Autocross

Exit78 Photo of the Day #63
Autocross competition at Montana ExpoPark, Great Falls, Montana, September 2, 2007, (Pentax K10D)

Autocross competition at Montana ExpoPark, Great Falls, Montana, September 2, 2007, (Pentax K10D)

This was the one and only time we had ever been to any kind of auto competition.  We were there with my brother and his family and I took the opportunity to get some action photos.

Autocross (Wikipedia) (also called “Solo”, “Auto-x” or “Autoslalom”) is a timed competition in which drivers navigate one at a time through a defined course on either a sealed or an unsealed surface. It is a form of motorsports that emphasizes safe competition and active participation. Autocross differs from road racing and oval racing in that generally there is only one car on the track, driving against the clock rather than other cars. As an entry-level motorsport it provides a stepping stone for drivers looking to move into other more competitive and possibly expensive forms of racing (such as rallying, rallycross and circuit racing).


Series notes:

  • The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
  • Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
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Black-eyed Susan blossoms

Exit78 Photo of the Day #62
Black-eyed Susan blossoms (rudbeckia hirta) around our yard, west-central Arkansas on the edge of the Ozarks, July 27, 2008 (Pentax K10D)

Black-eyed Susan blossoms (rudbeckia hirta) around our yard, west-central Arkansas on the edge of the Ozarks, July 27, 2008 (Pentax K10D)

(Exit78 Photo of the Day #39 also featured black-eyed Susan blossoms and was shot the same day.)

Rudbeckia hirta (Wikipedia), commonly called black-eyed Susan, is a North American flowering plant in the sunflower family, native to Eastern and Central North America and naturalized in the Western part of the continent as well as in China. It has now been found in all 10 Canadian Provinces and all 48 of the states in the contiguous United States.


Series notes:

  • The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
  • Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
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Digging in the dirt for diamonds

Exit78 Photo of the Day #61
Open for public digging in the dirt for diamonds, Crater of Diamonds State Park, Arkansas, January 29, 2011 (Pentax K-r)

Open for public digging in the dirt for diamonds, Crater of Diamonds State Park, Arkansas, January 29, 2011 (Pentax K-r)

We didn’t look for any diamonds when we visited Crater of Diamonds.  Getting there and back takes a good part of a day no matter which way you go, so if we were ever to do some diamond digging, we’d have to camp overnight in the park’s campground or stay somewhere else that’s near.

It’s not free.  There is a fee to dig.

Crater of Diamonds State Park (Wikipedia) is a 911-acre (369 ha) Arkansas state park in Pike County, Arkansas, in the United States. The park features a 37.5-acre (15.2 ha) plowed field, the world’s only diamond-bearing site accessible to the public. Diamonds have continuously been discovered in the field since 1906, including the Strawn-Wagner Diamond. The site became a state park in 1972 after the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism purchased the site from the Arkansas Diamond Company and Ozark Diamond Mines Corporation, who had operated the site as a tourist attraction previously.


Series notes:

  • The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
  • Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
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Dead Wood

Post-processing1 #17 |

Dead wood above Water Canyon falls, Mossy Cave Trail, Bryce Canyon National Park, October 8, 2015 (Pentax K-3 II)

Dead wood above Water Canyon falls,  Mossy Cave Trail, Bryce Canyon National Park, October 8, 2015 (Pentax K-3 II) 37°39’55″N 112°06’52″W

“At first, this canyon known as Water Canyon, might look like any ordinary Bryce Canyon kind of canyon. It’s not. From 1890-1892 mormon pioneers labored with picks and shovels to carve an irrigation ditch from the East Fork of the Sevier River, through the Paunsaugunt Plateau, into this canyon. Every year since its completion in 1892 (except during the drought of 2002), this canal known as the Tropic Ditch has supplied the communities of Tropic and Cannonville with irrigation water.”2


  1. Image editing to enhance the photo closer to what the eye “saw.” Images in this series are selected within a day or so of being edited and are either posted at the time or scheduled for posting at a later date.
  2. Mossy Cave – Bryce Canyon National Park, National Park Service
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Rose Meadowsweet

Exit78 Photo of the Day #60
Rose Meadowsweet, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, July 15, 2010 (Pentax K10D)

Rose Meadowsweet, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, July 15, 2010 (Pentax K10D)

Spiraea splendens (Wikipedia) –  Spiraea splendens is a shrub of the Rose Family native to the western mountains of North America, from California to British Columbia, commonly known as dense-flowered spiraea, rose meadowsweet, rosy spiraea, subalpine spiraea, and mountain spiraea.


