Catching Up

Obviously, it’s been a while since I wrote. Since the trip to Hawaii in April, life has been quite busy. Hawaii was a lot of fun. We spent 5 days on the Big Island and 5 days on Kauai. I thought Kauai was much more scenic than the Big Island, but both locations were a lot of fun.

On the Big Island we hiked in Volcano National Park and drove down the Chain of Craters to the shore where the lava was flowing into the sea. Although we couldn’t get close enough to see the actual hot lava hitting the sea, the steam cloud and the lava cliffs were quite impressive.

We also went to a traditional luau with pit roasted pig and all the trimmings. This was followed by a demonstration of local and South Pacific dances. A couple of days later we went on a dinner cruise along the Kona Coast. I was able to shoot the sunset from the ship as well as the shoreline in the evening light.

I think the best activity, though, was snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay. This is the bay where Captain Cook was killed, and indeed there is a monument to his memory located on the shore. The entire bay is an underwater wildlife preserve, and there was lots to be seen.

On Kauai the highlights were the helicopter tour we took around the island, and our ride up to Wamea Canyon. We stayed in a lovely condo overlooking a garden, and we found that the beaches in Kauai were much prettier than those on the Big Island.

On the return from Hawaii, it was time to get the yards and the house ready for summer activities. The deck had to be washed and painted, the hot tub drained and refilled, new flower beds built in the yards, a new grill to break in (yeah!), new window shades to hang, a bench had to be pulled out and replaced and new decorations for the yard had to be purchased and hung. The kitchen got new tile, the garage got a total overhaul, new sprinkler heads were installed in the in-ground system, and then everything was ready for our first event.

That event was a baby shower for our youngest daughter. We had quite a few people over for the shower, and we all had a really good time.

In June, our first grandchild was born (after 29 hours of labor and finally a c-section). Her name is Makayla Ann Nicole and she is, of course, adorable. A lot of my time has been spent getting to know her.

The 4th of July meant we held our annual Independence Day Cookout. This was the largest one ever. We had 31 adults and 8 children in attendance, with lots of food and drinks. Many of us tried a game of Ultimate Frisbee, but we wore ourselves out after about 30 minutes and had to switch to a game we call “500”.

Well, that gets us up to the Oregon Country Fair weekend, and I want to write about that separately. I’ll add some photos later.

Am I a Blogger, or Am I Not?

I do like to write. I take some small amount of pride in my ability to put together words to illustrate concepts, convey ideas and thoughts, and to make a coherent argument. I’m a fairly social person in that I enjoy the company of others and I like to talk and learn from people around me. As a youth, I exchanged letters with people from around the world. I had penpals in France, England, Australia and throughout the US. Indeed, I continued my letter exchanges throughout my military career. When I was deployed, I not only received letters from my family, but from my many friends around the world. But, as much as I like to write, I just can’t seem to get this blogging process to flow smoothly and easily.

As anyone can see, my entries are inconsistent. I don’t think my life is that boring, but perhaps I’m not willing to share those things in my life that are interesting. I enjoy sharing my photography, but I don’t shoot everyday. When I do shoot, sometimes I’m not prepared to share the subjects with the rest of the virtual world. So, my dilemma is whether to continue to maintain this journal (and intensify the efforts I’m putting into it) or to call it quits and to move on to something new and different.

In the meantime, I just got a new toy. It’s a 60 GB iPod. I previously had a 1st generation 20GB iPod, but my music library has grown too large to be entirely contained within 20GB. So, I decided to upgrade and add the ability to show both photos and videos on the device. It works great, and it also synchs with my iCal and Address Book programs. This is going to be very convenient on my trip to Hawaii later this month.

Winter Blues

It has been a long, wet winter so far. The Northwest is always cloudy and wet during the winter time, but this has absolutely been the wettest winter I've encountered in the nearly 10 years I've lived in Oregon. Storm system after storm system have been hitting the West Coast with only a scattering a clear weather between each system. I swear I can see each new system looming over the mountains of the Coastal Range to the west, yet when I look to the east I can see the remnents of the last system lingering in the Cascades.

