i love flowahs

shoot. I applied a treatment to my cat tonight & didn't do a good job of keeping the stuff in an area on her back that she can't reach, so I am spending the wee hours of the morning on kitty watch. Oh well, it helped me get caught up on some pics!

Earlier this month, dma and I headed over to the Bellevue Botanical gardens for a nice, mid-week photo shoot. I always find something interesting there, and this was no exception. The sun was setting, creating some dramatic lighting opportunities.

The Japanese structure is a signature structure of the Botan. When I visit the garden on my own I usually stop here for a bit for a bit of quiet tranquility.

I took sooo many pictures! I loved it! Flowers are some of my favorite subjects; I love the lines of the petals, the detailed lines and combination of soft and vivid colors. I have posted quite a few of them below. I used my lens baby for some of them. I did some editing, too!

These two are minimally processed...

And this last one is a prelude to an upcoming trip to the Skagit Valley tulip fields... glorious backlighting!

Well, I think Sweet Pea is going to be fine; she has walked across my keyboard twice while I have drafted this post and is quite curious about things moving on my laptop screen. phew! Thanks for checking out this round of pics (and for appeasing me with yet another round of flowers. beware, though, more flowers to come!)

Lake Hancock

Yay! More old pics!

THESE pics are from a wonderful hike up to Lake Hancock in March. This would have to be toward the top of my favs; the trail was a nice gentle incline along forest service roads, and the views were awesome!

It was pretty hazy, though, so I am not such a fan of my own pics. sigh. But trust me, it was so pretty!

Here is a pic of Mt. Si and a bit of the valley...

This cluster of trees reminded me of cross between Ansel Adams' aspens in New Mexico & Eirik Johnson's Sawdust Mountain series. I cropped in a bit to get this image & I was suprised by the detail; you can see tree trunks in the shadows! awesome.

Like any other hike with dma, there was a bit of adventure involved. Can you see the road on the lower left-hand corner? well, it all of a sudden just... ended. With a bit of climbing and calm, centering meditation, we found another route.

Ta-da! Here is the lake!

and here is the same image with a bit of processing...

So, as I am typing this post on my laptop, I can see the wonderful beautiful blue skies out the window. It is taking some sincere discipline to sit here & edit pics & write, and now I realize why I have fallen behind on my posts... its been too nice outside! Nice! My folder of yet-to-be edited April pics are so colorful... they will be great. But now, it is sunny & I am going to go... somewhere, anywhere but inside! laters!

Lake Easton

This round is another blast from the past... in mid-February DMA and I headed east and ended up exploring the lake basin of Lake Easton. It was pretty cool to walk along the muddy lake floor, knowing that in the summer this place will be underwater.

My brain has trouble grasping the full scene; insteady, I am drawn to patterns and details. I liked the line of evergreens on the hillside, and the beautiful back lighting. It reminds me how much I love living in the Pacific Northwest, and how at home I feel here.

One of the patterns that caught my eye was the reflection of the rockwall in the gentle, glassy stream. The lines are like graceful arrows.

I also loved the lines in dry, cracking mud. Who knew mud could be so interesting?

Just for fun, I converted the mud floor pics into black & white.

And those are my favorite pics from that adventure. Thanks for taking a look!

Two Months!

Sooooo, I guess I took these frames *exactly* two months ago... they were kinda lost...I misplaced my SD card before being able to transfer to my laptop. oh gosh. Thankfully, I found them & took a few moments to edit them over the weekend. It was kind of sad, though, to look at these dreary winter pics then head outside in this past weekend's beautiful, beautiful weather.

Oh yeah. I almost forgot...this creek ate my 2 stop neutral density filter & lens cap. grrrr. stupid humpback creek ;)

Easter Goodness

I only took a few pictures on Easter... mostly some goofy ones of my goofy nephew, the Easter Pirate. There were two non-corbin frames that I love...

The pic above is a close-up of some flowers that called out to my sister when she was at the grocery store. I LOVE the color!

This picture is an accident. I was trying to show my brother-in-law how spiffy my new lens is with VR, and just took a picture of whatever was in front of me. When I composed the frame, I didn't really think about the composition, or anything, really, besides metering. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The table setting isn't perfect, its just real. Years from now, I think this frame will bring back some nice memories.

Thanks for checking out these pics!

Sweet Pea

Big News... I adopted a kitty a little bit ago! Her name is Sweet Pea & she is about three years old. So far, she is a pretty cool little cat... she even has a nickname already!

She is a bit camera shy, but I managed to snap a few of her last week with my Elph. This little kitty loves hanging out on my couch, gazing out the windows (even though there really isn't much going on outside!)




Awwww, cute huh?

Barns & Birdies

The Skagit Valley is one of my most favorite places.... on Earth. Seriously, I love it up there! These pics were taken in mid-March on a day with some pretty cool lighting. Our first destination was a nature reserve on Fir Island. I was armed with my new 70-300mm & found a lot of interesting subjects!

Barns
Usually, I prefer images that have been processed in black & white. I love black & white images... maybe its my stubborn adoration of details, I love being able to focus on the small variations in tone, changes in depth, and intricacies of the image without being distracted by pretty colors. I would even venture to bet money that I prefer black & white images to color versions.... except this one...

... the full color version is so pretty! Plus, it seems like it should almost be against the law to have a a beautiful sky with fluffy white clouds like this devoide of any color saturation.
There is something about barns that evoke nostalgic feelings of rural America, eh? I chose one of my frames of this barn to do some extra photoshop processing to try to capture that nostalgic feeling.

Another Barn...

After a bunch of wandering, we found a true gem... another nature reserve along the Skagit! And.. another barn in the distance.

On the flip side to the barn above, I like this one better in black & white ;)

Birrrr-dies

One of the highlights of spring in the Skagit is the infusion of Snow Geese. While they aren't the best for the fields, they sure are pretty! Mostly, I love the patterns. I was pretty much just shooting whatever I could, with complete disregard to composition, so I ended up cropping in a bit to get the frame below...

and, hahaha, the same thing in black & white! For this image, I think both the color & black/white versions are cool in their own way.

Now... in the pic below, I thought it was pretty blah at first.

I found, though, when I cropped in that the photograph transformed into a softer, dreamier image. Almost like a watercolor.

Well, these were my favorites from the day. Pretty, huh? DMA and I capped off the photoshoot in typical fashion with a stop by a local Thai restaurant. Why does Thai food go so well with photography? And why do I always want to drink coffee afterwards? Mysteries. OH, and if you go to the Rachawadee Cafe in Mt. Vernon, go for mild spiciness. trust me ;)

Thanks for checking out this round of pics! And blessings to you & your loved ones this Easter.