Summer 2011

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Reflection of a Summer Sail ~ 1/160S, F/13, ISO 200, 50 mm, WB Auto.  The last few weekends I've been spending time on the water for fresh air and to wind down from work.  Water reflections are always a surprise to me when I put them up on the screen, seeing many details not visible when the image was shot.  This is a reflection of a Sail in the coming evening light.  Only photoshopped for light balance and cropping.

Mineral Pool Bubbles ~ 1/100s, F/6.3, ISO 1600, Ex Bias -.7, FL 200mm,  Color and light balancing in photoshop.  Meditative water in the quiet stillness of the woods and mountain air. 

My Orca.... in the South Sound ~

1/250s, ISO 200, 80mm, Auto WB, hazy day.  This is the day the Orcas travelled to Boston Harbor and Johnson Point.  Photo conditions were not great - hazy sunny day without enough blue sky.  Our friends were quite a distance away.  I shot about 200 images because they were moving and you quite don't know when and where they will break surface.  Like little jack-in-the-boxes.  Photoshop details:  defined the mountains, put a little color in the sky, enhanced the green tones of the tree bank, made the water a bit bluer to contrast off the black and white. 

Self-Portrait ~ f/11, 1/160s, ISO 200, 20mm, WB Auto, PS'ed the color and cropping.  I don't usually take a photos of myself.  However when I was practicing shadow images on Rainier, the reflection in the rocky surface reminded me of a Kokopelli drawing. 

Summer Shots Revisited - Cornelia

Drama - Cornelia

Boys Walking on the Rocks. 1/45 sec., F16, 24-120 mm

10 minutes from my house

I do so hate having Humans stare at me when I try to eat my lunch!

D300 1/500 f13, ISO 200, 270 mm.  Have several images of the chipmunk with the apple in his mouth, but only one where his mouth is open, but he has yet to bite into the apple.  I love the sense of anticipation that this image gives.

Around the Bend -Mt Rainier from Crystal Mt. Summit

D300 1/500, f13, ISO 200 30mm

CHRIS - UNUSUAL ROAD SIGNS

COLLECTION OF OLD ROAD SIGNS

CHRIS - DRAMATIC

HAVING STRAWBERRIES FOR DINNER

CHRIS - 10 MINUTES FROM HOME

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY

CHRIS - AROUND THE BEND

COME TAKE A WALK WITH ME

Around the Bend - Cornelia

A different perspective, down at Capitol Lake at sunset.

1/20 sec., F4.8, 70-200 mm.

Deana ~ Dramatic

This photo was taken today at Cannon Beach.  Searching for reflections at a low tide...and on my way to the car, I watched this family walking along  and the child walked through the water I was observing.  The reflection, the motion of water and the catch of the eye lash as she is looking at the ocean. 1/100 ~ f14~ ISO 125

This was taken last week in Bend, Or and this was my orginal picture for this challenge.  Along the river's edge, the wind picked up and  the flags were fun to watch and then the sun went down and the light changed alot. And I began taking more pictures, but from a different point of view! 1/1600~F/14~ISO 100

Unusual Roadway sign

This no parking sign is down at the Percival Landing remodel construction site. It is humerous that it is stacked with the hardhat area sign behind the chainlink fence, well duh. 1/125 sec., F8, 24-120 mm.

Further thoughts on printing for ArtsWalk

I see that Ritz Camera is running a 'summertime' offer of 50% off gallery wrap canvas prints with the coupon "summer50" -- although I can't find an expiration date on the website... Timothy and I were talking about taking advantage of the offer, but before we order, I wanted to see if we'd reached consensus among our group on:

1. style of presentation -- Were we going to aim for a unified presentation or 'whatever suits your pix and budget'? Then, gallery wrap? flush-mount on black or white foam-core? matted but not framed? fully framed? (I recall hearing votes for gallery wrap and unified presentation, but don't know as we settled one way or another!)

2. number of images per participant -- I think we were reckoning two, given the size of the display area at Don's Camera and the number of us involved.

3. the size of images -- No one image should overwhelm all its neighbors. Timothy would like to use the two first place photos from the Thurston Co. Fair (below), but the b&w was printed very small, only 8x10. Is it possible to set min/max print sizes as a guideline now, and then work out positions on Don's wall based on what's aesthetically pleasing the day we hang the show?

4. local/LongShot images vs pix from elsewhere -- One of Tim's two favorite photos was taken at the Viet Nam War Memorial in the Other Washington. Do we have a consensus around using only images taken in response to the LongShot challenges since May, or are we going to allow images from elsewhere/when if the photographer feels another image is stronger? 