At least it has been fairly warm though. Most mornings it's about 44 degrees, and during the day the temperature creeps up into the high 40's or low 50's. I guess that's not bad for the middle of winter north of the 45th parallel. I do wish it would clear up for a couple of days though. I'd love to get my camera out and shoot in some decent light. I have a couple of new L lenses I've been wanting to use, but the heavy overcast and continuous rain (plus the early sunsets) give little opportunity for interesting subjects.

The photo to the left was taken a couple of winters ago when it was drier and colder. These clouds were the remnent of a storm that dumped quite a bit of snow at moderate elevations. Above a thousand feet there was lots of snow, but at about five hundred feet and below, it was just rain - hence the lack of snow on the roof of the building.

It would be fun to get away to the coast for a weekend to shoot the stormy weather and the ocean waves. Newport Bay is always fun for that, but Florence is nice too (besides there are friends there). Life keeps intruding though and weekend plans never seem to work out. Maybe I'll get some good rain gear for my birthday next week and that will help me gather the nerve to challenge the elements. I'd love to shoot Ecola Point and Canon Beach in stormy weather.

I'd also like to find a couple of new models. I'd like the challenge of learning to shoot someone new. After working with a model for a while, you learn their best poses and which poses work best for what situations and settings for them. You develop a rapport with the model that allows the shoot to proceed with minimal verbal communication and the model learns to anticipate your requests and to move smoothly from one pose to another. Shooting a model in the rain is fun - shooting by yourself in the rain isn't so much fun.

Spring begins next month, so with any luck we'll get an early break from the rain. With all the winter precipitation, the mountain snowpack is heavy and that means wonderful waterfalls during the spring melt. Winter Falls at Silver Springs State Park should be great this year. So maybe I should stop complaining and start planning.

Back to Work

I made it back to the office today. It was actually nice to be sitting at my desk, fielding phone calls, running meetings, and preparing for the intellectual challenges of the new business year. Today wasn’t terribly busy. My department usually ramps up slowly after the Christmas holidays, simply due to the nature of our business (training). So I had plenty of time to collect my thoughts and ponder the changes I want to make in my programs in the near future.

I also thought about changes I wanted to make in my personal life as well. I didn’t make any formal resolutions, but there are things I would like to do differently this year, such as:

1. Get out more during the winter. Normally when the days are short and it’s wet and windy outside, we hibernate. By that I mean, once we get home from work, we turn on the tv and basically vegetate for the rest of the evening. I just hate that. So, I want to get out more. We can still go out for coffee, or to the bookstore, or to the gym. There’s no need to just come inside and hide.
2. I want to take more, better and varied photographs this year. I want to do more that just go to the fairs and festivals. We do have a trip to Hawaii planned, and I’m sure I’ll get lots of photos then, but more importantly, I want to be a more frequent photographer. I want to get out twice or thrice a week with camera in hand to photograph scenery, people, places, and nature. I need to expand my skills and challenge myself with new assignments.
3. I want to complete at least two photo expeditions this year (not including Hawaii). One of those will be to return to Crater Lake National Park and to travel around the rim photographing the sites from several angles. I’m not sure what the other expedition will be, but I’m thinking it will be to photograph at least 6 new waterfalls somewhere in the state (not any of the falls in the Columbia River Gorge or in Silver Falls State park).
4. I want to complete at least two significant hikes - Dog Mountain and Eagle Creek come to mind, but Saddle Mountain in the Coastal Range would be nice too.
5. I want to photograph in the following areas this year: The Columbia River Gorge, Silver Falls State Park, Ecola Point, Cannon Beach, Seaside, Astoria, Brandon Beach, Munsie Falls, and the Mt Hood Wilderness area.

So, I think my expectations are reasonable. Maybe at the end of the year I’ll post a review to see how well I did against the list.

2005 Photo in Review

So, the forum thread in Photography on the Net got me to thinking about how the year went photographically. Did I get any keepers? How many photos did I take compared to previous years? Did my technique improve, and did I expand my capabilities? Did I shoot anything of any real substance?

