Ryan – Page 3 – Ryan Voigtman

22Jun 2017 by Ryan No Comments

Exploring Whiskeytown: Camden Water Ditch Trail

Fast forward from March to June...that was a long break from hiking looking back, I was using work as an excuse to do nothing. Anyways last week on June 15th I was back at the Tower House Historical District to walk the Camden Water Ditch Trail. Also known as the wildflower trail, to me anyways. The trail is flat and easy going and only around a mile long. [gallery columns="4" size="medium" ids="378,387,386,385,384,383,382,381,380,379"] The Panorama Sphere for today looks down the hill at some wildflowers, and in between the trees you can see the Camden House. [sphere 390]

21Jun 2017 by Ryan No Comments

Exploring Whiskeytown: Clear Creek Vista Trail

Art, Series and Works

Well I feel behind on blogging about my exploration out at Whiskeytown. So this hike is from all the way back on March 31st. I had been completing the hikes out at the Tower House Historical District, and this was on on my list that I had never done before. Now that I have completed this hike I'm not really sure why I hadn't hiked this before and I highly recommend this one. This hike starts off with a small climb up the mountain, but then it levels out as you are walking along an old irrigation ditch. After a short walk you get to the main portion of this hike, the views. You can see a long ways from the vantage you have into the valley below. Including the…

17Apr 2017 by Ryan No Comments

Exploring Whiskeytown: Whiskeytown Falls Trail

Art, Series and Works

On March 23rd I ventured out to the Whiskeytown Falls Trail area, also known as the James K. Carr trail. Over the years this has at times been one of my favorite trails at Whiskeytown. I think it is a combination of a big waterfall at the end, and a decent workout to get there. I had the trail mostly to myself on the way in, there was just one person still on the trail and they were headed out, we passed each other around the 1.5 mile mark. When I reached the waterfall I had plenty of time to enjoy the site, eat my lunch and climb up to the trail closed sign, before some other hikers caught up with me. I've always found this to be one of…

02Apr 2017 by Ryan No Comments

Review of Sleeklens: Landscape Adventure Collection

Art, Reviews

Early in March I received an Email from Sleeklens about reviewing their Landscape Adventure Collection workflow for Photoshop. In essence it is a collection of Photoshop actions with the aim of making Landscape Photographs faster to process. The results are good, as long as you take the time to learn the workflow. It is also important to keep in mind that this set of Actions will not make you a better photographer, nor can it fix a bad shot. You have to start from a good photograph in order to get a good result. [caption id="attachment_281" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Stamp Mill Building[/caption] The basic workflow is that in your Actions menu you will now have a Sleeklens Category with a bunch of actions you can run. They are sorted into sections such…

31Mar 2017 by Ryan No Comments

Exploring Whiskeytown: Brandy Creek Trail

Art, Series and Works

On March 10th I hiked Brandy Creek Trail, this trail starts out in an Old Growth Forest and progresses along Brandy Creek. The trail is about 2 miles with a moderate elevation change. There are some good views of Brandy Creek along the way. Although my favorite part of the trail is the section of Old Growth forest. This trail will take you right by a group Campsite at Whiskeytown, and if you continue you can actually reach Brandy Creek Falls. Past the campsite this trail loses a lot of its interest, you are no longer near Brandy Creek, and it is a mixed conifer forest you are walking through. [sphere 338] [gallery size="medium" columns="4" ids="330,331,332,333,334,335,336"]

25Mar 2017 by Ryan No Comments

Futurelearn: Exploring the World of English Language Teaching

Futurelearn

This was the last week for my second Futurelearn course, Exploring the World of English Language Teaching. Hosted by Cambridge English Language Assessment. The course was led by Monica Poulter and Marie Therese Swabey. The purpose of this course was to serve as an introduction to Teaching English as a Foreign or Second language. The course accomplished its goals of serving as a introduction course. It helped me to begin the process of learning how to be an English Teachers, as well as highlighting the areas that I need to work on. The course covers topics like teaching techniques, grammar; vocabulary; pronunciation, resources, and teaching certificates. While none of the topics were covered in depth there was a great overview of the subject provided. One of the greatest parts of…

18Mar 2017 by Ryan 1 Comment

Exploring Whiskeytown: Shasta Mine Loop Trail

Art, Series and Works

I hiked Shasta Mine Loop Trail on February 24th, 2017. I had wanted to do this trail the last time I was out at Whiskeytown but the road was closed due to a storm that had passed through. At tis time everything was still quite soaked and saturated I knew this trail was mostly on the side of a mountain so I was hoping that the water would have drained off the trail for the most part. But that not how it went, I started at one entrance to the loop, and walked in about 1 1/4 miles until I reached a part of the path that was totally flooded. The water was about 5 inches deep, and stretched around the corner. Now I don't mind crossing a bit of…

16Mar 2017 by Ryan No Comments

Exploring Whiskeytown: Oak Bottom Trail

Art, Series and Works

On February 10th, 2017 I went out to Whiskeytown to hike the Mount Shasta Mine Loop Trail, but a storm earlier in the week caused several rock slides to block the main road in Whiskeytown Recreation Area. So instead I went over and walked the Oak Bottom Trail, at least until the trail was flooded out. I also ended up going to my most photographed waterfall at Whiskeytown, Crystal Creek Falls. It was an overcast day, and seemed like it could have rain, but didn't while I was out. I went Panorama crazy with this set, and there are five panoramas with only three single frame shots. The vertical panorama of the tree is the one with the most images (23 frames), The Panorama of Crystal Creek Falls is the…

13Mar 2017 by Ryan No Comments

Exploring Whiskeytown: El Dorado Mine

Art, Series and Works

Now that the weather is getting nice, I've started to go on hikes, and walkabouts again. Mostly at Whiskeytown Recreation Area. I actually have some catching up to do on blog posts, so the photos here were shot on February 2nd. The weather was full overcast, with a very light drizzle that day. I actually went out to Crystal Creek falls that day as well, but I feel like the visit to the El Dorado Mine was the more productive of the two. I've photographed here many times before, but rarely was happy with the outcomes. This time I feel like the resulting photos are worthwhile. I was also offered the chance to review Sleeklens Landscape Adventure Collection, that review will be coming in a week or so. Most of…

12Mar 2017 by Ryan No Comments

Futurelearn Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime Review

Art, Futurelearn

I recently completed the Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime MOOC (Massively Online Open Course) on Futurelearn, my first MOOC ever. This was a three week course with an estimated 4 hours of time each week. Week 1 was about Stolen/Looted Antiquities and Trafficking, Week 2 was Art Crimes, and Week 3 was about Reparations and Returns. The course was led by Donna Yates. I really enjoyed the course. Particularly week 2 when we covered Art Crime, Week 1 was also very enjoyable. Most memorable was Ai WeiWei's smashed Ancient Urns and the resulting museum crime (of someone smashing one of his Urns), The Gardner art theft, and the concept of art smuggler networks. The format of the course involved primarily videos, and Articles with some Quizzes, Discussions and a couple activities.…