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.

Obama For President

As Robert Reich says in his blog, except for superdelagates, it shouldn't and likely doesn't matter to anyone whom you vote for. Still, with two posts about Obama on my blog, it's getting pretty clear who I'm backing.

Today I went to Oregon campaign headquarters for Obama to offer help with data entry. I'm SO appreciating those people who call folks on the phone to find out who needs to be registered or who is supporting the senator, because I couldn't do that.

Butterfly Garden, The Bellagio

I visited the Bellagio for the first time today. I must say it's pretty amazing inside! This is one of my favorite photos from the garden.

FiAMMA Trattoria & Bar

We ate at this restaurant in the MGM Grand Monday night. The arch detail was gorgeous. Also there was interesting detail on the back wall Hugh described as looking like a uvula.

Tropicana

We are in Las Vegas for NAB. This is my favorite shot of the Tropicana Hotel entry. I think it typifies the feeling of this old-style, 50s hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. In my opinion, it has the best free-flowing energy around the pool area, situated as it is, in the center of the hotel complex with many intimate side spaces, lots of mature palms and bamboos, birds, waterfalls, and space for the winds to circulate.
Like all things Vegas, this hotel's charm is going away soon with the announcement that the site will be "redeveloped" and most (though not all) of the current buildings will be demolished so they can add towers, thousands of more rooms, and a bigger convention center. You can read about it on the Wikipedia link above. :(

Cherry Blossoms With Half Moon

From our hike yesterday. We had temps in the mid 70syesterday! Everyone was out walking or hiking or biking...and smiling....for the beauty of the sunshine!

The cherry blossoms are in still in bloom in various parts of our neighborhood. They are thick and luscious, looking like snow drooping off the branch. I tried to get a photo of the crescent moon with earthshine earlier this week, however rain and overcast skies prevented that. This is the first time I've seen the moon for a week.

Dandelion Ring

I saw this on our walk today through Oaks Bottom. A nice ring of dandelions!

Tulip Closeup

Me and my lensbaby took this closeup of the center of a tulip yesterday.

Tulip Trip

My friend, June, and I drove out to the tulip farm today. It was a perfect day for photographing the flowers with saturated color. The first photo with the intense yellow and red rows of tulips was the main section in full bloom. Other field sections are still a few days away from full bloom. I added a watercolor filter to the photo below since the shot reminded me of a painting.

Cupola-Bank of America Building

Today I got to go downtown to make a deposit to my IRA. The brokerage offices are in the Bank of America building at SE 2nd Ave. and Morrison. I found this amazing photo op in the cupola of the building. It was such a grey day when I was shooting outside but when I stepped inside, the light and the patterns of the cupola were amazing. I love this!

For the photo I was using my little P&S Canon Powershot. Typically when I shoot ceilings, I fold out the swivel LCD, looking down on the camera, rather than crane my neck trying to look from underneath the camera up at the ceiling. (Remember the point of my photos is first to have fun! After that, I'll try to get as good a photo as I can if I'm enjoying what I'm doing.) So, I tried as much as I could to lean back out of the shot. Still, you can see me--my bangs, at least--in the photo, if you look closely.

How The Hand's Doing

One week ago, Hugh broke his right wrist. Take a look at what he can do in such a short time! His doctor's instructions are for him to use it as much as he can with the exception of lifting anything heavy. So, he can type, sign checks, feed himself. Below, you can see what his arm looks like close up.

Sculpture-Alberta Arts District

Everything is dreary here the past couple of weeks for the rain. My last few posts have lacked light which is irritating after awhile. The greyness is everywhere.

This photo I took a couple of weeks ago when I took Sarah to lunch for her birthday. I saw this in the courtyard of a little restaurant in the Alberta Arts District and felt amazed at the contrast between the rusty iron with the bold, curing lines and the shiny corrugated metal siding behind it.

St Agatha's

The doors of the Sellwood Catholic Church, St. Agatha's, had a different look yesterday on my walk. Having never been Catholic, I have no idea if these wreaths are significant in some way.

Drink Hires

I probably have photographed this before. This old ad painting can be found on a building next to Hugh's Brooklyn Pharmacy, in (where else) the Brooklyn neighborhood, near where we live. When I was a child, Hires Root Beer was my favorite soft drink. I added a poster edges filter to this photo in Elements 6.

Testing The Block

Today, Hugh had surgery to put a metal plate in his hand for his broken wrist. After they put a nerve block in his arm, to provide long term pain relief both during and after the procedure, they asked him to keep checking it until it felt numb, fat and heavy.
The surgery went well! No complications or surprises. The xrays show perfect placement of his carpal bones, radius and ulna plus a piece of metal that looks like it could have been pulled from a gate hinge.

Hugh At The ER

So, last night we went roller skating. You can guess the rest. Above, Hugh is looking at the copy of the xray on his broken, right wrist. The carboard box and gauze tape is the temporary splint and sling provided by the staff at the roller rink. If you're squeamish, I recommend you NOT look at the next photo we took of his injury just before hospital staff put on their official splint and sling.

Hugh's injury is such that it requires a metal plate to be inserted as an internal cast until the bones heal and the hand regains it's normal shape and function. (He could have chosen to have a normal cast but there was a high risk of his hand not ever working right at the end of six weeks, so this seemed the better approach.) He's going into surgery tomorrow afternoon for the repair and will have about a 3" incision made on the thumb side of his wrist to insert the plate. They will also do reduction, which is what they call the pulling and pushing on the bones to shove them back into their normal place.

He can use his hand, in fact is encouraged to use it, as much as his pain tolerance allows as soon as the surgery is over. The plate will remain in if he wishes or he can have it removed later.

Flower Sunrise

Found this cheery thing on my walk yesterday morning. It looks like a miniature sunflower to me. It was sprouting up by itself, about three inches tall, 2 inches wide, beside a sidewalk. I have no idea what its name is. If someone else does, please leave a comment.
You can see how sharp the macro function is on my little P&S. I was probably 2 inches or so from the flower. Gotta love digital!

Steps With Moss

Saw this the other day while waiting to catch the bus. I was drawn by the complimentary colors, I think. It's not a great photo because of that door in the upper left. If I had had more time before the bus came, I should have tried a different angle to get a better composition. I tried cropping this composition in various ways and only made it worse so I left it the way I shot it in camera. I added a watercolor filter in Photoshop Elements.