Colin McGraw on the GO!!

I have realized today that a regular blog is too much work for me too handle. I try to sit down and do a post, but I end up procrastinating or doing actual work. So, I have decided that I will now be taking it to the road.

I have started new blog called "Colin McGraw on the GO!!" This is where everything will be posted from now on. CHECK IT OUT HERE..... http://colinmcgraw.blogspot.com/

So that's it. CYA

Jazz Festival

On Mothers Day, my family and I went up to Wisconsin for a Jazz Festival. This was a fun event, and the bands were great. I only got to see 2, but from the ones I saw it was awesome. My mom and dad went to see the other 2 after Chelsea and I called it a day and went back to the room. My parents said the second 2 had some good hits, but the 1st two bands were much better. 

The 2 bands I got to see were Alex Bugnon (I think) and my favorite who I have listened to for years, Daryl Stuermer. He is the lead guitarist for Genesis and goes on tour with them whenever another tour comes up. I had seen Daryl play one other time in Milwaukee, but this show was even better because of the bigger crowd. He just blew them away! This is who I got my main pictures for the weekend of, so check them out (click to get larger).

Overall it was a great weekend and my mom had a great mothers day. It was a fun weekend, but now its back to school. This is the final month of school and I'm pushing through. It's like the final stretch in a marathon, I can see the finish, but I can't stumble and fall. After school I am moving to COLORADO!!! This news is big and I still don't know how to feel. I am happy because I will be living in a nature environment, but sad that I have to make friends all over again. I'll get through, that's all for now.

       ~ Little Camera Boy

The Permit has been Acquired!!

Been battling a sickness this whole week, so have been delaying my permit post. I received my permit on Friday, April 10th. However, the day after, I got sick; which is unfortunate. After I got my permit on Friday I took my first drive!!! The timing was great because my mom came home as soon as I was about to drive, so she got to come along with dad and I. This drive was extremely nerve-racking and I felt as if I were breaking the law.

I am still enrolled in my Drivers Ed. class, which is going well. I will be taking my first drive with the teacher (Mr. Shapiro) on May 1st. I have only taken one drive, so far, but I am going to take more, before the drive with the teacher, so I can feel a little more comfortable behind the wheel. 

That's it my permit post.... see you on the roads. :)

~ Colin

The Dream Day

I don't think I ever woke up this day, for I feel that I was dreaming of Skiing in the backcountry with Warren Miller himself. This day was beyond good, words can't describe what you feel when you find fresh powder every run. 

This post goes out to my mom, who rescheduled my flight from leaving the day of the huge dump. I thank her so much for making this the best ski day of my life. So, THANK YOU, MOM!!!!

So, here is the situation, my mom and sister went back home in the burbs, while dad and I stayed for 1 last day in heaven. We also got our friends, Tom and Laurie to stay one more day, on their 2 ay trip. The road conditions were bad, so driving to salt lake city, from Montana wouldn't have been advised for their safety. So, the 4 of us stayed and had a day that is now a distant memory. (I am publishing this post a week after it actually happened)

Now the fun, dad and I went off on our on

 for the first half the day, which was incredible. We were on Challenger Lift just about the whole morning, and then we did a few more runs on Ramcharger Lift before we had to go in for lunch. We than met up with Tom and Lori who were having a good day of their own on Ramcharger Lift and Dakota, and possibly more. 

After lunch, Lori took the rest of the day off, to just relax and not push it, she was a little sore from previous days. After lunch it was just the 3 bulls. the 2nd part of the day was defiantly the better half of the day for me. I was just floating through chest shots, and a few face shots of powder. During this part of the day, Dad, Tom, and I were staying on Ramcharger due to the fact of Challenger Lift closing, otherwise we would have been there. Telling the honest truth here, every run was still fresh powder. We were on Thunderwolf Lift mainly,  doing runs on CRAZY raven, and Bear Lair, and maybe a few more. we also did a few on Blue Room (a run through the trees) these runs were all excellent. this is what the day looked like after lunch.

This day was so quick, it was unbelievable. It felt as if I were just snapping on my boots and than were taking them off again 15 minutes later. A day to remember though. This was an enjoyable day and we finished off the trip to a dinner at the Lone Peak Brewery. It was a little dead, but fun playing shuffleboard, eating, and watching some insane skiing videos. 

That was the day, sorry I can't explain how good it was, but it's hard. Let me show you a few pictures...... (I'm in the red jacket, dad is in the green/yellow)

Some Tracks

Woke up this morning ready to ski, but we still had time before everyone was ready to go. So, knowing me, I tried squeezing in some photography. I went outside stumbling upon some tracks. I am pretty sure they are coyote tracks, but I may be wrong. If I stand corrected, and they are coyote tracks, than they are most likely from the ones that have been coming to this local golf course, hunting for mice. 

Here are a few snapshots.

Another day of Powder!

Swift Current Lift in....... Ramcharger Lift Out. Swift Current leads to higher ground, which is what my dad and I were looking forward to. My sister and mom both didn't come skiing for the first part of the day, but that didn't stop dad and me. We took a few runs on the triple leading into the bowl, but we didn't go in the bowl because it was so socked in visibility- wise. We skied near the trees, which was a smart call, plus nice soft powder. After that, dad and I hit the Challenger lift. Boy oh BOY!!!! The powder was great. Soft and getting knee deep, occasionally waist deep snow shots. We stayed there most of the day, and it was defiantly worth it. Here are a few shots.

