Just a little bit

ohmygoodness. It has been another crazy weekend. I love it.

I haven't had a chance yet to prepare a full blog of my recent adventures, but wanted to share a few pics anyway. The first two are from a hike to Tulapis Lake, near North Bend, and the bottom three are from a photo shoot/lesson on Mt. Rainier. Enjoy.

(oh and check back again in a few days, I'll have more stories soon!) Thanks :)

that's so cokin

Why yes, today is one of those days...

Much like my quest to take pictures at St. Edwards, my quest for a sunset shot with my new cokin filter has proven to be, well, tricky. Yesterday, my friend Cole & I tried to go on a shoot, but it was an insane weather day... it could have been a November day; chilly, windy, rainy. BRrrr-y. So, we tried again today. At 4pm we were unsure. At 5:30 pm we were even less sure; Bothell looked great but Greenwood had some drizzle. We figured that the sun didn't set for awhile and decided to just take another peek at the weather. By 7:15pm Greenwood had gorgeous blue skies, so I headed to Seattle.

We ended up at Sunset Park, it is located directly above one of my favorite parks, Golden Gardens. The view was pretty, and the atmosphere was pleasant (kids & dogs! oh my!). The only problem was this GIGANTIC cloud right smack in the middle of our view. Really, could this cloud BE any bigger? (say that last one with your best Chandler impression, eh?) Actually, all the clouds hovered around the tips of the Olympics - man, I bet they had some rainy days! (in a rainforest... who knew?) This caused a crummy skyline and a very challenging shoot!

This was the first time I used my new 2-stop neutral density cokin filter. It was cool, although, as you will see from my pictures, I have no idea what I am doing with it. I figured today will be one of those days when say, a year or two (or maybe more) from now I will look at this pictures and think "wow. I had no idea what I was doing. How funny." So, sit back, check out my latest attempt at photography, and enjoy.

Above: View from Sunset Park, looking slightly southwest, no cokin filter.

Above: View from Sunset Park, looking slightly southwest, TOO MUCH cokin filter.

Below: View from Suset Park, looking slightly southwest, with cokin filter

And then I swung my tripod around, past the big dark cloud, to the other side... (p.s. tripod & I were better friends today - it didn't pinch me at all!)

Above: View from Sunset Park, looking slightly northwest, no cokin filter.

Below: View from Sunset Park, looking slightly northwest,with a cokin filter.

Well, there you go. Today's shoot was short and sweet; just enough time to get a look at what the cokin filter can do. Thank you.

Not Quite A Charm

You know that saying "third times a charm"? Well, on Tuesday evening I proved it wrong. HA! Take that - old saying.

Tuesday marked my third attempt to explore stinkin St. Edwards Park in Kenmore. Del had sent me a text earlier in the day to see if I wanted to go take some pictures after work... of course! We pondered some spots in Seattle, vetoed Bonney Lake, and considered a rather sterile Mercer Island locale before deciding to head up north to Kenmore.

I guess I can't really say that St. Edwards was a total bust of the "third time" saying; we had a great time - the old seminary is amazing. It has some architechtural features that really make you pause to reflect on the magnitude of its former use. "Its our history" (FYI that is a Del quote). The trail was rather serene, and, get this... I even trespassed a bit (shock & awe, eh?).

At least this time I made it to the shore! We followed the trail that lead towards the right; we went through some shrubbery (side note: have you seen Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail? Hahahaha.. shrubbery!), went under a tree or two (del was like a monkey!) and found a little alcove with a view of a former dock. (see the top picture, "Almost Cool").

On our way back, we noticed some graffiti on a little retainer wall. Del stopped to take some pics, while I tried my best to grab some shots of a very, very large log (ok, do your best bevis & butthead impersonation here.. "hehe, you said... log") but there were too many shadows and the pics were blurry, even at ISO 800. whatever. The sun was disappearing and the wind was picking up, so I didn't want to mess with my tripod & slow us down. What to do? Well, I snapped a couple shots of the beautiful canopy of trees above us (see middle pic, "Branches"). We hustled back down to trail towards the beach and stopped for a couple more shots.

The bottom picture is of some rocks near the shoreline, and if my Seattle-geography is correct, Sandpoint is in the distance? I wanted a nice, smooth watery look (because I am a sillynilly contrarian- Lake Washington is supposed to be choppy, so I wanted it smooth). I left my shutter open for 13 seconds to get the effect I wanted; unfortunately, since it was sitting for so long I also captured a big ol' raindrop. Oh well, I am still learning & I learned a bit more about aperture with that shot.

