the comments with the request, “Please enter me in the NikonSniper 3000 contest.”
3. Wait patiently. The winner will be drawn within days of crossing the 3000 follower milestone.

YES, you can win if you are in a far away place! The last winner of the 200GB Hard Drive was from far eastern Canada. And that’s like … way out there, EH! So you can win no matter where you are from … unless you are one of my relatives. I don’t like kissin’ yer sister with a favor, so to speak.

Thanks again to all of you who make this blog interesting. You provide the words and meaning to many of the photos captured in my moments on the road. I do not comment on many photos because I like to hear what they mean to you without me explaining much about the photo. You all have a very different thoughts or stories remembered by the same photo and that’s where this blog truly becomes yours too!

God bless you all!
NikonSniper Steve

The Mile High City

Well, ... here we go again. I am at O'Hare Airport in Chicago and beginning a 17 day adventure in both sales and photography. I anxiously await glimpses of snow capped mountain photos with spring happening all around. Or old barns with mountain backdrops. I only hope that I can catch wildlife candids flying by the seat of my pants on the weekends. Any advice on how to get a Black Bear to smile with his arm around you in the woods? I was told by some of my colleagues to smear peanut butter and honey all over myself and sit in the woods after dark. Thanks I get the point!
I will land in Denver this afternoon and will immediately head up to the Sterling, CO area for the evening. Tomorrow I will have several stops in Northeast Colorado and a stop in Cheyenne, WY. I have been to Colorado before but only to a very small but beautiful portion. This trip will cover roughly 2,500 miles of highways and back roads. I expect this will improve my backlog of photos from the region.
Anyway, ... I hope you enjoy the photographic results of one of our most beautiful States in spring. You might think that I would get tired of the varied mountainous landscapes and roaring rivers after a while. You might think I would start taking them for granted. Just know that I take thousands of photos that no one else sees. I generally love them all ... unless of course I blow something completely ... and that does happen more than you would think. I think mountains are nearly impossible to think as ho-hum when you are a flatlander from Illinois.
Welcome all. Keep those travel tips coming!
Let's enjoy the ride together.
NikonSniper Steve

Colorado Tour Of Duty

Well, I have just returned tonight from Los Angeles from a 5 day junket. Fun was had by all! I have decided to chill for a few days in preparation for a 17 day trip to the beautiful State of Colorado. I haven't been there in about 15 years but I expect the rivers are running strong with a winter thaw coming faster every day. Colorado is a landscape photographers paradise ... so I think I might wear out some cameras on the weekends while I am there. I am going to try to bring you a peek of as much of Colorado as I can capture. Maybe I will even get photos of Tim Tebow filing his car with gas.
You can see the map above for my approximate travel route through Colorado. Your suggestions and tips are most welcome as I work my way through the mountains.
If you know people from Colorado or perhaps just people who like seeing mountains, rivers and open lands ... why not invite them to come along with us!
As always I want to thank you all for your kind comments and encouragement. I will begin posting photos again on Wednesday, April 28 from Colorado, the Centennial State.
Until then ... God bless!
NikonSniper Steve

LA Skyscrapers

Among The Beaver Huts

Airborne Again

Fast trip to Tucson, Arizona today. I doubt I will get a lot of time to photograph but I could get a shot at a sunset tomorrow night. Weather here in Chicago is great. Los Angeles is experiencing scattered periods of earthquakes. No major damage. Hope they stay well!
Spring is definitely happening all around us. Baseball started yesterday. Nobodys team is out of it yet! Thanks for all your kind comments. Will post photos again tonight from Arizona.
All the best.
NikonSniper Steve

Does Christmas End In April This Year?

Southern California Hills

Snow Sure Melted Fast

Maybe Spring is here. We really don't like to risk saying that kind of thing in March in the Northwest Chicagoland area. We can get slammed really hard for at least another month. A 15" dumping of snow can arrive on tax day (April 15) that usually sends hundreds of us out to building ledges with some high-school graduate state official yelling through a megahorn things like, "Step back from the ledge. You're not ugly ... you're just fat from your long winter nap." Sorry, yes ... that was yet another slam on any form of government. If you are a government official ... sorry, but I'm not sorry.

Today was a lazy day for me photographically speaking. But I did get excited to see and take this picture of my patio without snow. I actually have been in a long patio time drought. It started around June 1st last year when I began the wild west photo rodeo for the NikonSniper blog. It just seems to have been lousey weather every time I have been home. Rain, crazy high heat or that other Chicago suburb weather phenomenon known as "mosquito season". Mosquitos in the midwest are the only thing we have that is even remotely comparable to earthquakes. You can be sitting having a conversation with a friend and suddenly realize that you are quickly losing blood and need to seek help fast. You start swatting yourself in a convulsing manner that can leave you as much as 100 yards away from your original patio easyboy in a dazed state of mind due to lack of blood making it to your brain. You can sit there for a few seconds (while mosquitos relocate you again) in a stupper wondering, "What just happened.". When you return to your patio you may discover that a small fire has started because you knocked the mosquitos (candy) candle over and set fire to your patio dining cloth. My dear wife who never seems to be troubled with mosquitos might say, "I think that was a 4.7 on the Andy Richter scale." Cheer-y sort she is!

