Andy Zahn
@andyzahn.bsky.social
1.6K followers 220 following 3.3K posts
Photographer, writer, environmentalist, geek I live in the shadow of Mt. St. Helens where I write about cameras and other tech, create YouTube videos, and spend a lot of time out in nature photographing wildlife and the places they live.
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andyzahn.bsky.social
I had this photo pinned to the top of my Twitter feed for four years because whenever I look at it I remember happier times. Those memories grow more precious to me with every passing day.
Cascade Red Fox on a snowbank.
andyzahn.bsky.social
Looks like winter has come to the Olympic Mountains! #wawx
andyzahn.bsky.social
Thanks! Right now I'm waiting to hear back from a few people, and depending on what they say, I may need to mount some sort of public campaign.
andyzahn.bsky.social
I can't really go public with specifics yet, as there's still a lot of behind the scenes work to do, but I found some giant trees this weekend on a ground-truthing expedition. I may need some extra help soon to save them though, so stay tuned!
Giant old growth doug fir.
andyzahn.bsky.social
I have several friends who are still in college, and all of them have this year encountered an issue with elderly professors who are bizarrely enthusiastic about generative AI, going so far as to recommend its use to students.

Institutions at every level need to ban the use of AI in education.
andyzahn.bsky.social
Yep, we could very easily replace timber and cotton, which would be of huge environmental benefit!

I spent a large part of the summer researching a concept where WADNR would facilitate a rapid transition to hemp, and am trying to get them to pursue such a plan instead of logging legacy forests.
andyzahn.bsky.social
It's extremely disappointing to see @governorferguson.bsky.social hand out hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars to prop up the failing #WashingtonState timber industry. Instead, that money should be going towards jumpstarting industrial hemp-based alternatives to timber.
andyzahn.bsky.social
Woke up at 5 AM to cover flowers with frost covers. Hovered 0.2 degrees above freezing, but I bet it will freeze hard tonight. #wawx
andyzahn.bsky.social
Fog rolling in. #wawx
andyzahn.bsky.social
Beautiful autumn evening after a day of constant, pounding rain. #wawx
andyzahn.bsky.social
It's important to remember that while thinning is helpful to restore artificial plantations, it is harmful to natural forests, which are better left alone.
andyzahn.bsky.social
Prior to thinning, this artificial plantation was a doug-fir monoculture. Even ferns struggled to grow in the darkness under the canopy. Now it's a sea of ferns with hazelnut, maple, and numerous other species making a comeback.
andyzahn.bsky.social
Another PolarPro Center Split filter photo!
I'm finding that pumping up the saturation and contrast is the way to get the results I like best with this filter
#photography #fallcolors

Note: this image depicts a former plantation forest which has been thinned and is in the process of recovery.
andyzahn.bsky.social
If you haven't yet watched Troll Bridge, you should watch Troll Bridge.

Great adapted of Terry Pratchett's work; hilarious and melancholy at the same time. youtu.be/V7v_TdLviUE?...
TROLL BRIDGE | The Moving Picture
YouTube video by Snowgum Films
youtu.be
andyzahn.bsky.social
The writing is pretty poor too, and l the family drama drags on a bit. The action is great though, so I was able to sit through the lame parts lol.
andyzahn.bsky.social
Nobody 2 is a fun action movie, but it's unfortunately let down by a rather lame villain. Very flat line delivery, like she's reading off a script. Always a shame when an otherwise fine action flick fumbles the villain.
andyzahn.bsky.social
Testing out my new rain jacket out documenting imperiled old growth trees! Got a fair bit of rain, but it kept me dry - I appreciate the precipitation after the long drought! #wawx

Found some really giant doug firs in a patch of woods that's in danger of being sold off, clearcut, and subdivided. 😔
andyzahn.bsky.social
The PolarPro center split filter is challenging to use for #LandscapePhotography, but can produce striking results in the right circumstances.
andyzahn.bsky.social
I'm testing the new center split filter from Polar Pro. It's a very unusual and tricky filter to use, but can deliver really interesting results! #photography
andyzahn.bsky.social
Autumn colors in the woods aren't super vibrant this year, but still very pretty.

Finally got a ton of rain last night, which is a relief given how dry the past week was. #fallcolors #wawx
andyzahn.bsky.social
That's the beauty of natural succession; ecosystems have built-in mechanisms for insuring enough trees survive to maturity.