the sky's the limit

  

This past week was spent at S-F Scout Ranch near Farmington, Mo., basically in the middle of the woods of eastern Missourah. And the reason Ben and Becca braved the heat and humidity (can you say, Heat Index: 104?)? To rough it with 30 or so of the best teens you'll ever meet. 

And though the days were hot, the evenings were bearable, like on Wednesday around 9:30 p.m., when the Scouts hiked to the top of Castle Rock to search for shooting stars and satellites (and, of course, a few spur-of-the-moment environmental portraits lit by nothing more than a long exposure and an iPhone 3G).

Even the daytime had areas for respite among the tall, leafy trees (although the middle picture may not show it, we were buried in shade as Becca's Young Women braved the High Ropes Course around 3 p.m. Wednesday). A fast shutter (1/2000 sec.) and small aperture (f/9) were used to capture the silhouette as you see it here. We could have gone slower, but it was important to us to capture the blue sky as it appeared naturally to the naked eye.

Check back soon -- more images to come (including one photo that shows what happens when you give three teen-age boys colorful glow sticks and they crack them open with their teeth...)