Moving to new site

Moving my daily blog to a new site: http://dailyeye.smugmug.com/

Peeps

Sunday we went to the Open Barn held by SuDan Farms in Canby, Oregon. We often buy lamb from them at the Farmer's Market in Milwaukie. The lamb is fine, grass-fed quality and so are their chickens. They also sell wool, blankets, and yarn. This was a difficult photo to make given the poor light and the quickness of the chicks.

Cat And Quilt

This amazing quilt, obviously cat approved, was a creation of and gift to us from my mother-in-law. It's finally warm enough here in Oregon (at least this week) to ditch the down comforter and place this gorgeous textile on our bed for the summer.

The Steam Train In Oaks Bottom

The SP&S 700 steams through Oaks Bottom giving promotional rides for Oaks Park and the Oregon Public Railroad.

The PS&P 700 Steam Train

Today we rode the steam train at Oaks Park. This is the Spokane, Portland and Seattle 700, the third largest operating steam engine in North America. The SP&S 700 is owned by the City of Portland. The Oregon Public Railroad runs it at Oaks Park a couple of times a year as a fundraiser.

Lighthouse Abstract

An abstract of the Yaquina Head light that I took through the floorboards of the top floor.

Wedding Photographer

Grandson, Sean, gets into the wedding photographing with his dad's video camera.

Newlyweds

My daughter, Sarah, and her new spouse, Nina, got married at the Overlook House, Portland, OR, yesterday.

Nina On Her Wedding Day

One good shot I caught of my new daughter-in-law at the wedding today.

Full Moon Rising 10:09 pm

Got together with my husband and my neighbor tonight to drive across the river to the hills of John's Landing. From there we were able to get a good view of the full moon rising. This is actually the color of the moon, probably because there was so much haze in the air.

Cape Lookout

Took this from Anderson's Viewpoint, a turnout on US HWY 101, just south of Tillamook, OR. This spectacular view looks north over Netarts Spit toward Oceanside.

Yaquina Head Light

One of 14 lighthouses in Oregon. It is the tallest, lit in 1873 as the Cape Foulweather Lighthouse. It has a first order Fresnel lens.

Lucky Friday The Thirteenth

Hugh and I started a weekend trip to the Oregon Coast today. We were actually planning on the previous weekend but we're delighted we waited as the weather is fabulous!
Caught this twilight shot of the Yaquina Bay Bridge at Newport, Oregon at the end of a beautiful day. The bridge was opened September 6, 1936. It is one of about 20 Oregon bridges designed by US bridge engineer, Conde McCoullough, who worked for ODOT and was also a professor at Oregon State University.

Dude And His Indian

Met this guy on a walk in our little Westmoreland downtown. I loved the chance to see an Indian Motorcycle up close for the first time. He was revved up and ready to ride yet he let me snap a photo of him with his shiny wheels.

Pearl Street House

Took this photo on my recent stop in Eugene. This is the first house I owned. We moved here in late '73 or early '74 just after Andy started walking. I clearly remember asking Joanna, who was about 2, to help me keep an eye on Andy so he didn't fall down the outside steps or wander out of the yard since there was no fence.
It was a great little house for our tiny family. Three bedrooms, 2 baths, on this nice corner lot. We bought at $16,000 and sold in a couple of years for the same price. Looks like it's still in good shape today, 30 years later.

Patty Makes S'mores

Yesterday I went to a bridal shower for my daughter, Sarah. Patty, and her daughter, Lisa, hosted. The party had a camping theme. Patty is the classiest when it comes to entertaining. Here she is making desert s'mores on her griddle.

Lucky Day

I've heard that if you go to Tokyo and see Mt. Fuji when you're there, it's a lucky day. It's the same with Portland and Mt. Hood, I think. Hood is usually hidden from us by grey, cloudy skies. Today, however, was a gorgeous spring day and the view of Mt. Hood was spectacular! I drove into the hills above John's Landing to find a place to show as much of the mountain as possible and found a place that included sight of the Willamette River. Do click to make the photo larger; the mountain's majesty shows off well that way. Truly, a lucky day!

At The Mongolian Barbeque

This is fun! Here, I'm photographing my grand-niece, Zoe, who is feeding herself. I was using natural light only which made this an interesting motion shot.

Pink Dogwood

A cool thing about living in Oregon again is all the flowers and flowering trees in spring. My neighbor just installed a pink dogwood tree in his parking strip from which this photo was taken.

Inner Peony

I shot this on a less windy day so I was able to get incredible depth of field. I think the innards of this peony look like someting that would grow on an alien planet.

Found Image

I forgot to post this image when I made it around three weeks ago. I just found it again tonight. I've taken this shot before, however, on May 24th, Hugh and I went to see a movie there at the end of an unusually warm day for May. The light was incredible in the sky before we went into the theater. When the movie was over, we were greeted by sheets and sheets of rain from a severe thunderstorm!
I love the light in this photo; it brings out the detail in the movie theater facade. Click on the photo to see the detail.

Zantedeschia

From a neighbor's yard, this Calla lily called to me. I compensated for all the white, both in camera and in Photoshop. Perhaps I should have made the mat black so as not to call so much attention to the lily color.

Orange Poppy

These have bloomed in gardens all over my neighborhood! This particular flower was perfect for photographing. When I made the photo, I had barely any wind. This allowed me to shoot at about 8.0 so I could render the delicate, papery petals sharp and clear along with good detail in the center. I wish when I snapped the shot, I'd left a little more green in the right hand corner. Ah, well. I made several images and this one had the most green.
I should know what kind of poppies these are but I don't. If you do, post me the name and I'll change the title. Thanks!

