Pages should be viewed in the two-up (side-by-side) page view. You also may be able to control-click/right-click/whatever you do in Windows to view the PDF in the two-page format in the browser. Even compressed, the PDF is a big file, so make yourself a cup of hot cheer while waiting for the ebook to appear. Happy New Year!

View or download PDF of Best of 2025 Photo E-Book in new tab

I think it is best downloaded so pages can be viewed in the two-up (side-by-side) page view. You also may be able to control-click/right-click/whatever you do in Windows to view the PDF in the two-page format in the browser. Even compressed, the PDF is a big file, so make yourself a cup of hot cheer while waiting for the ebook to appear. Happy New Year! Previous books that are available in PDF can be viewed by clicking on the thumbnails below. 

Even after watching a few excellent Kelby One classes, I found photographing props with perfect spin had the promised high rate of failure; I was overjoyed to have been able to focus my Nikon D6 on jets moving hundreds of miles an hour.

https://cyanpixel.photos/reno-air-show-2024

View more in SlickPic photo gallery

Freyja loved living in Idaho, where she was free of the foxtails that plagued her ears and paws in Livermore, California. Here she had soft green grass and the cool water of the Lemhi River. We think that added to her longevity, too. Freyja was loved by family and made many friends. We thank all for their kindness, especially Dr. Andy and Catherine Dingey of Western Dog Salon.

Freyja will be missed. Of course she will. She is in that “better place” romping with the heavenly dog pack of Kilo, Sonja, Olav, Loki, Cheyenna, Maki and Cassie and other dogs that have been special in our lives.

There are plenty of places to read about the history of the Jesuits who founded the missions and how the local population fared. I’ll skip that here. My interest was in the history and architecture that have been preserved for so many centuries.

Click here for more photos.

Air shows are challenging to photograph, especially when trying to use a long lens while seated in the packed stands. These photos were made on Saturday, Sept. 16, the penultimate day of the races.

Two veteran California T-6 pilots, Chris Rushing of Thousand Oaks and Nick Macy of Tulelake were killed in a post-race collision on the final day, Sept. 17. Rushing won the T-6 Class Gold race with Macy finishing in second. They were en route to landing. May they rest in peace. Condolences to their families, crews, friends and the air racing community.

Click here for more photos.

Beaverslides were invented in nearby Beaverhead County, Montana. Rancher Dan French said that area becoming known as the “Land of 10,000 Haystacks.” I am from the ‘Land of 10,000 Lakes,” a number greatly underestimated. I can imagine that the haystacks were, too. I will miss this stalwart neighbor.

Click here for more photos.

This gallery starts with photos of jet pilot Aaron Hogue winning his heat. The 61-year-old from Paso Robles, California, died in a crash while racing the Aero L-29 Super Delfin the following day. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Condolences to his family, friends, aviation community and business associates.

Click here for more photos.

Birdie with the yellow bill/hopped upon my windowsill/cocked his shining eye and said: (and then some some clever or horrible pun like “What did you do in the kitchen? Sink?).

Axel Torgerson

A few Axel videos are available on YouTube. Just fast-forward toward the end. But I digress. Birdies with yellow bills, or not, have caught my attention for many years. I appreciate the Audubon Society’s bird field guide and Merlin Bird ID app, which does the heavy lifting when it comes to identifying the winged creatures. The Merlin app can even identify a camera-shy bird by its song. In my newspaper days, I learned that misidentifying a bird leads to angry and snide phone calls, even when the ID came from a trustworthy expert. Sorry that the captions couldn’t have been more specific.

Click here for a recipe. I used the coconut and red licorice only the first year. At least two 16-ounce plastic tubs and cupcake decorator icing take their place. This year’s experiment (2024) was to use 7-minute frosting, which due to high altitude became 27-minute frosting. Roll the cursor over each photo for the year the cake was created.

It used to be that Valentines were something that filled a shoebox decorated with a pasted-on paper lace doily and construction paper hearts. Everyone in our grade school classroom was supposed to give a Valentine to each fellow classmate. It didn’t work out that way. The popular kids had boxes stuffed with the tiny white envelopes, sometimes with hand-drawn hearts and stickers on them. Other kids, like me, had a few rattling around the box. Flash forward many years and I’m finding Valentines in radishes, the leaves of a lilac bush and in rocks as I walk near the Salmon or Lemhi rivers here in Idaho. So no hard feelings, former classmates. No worries. My heart is full.

Click here for more photos.

Click here for more photos.

Other assignments took me to the Oakland Zoo to meet elephants M’Dunda, Donna, Lisa and their team of caretakers and handlers. The chance to touch the bottom of one of M’Dunda’s feet was a real treat. The zoo had just expanded their habitat to make it as natural as possible. I’d love to see elephants in the wild.

