Rick Budde      
 
     
  2016 Blog      
         
 
     
  2022  2021  2020  2019  2018  2017  2016  2015  2014  2013  2012  2011  2010  2009  2008  2007  2006  2005      
 
     
         
 

Best Photos of 2016
Posted: December 31

At the end of each calendar year I go through the photos I have taken during the year to identify those I think are my best efforts.

A number of these photos will be "permanently" included in the appropriate Gallery on this web site. Others will not be worthy of permanent status but are very good photos and thus are included here.

If you would like to view the Best Photos of the Year from previous years, click here.

 
 

Chanukah Party
Posted: December 31

Dan, Lily, Hattie & Teddy Scharff hosted their annual Chanukah party. It was well attended by family and friends. Pictured above is Teddy Scharff.
 
 

Christmas Eve Party
Posted: December 25

Jim & Tiffany Scharff hosted their annual Christmas Eve party. It was well attended by family and friends.

Pictured above is Lily Scharff.
 
 

Canon Camera Connect App
Posted: November 06

Did a bit of testing of Canon Camera Connect app & how it works with my new Canon 5D IV.
 
 

Chicago Visit
Posted: October 17

I was in Chicago over the weekend to attend Matt Odenwald's wedding. While I was there I stayed with Alli Alberts and her fiancée Doug,

Alli wanted me to take some photos of the newly engaged couple at a number of locations around town.
 
 

New Camera
Posted: September 25

Before leaving for Driggs this summer, my St. Louis house was broken into and a good bit of my camera gear was stolen. One of the items taken was my Canon 1D-III camera. It had been relegated to backup camera status. My Canon 1Dx is my main camera which I use for both sports and landscape photography.

My insurance covered the original purchase price (minus my deductable). When I contemplated what I wanted to replace and with what, I finally decided to replace the stolen camera with the new Canon 5D-IV
.

My plan is to use the 5D as my go to landscape camera and the 1Dx as my sports camera. This will also give me the flexibility to have two different lens on two cameras for certain situations.
 
 

Lightroom DeHaze Filter
Posted: September 13

It seems that every summer that we have forest fires. The smoke from these fires makes it impossible to get any landscape photos.

The latest version of Adobe Lightroom has a new DeHaze filter. I thought I would give that a try.

My conclusion is with smoke it allows you to take landscape photos when we have fires but the resultant photo would not be worthy of hanging on your wall.
 
 

Grand Teton National Park
Posted: September 06

Rick Schuessler and Steve & Kathy Odenwald were in tow when we decided to take in some areas around Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Wyoming. Pictured above is the Blacktail Ponds Overlook.
 
 

Yellowstone National Park
Posted: September 04

Rick Schuessler and I decided to go to Yellowstone National Park for a day of photography. We stopped at Mesa Falls along the way.

Pictured above is Castle Geyser.
 
 

Grand Teton National Park
Posted: September 02

Rick Schuessler and I decided to do a sunrise photography outing in Grand Teton National Park today.

We started at the Hedrick Pond Overlook at sunrise.
 
 

 Teton Valley Idaho
Posted: September 01

Rick Schuessler and I decided to do our photography in Teton Valley Idaho today.

We drove up Highway 32 just north of Tetonia. Along this road, we took some photos of an old house on a hill that overlooks the valley and back at the Tetons. We continued north and stopped to take photos of the old Pillsbury grain elevator (now used to store seed potatoes).

We then proceeded to Ashton and then south on Highway 20 to Highway 33. Drove that back to Driggs stopping at the scenic overlook just before Tetonia.
 
 

 Grand Teton National Park
Posted: August 19

I got up early and went over to Grand Teton National Park with two objectives: photograph moose along the Gros Ventre River and to seek out the trail to Hedrick Pond.

I failed in both objectives. The only moose was only showing his/her butt and I could not find a road leading to a trail to Hedrick Pond.

The day was not a total waste as the clouds were pretty nice. I also took the time to drive some roads I had never explored before. The photo at left was taken along Pacific Creek Road a new drive for me.
 
 

 Casa Budde West
Posted: August 15

We had a pretty terrific sunset last night here in Driggs.

