Friday, May 25, 2012

Back Building Grunge

Had lunch at Boke´ Bowl with friends today over on Water Avenue.  Afterwards we poked around in some of the shops in the warehouse area nearby.  It's a great area for grungy photos.  Here's one!

Took this with my iPhone.  Did post in almost everything I could think of but couldn't overcome the graininess that comes with such a large image taken with so few pixels.  Oh well.

Topaz Adjust helped out quite a bit.  So did Elements 9.  I love the blue elements in the sky, the trash bin, and the little bit in the funnel looking thingy.  I also like that the power lines run kind of opposite the top of the buildings.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Biker On Lovejoy Street

This is one of my favorite photo captures from last week.  This setting is SO Portland!  The biker at sunset approaching the Broadway Bridge, TriMet rail, Union Station, and the rainbow of the Steel Bridge in view.  I love all the intersecting lines in this piece--the train rail, crosswalks, light pole, and vapor trails.  Processed this in Topax Adjust, HDR collection, mild color punch, grunge.  Since the biker was dark in front of the glowing train station tower, the HDR adjustment brought both foreground and background into more balance.  Nice!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Rhody Time

If you have to live in a rainy climate like the Pacific Northwest, here's one of the benefits:  Rhododendrons!  Here's a quick iPhone snap of the bush by my front door.  Post in Elements 9 with Topaz Adjust filter, Lomo II.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Cinco De Mayo Morning

Took a walk downtown early in the morning to see my dentist.  It was one of our first really bright and warm days of Spring last week.  This little Mexican restaurant was one of the first buildings in full sun that morning and it begged to be featured up close and personal!

Shot this with my pocket camera, Panasonic Lumix LX3.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Red Clover Fields On Minter Bridge Road


Took a drive to Hillsboro a couple of days ago to see a guy about a lawnmower.  This is what we found:  Red clover fields surrounding his entire farm on Minter Bridge Road.  Stunning!

Took this with my iPhone; post in Topaz Adjust sliding my own sliders after trying every preset and thinking I could keep track of what I liked better if I got behind the wheel myself.  Decided to go for a painter-like look, pushing the contrast and strengthening the red/green complimentary colors.  I especially liked how the discoloration on the metal shed turned into watercolors and how the rusty roof punched up to be very similar in color to the clover.  Stepping back, the photo turns into three basic color bands--green, red, blue.  Cool!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Spearmint Girl

Made this last week when we were leaving the liquor store.  I was appreciating and making some photos of a classic Volvo parked outside the store when the car owner and his daughter came up to us.  He was as excited that someone was loving his car as we were for seeing it.  His daughter wanted to tell us that when she rides in the car she gets to have spearmint gum!  Next, she wanted to know why I was making photos soI showed her the curving lines of the fins in my LCD viewer.  She popped in front of my camera and announced the pictures would look better if she was in them.  With the consent of her dad we have,"Spearmint Girl With Classic Volvo."

Monday, May 14, 2012

Art Gallery

New photomontage made from a street sign I've photographed several times in my neighborhood.  To it I added a photo of a watercolor painting and another photo of graffiti I found in San Diego.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

BNSF Engine

Made this yesterday while on the train at the Tacoma station.  Love how the frame of the window mimics the engine profile and how the dirty train window adds another layer of grit onto the photo.  The reflection of the inside train lighting adds a freaky reflection.  Had to do some post work of the sky to get it evened out and delete some window safety decals.  Further post was in Topaz for cleaning, grunging up a bit more, and pushing the saturation a tad.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Meadow In Motion


Was on the train to Seattle yesterday for orthodontia.  It was a smooth and direct trip, very crowded in the two cars with the PDX-SEA connection.  The rest of the train was empty.  Why must they cram everyone into only those two cars?  I've heard their explanations; they don't make sense to me.  It's not like they provide any services to us passengers other than the ride so why must we all sit crammed together?

Train officials say other passengers are getting on at other stops so they have to keep those cars open for seating them.  Right.  Four or five people get on in Kelso or Lacy or Tukwila.  Maybe six at most.  That still leaves most of the train empty except for the PDX cars.  So, what gives?

Perhaps I should do what my seat-mate on the ride to Seattle did.  I watched him drop his ticket stub and seat assignment in his assigned ticket slot on the crammed Portlanders car then head off to sit elsewhere for the duration.  In comfort and quiet and space.  I never saw him after our brief encounter in the aisle at the start of the trip.  Hmmm....

Took this with my iPhone in ProCamera app.  Did some post in iPhone, too.  But then I had uploading issues when it came to eBlogger.  So I finished the pic in Elements when I got home.

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