Images in the Backcountry Blog » Uncategorized http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog California Landscape, Nature, Wildlife and Inspirational Photography Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:04:19 +0000 en hourly 1 New Toys! http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/588/new-toys/ http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/588/new-toys/#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:27:53 +0000 Mike Matenkosky http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/?p=588 Really Right Stuff Goodies!
After 5 years of having to screw on/off my camera to my tripod head, I bought a RRS B2-Pro clamp for my Manfrotto 488 head; B5D-L L-Plate for my 5D; and a L84 lens plate for my 300mm f4L lens. No more missed shots! Our family will be camping for two nights in Yosemite mid-September, so I can’t wait to try it out!

New Season of Gymnastics!
The new season of Gymnastics starts September 12 at “Gymfinity” in Livermore CA. The team has been practicing hard, but I’m still a bit rusty! We also moved to our new gym this weekend. Should be a bit more room and the ceiling is higher, but as a photographer I like the fact that there’s lots of windows! Can’t wait to try it out!

Go Tumble Time Gymnastics!

]]> http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/588/new-toys/feed/ 2 No Pictures http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/232/no-pictures/ http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/232/no-pictures/#comments Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:59:28 +0000 Mike Matenkosky http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/?p=232 Yep, no pictures this time. I’ve been “busy” re-designing my backpacking/hiking website, The Backcountry. I really like the new design and I sparked a ‘bug’ to tweak my nature photography site, and father’s website, Single Stick Stuff.

I’m also learning all about RSS Feeds and iPod’s, so I recently added a RSS feed to my church’s website and in the next few days/weeks I’m going to re-design that site too.

]]> http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/232/no-pictures/feed/ 0 An Old Friend is Gone…. http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/118/an-old-friend-is-gone/ http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/118/an-old-friend-is-gone/#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:24:06 +0000 Mike Matenkosky http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/?p=118 In January 2006 I needed a wheelchair after my first knee replacement. Unfortunately, it went bad and for two years I was either in my wheelchair or using a walker. Finally in August of 2008, I was able to stand and walk again, without the wheelchair. It sat here “just in case” until I decided I didn’t need it anymore.

Today they picked it up. It’s had a lot of off-trail mileage, more than most rental wheelchairs for sure! I can’t say that I’ll miss it, but it does hold a special place in my life.

Closing this chapter and now starting the next….

]]> http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/118/an-old-friend-is-gone/feed/ 2 Busy or Boredom? http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/115/busy-or-boredom/ http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/115/busy-or-boredom/#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 20:38:34 +0000 Mike Matenkosky http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/?p=115 Not really sure if it was boredom or just busy work, but I just finished adding over 700 entries into my backpacking website database, The Backcountry.

About 6 months ago, a friend of mine helped my convert this site, Images in the Backcountry, from a html site to a database-driven site…using php and MySQL. It’s now so much easier to update changes. So, a few days ago I got a hair-brain idea to do the same for my backpacking site…..over 30 different hikes and 10-30 pages per hike. That was a lot of copy/pasting into my database, but now its FINISHED!

]]> http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/115/busy-or-boredom/feed/ 0 The Biggest Full Moon in 2009 http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/61/the-biggest-full-moon-in-2009/ http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/61/the-biggest-full-moon-in-2009/#comments Sun, 11 Jan 2009 02:27:23 +0000 Mike Matenkosky http://www.thebackcountry.org/photography/blog/?p=61 Tonight is going to be the biggest full moon of 2009, so why not take a picture! Here’s a way to get you in the ballpark as far as exposure:

The Moony Rule
Full Moon – f/11 @ 1/ISO
Half Moon – f/8 @ 1/ISO
Quarter Moon – f/5.6 @ 1/ISO

Here’s my moon using my EOS 5D, 300mm f/4L, 1.4x II, ISO 100, f/8, 1/100. I started out using f/11, but it was too dark so I dialed it down a bit until I had a proper exposed photo.

Full Moon - 01-10-2009

]]> http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/61/the-biggest-full-moon-in-2009/feed/ 0 A Catbird? http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/60/a-catbird/ http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/60/a-catbird/#comments Sun, 04 Jan 2009 05:32:51 +0000 Mike Matenkosky http://www.thebackcountry.org/photography/blog/?p=60 I couldn’t resist taking a picture of my cat ‘Elsie’ perching on one of my feeder/sticks trying to be one of the birds!

]]> http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/60/a-catbird/feed/ 0 Resistance is futile! http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/1/hello-world/ http://www.imagesinthebackcountry.com/blog/1/hello-world/#comments Sun, 14 Dec 2008 23:49:02 +0000 Mike Matenkosky http://www.thebackcountry.org/photography/blog/?p=1 Well, I decided to join the masses and create my own blog. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it shortly!

Let’s see if this works…

My self portrait.

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