Point and Shoot

The term "point and shoot" refers to a small digital camera, that requires nothing more than clicking a shutter to take a picture.  However, when I use that term in this instance, it entails a LOT more.

Ron spent two days taking photos of Jenni for her new album "Illumination"......and it is definitely more involved than just pointing the camera lens and clicking the shutter.  Jenni had lined up the Paramount Theater in downtown Seattle.  It's a beautiful classy old building that was constructed in 1928, so it has all the old glamour and style that you don't find in new buildings today.  There are fabulous chandeliers throughout the entire theater, along with ornate ceilings, and trim work everywhere.  Jenni was able to line up about 5 hours of time for us to shoot.  They keep the outer doors locked, so other than the myriad of workers who were constantly cleaning the place, we had it to ourselves.

We actually needed all 5 hours.  Jenni's friend Noelle (Simkins) Jensen drove over from Tri-Cities to do Jenni's hair and makeup.  The first hour and a half were taken up just putting on Jen's makeup.  During that time Ron was taking lots of test shots, trying different angles and making sure he got the light reading right.  My job was to hold the reflector discs, and at times hand hold one of the portable lights.  In the photo below, I was actually kneeling behind Jenni on the floor, holding a light behind her to light up her hair.

Will's mother Sandy made Jenni's dress.  Jen had ordered a couple of dresses, and neither one of them looked like she was hoping.  So, showing a photo to Sandy (who came up and spent a weekend with Jenni and Will) they re-created the dress from scratch.  It turned out fabulous. 

We actually shot mostly in the balcony of the foyer, where there is an antique white player piano.  There were several ornate staircases, so we used them as well.  Whoever thinks that being a model is easy, (or a photographer for that matter)....they're nuts!  This was a lot of work, and we were ALL tired when we were finished.

After the shoot......sigh.  That was a lot of work.

The inside of the theater is just as ornate as the rest of it.  There are two or three balconeys, and the stage is quite large.  I hope that they never stop using it.....it's one of a kind.

Jenni decided that she wanted to use this one as the cover for the album.....this is just a preliminary version.....there will be "fog" or light added to it.  It looks really classy.

At 5:00 pm, we all started heading north.  Will had left a little earlier to go pick up Preston and Taylor, who were staying with a babysitter.  Jenni and Noelle drove in one car and Ron and I in our truck.  All of us met at the parking lot of WalMart at the 164th street exit in Lynnwood.  We condensed into two cars......Preston was SO excited to ride in "grandpa's truck"!  Will and the two boys rode with us, while Jenni and Noelle drove Noelle's car.....which was loaded to the hilt with things for the next photo shoot.  We drove to Anacortes to catch the 8:45 ferry to San Juan Island.  We got there about an hour early, so we took the boys down to the beach to throw rocks.  Grandpa showed them how you "skip" rocks, and so Preston tried to make all his rocks "bounce" after that.  Taylor loves to throw rocks in the water....the bigger the better.  He got so wet that I had to change his jeans and put dry ones on him.

 Waiting for the ferry.......we are on "Island Time" now.

 Preston and Taylor are BIG fans of grandpa.......that's because he PLAYS with them!

The ferry finally arrived, and set sail for Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.  Jenni had arranged for us to stay at a little motel for the night.  It was dark when we got there, and almost 10:00.  The boys were good little troopers.  I had packed a cooler with some food, so we had a nice dinner.....salmon salad. 

Riding on the ferry is always a fun experience.  Preston was so excited to explore everything.  He found the brochure stand and had to collect a large sampling of them to share with us.  Taylor started copying everything that Preston did.

The weather report kept changing.....at first it was supposed to be overcast but no rain until noon.  So we got up very early (Jenni got in the shower at 4:00 am so Noelle could start on her makeup by 5:00am.)  However, things don't always go the way that you plan.  The weather kept changing on us.....it was raining pretty darn hard all night, and most of the morning.  We all piled in the cars and drove up to the Afterglow Mausoleum just outside of Roche Harbor. 