Series notes:

  • The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
  • Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
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Lunar

Exit78 Photo of the Day #59

Moon from Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, September 11, 2011 (Pentax K-r)

Taking a photo of the moon is harder than it might seem.  I’ve tried a number of times of the years.  This is one of the better attempts.


Series notes:

  • The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
  • Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
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Freewheelin’

Art on Sunday #28

"Freewheelin" by James Haire; "Art on the Corner" street display, Grand Junction, Colorado (Pentax K-3 II)

“Freewheelin” by James Haire; “Art on the Corner” street display, Grand Junction, Colorado (Pentax K-3 II)

Artist James Haire constructed his piece, ‘Freewheelin’, a life-size sculpture of a woman riding a bike, out of bronze and stainless steel. He says, “while the sculpture has no moving parts, there is still a feeling of movement in the piece by the absence of spokes in the wheels.”

"Freewheelin" by James Haire; "Art on the Corner" street display, Grand Junction, Colorado (Pentax K-3 II) "Freewheelin" by James Haire; "Art on the Corner" street display, Grand Junction, Colorado (Pentax K-3 II)

The Cire Perdue cast bronze work was was cast in a foundry in Loveland in 1991. It depicts a “young woman on a bicycle wearing multicolored shorts, white tank-top and sandals.” (Smithsonian)

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In flight

Exit78 Photo of the Day #58
Ring-billed gull, Newport State Park, Door County, Wisconsin, September 17, 2008 (Pentax K10D)

Ring-billed gull, Newport State Park, Door County, Wisconsin, September 17, 2008 (Pentax K10D)

This photo is from a day-trip up the peninsula of Door County, Wisconsin.  Newport State Park is at the very end.  We were on the shore of Lake Michigan where I was attempting to snap some photos of sea gulls “in flight.”  I did have a few successful shots, but most were a miss or very much out of focus.


Series notes:

  • The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
  • Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
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Cold December Fog

Exit78 Photo of the Day #57
Yahara Elementary School through cold fog, DeForest, Wisconsin, December 21, 2007 (Pentax K10D)

Yahara Elementary School through cold fog, DeForest, Wisconsin, December 21, 2007 (Pentax K10D)

In the next to last week of December, 2007, we were in Wisconsin for a short pre-Christmas visit to our daughter, son-in-law and grandkids.  We left for home a little bit early because of deteriorating weather predicted.

The photo is from the kitchen of the home they were renting the first year they were in Wisconsin.


Series notes:

  • The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
  • Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
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Old Faithful Inn

Exit78 Photo of the Day #56

Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, September 14, 2007 (Pentax K10D)

Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, September 14, 2007 (Pentax K10D)

Old Faithful Inn is the largest log hotel in the world, possibly the largest log structure in the world.  Initial construction was over the winter of 1903-1904 using local materials such as lodgepole pine and rhyolite stone. While rustic, it has boasted some modern amenities from the beginning. On it’s first opening in 1904, it had electric lights and steam heat.

Old Faithful Vicinity is, without a doubt, the most popular location in the park. I don’t know how many times we’ve been to Yellowstone, so certainly don’t know how many times we’ve been to the Old Faithful area.  We saw Old Faithful erupt at least 4 times on one trip.  I saw Old Faithful and the inn for the first time as an adolescent in the early 60s. On a couple of trips, we spent time in one of the lobby’s upper floors connected to the internet via our mobile wireless hot spot on our phone.  It was one of the few places we could get online in the park.


Series notes:

  • The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
  • Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
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