Ruminator

From the day we were born (and even before that) our brains developed. Once we thought rationally, we formed opinions. These opinions are how we as individuals process situations, emotions, facts and justify or clarify them in our brains. It is natural and normal. The age of social media has changed our way we deal with opinions. They are glorified and encouraged by social media and the regular media. It is our “right” to voice our opinions whether they were asked for. The problem is people want to voice their opinion on every subject, usually with little to no facts behind it. Their source for facts are Facebook, what someone told them, some website on the internet, or skewed media sources. Problem two is with the internet anyone can find facts to justify their topic at hand. If I look up, the world is flat, or Bigfoot exists, or so and so is the best candidate for President, there are dozens of websites to ‘prove’ I am right. The sources are based on opinions and rarely, if ever, fac

Earlier this year, I was asked by my contact at Harrison-Crawford State Forest if I would like to visit a secret place, to which I enthusiastically said yes. I met her a few days later and was handed a handwritten document with various clues to the adventure. Simply titled A Adventure to Scott Mountain . I was given 3 rules I must follow on this adventure. First, I may ask for only two hints. Next, I am not to go alone as the last location (more below) is “ way out ”. Finally, I am to have a plan for how I am going to get out. She states “ I didn’t give you any directions back .” I am always one who loves to hike, explore and discover. If it is off the beaten path or in a much untraveled area, then even better. That adds to the allure for me. I presented the clues and a handwritten note to Mark, who was happy to go on this adventure with me, and we even drove to the starting point earlier this spring. I was given this map of sorts in late spring, so my attempt will be this late fall or

I got commissioned. I am very excited, yet nervous all at the same time. A doctor contacted me recently, explaining that her practice was expanding their office and leasing another wing next to their own. She wants my photographs to line her walls. She had only two stipulations. First, all photos were to be black & white (my favorite) and that the photos were of local subjects. She has yet to sign a lease, so I cannot have access to the space until that is completed, plus they need to do construction for the area. Transforming an oral surgeon’s office to a more traditional doctor’s office. One subject she mentioned was Mount St. Francis. I have tons of pictures from that area, so I sent her those from my new website and was told “there are already some we love”. Decisions still need to be made, such as how many prints, what sizes, if she wants exclusive rights to the photos, if I am providing the frames and, of course, cost. I am truly honored and excited about this opportunity and

Photo by: Tim Bindner Our last day in Wyoming was very memorable. We only spent a few hours on our last day there, but it was magnificent. We woke, had breakfast, packed up our suitcases and took them to the car. We drove to the front of our hotel, went inside, and checked out. We then drove down Highway 130 for the last time. I stopped and got a wonderful picture looking back at Centennial and the mountains in the background. A few miles down the road, we turned right on Highway 11. A few miles on that dirt road lead us to our destination for the next few hours. Deerwood Ranch and Wild Horse Eco Sanctuary is the first privately owned wild horse eco sanctuary in the United States. With the number of wild horses dropping in the United States, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) tried using private land to help repopulate the herds. Through a strict selection process, the owners Rich & Jana Wilson were granted the right to provide their 4,700 acre property for the wild mustangs. Wit

Photo by: Tim Bindner At the advice of our hotel front desk, we took a drive and visit ranch. Not a bad drive, but a glorious experience. We left Centennial, headed east through Laramie, past Vedauwoo toward Cheyenne, Wyoming. We were first to arrive at the ranch and were greeted with multiple painted buildings resembling an old western town. I parked the car, watch an old cowboy pull up in a UTV and sit and wait for the store to open. We also waited to purchase tickets. After purchasing tickets, we walked down to the train we would ride in a short time. We heard, then saw many chickens running around us. They called out, chased each other, but paid us no attention. At the bottom of the hill, we saw the train, and I looked at my watch. We still had 30 minutes to wait, so we walked over to a fenced in area, where we saw various animals. First a peacock, then an ostrich, then some horses, goats, donkeys, and camels. Marcie and I walked up to the horse pin, where a black horse came over t

Photos by: Tim Bindner Left to our own devices, we headed to two small towns in Wyoming, and the drive and visit was spectacular. We began with a 1 hour drive to Saratoga, Wyoming. We left our hotel after fueling up on cinnamon rolls we purchased at J’s Prairie Rose Diner . If you are in Laramie, this place has the best food. I could write a blog just in this place alone. Leaving our hotel, we headed up Highway 130 (Snowy Range Pass) and stopped at Silver Lake. We pulled off the road, took a few pictures and then we saw off in the distance Mark driving his truck with a camper in tow. I waved as they drove by and we continued down to our path toward Saratoga. We eventually passed Mark and continued along Highway 130, where we saw signs for Brush Creek Ranch . One sign, then another, then another for Bruch Creek Ranch. Curious, Marcie looked up the ranch and discovered this was over 30,000 acres of a working ranch. It contains horses, cows and goats and they have over 100 miles of fence

Photo by: Tim Bindner We continued our trip with multiple trip to Laramie, Wyoming, visiting an old prison and various restaurants. One trip took to a wonderful spot called Vedawoo. Vedawoo is hard to describe. It sounds simple when I describe it as large and sometimes massive rocks stacked up all over an area, but honestly, that is what it is. Some rocks are the size of basketballs, while others are the size of buildings stretching hundreds of feet in the air. Mark picked us up in the truck and we took the short drive to Larame, then past the town another 20 minutes, where we left the pavement and down a dusty road, the rock formations appeared all around us. The Native Americans named this place Vedawoo which translates to ‘Land of the Earthborn Spirits’. Pulling into one of the parking lots, I was in ah of the pink feldspar, white quartz, black specs and horneblende rocks towering into the sky. This place had a magic about it. We walked, explored, climbed a little and, of course, to

Photo by: Tim Bindner From our travel from Colorado we crossed the border into Wyoming and arrived at Laramie, Wyoming. This was the state where we spent most of our trip. Arriving in Laramie, we visited the Medicine Bow Ranger Station to pick up maps and headed into downtown Laramie for some lunch. We parked a block away and walked over to Crowbar & Grill for a tasty lunch. With our bellies full, we walked back to the car and drove down highway 130 (Snowy Range Pass) toward Centennial, Wyoming. The view from this two-lane highway (picture above) surrounded us with vast fields containing wild horses, cows and elk. In the distance we could see the Medicine Bow National Forest and at the highest peak we saw snow covered tips. Soon we arrived at the hotel. My previous blog provides information on Centennial Wyoming so I shall not repeat it here. After unloading our car we were met by our friends Mark and Lynn, who we ate dinner with at our hotel . After dinner Mark wanted to take us

I have made a big decision today that will affect my photography. I have been thinking about it for a while and decided now is the time to make the change. Daily I post a photo on my Instagram account. I enjoy the platform mostly, there are many negatives that I feel take most of that enjoyment away. First, there are more and more videos popping up on there. I watch videos on YouTube, not on Instagram. Next, I do not post for likes or follows, but I almost daily get random follows for bogus accounts. Next, with those bogus accounts are often followed up with direct messages (DM’s) either saying hello, requesting I follow their page, requests to collaborate, and even requests to click on pornographic links or to have sex. I do my best to block these bogus accounts, but it ends up taking away my joy from using Instagram. I use Instagram to follow other photographers, some celebrities, and not chase follows or likes. I certainly not to delete or block spam or garbage. So what am I doing?