Will was smart and brought a tent for Jenni to change clothes in.  We all took turns waiting in the tent, just to keep out of the rain.  We had two umbrellas, so I gave Preston one of them, and he proudly walked around and around in the rain.  He finally got so wet and chilled that we captured him and brought him inside the tent to change his clothes and to dry off.  He was NOT happy about that.

We waited around for over two hours waiting for the rain to stop.  Ron brought our rain poncho's which we keep inside the truck all the time....they were a lifesaver.

Taylor was practially asleep on his feet, he was SO tired.  So I sat in the tent on the floor and rocked him to sleep.  He had a pretty good nap.

Preston was starting to get pretty fidgetty, so he said that we needed to say a prayer to Heavenly Father and ask him to make it stop raining.  So I said a prayer.....half way through he interrupted me and told me what to say........I guess that I wasn't getting to the point fast enough!  So not too long after that, the rain started to lessen, and we tried to take pictures inbetween rain bursts.  Finally, after 3 or 4 hours, is completely cleared off....at least enought that we could shoot without getting wet.

One of the best shots of the day, was when Jenni lay down on the table that is there....Ron took the photo looking down at her.  It turned out really good.

My job was to hold reflectors again, and chase two little munchins.  They were so good though.....they really didn't complain much at all.  Happy campers!

We should have brought more snacks with us though....we were all starved by the time we were finished.  I stopped counting how many cookies that they boys ate!

 When we got back to Friday Harbor we went to the grocery store to buy some more food.  We found a nice little park in town to have a picnic.  I think that everything tastes better outside.

Taylor found a "friend" on the table, and was having so much fun with the catepillar that it was hard to get him to eat anything.  I had bought Preston a toy ferry boat that he could actually put some toy cars on, and he didn't want to eat either!  Boys would rather be boys and just play!

All in all we had a great time......it was a lot of work, but the end result will be worth it.  Most importantly......we got to spend some time as a family doing something that we all enjoyed!

Evening on Whidbey Island

Ron is taking several photos for Jenni's new album.....we are still working on trying to get a night shot with some stars.  So we thought that we would go to Whidbey Island for the afternoon and then try to get a night shot at Admiralty Head Lighthouse at Fort Casey.  We started out in Coupeville, which is the county seat.  It is really a cute little town, with all kinds of Victorian houses.  All the shops on the main street are in the Victorian style as well.  In the center of town, is a large dock with a restaurant at the end of it.  It was such a beautiful afternoon, that we spend quite a bit of time walking on the shore, and then just sitting on the dock watching the boats.



There was a beautiful (and big!) sailboat that had dropped anchor in the bay (which is called Penn Cove).  The owners were relaxing on deck and enjoying the warm afternoon.  Mt. Baker was in and out of the clouds all afternoon.

We walked on the beach under the dock to take pictures, until the incoming tide drove us back to shore.  Wow, can that tide move fast!  As we were standing there taking a few photos, you could actually see the water level rise.

All of the shops in town were closed, but there were several people walking around just enjoying the beautiful day.  There were flowers blooming all over town with cute little benches to sit on.  

The large sailboat that was anchored in the cove, was really beautiful.....especially with Mt. Baker in the background.  We struck up quite a conversation with a couple other people who were sitting on the dock as well.......it seems that a couple of weeks ago there was an old crab boat that caught fire and sank.  It created quite an oil spill in the cove.....which was disasterous, because there is a mussel farm at the end of Penn Cove.  They had to shut down the mussel farm because of the fuel oil contaminating the shell fish.  A couple of the envirionmental boats that were cleaning up the spill, came into dock as we were sitting there.  I'm sure that having to shut down the mussel farm is going to be finanicially devastating to the owners.  They ship mussels all over the world too.

I found a cute little flower basket and sign on the side of the restaurant, that was situated at the end of the dock, in Coupeville.

