The Restoration of Silver Creek On The Double R Ranch

For those of you who have not seen this video yet, here is a great piece on the Purdy's portion of the Silver Creek restoration project. This is from the Picabo Angler You Tube Channel. Nick Purdy, in addition to operating the Picabo Livestock Company, K-K and Double R Ranch, also owns Picabo Angler in Picabo, Idaho. I am a guide for Picabo Angler.

Kilpatrick Pond Panorama

Below is a panorama--26 images in this case--of the entire Kilpatrick Pond. I took the images a couple of days ago and included both the Nature Conservancy and Purdy sections of Silver Creek. For those of you who do not know, the Kilpatrick Pond on Silver Creek has undergone a major restoration project which essentially culminated a few weeks ago with the "re-filling" of the pond. The pond was lowered to a stream level and diverted to the north while the old dam was taken out and the new dam installed. The impetus of the project was to mitigate warming water temps in the summer months by narrowing the channel and installing a dam with a bottom release in lieu of a top release. Over the summer months the water temps would gain over ten degrees from the upstream to the downstream end of the pond. A dredge was also used downstream of the Kilpatrick Bridge to pump out tons of silt and in doing so deepening the channel as well. Opening Day of fishing this year is on Saturday May, 24th.

Silver Creek Panorama.

Revisiting Images From A Recent Trip

I am in the process of revisiting images from a trip I took to Italy about 3 months ago. I took thousands of images and am finding that it's been helpful to have stepped away from them for however many months. I am noticing details now that I definitely overlooked when I first ran through the images... Venice in the winter really had dreamy light. The shot below was taken near our apartment in the evening and it's of my younger son Charlie. The image was taken using an aperture of ʒ1.2 for very shallow depth of field and no flash was used...

Charlie Price. Venice, Italy.

Camera: Nikon D3s

Lens: Nikon 50 ʒ1.2

Silver Creek

Cumulus clouds and wind and smoke from refuse piles rolls over the clean Picabo Hills and stinks of cottonwood limbs and scorched dessicated weeds. It's spring near Picabo, Idaho.

Spring. Silver Creek, Idaho.

I keep a photography journal where I store thoughts, ideas, quotes, etc. Below is a quote that is a favorite by Theodore Roosevelt:

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The Man In The Arena

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end triumph at high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Bud Purdy

Bud Purdy, an Idaho icon, passed away two days ago at his home in Picabo, Idaho at 96 years of age. Bud was many things including a steward of the land and a gentleman with a core work ethic that garnered respect throughout the west. For those of you who do not know, I work as a guide for the Purdy's out of Picabo Angler in Picabo, Idaho. Below is a video on Bud:

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Bud Purdy in February of 2014. 96th Birthday Celebration. Picabo, Idaho.

Amy Lou's. Mackay, Idaho.

"Can I take your portrait?" I asked Amy Lou a few mornings ago at her restaurant in Mackay, Amy Lou's.

"It won't be the first time," she responded with a bit of a smile. Amy Lou is sassy to say the least. But she really is a warm hearted person who both takes your order and cooks your breakfast.  No need to order your eggs scrambled or sunny-side-up as you'll get your eggs exactly the way she cooks them.

Amy Lou. Mackay, Idaho.

Big Wood River Rainbow

The warm 50Ėš weather is behind us--for now at least-- and we are in the more typical low 40's and blustery weather. It blew today and last night at lower elevations as hard as it has blown all year. Semi trucks were blown over on bridges near Twin Falls today...

Below is an image of a rainbow on the Big Wood River near Ketchum, Idaho.

Big Wood River Rainbow. March.

Big Wood River

It's Midge Madness on the Big Wood River, Idaho at the moment. While the water is a bit chalky in color from recent rain, it is improving in clarity daily and the dry fly fishing is very good. In lieu of fishing today I sat in a run with my camera and tried getting as close to rising fish as I could get without spooking them. Below are two of the images I took.

Feeding Rainbow. Big Wood River, Idaho. March.

A midging Rainbow sharks near the surface of the Big Wood River. March.