Richard Zimmerman, best known Dugout Dick, had the hermit lifestyle figured out before we retreated into our cocoons. Shunning a picked a gorgeous site along the Salmon River and carved his home out of the mountainside. He created a series of dugouts, cabins and an orchard, and charged visitors to tour the property and stay awhile. He grew his own food and lived off the land before “off the grid” became the stuff of TV shows. He was a squatter until the Bureau of Land Management granted him a lifetime lease. One of his cabins has been preserved and was a fun discovery on a Sunday where-does-this-road-go drive.

Dugout Dick died in 2010. Watch this NBC news story to hear him sing as perhaps only he could, and learn more about the “Salmon River caveman.”

Click here for more photos.

Seeing these pictographs brought me back to a 2019 hike in Baja California near Loreto, Mexico. The Canipole cave paintings require a lot more effort to see. There are similarities in the colors used on the rocks. Bright orange paintings are found at both. It seems easier to interpret the Canipole illustrations as they more closely resemble birds and fish, while those in Idaho are less specific in my mind.

On a newspaper photo assignment years ago, I visited Vasco Regional Preserve near Livermore, California. Indigenous cave art there had been defaced. Access was only by guided tour. Similar vandalism has marred ancient pictographs and petroglyphs throughout North America. You can’t fix stupid. You also can’t fix what was created ages ago. That’s why I’m not specific about where these can be seen in person, even though they would be well-known to area locals.

Everything covered in white crystals is really stunning. Grab your camera and explore your immediate surroundings while any related black ice clears from the roads.

Click here to see what AccuWeather has to say about rime ice and hoarfrost.

Last fall we planted more than 100 bulbs in hopes of a colorful garden this year. We left behind hundreds of tulips, daffodils and other flowers when we moved from our first house. Now we’re on our fourth. On a whim, I added a few amaryllis to the most recent order. I don’t have a green thumb and haven’t had a great deal of luck growing anything indoors. There are months of waiting to see if the tiny bit of green sticking out from the top will become the beautiful flowers pictured in the catalog

Amaryllis bulbs required only a few weeks before the fun began. The first bulb, a Papillo with maroon and light green butterfly-like flowers, bloomed for just a few days before continuing on its life cycle. With blooms a bit larger than a salad plate, the second bulb, called Twinkle, is a more traditional red and white. It is no little star. It is sending up a second spike, but so far there are no leaves.

Maybe we’ll see them again next year if we treat the bulbs properly. Please check out the slideshow that starts with Twinkle and ends with Papilio.

Click here for more photos.

Mario explained that the paintings were a way of communicating with people who might pass through the area, much like a newspaper or bulletin board would today. Most of the drawings creatures found in the region. From the drawings, it is interpreted that there were many more whales in the sea than found today. Other paintings are of turtles and birds. Some are geometric shapes and series of dots. Colors of the pre-Hispanic paintings are vibrant.

If you go: contact Wild Loreto Tours Mario, who said he is the only guide to have permission to travel through private land for access, is full of information about the history of the area, as well as its flora and fauna. Plus, he’s full of encouragement when you may feel like turning back. Be sure to have good nonslip walking shoes or boots that will support your feet on uneven, rocky surfaces.

Click here for more photos.

While I’m not a true coin collector, it was impossible to ignore the release of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness quarter ceremony today at Salmon Junior-Senior High School. The quarter, the 50th in the U.S. Mint’s America the Beautiful series, pays homage to the pristine 2.3-million acre wilderness area that features the wild and rushing Salmon River, national forests, steep canyons and mountains, and a large variety of wildlife. It was later named for Frank Church, the Idaho senator who fought to have the wilderness area protected.

The gymnasium was packed with students from throughout the county and members of the community who, like me, wanted to be part of this event. Children younger than 18 were given a quarter while everyone else could exchange $10 for a roll of the new coins.

Watch for these coins in your change. You can carry a two bits of “The Frank” with you.

Click here for more photos.

This is Mom’s off-limits Argus Autronic 35 from the 1960s. It was her special “slide camera” and woe to any kid who touched this camera without permission. That often meant woe to me, especially after she gave my precious Kodak Instamatic to Grandpa as we left Norway in 1969. And I should stop being grumpy about it because now he’d have a camera and could send us pictures. I could always get another camera. I eyed the Argus as that replacement. I wanted the Argus. I coveted the Argus. It looked cool. It had twisty knobs. It was kinda geeky. If I had a camera like this then I would not have to pose in front of it. It was not to be. A camera wouldn’t be forthcoming for quite awhile. Photography would become my life’s work. I have been through many cameras since 1969.

I confess to have snuck some photos from time to time. Back in the ’60s, developing film was expensive. A roll might sit in the camera for half the year. I had to be careful not to finish it off. I also had to remind Mom about that time she took that photo that she didn’t remember. Mine, but hers. She probably caught on. I stopped getting into trouble. About a decade ago, she gave me the rangefinder in its original box, complete with the flash attachment that connected to the side and a few packages of bulbs (never, ever snuck). All sit on my camera shelf of fame.