There were several kayaks stacked on top of each other, that made for a colorful display.

We stayed on the dock for a couple of hours, enjoying talking with people and watching the boats.  This would be a good spot for a sunset photo....but we didn't stay here, but went to Fort Casey for the sunset.  I wish that you could be in two places at the same time!

We got to Fort Casey just as the sun was getting pretty low on the horizen, so the colors started to warm up everything.  We were surprised that there were only a few people visiting the Fort.  We've always enjoyed coming here for a picnic.  We used to bring our kids here all the time, and explore all the ruins of the old Fort.  There is only one long cannon left, and it is pretty impressive.  It was just hazy enough that you could barely see Mt. Rainier in the distance, however after Ron processed this photo using Color Effects Pro and Viveza, he was able to bring the mountain out quite a bit.

I love the lighthouse at Fort Casey....it is called Admiralty Head Lighthouse.  The light is no longer functioning, but is used as a museum now.  It smells pretty musty inside.  It's not the easiest lighthouse to photograph because of where it is situated.....but it is one of my favorites.

The wind was blowing (as it usually does at Admiralty Head), so that cooled everything off a bit.  The air was warm....in the 70's, but the breeze is a natural swamp cooler!  The clouds were really bright pink and orange, so we really enjoyed the view.

I was having a few problems with my camera, so I didn't get the shots that I was hoping for.....maybe next time.  (my compact flash card was acting funny, and I couldn't get the settings right for taking an HDR photo.....I'm sure it was "operator error.")

I think that I got one pretty decent photo of the lighthouse, despite all of my camera difficulties.  I was trying to get an HDR photo (High Dynamic Range), but it didn't work.  It still turned out nice though.

I thought that it would be interesting to show the difference between a shot using the normal light reading, and one that Ron took, using HDR.  It is a composite of 7 different photos.....you take a couple of shots underexposed, and a couple of shots over exposed and then combine them in software on the computer.  Ron then used Color Effects Pro to enhance the color a bit, and as you can see, the final photo has a lot more detail and color.  (and I think he had better clouds than I did too!)

We were going to stay there until very late, so we could get a photo of the lighthouse with stars in the sky......but that wasn't possible.  We just happened to run into a Park Ranger who was shooing everyone out of the park so he could lock the gate.  I asked him if we could park below the gate and then hike back in to take a photo of the lighthouse when it was really dark, so we could get stars in the picture.  He told us, if we hike back in he would give us a $138 ticket!  He was really nice, and wished that he could accomodate us, but we didn't want to get him in trouble if he let us back in, so we decided that we weren't going to get a star photo that night!  Darn!  It would have been the perfect spot too.  Oh well, back to the drawing board.  



The Blue Mountains of Oregon

I have heard that the Blue Mountains, located in Oregon, were actually harder for the pioneers to cross than the Rockies were, in Wyoming.  Looking at them, you would never imagine that.....they look like soft rolling hills covered with praire grass and evergreen trees.  But underneath all that green softness, they are solid rock with very little top soil.  If you stop at one of the many Pioneer Interperative Centers, and actually walk on the Oregon trail a bit, you will still see the rut marks made by the covered wagons.....ruts dug into solid rock.    The Blues just go on and on, rolling for miles and miles.  There are no natural passes, so the pioneers literally had to create their own passage through the mountains.  It makes me very thankful for the modern conveniences we have, such as highways and comfortable cars to travel in.

We spent about a week in Pendleton....from May 12 through May 17.  It was really nice to go "home" and spend time with my mother.  She will be 84 next month, but is still game for a new adventure.  Springtime is absolutely gorgeous in Eastern Oregon, as there are miles and miles of green winter wheat, and beautiful golden fields of canola.  You don't realize how tall the canola grows until you actually stand in a field of it.  It smells wonderful, and there were busy honey bees all over collecting pollen and nectar.