I undertook a review of my photography for the past year to answer those questions and I determined the following:

1. I had about two dozen or so photos that I considered worthy of publication. This is much, much less than in previous years. That relates primarily to the next item.
2. I took far fewer photos this year than I have in previous years. This is, I think, primarily due to the issues I discussed in my last entry. I would say that most years I take an average of two or three thousand photographs, sometimes even more. This year I doubt I took more than a thousand photos total. And, when my heart is in it, I get much better results than a couple of dozen worthy shots.
3. In some ways, my techniques did improve considerably. I added some equipment that allowed me to have far more versatility with my studio lighting, and I’ve really improved my techniques with outdoor fill flash. I also shot quite a bit of film this year (which also contributed to the reduction in volume mentioned above), and I found that I have a much easier time compensating for adverse lighting conditions to get the exposure correct. Having said that, though, I didn’t practice and improve on some skills that I had intended to work on this year, such as macro photography and wildlife photography. I did try my hand at wildlife photography (specifically birding), but I discovered that my longest lens (300mm) isn’t quite sufficient to do a good job at it. So, fates willing, I’ll add a 100-400mm f4L zoom to my lens collection this year.
4. The last question is probably the most difficult to answer, but if I’m completely honest with myself, I would say, not really. I shot a few fairs and festivals. I documented a rafting trip with my family and friends. I did some portraits and some glamour shoots for a few clients, but I didn’t really shoot anything that “wows” me. In 2003 I shot an incredible sunset in Death Valley and in 2004 I got some terrific shots of a fire dancer and of the Oregon Coast. This year, I just couldn’t seem to pull any great shots out of my heart.

In 2006 I hope to do much better. First of all, I’m going to make a concerted effort to get out of the house on an early morning a couple of times a month. I’m already planning several photographic day trips to photograph in specific locations: The Columbia River Gorge (Eagle Creek, Punchbowl Falls, Rooster Rock, Shepherd’s Falls), Silver Falls State Park, McKenzie Bridge, Crater Lake National Park, Brandon Beach, Ecola Point, Haystack Rock, Seaside, Astoria, and Deschutes. I’m also planning a trip to Hawaii in the spring, so that should definitely help me to get the creative juices flowing.

I’m also hoping to work with a few new models this year. I have a project I’d like to start working on. I simply need s couple of sets of faery wings to get started. I have several models who are interested in working with me. So, I think, 2006 should be a much better year for me photographically. Wish me luck.

So let me share with you, some of my favorite photographs from 2005. There aren’t many, but there are the ones I like:



This coloful fellow was the jester at the 2005 Washington Renaissance and Fantasy Fair. He was a jolly fellow and kept the fair crowds well entertained. I got several shots of him throughout the weekend we were there, but I like this one best.



This gent was one of the knights at the Washington Renaissance and Fantasy Fair. He was one of the younger knights, out to prove himself, and he was an excellent rider. I liked this photo because I think it captured his determination to do well in the tourney.



This was, as I recall, the only female in the tourney this year. She was determined and fierce, and gave us a real show. I caught her as she galloped into a sword fighting exhibition. Unfortunately, I cut off I tiny bit of the horses nose. Still, this shot, I think captures a sense of motion and spirit.



This is Bonnie Stangelove, one of the Thryce Wycked Wenches, a singing troupe at the fair. Bonnie is a beautiful redhead with a wonderful voice and a most expressive face. The other two wenches are sweethearts too, but I really didn’t get any good photo of them this year. The Thryce Wycked Wenches sing bawdy songs of a dubious nature and are hilarious! If you ever get a chance to see them, don’t miss it.



This is a a musical troupe from the fair. They play authentic music from days gone by.



This is my favorite red-headed wench. I just love this shot of her for some reason. She’s a fine wench, with a big heart and a beautiful smile.



This is the sunset over the Deschutes River in Maupin, Oregon. We did a rafting trip there earlier this year, and as we were sitting around the camp on the last day of rafting, I shot this photograph. There’s another photo coming up later with a different view of the sunset, but I like the bridge and the river in this shot.



I don’t know why I like this shot so much. It’s just a candid taken on the first day of the Oregon Country Fair. The lady was in an animated conversation with a couple of gents, and she just looked so colorful and ready to have fun that I couldn’t help but aim my lens at her.



I don’t know what these are, but they were on display at the Oregon Country Fair and I thought they would make a good photograph. I think they did. What do you think?



