Gary and Ginger stop for a drink and snack on the way back to the Tower trailhead – Piney Creek Wilderness
01 January 2012 | Copyright © 2012 Gary Allman
1 January 2012 | Categories: Activities and Events, Camping, Hikes, Mississippi, Self Portrait | Tags: Gary Allman, Ginger, Hiking, Nikon D7000, Photography, South West Missouri | Leave A Comment »
Gary and Sprinky
05 October 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
5 October 2011 | Categories: Around Springfield, Friends and Family, Self Portrait | Tags: Flash, Gary Allman, Nikon D7000, Photography, SB-700 Speedlight, SB-900 Speedlight, Self Portrait, Tripod | Leave A Comment »
Michaela – Two
01 October | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
1 October 2011 | Categories: Around Springfield, Others | Tags: Available Light, Gary Allman, Michaela, Nikon D7000, Photography, Portrait | Leave A Comment »
Michaela – One
Shortly after this session my computer went into terminal decline. As a consequence I stopped taking pictures, except those needed to complete my 365 days project.
I now (December 2011) have a new, much better machine, and I can start processing again, so it’s time to get out and take pictures though now the weather’s settling into a winter pattern.
01 October 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
1 October 2011 | Categories: Around Springfield, Others | Tags: Gary Allman, Michaela, Nikon D7000, Photography, Portrait | Leave A Comment »
McDonald’s, I’m good ‘n cold and I have two egg McMuffins!
This picture also appears in my 365 Days of 2011 blog.
29 August 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
29 August 2011 | Categories: City, Days Out, Self Portrait | Tags: Breakfast, Egg McMuffin, Gary Allman, McDonalds, Nikon D7000, On the road, Photography, Self Portrait | Leave A Comment »
Kite flying on Old Hunstanton Beach
9 July 2011 | Categories: Around England, Days Out, Others, Sea | Tags: Beach, Gary Allman, Kite Flying, Nikon D7000, Photography | Leave A Comment »
More fun in the workshop
This is another picture from my 365 Days of 2011 project, taken while I was working on building a “batch-loaded, inverted down-draft gassifier” wood stove out of old tin cans. Building the stove kept me occupied for a couple of hours. The reasons for trying this are (1) it’s fun, (2) carrying a traditional stove and fuel adds around 2-3 lb to my backpack. A stove like this should weigh around 4 oz, is smaller than my backpacking stove, and (3) did I mention it’s fun? Anything involving power tools and fire has to be. In the picture I’m lining up the outer casing before drilling the air inlet holes.
Postscript: the stove worked, but not efficiently enough for my liking, the burner inset wasn’t deep enough and it wasn’t tall enough to draw properly. Watching the jets of wood gas burning is fascinating. A Mark II stove followed which works a lot better and I’m toying with modifications to that design for the Mark III.
05 April 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
5 April 2011 | Categories: Activities and Events, Around Springfield, Camping, People, Self Portrait, USA | Tags: Gary Allman, Nikon D40X, Photography, Self Portrait | Leave A Comment »
Susan and Natalie
This is a combination of two almost identical images. I combined them because the positioning of Susan’s hand was better in the second shot which was composed to remove some background distractions, but the overall composition of the first shot was better, despite the distracting background elements. The combined shot removed the distractions and kept the best pose and composition.
13 March 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
13 March 2011 | Categories: Around Springfield, Church, Friends and Family, People, USA | Tags: Available Light, Black and White, BW, Gary Allman, Natalie, Nikon D40X, Photography, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Springfield Missouri, Susan | Leave A Comment »
High school parking lot
22 February 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
22 February 2011 | Categories: Around Springfield, People, Self Portrait, USA | Tags: Colour, Faux Lomo, Gary Allman, Nikon D40X, Photography | Leave A Comment »
Last thing on a Tuesday night
It is surprising how insidious the traps are in the 365 days project. I have had a run of photographic luck, and suddenly I find myself in the mindset that I shouldn’t post anything that’s not at least average. I spent a lot of time and took sixty odd pictures in two locations to get today’s picture. I even juggled with a reflector in one hand and a cat in the other at one point.