The area called the Palouse, runs from Pendleton north to almost Spokane, Washington, and then west to the Tri-Cities area.......it covers hundreds and hundreds of square miles and is almost entirely cultivated.  It is a beautiful area to explore, and you rarely see another vehicle.  Most of the roads are dirt, because they just connect the farmhouses and fields.  We spent most of one day just exploring and driving around the Palouse, looking at the beautiful wheat, canola, peas and and vineyards.  We stopped in the little town of Waitsburg and found the city park and ate lunch.  80 degrees.....perfect dry heat.

Ron and I are always game to try a new road, and this trip was no exception.  I can't even remember the name of the road, but it started taking us toward the foothills of the Blue Mountains.  For several miles we traveled along the top of a ridge....everything was so green and beautiful, with higher snow capped peaks in the distance.  One of the things which I really enjoy about the Blue Mountains, is that they are so accessible.  There are large meadows and not a lot of underbrush, so it's fairly easy to traverse.  Also, even though you will find private property signs, there is practically unlimited access to the roads which criss cross the mountains.

We saw lots of deer and even a herd of antelope.  The wild flowers were just beginning to bloom, and in another month they will be spectacular.  My mother took every opportunity to get out of the truck and hike around.....especially when there was a field of wildflowers close.  The bluebells were really beautiful.

I love old fences and praire grass.  Even though the mountains are covered with trees, black pine, ponderosa pine, fir, tamarack and more, it's the mountain meadows that I really love.  Sometimes they can look like a manicured lawn.

After exploring the mountains for several hours, we returned to the valley just north of Pendleton where we had found some old barns earlier in the day.  The sun was getting low in the horizon and the color of things started to intensify.  The sky was coloress though, because there was a haze over then entire Pacific Northwest...which makes photography rather frustrating.  As long as we didn't have the sky in a photo, it turned out a lot better.

I have to admit, living on Camano Island, I really miss the warm spring and summer evenings in Eastern Oregon.  Nice dry heat.  The wheat fields at this time of year are my favorite.  The wheat is at least a foot high, and it's rich green and very thick.  They've had more rain than usual this spring, so the wheat looks extra good.

The next day we decided to go exploring again.  We started by crossing the Blue Mountains at Tollgate, which is between Pendleton and Walla Walla.  As we got to the top of the mountains, at Tollgate, we got out of the truck and walked to where Ron had taken a panoramic photo last winter, February 26, 2011.  Just to compare how the seasons change the appearance of a place, I took a similar panoramic of exactly the same spot where Ron took the winter picture.  Wow, what a difference in the seasons!  This is definitely a winter scene!

The air was even hazier than the day before.  As we entered Elgin and then proceeded into the Grande Ronde Valley, you could hardly see across the valley because of the haze.  So we gave up on trying to get the perfect picture and decided to just go exploring.  We headed up the Grande Ronde River just out of LaGrande, Oregon.  This area was even more beautiful than where we were the day before.  The wide mountain meadows were pristine and beautiful.  I think we counted on one hand the number of cars that we met the entire day.  This is one area that we want to return to again, to photograph when the light is right and there isn't any haze in the sky.  We found a couple of old homesteads that would be perfect to photograph.

We followed the Grande Ronde practically to it's source, and then got back on the road and drove into the Elkhorn Mountains out of Baker City, Oregon.

 We found a forest service map of all the dirt roads in the area.  We picked a road and started up it.  It was supposed to come to a meadow called Limber Jim Meadows.  The road got bumpier and more potholed as went continued, but I think that Ron was enjoyed every bump.  I know that he just wanted an excuse to put the truck into 4-wheel drive.....which we finally did toward the end of the road.  The ponderosa pines in this area, were huge and beautiful.  Mom and I got out and collected a very large plastic sack full of perfectly shaped and gorgeous pine cones.

When we got to the end of the road, there was not any meadow, but there was a pond, so we got out and hiked around the pond.  We decided that it wasn't the right spot for a picnic, so we started back down the road......I had to get out several times to pull tree branches back so the truck wouldn't get scratched.  (as soon as we got home, Ron buffed out the scratches that we got before I started pulling the branches back!)