Thoughts and views?
Many thanks!
Laura & Timothy

E-37/At the Wall

The Trail (Chehalis Trail at dusk)

Jessica Morgan - Olympia sketches

Fence around the DOT equipment lot in Tumwater, facing West at about 6 pm

While waiting for the bus on Capitol, south of Maple Park

Bayview Thriftway - bound flowers

Jessica Morgan - Olympia sketches - Lakefair

Jessica Morgan - (More) Olympia sketches

Bus Station












Church Basement (no sleeping)












Local street

Government building

Off the Beaten Path - Nisqually Reach

Recently, after work I headed out to the Nisqually Reach boat launch on Meridian road. It was high tide and the overcast sky was washed out. I saw several flying heron heading home, a seal's head in the water that looked like a bowling ball and lots of immature seagulls hanging out on the rocks and the nearby tin shelter roof. All of these were too common to photograph. While there I was most fascinated by the water and with its changing shapes and reflections. I shot with my 70-200mm, F8, 1/180, and used a polarizer.

I processed these using Photomatix - high dynamic range (HDR). The originals are nicer on my screen as the colors became overly saturated in the conversion from tiff to jpeg.

Hot Rod Drama

Happened on this fabulous grille at the Clarus Eye Center's summertime hot rod and classic car show. Nothing like lying down in a parking lot to garner some funny looks...!

Dramatic -- Terri Perkins

I absolutely love watching the changing sky during the evening and witnessed this dramatic show on Spencer Spit, Lopez Island. This was the final night after a week of bicycling/camping in the Islands. It has been a summer full of challenges including the death of a loved one and I finally felt inspired to get caught up on these Friday long shots.

This image and the following shots were all taken with my Canon Powershot D10. It's what I carry in the pocket of my biking jersey and it can take a beating!

Unusual Roadway Signs -- Terri Perkins

Lopez Island. Off the Beaten Path.Canon Powershot D10, f/4.9, 1/160 sec.

Off the Beaten Path -- Terri Perkins

I loved this old tree with a big heart and such personality. English Camp, San Juan Island. A winding trail up the hill and through the woods led to this spot where, during the 1800's the British officers kept their camp. I loved the dappled sunlight through vertical lines of trees with vertical marker-stone in foreground.

Summertime -- Terri Perkins

For me... Summertime is wrapped up in the scent of lavender. These shots were taken on a warm sunny day on San Juan Island -- the first at the Pelindaba Lavender Farm and the second on the bluff at the San Juan Island County Park. Because I was traveling/camping by bike I carried my Canon Powershot D10 in the pocket of my biking jersey to capture these shots.

1.) f/4.9, 1/200 sec, no flash
2.) f/8, 1/125 sec, flash

Summertime Drama

Evening shadows on the fence



Without color

Both images were taken in the early evening with ISO 800, the first at 1/350s and the second at 1/500s, both at f 13.  Which do you like best and why?   

Drama

"Goodby again, we still remember!"

This image was taken on the Capitol Grounds and the small flag is one placed elsewhere at the memorial by someone over the 4th (At least that is what I suspect.)  1/750th s, f 9.5, ISO 800 and focal length was 220mm.  This image was taken in the early evening and at an angle to capture the figures created by the etched names.  The image was cropped to eliminate as much extraneous material as possible.

Summertime

Summertime for me is warm weather, sunshine and gardening. I am inspired and am thinking about creating abstract views of flowers and color. Tonight, I shot close-ups in my front garden with a 70 to 200 mm, F4.8 with a tripod. I like the lighting in these shots, though this is not exactly what I was after.

Drama: The Daylight in a night shoot

I was lucky enough to attend the National Rail Historical Society's night shoot in the Tacoma rail yards a few weeks ago. Unluckily, the camera mount to my tripod vaporized in our recent house-move, so I took all my shots handheld, hoping the strobes, my exposure, and the gods would cooperate. This image -- of the Southern Pacific Daylight number 4449 -- was one of several that seem to have seen a little cosmic cooperation...

Jessica Morgan - Olympia sketches

I like how abstract this image is... looking out the window of my car (I was not driving); colors are inverted. I think I took this with my cell phone.

Jessica Morgan - Olympia sketches

Sunday morning breakfast. Colors are inverted.

Jessica Morgan - Olympia sketches

Jessica Morgan - Olympia Sketches

I've taken a number of photos in and around Olympia recently, mostly with my cell phone, some with my Lumix "instant" camera. To me, these are "rough sketches." Maybe they are ideas for more "finished" photos later... or maybe they are just quick "sketches."

Off the Beaten Path

Although I have visited "Recycled Spirits of Iron" for the last 12 years or so I had never met the sculptor, Dan Klennert, until recently.  I constantly find new and interesting things at his place on the way to Mt. Rainier and this time I asked for and was given permission to use these images in the exhibit should I choose to do so.  Enjoy these examples of "Ex-nihilo" which he says is latin for "something made out of nothing.  These images were taken with a Nikon D300 at 1/500 to 1/1000 and f4.5-f6 with an ISO of 800.  See if you can find the sewing machine inside a large horse, and imagine the 10-15 foot high front wheel of an old fashioned bicycle!