No dragons

I went out to the Delta Ponds that are just over a mile from my house with the intention of shooting dragonfly’s.  I find them so fascinating and colorful but with the exception of just a few I found darting about amongst the shore grass there were not many to be had and not many that were willing to slow down long enough for a shot.  Perhaps I will try again tomorrow.

On my way back down the trail I did notice wonderful cloud formations reflected in the pond and stopped to make the following image.  It is a set of 3 images stitched together from HDR images that were each composed of 5 shots – so a total of 15 images went into this one.  Also I did use a polarizing filter in order to darken the sky and to take some of the glare off the water.  Nice way to spend an afternoon.

Ridgeline trail

Following my morning Spin Class and a breakfast while watching an episode of Outdoor Idaho that centered on the Landscape Photographers of Idaho – always a motivational video for me – I headed out with camera in bag but no particular location to shoot in mind.  I ended up at the trialhead for the Ridgeline Trial that is anchored on Willamette Street just south of the city limits.

I was greeted by fields of white daisies that followed along the trail for quite a while until the path dips into the 2nd growth forest of Hemlock and Douglas_Fir.  These two were shot on the way up the hill —

and this one was shot on the way back toward the car.

While in the forest I kept looking around for leading lines that would take the viewer deep into the forest but really never found exactly what I was looking for.  However as the sun began to break through the clouds there were paths of sunlight that lit up the forest.

It was a nice way to spend part of my morning.  So nice to live in a town with such easy access to beautiful fields and forests.

 

Something different

Yesterday I stopped by The Gallery at the Watershed  {http://www.http://tgatws.com/} to have a look at their new exhibit and was inspired by the fascinating abstract art that surrounded me.  In mid-afternoon – not a great time to go shooting – I went out to the wetlands with the idea of continuing the test of my recently repaired camera and got caught up in what I have to come to think of as natural abstracts.

This feels way out of my comfort zone and I am sure a lot of you will not much care for these images but they were fun to do and I think  it is always good to stretch a bit.  (Click on the images to get a larger view)

From the shore:

From the mud flats:

Along the side of the trail:

A trip to the mountains will be coming along soon and I am looking forward to doing some large scenes with the camera but all indications are that Canon solved the problem this time.

A Fix

A fix both for me and for my camera.  I got the camera back from Canon this morning with the following Service Details:  Your product has been examined and it was found that there was a foreign object in the imaging sensor assembly. The imaging sensor assembly was cleaned.  Product functions were confirmed.   Helped to reaffirm that I was not totally crazy and perhaps explains why I would get 50 shots that looked fine and then 10 that were choked with noise and other artifacts.  My thanks to those of you who I whined to for your patience – especially Dave Hill.

The other fix was more personal. I went down to garden just to test out the camera repair and to get in some lens time.  Things seem to be working just fine and the garden is in wonderful bloom right now.

Rescued

A little over a week ago I spent a wonderful evening at Ray Atkeson Point overlooking Sparks Lake and the South Sister.  One of my favorite images from the outing was hopelessly mired in noise and in fact was one of the reasons that I sent my camera back to Canon for repair.  I asked my friend Bruce McCammon for a recommendation for a noise removal program and he pointed me to his favorite and I now think mine – Noiseware by Imagenomic.  Wonderful program and very effective.  A big thanks goes out to Bruce.

The image below is the rescued shot and brings back memories of great evening in the Cascades with a dear friend from Sisters and by chance work chums from my days on the Willamette National Forest.  Not the most spectacular image I have ever gotten at this location but it sure was a nice evening and fulfilled my need to get back into the mountains.

Around Town

Another windy and wet morning but I decided to go back to the Owen Rose Garden because I was really taken by those red poppies in one particular garden.  Alas, the wind and rain of recent days have just hammered the flowers.  So I aimed my camera at the old tree that graces part of the park.  Actually decided to pay attention to the name this time.  At least it was not moving in the wind.