Mom passed away on August 11 and would have been 96 today, August 23. My brother and I posted a photo gallery on Facebook. Some of the photos were made with this camera. Thank you for your condolences, kind expressions, memories and the variety of emojis on the gallery. All are very much appreciated.

Snow in the San Francisco Bay Area is rare. While other parts of the country can’t wait to get rid of their snow and cold weather, it is such a novelty here that it leads the news for days. Some residents have never experienced snow and head to the highest peaks to frolic in the white stuff.

I welcome a new look for familiar landscapes. I was up early this morning to capture these images without venturing far from my own yard as commute traffic whizzed by. The sun will return the peaks to their normal appearance soon.

Click here for more photos.

Separated from his mama at too young an age, Jasper did not learn what was food and what wasn’t. No shoelace, no fuzzy kitty toy, no brand-new-never-worn wool sock, no fluffy blanket or towel was safe from him. Woe to the person who ignored the warning to put shoes away in the closet. We were surprised when we did not find quilts in the litter box.

Despite his quirky diet (he eventually learned to prefer what was in his dish), we found him to be the friendliest cat to live with us. Any visitor became his instant friend. He never met a lap that didn’t inspire him to curl up and purr.

Jasper became ill, stopped eating and struggled to breathe. X-rays made at the vet’s office showed severe congestive heart failure and other major health problems. He would not get well. The horribly difficult decision to do what was best for him was made. There will never be another cat like him. The house feels different. Thank you, Jasper, for being a great companion.

Click here for more photos.

Moments later, Barker and partner Mike Hall, both lead technicians for Quantitative Consultants,  checked to see if the fish had been previously tagged. If so, it had been caught before and would be in a database of individual fish. Or, it had swallowed a fish that had been tagged. 

“It’s like catching fish in a barrel,” Hall joked. 

Biologists and technicians identify, tag, weigh and measure the target fish and then release them upstream to be captured again in the large rotary trap, or downstream if already tagged. That helps estimate the number of out-migrating fish. Biologists and technicians identify, tag, weigh and measure the target fish and then release them upstream to be captured again in the large rotary trap, or downstream if already tagged. That helps estimate the number of out-migrating fish.

Native fish that live in the river year-round also are counted, measured and weighed before being set free downstream. Even sculpin, the bottom of the food chain, are important. Once let go, the bull trout stayed near the trap — perhaps in hopes of an easy meal or two. 

Quantitative Consultants is under contract from the Bonneville Power Administration to monitor the population of migrating Chinook salmon and steelhead trout to “offset” the number of these fish that die in BPA’s hydropower systems. The project also is in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

While most are passing through, those that are repeat visitors can become familiar faces (or fins) and have been given nicknames. Each tagged fish with Passive Integrated Transponder tag that passes over an antenna throughout the watershed is monitored. fish logged can be tracked at Columbia Basin PIT Tag Information System (PTAGIS) , a public database. 

Sunsets can be the ultimate eye candy. They happen every day, but are unique and sometimes surprising. Just when I thought I had the perfect photo lined up, a hummingbird decided to fly into the frame. Magic!

It’s migration season for many four-footed and winged critters. Birds are looking for new homes in warmer climates, just passing through Salmon, Idaho, for a meal. Several bird guides say this is a black-capped chickadee. Other animals follow the food. Neighbors have been setting out feed for the deer that stick around their yards. They are likely to be permanent residents, especially the fawns that were born there earlier this year. They know they have a good thing here.

A doe cautiously approaches the spot where some tasty cracked corn has been left. (© 2017 Cindi Christie/Cyanpixel)

Snow fell overnight, but quickly melted except for where it is shoveled into some piles on the deck. It was just enough for the first snowball-making of the season. 

The weather app reported that it was 28 degrees this morning here in Salmon, Idaho. As the sun cleared the mountains, it was time to quickly grab a camera and photograph the frosty landscape while it lasted.

The Norwegians say that there is no bad weather, only bad clothing. Having grown up in Minnesota, I am very familiar with being prepared for the change in seasons. We’d take one weekend and swap out our summer wardrobes for clothing more suitable for fall and winter. Then we’d sweat through that final heat wave with shorts and T-shirts out of easy reach until springtime. Warmer weather is forecast.

Yeah, yeah, winter is coming. A week of summer is remaining and the first snow has fallen here in Lemhi County, Idaho. Within a week’s time we’ve gone from shorts and T-shirts to jackets and boots, and A/C to heater. Windshield scrapers will be replacing the fidget spinners that have been marked down several times in search of an impulse buy at the checkout counter of the hardware store. Let’s slow things down a bit. The leaves have yet to turn color. Winter, please be patient.