All my 2011 365 days pictures can be found on my 365 days blog and on my 365 days Flickr set
15 February 2011 | 365:046 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
15 February 2011 | Categories: Around Springfield, People, Self Portrait, USA | Tags: Available Light, Black and White, Gary Allman, Nikon D40X, Photography, Self Portrait | Leave A Comment »
St. Valentine’s Day breakfast at Anton’s Coffee Shop

14 February 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
14 February 2011 | Categories: Activities and Events, Around Springfield, Days Out, Friends and Family, People, USA | Tags: Anton's Coffee Shop, Family Portrait, Gary Allman, Ginger Allman, Nikon D40X, Photography, Springfield Missouri | Leave A Comment »
Proud dad
Ginger holds Natalie Anne, born on the evening of Wednesday February 2, 2011, while dad, Matt, hovers protectively in the background.
As I was editing these pictures I received news of a death in the family back in the UK.
It was expected, but I was deeply saddened by the news. Saddened that it happened so soon and so quickly. Saddened that I wasn’t there to say my goodbyes or provide support.
Just as one life ends another has begun.
03 February 2011 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
3 February 2011 | Categories: Around Springfield, Friends and Family, People, USA | Tags: Available Light, Black and White, BW, Gary Allman, Hospital, Newborn, Nikon D40X, Photography, Portrait | Leave A Comment »
Lighting test
It turned out all my preparation was in vain as I ended up taking pictures on stage during the ceremony.
29 January 2011 | Diocese of West Missouri Youths’ 2011 Bishop’s Ball | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
29 January 2011 | Categories: Activities and Events, Around Missouri, Church, Days Out, Friends and Family, People, USA | Tags: Desaturated, Gary Allman, Ginger Allman, Nikon D40X, Photography, Portrait | Leave A Comment »
Gary in the workshop
With temperatures up in the sixties expected, we were planning on going out in the kayaks. That didn’t happen. Some shopping got done and I spent some time in the workshop instead.
First I repaired a kitchen drawer and in the process learned two valuable safety lessons. Then I made my self a pair of huaraches. I’ve been reading up on minimalist footware for quite a while and the huaraches seem to be the way to go, providing a very open shoe with a firmly attached sole. They are also very easy to make. So today I made a test pair. The finish of the sole cut-out is a bit rough, but I don’t expect these to last long, so I’m not going to worry about it.
Now I’ll have to give them a test and see how well they fair out on the trail and around home. One thing that has surprised me is that I’m having trouble getting used to the feel of the cord between my toes. As a long term flip-flop wearer I wasn’t expecting it to be an issue.
28 January 2011 | 365:028 | Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman
28 January 2011 | Categories: Activities and Events, Around Springfield, Friends and Family, People, Self Portrait, USA, Work | Tags: Black and White, BW, DIY, Drill Stand, Drilling, Gary Allman, Nikon D40X, Photography, Self Portrait | Leave A Comment »
Merry Christmas 2010
Getzger is completely unimpressed at being called in to act in the role of Santa.
Just so that Getzger isn’t feeling too put upon in the silly hat stakes, here am I in my Santa Hat.
25 December 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
25 December 2010 | Categories: Around Springfield, Friends and Family, Self Portrait, USA | Tags: abyssinian, Christmas 2010, Gary Allman, Getzger Cat, Photography, Santa Hat | Leave A Comment »
Gary and Ginger Sitting by the camp fire in the moonlight
We decided to cheat on preparing the fire. Not wanting to spend a lot of time and energy gathering and cutting wood, we bought some logs for $4 and I split them with an 8lb non backpacking axe. However, we did successfully light the fire backpacking style using cotton wool pads coated with Vaseline.
20 November 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
20 November 2010 | Categories: Activities and Events, Around Missouri, Camping, Days Out, Friends and Family, People, Self Portrait, USA | Tags: Berry Bend, Gary Allman, Ginger, Harry S Truman Lake, Low Light, Missouri, Night, Nikon D40X, Photography | Leave A Comment »
Gary and Ginger: wildlife and lake watching
Friday evening we took Alek, Katie and a couple of kids from youth group to Kansas City for a Church event. We needed to be on hand to collect them again Sunday afternoon, so we left Lanie in the capable hands of Ginger’s cousin Betsy, put Getzger in charge at home and once we’d dropped the big kids off we turned around and went back to go camping at Berry Bend on Harry S. Truman Lake.
We didn’t bother taking the kayaks; we had a very nice quiet day sitting watching the lake and wildlife instead. It gave us a change to try out our Trekker chairs. I was dubious about sitting so low to the ground, but they proved very comfortable. The great thing about the chairs is that they use our existing Therm-A-Rest mattresses for the seat and seat back so there’s very little extra to carry. Which brings me to a problem. My Nikon weighs in at 2lbs. I need something lighter for backpacking, or I’m going to have to compromise somewhere else. We’ll see.