The other day Dave Hill and I stopped by a new art gallery here in town, The Gallery at the Watershed  — http://tgatws.com/ .  It is located in a wonderful building which is a work of art in itself.  Spent time walking around it with camera in hand and got a few images that I really like.   I love the metal sculptures that comprise the doors and the plants on the outside that fit so well with the color of the adjacent walls.

Working at the Railroad

Following exercise this morning I felt like I really needed to exercise my eye behind the camera so went over to the local rail yard – there are a lot of interesting, old and rusty parts laying about and the building itself I found fascinating.  The railroad workers were very accommodating and paid me little to no attention as I wandered about the space.

While I am not a painter in any way, shape or form these industrial abstracts seem almost painterly to me.  Here are a few forms and patterns that I found interesting. (As always if you click on an image you can get a larger single view)

A Walk in the Park

The Owen Rose Garden here in town is just beautiful right now.  It seems that no matter when I visit there is something interesting to point my camera at but today the blooms were so stunning and abundant it was just a joy to spend time with them and fellow photography friends: Paula, Demetra and Dave.

Not being anywhere close to being able to paint – except houses maybe – I can see why so many painters love to spend time in gardens and I could not help but think of great masters like Monet as we wandered the trails this morning.

And then there were these little spiky guys who really were quite charming.

As the sun broke through the overcast I found myself looking for some roses in the shade and managed to find a really beautifully formed bloom.

When I was a boy and living in Richland, WA my grandmother gave me a rose – I forget what the occasion was – but I remember planting it along side the house and tending it through the summer when it bloomed.  As I wandered the path this morning I noticed a ID sign on a group of roses and it was the same rose that my grandmother has given me years ago – a Chrysler Imperial.  Here it is. (Not a good photograph – just more of a personal remembrance to share)

The sun finally got the best of us and we headed out on separate ways to fulfill the day’s chores.   Just one final shot – some poppies that were not totally blown out with the direct sun. 

Spring on the McKenzie

Met up about 5AM with Paula Goodbar and Patricia Torguson, a new participant in our photo adventures and the first comment from Pat directed to me was something of the nature “Can you tell me why we are leaving at this ungodly hour!?”  Did not have a real good answer for that – after all the 0530 Spin Classes it just sort of seemed normal to me and then there was some vague reasoning about The Magic Hour running through my sleep addled brain so I am sure I had a totally inadequate answer.  Seriously I was hoping for some morning light and we did get nice light for most of the day bar a bit of direct sun about 10 AM.

First stop was Koosha Falls – one of my favorites and while the shot below is a bit of a postcard it was a nice way to start a morning of shooting.

We made a couple more stops one of which was down an old logging road that was lined with beautiful dogwood blooms.  I love these flowering trees – they seem almost delicate in the midst of an rugged old growth forest.

Olallie Creek campground was the next stop down river and I spent time photographing this lovely stream.  There are some dogwood shots to be examined from this area so maybe more to come.

Lost Creek Springs was our next stop and while, as normally the case, it took a bit of wandering about to find the best little trail down there it was worth the effort. I have been down there in the autumn and in the winter but never in the spring and it almost felt like seeing it for the first time.  So dense, So lush.

On the way back out Pat stopped to shoot some wood decay fungus and I noticed a patch of Canadian dogwood growing along the trail.  This is another stacked image shot – 10 images to comprise this one.

The last stop was at Delta Campground along the banks of the South Fork of the McKenzie.  There is a nice loupe nature walk that today was just filled with fresh ferns in all stages of development.  Some still pretty tight in the bud and some gracefully unfurling to greet the world.

Lunch was calling and the timing was perfect.   Good food and good conversation to top off another of our fun photographic outings.  Join us if you can sometime.

Natural Gifts

I stopped by the Juried Show at Emerald Art Center in Springfield last night and one painting in particular stuck in my brain so this morning following a workout and a trip to the grocery store I decided to see what I could come up with – following a theme.  To me this is wrapping up Natural Gifts that I found rummaging around in my garage and back yard.  The black tape and the rough edges of the paper are on purpose – a clean, tidy presentation would not work for me.

To all you Mothers out there – these are my Natural Gifts to you.

Happy Mothers Day!