The snow had just barely melted in places, so there were huge potholes full of water.  Our clean truck didn't stay clean for long.  Several of the potholes were really deep.....more like a small lake instead of a hole!

Found an elk camp and decided that it was the perfect spot for lunch.  There was a clear rushing creek right beside the camp in a beautiful large meadow.  Somehow food always tastes better outside.

After lunch we got back on the main road that crosses this area, and headed south toward Sumpter.  We came across this beautiful farm at the end of one valley.  (I'm sure that they get snowed in, in the wintertime.)  Ron wants to come back here and take photos in the early morning....probably in the fall when there would be ground mist, and maybe an elk or two.

We tried to find the little ghost town of Whitney, but discovered later that we had taken a wrong turn......maybe next time we'll find it.  We did see an elk and a bear as we drove up to Anthony Lake.  Road to Anthony Lake was still covered with snow, but we drove as far as we could, and then turned around.  Anthony Lake is in the Elkhorn Mountains.  We finished our loop and came out at Baker City, and then drove home to Pendleton.

It was nice to relax and enjoy the time with my mom and husband.  But we couldn't stay forever, so we headed back to Washington......the scenic route however.  We took all the back roads.....Horse Heaven Hills, and the old highway through the Yakima Valley.  Then at Ellensburg we turned off and went across Blewett Pass.  I've always wanted to stop and photograph this old abandoned farm, so this time we stopped and took some pictures.

 Here is my attempt at a panoramic photo.  This was taken in the Blue Mountains as we drove along the ridge outside of Waitsburg.  Just looking at those beautiful rolling hills, it's hard to imagine that they are really solid rock.  I heard the people who have had near death experiences have said that the spirit world is indescribably beautiful......but since I haven't been there yet, I can't say.  But I can say, that I think we live in an incredibly beautiful place right here and now.  I'm glad that I had the opportunity to grow up in this gorgeous area.

Grandpa and "his boys"

Preston and Taylor love their grandpa. They love to sit on his lap and watch Tom and Jerry cartoons or Thomas the Train. And grandpa loves those little boys.......he will play hide and seek, put puzzles together and anything else they want to do. Isn't family just wonderful? I love ALL my boys and girls!

The Mountain and the Moon

It seems like Ron and I haven't been able to get out to take any photos lately.........because of a combination of things, i.e. bad weather, septic problems, teaching, work, tending grandchildren and church responsibilites, just to name a few. But yesterday the sun was shining and we had nothing pressing on the calendar so we loaded up the truck and "ran."

Mt. Baker was bigger than life, so we headed in that direction. It's not that often that the mountain is that clear and beautiful, so we took advantage of a rare opportunity. We drove up to the Mt. Baker Ski Resort area, (which was closed) and hiked up one of the ski runs a little way. My favorite mountain to photograph is Mt. Shuksan, and I never tire of how incredibly gorgeous it is.

I tried something that I've never done before........HDR photography. (High Dynamic Range) The photo below is a normal shot of Mt. Shuksan.....just one photo shot.

Here is the same shot, but processed using HDR. You take several shots using underexposure and overexposure, then combine them in software to get the best of everything.......darks and lights and a lot more detail. There was a huge difference.

On the drive home, we were driving south along Highway 9 toward Sedro Wooley, and we looked over at the Twin Sisters and the moon was just coming over the horizon. We pulled over to the side of the road and jumped out of the car. We were in the right place at the right time. Wow, what a sight! A photograph just doesn't do it justice.

The unique thing about this photo, is that the sun was just setting so you get a pink glow to the mountain, but the moon was rising at the same time. Perfect timing! How often does that happen?

Victorian Christmas Village

It's January 9th.......and I just can't bring myself to put away the Victorian Christmas Village. It brings such a warm ambience to our family room. Maybe I can put it away at the end of January.......hmmm.