While sitting here we saw loads of different woodpeckers, hawks, and other birds including a bald eagle. We also watched the squirrels and chipmunks rushing around. Over the course of the weekend we also saw a deer, possum, coyote, and evidence of a beaver.
I never did get a chance to read the book I brought along, and I don’t think Ginger got much knitting done either.
20 November 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
20 November 2010 | Categories: Activities and Events, Around Missouri, Camping, Friends and Family, People, Self Portrait, USA | Tags: Berry Bend, Camping, Gary Allman, Harry S Truman Lake, Missouri, Nikon D40X, Photography, Self Portrait | Leave A Comment »
Oh noes
21 October 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
21 October 2010 | Categories: Around Springfield, Friends and Family, People, USA | Tags: abyssinian, Black and White, BW, Gary Allman, Getzger Cat, Nikon D40X, Photography | Leave A Comment »
Tricia makes a splash
Slideshow of all the block party pictures
19 September 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
19 September 2010 | Categories: Activities and Events, Around Springfield, Church, Days Out, People, USA | Tags: Christ Church Springfield Missouri, Church, Gary Allman, Nikon D40X, Photography, Springfield Missouri | Leave A Comment »
Christ Episcopal Church Springfield, Block Party 2010
19 September 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
19 September 2010 | Categories: Activities and Events, Around Springfield, Church, People, USA | Tags: Christ Episcopal Church, Church, Gary Allman, Nikon D40X, Photography, Springfield Missouri | Leave A Comment »
Sunrise and fishing on Table Rock Lake
The peace, tranquility, light and mist on the water more than made up for being up at six-thirty.
20 June 2010| Big Bay Recreation Area | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman
20 June 2010 | Categories: Activities and Events, Around Missouri, Camping, Fishing, Nature, Others, People, USA, Water (Rivers and Lakes) | Tags: Fishing, Gary Allman, Missouri, Nikon D40X, Ozarks, Photography, Silhouette, South West Missouri, Sunrise, Table Rock Lake | Leave A Comment »
Christ Episcopal Church Father Daughter Dance
I was asked if I would take pictures at the Church’s annual father daughter dance. I’m glad I did as I managed to get several nice portraits. This one is my favorite from the afternoon’s shoot. Here are a sample of the afternoon’s pictures.
18 April 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman | Christ Episcopal Church Father Daughter Dance
18 April 2010 | Categories: Around Springfield, Church, People, USA | Tags: Church, Gary Allman, Nikon D40X, Photography, Portrait, Springfield Missouri | Leave A Comment »
Lessons at Grey Campbell Farmstead
In a moment of temporary insanity I volunteered to help chaperon a group fifth graders (10-11 year olds) on a school visit to the oldest surviving house in Springfield, which dates back to 1856.
The main house has just two rooms, there’s a separate cook house, granary, barn, cemetery and of course privy.
One strange aspect of the visit was the almost constant gunfire which the farmstead staff said came from a civil war skirmish. The actual source was the nearby (250 yards – I measured it on Google maps) prison firing range. I’m not sure if the guards need that much practice or if it’s a physiological gambit to keep the inmates in line.
Here we see some of the children using slates to do some proper *British* English spellings as part of an example lesson.
13 April 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman | Grey Campbell Farmstead
13 April 2010 | Categories: Around Missouri, Around Springfield, People, USA | Tags: Available Light, Gary Allman, Nikon D40X, Photography, Springfield Missouri | Leave A Comment »
Cutting Wood
We had just finished cutting wood and loading the pick-up, when I spotted this picture of Tom, his son, and the truck silhouetted against the sky. I deliberately under exposed the picture with this treatment in mind. I think the composition would be a little better if we hadn’t already loaded the wheel barrow.
We’ve spent several Saturdays working at this location which is around 25 miles South of Springfield. It has a wonderful view of the Ozark hills, albeit spoiled by Highway 65 and the advertising hoardings that stand alongside it.
05 March 2010 | Copyright © 2010 Gary Allman | Off Hwy 65, South of Springfield, Missouri
5 March 2010 | Categories: Activities and Events, Around Missouri, Days Out, Friends and Family, Landscape, Nature, People, USA | Tags: Black and White, Gary Allman, Missouri, Nikon D40X, Photography, Silhouette, South West Missouri | Leave A Comment »
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