This colorful young lady sat down beside me at the Oregon Country Fair while we were having some lunch. She was with a group of her friends and they were having a great time at the fair. She most graciously consented to posing for me, and I really love her smile and the colorful attire and makeup.



This is my friend, Tia, after she spent some time with Kathleen, the body painter, at the Oregon Country Fair. Tia’s a sweetheart, and a wonderful person. Doesn’t she have a lovely smile?



Candles at the fair. I just thought they made a wonderful set of repetitive elements for a photograph. The Oregon Country Fair is great for finding these little colorful scenes. The OCF was probably my biggest photographic event this year. The first day of the fair was pretty wet and rainy, though, which sort of cut down on the volume of photos I was able to take as well as the number of attendees.



Matching sets - more body painting at the fair. This couple actually asked me to take their photo because they had seen some previous photos of mine. They bought a couple of photos from me as well.




This lovely lady posed for me at the Shrewsbury Ren Fair. It’s a nice portrait that’s full of color. I guess what I like about this photo is that half smile and the lovely dimple in her cheek.


This is Gabby. She’s a real sweetie. Although she’s not related, she’s like a niece to me. She has a wonderful smile, but like any teenager, can be a real pill to her parents. I always have fun with her though.



This is Gabby’s mom, Bridgett. She’s a very close friend and a real sweetheart in her own right. She’s my IM buddy and keeps me company on the days when I work from home. She and her husband are among our closest and dearest friends, and I’m hoping to get to do a photoshoot with her in 2006. I’ve worked a deal out with her husband--I’ll loan him my redhead for a shoot, if he’ll loan me his. It should be fun.



These are the cliffs along the White River near Maupin, Oregon. This is near the confluence of the Deschutes River and the White River. If you walk up the White River a ways, you’ll find a natural water slide. I shot a lot of photos there too, but this is a better shot.



A natural light portrait in a pub in St. Helens, Oregon; a river port along the Columbia River, north and west of Portland. I just love the subtle play of light on her face and on her hair.



This is my niece, Sasha. I traveled home to Georgia in June of this past year, and I spent a day or so shooting her. She a sweet girl, but rather shy and rather spoiled. I’m afraid I spoiled her even more. That’s okay, though, since I don’t see her very often. She has been raised by her grandparents by very strict rules (which has been very good for her). I gave her a bit of a break by taking her to my mom’s house for the weekend (and my mom’s anything but strict). We went to Stone Mountain for a day of photos and this was one of my favorites.



This is another shot of the sunset a Maupin, Oregon. It’s reminiscent of the sunset photos I took in Death Valley in 2003. I just really like this shot, even though it’s a bit cliched.

2005 - My Photography in Review

On the website Photography on the Net, there’s a thread that asks the members to post their best 2005 photograph. I thought I might participate, and I started looking through my archives of photos. You know, I was sad to find that I didn’t have any photographs that I would have been willing to submit to such a peer review. That’s just sad.

If I look back at my archives from previous years, I have several strong contenders for great photographs. This year, however, I was just too distracted by other matters. The year started off with an altercation between two of my kids, resulting in the arrest of one. Not good. Then, my son was sent to Afghanistan. My wife was sick and hurting all year long, and I had a daughter full-time in college all year long requiring extensive financial support.

Most days this year, I just wanted to get through the day without any new problems. So, my mind wasn’t really on photography. We did go to a few fairs and festivals, but honestly, my heart wasn’t into the events. I’m really hoping 2006 will be better. I’m giving Wendy a trip to Hawaii for Christmas (travel dates to be determined), so that should start the year off right. And we have a grand-baby due in June - that should give me plenty to photography in the 2nd half of the year.

So, I’m hoping 2006 will result in a new creativity for me - better photos, a brighter outlook on life, and renewed energy. I wish the same for everyone who happens to read this.

Keeping Up

I haven’t been keeping this blog up. I had hoped to turn it into a private journal only to be found by happenstance. A place where I could share thoughts, ideas and photos, but not necessarily with people who know me directly. I have a couple of other places where I blog, but the interface isn’t nearly as nice and/or as easy as this interface.

In any event, my idea was to use this journal as sort of a photographic journey through the year, but alas, the year was just too “interesting.” So, we’ll just have to see what 2006 will bring. Maybe I’ll actually get this to work and it will help spur some of my creative juices, of which I feel sadly lacking in of late.