Anyway, I always love the Spring before mosquitos, between the rain, before the steam and during the sunny weekend days. Gosh, it's great to see the patio! It was 83 in Los Angeles last week and the hummingbirds were busy. I would definitely say that I THINK we are finally within 90 days till the patio is in ideal condition.
I hope your weather is looking up too! And if you are on the other side of the earth, Bruce ... just remember that a great day in the Chicagoland is not quite as good as a bad day in an Australian winter.

I am now preparing for a few trips to ... Colorado! This will be very cool because I haven't been there in years and it will be a first for the NikonSniper blog. I will give you all more details as soon as I know what I am doing so that you can tell me cool stuff to see along the way. These trips will be during April and part of May.

All the best to you!
NikonSniper Steve

Trona Heights

WOW!

4:04 am, Los Angeles. I was just shaken awake by what I thought was someone grabbing the bottom of my bed and shaking it up and down. I went down the hall to the reception desk at the Comfort Inn in Monterey Park and I looked at the night clerk who is usually asleep and said, Did something just happen? Yes, he replied. That was an earthquake.
I went back to my room and called Braff Zackton who was already at work in Chicago. Braff ran his earthquake search that he does every 30 minutes and informed me that I just rode a 4.4 in the Greater Los Angeles Area at 4:04am. It seems no one else is alarmed but me! That is completely whack and a first for me.
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9:20am update
I just got back from breakfast a few minutes ago. Still no one was talking about this event. It's the most reported event in a while on the Did You Feel It? web site. Rare breed these Californians. It's like ... the whole L-A area got up and went for a drive on the I-5 in a bumpy Rambler Station Wagon at 4am for no reason ... and nobody even talks about it. That is crazy.
I literally thought there was someone in my room picking up the bottom of the bed and clipping it to the lift on a Six Flags grade roller coaster. Isn't there a T-Shirt for this kinda thing?
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You might ask ... Why would I would call someone in Chicago about an Earthquake in California? Well, here's a little more background on Braff Zackton you may like to read.
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4:07pm update
OK, OK ... some of you have suggested that I was probably scared. C'mon! Me? No way! I eat this stuff up and spit it out.
OK well, the truth is ... I haven't slept since. I keep thinking I am feeling the ground shake again and now I am on the fourth floor of a building near LAX airport. And I will say that I couldn't sleep probably due to my sobbing like a baby. That kinda made it hard to settle down. Can't wait till the wheels are up at the end of the runway tomorrow morning.
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For those of you interested ... here is an Earthquake Article from this mornings excitement.

Is God Green?

Hello, NikonSniper followers. Well, my trip to the Los Angeles area is coming to a conclusion. That's right, dear ... I'm coming home!
One of the things I do for comfort when I am alone and away from my family for great lengths of time is to listen to sermons online. I know, I can almost hear you shouting "BORING"! OK, OK, some of you are about to quit NikonSniper for good! You've heard enough. I have just proved to you that I am completely looney!
Well, some of you know I was a bit of a creative kid. I was A.D.D. before being A.D.D. was cool! So I was, ... let's say, a bit of a handfull. For those of you who are new, here's a little Background to give you an idea of what kind of rodeo clown I was when I was a kid. Anyway, I tell you this so you don't go around thinking I have my head in the clouds with no clue of the real world.
Anyway. I was raised in a Christian home. More than that, ... my father was the pastor of a large church that we attended (sometimes in handcuffs). Oh, please don't cast me as some kind of religious fanatic. In fact, truth is ... I don't believe in religion whatsoever. I believe in a person and YES I know Him. And that God-man is Jesus.
Anyway, ... I don't want to scare you off ... because I DO completely respect your views. Here's what I wanted to say.
I find that as I age (get more older and more wrinkled-er) I appreciate nature more. If you would have told me when I was 30 that I would enjoy photographing butterflies one day ... well, I woulda told you that you were a complete ding-dong (probably not those words though). I so often feel at peace when I am sitting on a bench watching God's wonders. Like seeing wild deer up close just staring at you, giving you a close look, like they were sent to you. Well, I recently watched a sermon about the Christian in nature that I enjoyed called, "Is God Green?" You can hit the link and watch it if you like. It's good! It is by one of my favorite speakers named John Ortberg from Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, CA. He won't bore you!
Go on, give it a listen ... I dare ya ... it's a risk free way to tell your mom that you went to church. Pastor Ortberg speaks on how we are to respect the world of the Creator.
I hardly ever lift my camera in the mountains, or near rivers, streams or great oceans without thinking about ... How Great Is Our God!
I hope you have a wonderful day!
NikonSniper Steve

Sassy Trees