I have never seen this massive of a cloud formation before at sunset. Just had to go outside with camera in hand. Enjoyed this spectacle with my neighbor Jackie Mullen.
 
 

 Bluegrass Festival
Posted: August 14

This was the 29th Annual Bluegrass Festival.

This year's festival was quite interesting. It not only featured some great bluegrass music (Pokey LaFarge, Dave Grisman and Sam Bush to name a few) but some real oddities.

The highlights for me were the Pokey LaFarge performance, the entire Dave Grisman performance and then Dave joining Sam Bush for "Summertime". It was magic
.

The oddities were: The Waybacks whole set was covers of Eagles songs and a pretty hard rock band that were quite good. An interesting oddity was Sam Bush performing a bluegrass version of "Great Balls of Fire".

Pictured above is McKenzie Reed who was attending her first music festival at Targhee. McKenzie leaves in three weeks to begin college at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. Good luck Kenz!
 
 

 Music on Main
Posted: August 11

Tonight was the last Music on Main for the summer of 2016.

The group playing tonight was Monophonics out of San Francisco. They were very good.

Pictured above is my good friend Jess Collins.
 
 

 Grand Teton National Park
Posted: August 07

When I woke up this morning there were some nice clouds in the sky here in Driggs. As I love landscape photos with clouds, I decided to take a drive over to Grand Teton National Park for the day.

As you can see from the photos, the clouds were very thick and I got a number of nice shots.

At the end of the day, I took out my Tamron 150-600 to take some photos of waterfowl from the Flat Creek observation platform.
 
 

 Music on Main
Posted: August 04

Music on Main tonight was very good and very well attended. The band that performed, James McMurtry, was outstanding. I have seen them a few times at Targhee Fest
 
 

 Music on Main
Posted: July 28

Music on Main tonight was very good. It was well attended and the band that performed, Cure for the Common, was outstanding.
 
 

 Music on Main
Posted: July 21

Music on Main tonight was very good. It was well attended and the band that performed, the Sook Twins, was outstanding.
 
 

 Targhee Fest
Posted: July 17

This weekend was the 12th annual Targhee Music Festival.

Pictured above is my friend Jess Collins who worked hospitality services for the artists who were performing.

Some of the notable performers were:

Moe, Grace Potter, Drive-By Truckers, JJ Grey, Bette Lavette, Jerry Joesph & the Jackmorons and Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds.
 
 

 Music on Main
Posted: July 14

Went to Music on Main with my good friend Robin Mill. Good attendance and a "target rich" environment for photography.

The second band,
TODO MUNDO, was fantastic.
 
 

 Music on Main
Posted: July 07

Good outing and great music. I got to spend some time with my good friends Matt and Julie (pictured above).

The band that performed was Cha Wa.
 
 

 Fourth of July Parade - Victor ID
Posted: July 04

As usual, this was a great event attended by a large crowd lining Main Street in Victor.
 
 

 Music on Main
Posted: July 04

This was a cold evening with some rain. We did not stay for the whole show.

The band that performed was Kris Lager Band.
 
 

 Music on Main
Posted: June 23

First Music on Main of the summer. It was pretty crowded for this early in the season. The group that performed was Band of Heathens.

The music was good and everyone seemed to be having a great time... especially the kids.
 
 

 Raptor Fest
Posted: June 19

Each year on Father's Day, a family event is held at the Teton Raptor Center. I try to attend every year as it gives me the opportunity to take some photos of the raptors on display.

The tradition of face painting for kids makes for some great photos as well.

When I left the event, I decided to drive Spring Gulch Road to at least scout for future locations. I found one and took a photo. I would like to go back under less contrasty lighting and retake the photo.
 
 

 Signal Mountain
Posted: June 19

I went on an evening photo outing to Signal Mountain with four other members of the Teton Photography Group. This is the first time I was out with this group.

I was introduced to this group a number of years ago when Loren Woods came over to Teton Valley to lead a photo outing for the Teton Regional Land Trust.

We met in Jackson and car pooled to Signal Mountain. After our shoot, we decided to drive to Signal Mountain Lodge for a bit of socializing. Nice group of folks!.
 
 

 Rock Springs WY
Posted: May 28

I have been wanting to try to photograph the wild horses around Rock Springs for a number of years. It seems I usually drive Highway 287 and am nowhere near Rock Springs.