Ancient Birch With Swing

I love this tree! Today I tried to find a way to capture it.

Floral Bedposts

From my walk today. I've kept myeye on this for several months. Last fall it was bare. Today though, the flowers are finally starting to grow here.

North To Alaska

I"ve been making this photo in my head for about a year and a half now, ever since my friend, Sue from Los Angeles, first shared her dream with me that she wanted to take a driving photo trip to Alaska. Well, today she stopped to meet me for lunch in Portland on her way North! It felt so good to see her and catch up on the news in her life. She's packed for three month's worth of driving and photographing in her beloved truck. I feel tickled that I had my camera in my purse so I could make this actual photo after such a long time of dreaming it in my mind! Good luck and happy travels, Sue!

Golden Poppy

Another California poppy from my secret vacant lot in Central Point, Oregon

My Grade School

Another photo I took while in Southern Oregon. This is the original part of West Side School, my grade school from 2nd-6th grades. The school was closed in 1980 or 81 and was used by the US Naval Reserve until last fall when the school was reopened. Another photo of the school can be seen in the Medford Mail Tribune article here, http://tinyurl.com/4wplly.

California Poppy In Oregon

A vacant lot near my mom's house was sporting California poppy blooms. This still tightly furled flower caught my eye.

New Mown Hay

Another photo from my walk around my childhood neighborhood. The field next to my old school was smelling sweet of fresh cut hay. I liked the wavy rows that lead to the red roofs. (Red and green=complementary colors!) I also think it's cool that the sky is interesting with all the surly looking clouds.

View of Roxy Ann

Visiting Mom this weekend. Took this photo, the perennial view from the front of my growing up house, near sunset. Across the way is Roxy Ann Peak and in the farther distance with its cloud cap cover, Mt McLaughlin in the Cascade range. You may have to click the photo to make it larger so you can see the mountain on the left-hand-side.

Schondecken Coffee Roasters

Really good roast. Friendly service. Our local small-town coffee roaster at 6720 SE 16th Ave, Portland, OR 97202, across from the Westmoreland Post Office.

Did Not Did Too

A shot of my grandkids having sleeve fights with each other. They asked to wear our jackets since they didn't want to bring theirs but suddenly they felt cold.

Sunset Over Willamette

This sunset reminded me of the lenticular cloud sunsets Galen Rowell loved to photograh over the Eastern Sierra. He was a particular mentor to me. Of course my sunset has limited color on this night. Ah, well.

Brooklyn Drugs Neon

Portland has a lot more neon signs than where I lived in Los Angeles. Last Friday night we were in the Brooklyn neighborhood with friends and walked past Hugh's favorite pharmacy so I got the chance to photograph the sign. Here's another shot of the same sign from a fellow nighthawk photographer: http://tinyurl.com/6n23th

Red Tulip In The Rain

One of my neighbor's juicy tulips beaten down a little bit by our recent rains.

Heineken Portland Neon

Neon in the window of The Lamp, next door to The Aladin Theater.

On A Clear Day....

.... you can see Mt. St. Helens! I took this on the bluff near Sellwood Park about 1/2 mile from our house. Watercolor filter added in Photoshop Elements.

Tulip Star

I made this on one of our recent rainy days.

Marriage Station, Bridal Veil, Oregon

My daughter, Sarah, is getting married!! We got her invitation in the mail this week. They drove up to a little Oregon town, Bridal Veil, Oregon, to get this unique postmark.

Coy Kitty

This cat was very excited to participate in my photographing the tiny flowers in her yard.

Green and White Beauty

Spotted this tulip in a neighbor's yard yesterday, a drizzly, overcast day.

Hello, Gorgeous!

The grey house made a perfect background for this tulip. I increased the size of the canvas in Photoshop and smoothed out the mottled basement stucco to blend in the new canvas parts. All that work made the shot look like a studio setup when it's actually not. It was just fiddled with in Photoshop Elements to highlight it's natural beauty.

Chicken Coop

I've been walking past this yard with the chickens on the way to the grocery several times a week. Today was a good day to photograph the chickens with the overcast skies. The coop was also closer to the sidewalk today than usual. The owner, Guitar Guy, waved to me from his greenhouse when I was done. He was there playing guitar out in his garden yet out of the rain.

Rorschach Blot

Went for a long walk today and found many flowers worth photographing. I admit to feeling jealous of my photo friends in SoCal, who, right now are experiencing another record wildflower year. Still, I'm not sure anyplace can compare with Oregon's spring bloom of cultivated flowers! Yes, I miss the poppies but look at this delicious pansy!

Grandpa And Sean Play Trains

This was a hard photo to capture as no one would particularly pose for me. However, it was fun to watch them playing. I tried to make a closeup shot of the little trains on the tracks but none of the ones I made pleased me. Maybe I'll try that again another time.

From The Bellagio

When I got home from Las Vegas, I found I still had many fun photos I made at the Bellagio. So, here they are. First, the Garden Parasols.
Above, is the Glass Flower ceiling centerpiece in the lobby. The artist is Dale Chihuly.
A Snail With Roses and a flying water drop!
Above and below, two final shots of The Watering Can Garden. I would love to read more about the person who designed and built the Bellagio's Conservatory Garden. It's fun and inspiring!

Cat At Evening

We met this cat tonight on our walk. She behaved just the way our cats do when I asked for a photograph--she looked away.