A day in Yellowstone

Not the best day in Yellowstone, but some different things. My family and I drove up and around to the North Entrance, so we could go into Lamar Valley, otherwise most of the parks roads were closed. I was hoping this trip to Yellowstone would be good for my photography, but we just timed it wrong. During the day we were fortunate enough to see wolves, when we set up out spotting scope. The wolves were 2 miles away, but we were able to get a decent look at them. 

Continuing through the day we saw bighorn sheep in Lamar, 4 coyotes, bison, and then when leaving Lamar and the park we saw some Elk and some Pronghorn. So that was the day, not the best for my photography. But, let me show you some pictures I walked off with anyways.....

This one was one of my best... Try clicking on it.

The Coyote Story

Th past 2 day (including today) we have seen coyotes out on the Golf Course. There have been 3 each time, most likely the same ones. The exciting part of seeing them is that they were hunting for mice. I have only seen this on the tube (TV), but today I got to actually see them pouncing in the air, digging, and then chomping on their breakfast. They were a little too far away for my lens, so here are some crops (going to be fuzzy).

Here is the Process......

The Search

The Leap

The Dig

The Success

The Skiing was good Today!

Yesterday was about the sunrise, today was about the snow. Big Sky got about 5 inches and boy did it make a difference. The skiing was quite good. We tried going up on Swift Current, but the visibility wasn't good, so most of the day my family and I stayed on Ramcharger. If you know the mighty famous run, of Elk Park Ridge than you know the speeds you can get up to on it. Not today, I think they didn't groom the slopes and boy this was the powder run of the day. At one point in the day my dad and  I got separated from my mom and sister. We just kept staying on Elk Park finding tons of places with snow untouched. This was a fun place to ski and I would say over 75% of our skiing that day was on Elk Park. So now we feel home skiing wise. Here is a little bit of evidence......

A Sunrise to Remember

We woke up on our first day in Big Sky excited to ski. We went through a day of the worst Big Sky Conditions ever. It was way too warm out, snow was bad, scratchy spots, but we made it through the day.

The big event of the day for my family and me, was that we awoke to a beautiful sunrise. This was a good way to welcome us home, because the snow surely didn't.

Here are some pictures from the sunrise.......

We Made It!!

We stepped on a plane leaving earth and we stepped off the plane in paradise. To show the excitement here are pictures of us.

HEADING HOME!!!!

Today was the final day of school before vacation. It's Spring Break and I'm heading home. Leaving for the Rockies tomorrow. Big Sky here I come. Going skiing in the Rockies is just about the best thing you can do on vacation. Tomorrow my family and I will be heading out. I have been getting desperate to go out there and now we depart. No doubt the camera will be coming with me. Going to work on a few things, photography wise in this short week in paradise. One day we are thinking of taking a family trip up to Lamar Valley going around to the North Entrance, I am hoping this will happen. So many places to go up there in the Big Sky. Well, stay tuned I will be posting from time to time. And now I depart....

CYA!!

A weekend of tennis

This weekend was a weekend of tennis for sure. Tennis try-outs are coming up, so I need to get ready. Yesterday I played my mom and sister and today I am playing a friend from school. He is going to tryout for the tennis team and I need to help him get ready. We will be playing later at 4:00. Another thing that made it a weekend of tennis is I got some new tennis clothes. I have 2 tennis shirts as it is now and not even one pair of good shorts. So, yesterday we went to Dicks and I got 3 pairs of shorts and one shirt.  My tennis shirt is bright Yellow!! A weakness for the opponent :). It is just about construction... neon yellow color. I will post a picture later. So here is a short video from yesterdays tennis. Enjoy.

Panorama #1

Panoramas, you got to love them. Before I just jump into it, for those who don't know what a panorama is, well here it is. A panorama is a series of pictures stitched together making one long image. I really enjoy doing them, but have never done one as a semi-serious photographer. I have done them before on my old camera because it had a setting. On my SLR camera I didn't think it was possible, but it is possible!! The only difference between the SLR and my other camera setting is.. on the other camera the setting showed the previous picture and what you're about to take so you can match it up, but the SLR doesn't have that. It is just a little more knowledge you need to have; being able to see the next shot. So let me give show you my first attempt........

Part of my House (sister on laptop)

Sorry but Blogger won't make it larger :(

So there you have it. On an unrelated note: OBAMA!!!! WHOOOO!!!!!!!! We have hope!

        ~ Colin

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!!!

Not the best year for the economy, but we now have hope. A year that I certainly remember because this was the year my photography turned greatly in advance. This year I met Tom Murphy who was the main cause for this big turn in my photography. 

For as far as New Years Resolutions go, it might be obvious, but mine is to get a silhouette of a caribou with the Denali mountain as a background. Just kidding, trying to add a little humor.... not amused. Anyway, my New Years Resolution is to improve my photography even more and try harder and harder to make this possible. 

When it switched from year 2008 to 2009 I watched this video... (click on link to view)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwfh9icSJgY 

I watched this just about the exact time it turned 2009 and it was a great laugh to the New Year.  I hope you enjoy it if you watch it.

I wish you all a Happy New Year and may this year be open to your dreams being accomplished. 

A Happy New Year from The Little Camera Boy.

Another Christmas settles into a Memory

My Family

Tom and Me