The drive out this year was under mostly rainy conditions so I elected to head toward Rock Springs. There is a Wild Horse Loop Trail north of Rock Springs. This dirt road follows some interesting sights as you can see from these photos. The road ends in Green River Wyoming which is about 11 miles west of Rock Springs.

I only saw one group of wild horses and from a pretty great distance. I used my Tamron 150-600 lens but still had to crop pretty heavily for the photos here.
 
 

 Ben Scharff Baseball Game
Posted: May 22

I went to see Ben Scharff play in a baseball game on Saturday afternoon. These photos were taken using my new Tamron 150-600 mm lens.

It was a beautiful day to watch kids play baseball. kid around with the parents & siblings and take a few photos. For most of these photos, I used a monopod for camera support.

In case you were wondering, Ben's team lost.
 
 

 Forest Park
Posted: May 15

I continued using the new lens today in Forest Park.

I went to the pond area along the east end of the park. I was hoping to spot some water fowl but there weren't any.

I did however meet a group of young fellows who are from India. They are in St. Louis for several months working on an IT project. We had a great time together. Nice folks.
 
 

 Forest Park
Posted: May 15

I continued testing the new lens today at the St. Louis Zoo.

Two things I wanted to test today:

1. Lens used with my Gimbal head, and
2. Lens used with remote shutter release while on the tripod.

Results were inconclusive. The photos still don't jump out at me as being GOOD photos. I don't know if this is the lens or the photographer. I know when I have not shot for awhile my photos are not as good as when I have been shooting quite a bit.
 
 

 New Lens - Tamron 150-600 mm
Posted: April 23

I have been thinking about this lens for some time now. My Canon 500 mm lens is quite large, very heavy, cannot be easily hand held and it does not have a zoom capability. It does however take beautiful photos with some wonderful bokeh.

I was first exposed to the Tamron on Mike Jackson's "Best of the Tetons" blog. Mike purchased this lens around one year ago. He gets some very nice wildlife shots which is what I mainly use the Canon 500 for.

To test out this new lens, I spent the later part of this afternoon at Washington University where we are hosting the UAA Track & Field Championships. I figured this would give me an opportunity to try it out at various zoom levels and to determine how hand hold able it was. The fellow who sold me the lens owns one and swears by the vibration compensation feature.

My initial impression is that hand held it is not as sharp as most of the photos I have seen on Mike Jackson's blog. I suspect that few of Mike's posted images are hand held so I need to test the lens using a tripod and my gimbal head.
 
 

 Teddy's Second Birthday Party
Posted: April 17

Today we celebrated Teddy Scharff's second birthday. Teddy invited members from his pre-school class and family.

We started out with a tour of the Clayton Fire House. The kids got a chance to have their photos taken on the equipment. Afterwards we all went to Imo's for pizza and birthday cake.

Note: I used the Canon 135 f/2 lens for these photos.
 
 

 Forest Park
Posted: March 15

The weather was very nice today (albeit a bit on the humid side for my tastes).

After picking up some tickets to go see the Yonder Mountain String Band at The Pageant on April 9 and having a sandwich at Salume Beddu, I decided to go to Forest Park for some early spring photos.
 
 

 St. Louis Zoo
Posted: February 28

I went to the St. Louis Zoo today with the Jim Scharff family. I had given daughter Emma an old dSLR as she is taking a photography class in school and she seems to love it. It was a nice day so we all decided to take in a day at the Zoo.

Pictured (L-R): Emma with her camera, Ben, Tiffany, Lily and Jim
 

 
Previous / Next
 
  candid's of people

 
Bluegrass Festival

  Music on Main

  Raptor Fest
  
  Special events

  Targhee Fest

 
My Approach to candids


TETONS/Yellowstone

  Grand Teton NP

  Swabacher Landing

  Yellowstone NP


STATES

  Colorado

 
Idaho


 
Michigan

 
Missouri

 
Utah


  Wyoming

  Other states


OTHER


  Astrophotography

  Botanical Gardens

  Fireworks


  St. Louis Zoo


FEATURED POSTS


 
Hanksville Utah

  Fall in the Tetons


SUBsCRIBE To this Blog