Long winded intro: I've let this site slack for a long time now, which is pretty lame considering all of the time we have all spent on it. I know a lot of content has moved over to Facebook, but I still think that a forum is a better venue for discussions, especially if we want people that we don't know to join in. I'm going to put some effort into getting things going on here again, so let's start off with a new photo contest. I'm not constantly broke like when we used to run the contests, which means that I'll come up with something cool each month to give away, assuming we get 10+ entries like before.

This month's topic: It's crazy hot here during the summer and heat is a constant thought in my mind. Judging from weather reports, it is hot everywhere in the country, so heat is this month's topic. Most of you know that we are pretty flexible on interpretation of the topic.

This month's prize: This month's prize will be a way to combat the heat: a tricked out bottle setup, with the bottle, a space saver cup, CapCap, bottle carrier, and whatever else I find to throw in. You will have your choice of a Nalgene stainless or Tritan bottle. I'm sure I can find a t-shirt and Going Gear Rite in the Rain notebook to throw in as well.

The rules:
I - Assignment runs July 10-31 @ 11:59 PST
II - Photos have to be taken during July 2010. No recycling!
III - Minimal use of Photoshop allowed (cropping, etc.). Don't add stuff that wasn't there or remove something that was.
IV - Multiple photos can be submitted; I will pick one dictator-style for the voting if you don't tell me which one you want in the poll by the end of the month.
V - We do not host pictures, so you will need your own host. Flikr, Photobucket, Picasa, etc. all work great and are free.
VI - No limit on size of photo on the hosting site, but limit it to 800 pixels in height or width when posting here. Let us know if you need to know how to post an image on here.
VII - Voting on the best picture will run for seven days after the assignment ends. Voting will be restricted to members with 10+ posts.
VII - The winner of the poll will get a prize if at least 10 people participate.

Heat. Hrm...I wonder what I can come up with this. Perhaps whoever takes the photo of me passed out on the dock after my triathlon next week could submit it. They'd probably win. We're hitting 100s this week.

Woohoo! I haven't been taking a lot of pics lately, so this will be nice motivation. And a camping trip this weekend should be good for it.

This is what happens when you take someone from the mountains in Idaho and take them hiking in east coast heat & humidity. Apparently, Climber.girl1 has no idea how any of us breath in this stuff.







This is when she became astonished that rivers could have warm water:

Pretty good start! I really like that first one. It evokes thoughts of heat very well.

Ok, I know a little snarky to post snow in a heat photo contest, but my dog was sooooo hot on our hike, and as soon as he saw the snow, he went nuts. I didn't get many good shots, but I did like this one.

Cat, I love that first one!

That's a great pic of your dog! I want snow. You got the metering on the camera great - you still have details both in the dog & the snow and that's hard for cameras.

Thanks - I got a LOT of crappy ones. Luckily he just kept swimming around in it. For a while if I got definition in the black, the snow was washed out, then if I got the snow, he looked like one black blob. Definitely still learning...

I updated the first post with a picture of the prize...

This all started when my mother asked me if I would cut her grass. I did not have a problem with that but as you all know it is too darn hot to do it during the day. That left 6AM or 9PM, so I picked 9PM. Now I realize that this is very redneck but it worked like a champ. What I have a picture of is a Quark 123 X2 duct taped to a lawn mower. I was also wearing a Quark 123 regular on my ball cap. It was a simple solution to one hot problem.

..I hope this image shows up. It's a match igniting, I took it with a digital camera! very lucky shot
This is my first post, I signed up today becuase I bought some stuff awhile ago and now I get the news letter

Here is my picture this is from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on July 24th

OK, here is my entry, it was so hot (just over 100) that even the squirrels had decided to lay low (click to enlarge):

Lol. That's complicated for us Americans. what's Celsius?

Some good pics being posted.

When it's too hot to keep your legs in the kayak & your spray skirt on (paddling among the north american lotuses, which apparently are rare and only seen in 4 spots in Maryland):

I took this the other night at 10:37 PM. When I got on the highway, the temp went up to 94, but I couldn't drive and take a steady photo.

It was 100 degrees 'F it's hot' each day we were in Moab.
Only lizards dig this heat.



Photo taken: July 2, 2010 in Canyonlands National Park

Photo is unretouched

Here is one from my wedding on July 12th. I know there are some better ones with sweat dripping off our faces but we all had paper towels with us to try and keep that out of the pictures.... if only we had known about this contest. That was some of the best ice water I've ever had.

Man, I 100% feel your pain. It was 95 degrees at 7PM during my wedding. That tux almost killed me.

USE THIS ONE FOR THE CONTEST .... Roscoe's favorite spot during summer:


And Roscoe's least favorite thing (Thunderstorms):

Here are some that my wife and I took on trips this month:

Greetings,

I'm new to the forums and I really would love to enter this contest but it doesn't seem like I have attachment permission. So I uploaded my photo to Flickr and this is the url:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27588568@N04/?saved=1

Could you please post it in such a way that I will be eligible for the contest entry.

With much appreciation,

Laurie

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27588568@N04/?saved=1

Hey Laurie,

That's a great shot! Go introduce yourself in the introductions forum, if you don't mind.

Here is your pic:

storl.. I am only getting half the picture. The rest of the picture is gray. I dont know if its my computer or something else. Just thought you might want to know.

I'm only getting half of his as well