So, if you stumble across this blog, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Joyous New Year!

Mac Journal

I've found a great new software program called MacJournal. It's a journaling program with the ability to actually post to the various online blogging sites. Now, if it will let me insert photos into my journal entry, I'll be all set, since my intention with this blog has been to discuss photography and photos all along. So let's see if it works with a glamour photo from a trip to the coast:

No Drama

I've been reading other blogs lately, and I'm just surprised by the amount of drama that exists in other people's lives. It certainly makes for interesting reading. There's very little drama in my life right now, and that's fine with me, but very boring reading for you. There was all together too much drama when the year began, but things have settled out since then. Most of the drama comes from my kids anyway.

My life is usually that of an ordinary business man and middle-aged father. Most people would be surprised to know that I used to operate nuclear reactors on Navy submarines. But I do have a lot of great stories. I'll have to write some of them down here sometime......

Beautiful weather, not much photography

The weather has been beautiful of late, so much so that all the forecasters are concerned about the amount of water available in the reservoirs this summer and the possibility of an early and long wildfire season. Still, it's hard to complain when it's dry and warm in March.

The advantages are that the yards are already cleaned up from winter. The grass has been fertilized, and the sprinklers have been turned on and tested. And all the little items that fall into disrepair over the winter have been identified and fixed, or will be soon. There are only a couple of major outdoor chores to be done, and if the weather keeps up, they'll be completed by the end of March. That's exceptionally rare for this part of the country.

The good weather spurred me to break out the cameras and attempt some outdoor photography. I tried my hand at birding over on the PCC College Campus. I had only moderate luck. I was using a 300mm Image Stabilized lens and a 1.6 crop factor digital camera (which gave me a 500mm equivalent Field of View) and it still seemed like I couldn't get close enough to get a decent photo. There was one red-tailed hawk in the area that would wait until I was within 20 feet of the perch, then sail off to a new tree that was only a hundred yards away.

W and I did go to Sauvie Island yesterday to check out the wildlife preserve and the beaches. Although it was warm, it was also windy, which meant there were a lot of kite boarders playing on the Columbia River. So, I did get a few shots of them. I didn't get many shots of birds though, as they were mostly out on the waterways and unapproachable. I'll be looking through the photos later today to determine if any of the captures are worth posting. If so, I'll have them up this evening or tomorrow.

Here's one of the photos:

Telecommuting

I'm telecommuting today and it's great. My cube at work is a tiny thing--my company calls it "compressed." I call it a closet. I've been working out of that little horror for nearly 5 years. When I first moved into my department, I was assigned this office space because there was simply no other place to put me. The building I work in was full, and there were lots of people working out of compressed cubes or even smaller spots. So I understood.

However, about three years ago, the building emptied out and there are lots of open cubes all around me. I've been trying to get moved ever since this happend. Unfortunately, I'm a satellite (my main group is in Arizona and I'm in Oregon). That means, I'm out of sight and out of mind to my management. So, I'm stuck in this tiny space (my office on a submarine was bigger). So, when I get a chance to telecommute and work out of my home office, it's great. I have room to move around, I have a window right by my desk so I can enjoy the beautiful sunshine, and I can turn my radio and listen to music or talk radio while I work.

Here's a view from my back deck!

Okay, it's not really the view from my deck, but it is part of my screensaver and I do enjoy the view. It's a photo of Canon Beach I made from Ecola Point about two years ago. See, I told you I lived in a beautiful state.

First Thoughts

I'm new to the process of blogging, but not to the concept of keeping a journal of thoughts. I spent 20 years in the submarine fleet and during that time spent a lot of time at sea. During those many patrols, I kept journals to record my thoughts and feelings, and in many ways those writings helped to ease the stress of those long, isolated months at sea.

I'm not, however, at sea anymore. It many way, though, writing still helps to ease the stress of daily life, and so I'll try blogging for a while. I'm not sure where I will go with this, but it seems like an opportunity to share my unvarnished thoughts and ideas.

Fortunately, not only will I be able to write, I will be able to share my photos with those who visit here. I have the great fortune to live in a beautiful area of the country, with some wonderful photographic opportunities, especially in the summer months.