This scene is all too common around here. Local air is clean, but western fires share smoke and sometimes ash far beyond their boundaries.

“Paint Your Wagon” is one of our favorite movies. I can hardly wait until the gold prospectors, all hunkered down in the storm, start singing with beautiful harmonies:
The rain is Tess,
The fire’s Joe
And they call the wind Maria

What do we call the smoke? It’s left out of the brilliant song by Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe. We can’t call it Karl, which is reserved for San Francisco’s famous fog. Hurricanes and tropical storms get their own names. More than half of the country is affected by thick smoke from western fires that are burning hundreds of thousands of acres. And we’re the lucky ones. We’re didn’t have to evacuate our homes as the flames raced through the forested mountains of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, British Columbia and the rest of the West. We just have to deal with smoky air and fine ash covering everything, as if the forests are redistributing themselves.

If you have any influence, please send Tess. Lots and lots of Tess.

Fine ash from fires burning throughout the West cover the spa lid on Sept. 4, 2017, in Salmon, Idaho. (© 2017 Cindi Christie/Cyanpixel)

Some neighbors came over for dinner last week. It was the first time to meet one of them. Besides the items they said they would contribute to dinner came a bouquet of gladiolus (more on them another day), raspberry preserves, apricot preserves and zucchini fresh from the garden. What a nice welcome to the neighborhood.

We were told that there are a two times a year here when you lock your doors and roll up the car windows: zucchini season and rhubarb season. However, we were more than happy to accept the abundant produce and now know a sneaky way to get rid of excess rhubarb next spring. One of the zucchini, however, was about half the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. I was about to hollow it out and slap some wheels on it when a better idea emerged: check recipes on Pinterest.

This one from the Dash of Sanity blog used the most zucchini. I added some nutmeg. The yield was two loaves today and two yesterday, plus some leftover grated squash for tonight’s dinner.

More zucchini is lurking in the kitchen. Check your doors and windows

Zucchini from a neighbor’s garden is turned into bread on Aug. 24, 2017. (© 2017 Cindi Christie/Cyanpixel)

Paying homage to Doctor Dolittle, I nicknamed these twin fawns Pushmi-Pullyu. Mama was barely a leap and bound away from the pair, which had just nursed. They are regular visitors to the pasture and it has been fun to watch them grow. This photo was made with a 300mm lens and 1.7 converter for the equivalent of 510mm. They are very tiny in the original, uncropped frame. 

This tiny bird came to rest on the back deck. It appeared a bit stunned but not with an obvious injury. Maybe it had just left the nest and was making plans for its next adventure. No matter how it came to rest just outside the sliding glass door, I knew that golden retriever Freyja would love to give it a ride in her mouth — especially on the way to her stomach. It didn’t chirp or flutter as I scooped it up and placed it out of harm’s way, but fortunately within range of my camera’s long lens. I am happy to report that it took wing shortly after its modeling session. 

Members of the Idaho Birding group on Facebook didn’t agree at first on what kind of bird it is, but orange-crowned warbler(Oreothlypis celata) got most of the votes. I appreciate that they so readily shared their knowledge and pointed me to some identification tools to use in the future. There are some really fantastic bird photographers in these parts. In my old caption-writing days, given the chance of being incorrect and having to answer phone calls or be the subject of letters to the editor, I would just call it a young bird. What I do know for sure is it didn’t become Freyja’s midday snack. 

Yellow-green and gray feathers are seen on this young bird. (© 2017 Cindi Christie/Cyanpixel)

What’s not to love except for the occasional scary thunderstorm? There is green grass, fun critters to watch and flying discs to catch. You need more than one as she is reluctant to give up her prized possession. Drop by and toss a few.

It’s really tough to drive in Sedona. One could go around and around and around the maddening traffic circles unless ignoring the distracting scenery. It’s much better to be the passenger. Here are some photos from Sedona, Arizona, and nearby. 

These flowers were found on the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Maui. 

Top Four Catalogs
46 Land’s End
42 Cabela’s
27 Coldwater Creek
24 Eddie Bauer

Heaviest Catalog
Cabela’s 2010 Limited Fall Edition
1320 pages
4 pounds 3.7 ounces

How to Get Off Catalog Mailing Lists
www.catalogchoice.org
www.dmachoice.org/

Click for the Dakota County parks website.

Click here for more photos.

We watched the 2011 season’s premiere of “So You Think You Can Dance,” listening as Nathan called out his shots during the Atlanta segment. The idea was that he and his friends would match his shots with a shot from their alcoholic beverage of choice. They quickly realized that they wouldn’t survive. Then the long-awaited credits. Yes, his name was there among the associate producers — misspelled. He took it in stride. It was corrected for the second. Nathan was part of the video crew in Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, besides Atlanta.