So, St. Edwards still eludes me; I saw another trail on the south side of the beach AND we cannot forget the grotto. Plus, I want to head back to macro-up some of the cool designs on the buildings. Another day then, eh?







"Almost Cool"

"Branches"

"Shore"

Thank you for taking a look at my pictures! I truly appreciate your interest and support. OH and if you are reading this on, like, Wednesday or Thursday... you should come over for some soup! The chilly weather on Wednesday made me want to make some soup, so I have a big 'ol pot of some seriously wonderful beef & vegetable soup... :)

Monday, Monday

Today's photo shoot was up at Deception Falls near Skykomish. I was out for a drive with my mom and we were headed east on Highway 2. We weren't sure if we would go that far, but it is such a lovely drive that we found ourselves in the area before we knew it.

I am not going to give much commentary on these pics... last summer my mom's family shared a special moment up at the Falls, so today's shoot carried a bit more emotion for me than the usual shoot.

I immensely enjoyed adjusting the aperture settings and shutter speeds and could have spent hours there. My mom found a comfy resting place on a log overlooking the falls to reflect on last year's memories; she looked so touched and deep in thought. As much as I wanted to capture the moment, I felt that it would be best to let it remain in my memory. On a lighter note, I tried to get some cool mossy shots from the trail, but couldn't get close enough and wasn't really interested in falling down a ravine.

* here is the view of the trail:

*this is a view of the falls. Notice how smoooooth the water is. I used ISO 100, f29, 0.5 seconds

* compare this view of the falls to the one above. Besides being darker, it is so choppy. I love how the choppiness of the water demonstrates the powerful turbulence of the falls. ISO 100, f5.6, 1/320 second. I should have bumped up my ISO to have a bit more light on the falls while still being able to use a fast shutter speed. Maybe next time.

*The base of the falls. ISO 100, f22, 1 second

* The falls flow into the Tye River, which flows into.... you get the idea. Flow river flow. ISO 100, f22, 2 seconds. My tripod and i are becoming closer friends.

* I liked the symmetry of the arched branches and the sillouhette of the mountain, combined with a bit o' mountain mist.

* This is the Old Cascades Highway heading east towards Stevens Pass. My mom, a lifetime Washingtonian, is such a handy lady to have around. Not only does she open the pretzel bag for me while I am driving, she knows a ton of fun side roads, perfect for photographic adventures.

*And here is the Old Cascade Highway heading west... heading home.

Mambo Number Nine

Ladies & Gentlemen, this is photo shoot number nine. One..two...threefourfive, everybody get up & come on let's drive...

I bought my Canon Rebel xti on August 3rd and have been trying to take pictures as often as I can. I've grouped each day's pictures together and labeled them as "Lesson One", "Lesson Two", etc. Figuring "lesson" is so appropriate - I need to learn about photography (in general) and about how to actually use my new outlet to the artistic world. Saturday the 16th marked my ninth official "lesson" with the XTi.

Here is a general overview of the day: I bought a new lens (yay!!), I had some fabulous chicken masala & tandori chicken with some great company in West Seattle, continued adventures with great company via a nice stroll down Alki, spent a few minutes playing the "I don't know, what do you want to do" game, explored a few places on the Eastside, ended up along the shores of Lake Washington taking another round of sunset shots, reminiscing about high school days while enjoying thai food (bistro-style), hanging out on a dock in a serene Bellevue park taking pictures of the moon, and catching up on Buffy, season five, with a good friend. Not a bad day, eh?

I haven't given titles the pictures for this blog. Instead, I'll just tell you a bit about how I took them, and why I took them. One thing that might come up a bit is the phrase: "and then Del suggested..." because he helped me so much throughout the day. He commented this morning that I have really improved since I got the new camera; well, if you know him at all, you know that he is a great teacher. He is incredibly smart and can figure out anything that piques his interest; also, he explains things in a way that is understandable and ... here's the key.... easy to remember.

Ok, enough about that big weirdo... check out my pics ;)

-The one with the sunglasses -
I took this one at the Alki Starbucks. Yep, another one of those "lori went to alki and took a picture of something random instead of a nice, pretty landscape" type of shots. My new lens is a compact macro lens and is able to adjust to really close shots (um, macro) or nice portraity shots for things farther away (like Cole's lens that I had borrowed). I tried to take pictures of Del & Al, but Al told me that his image does not show up on pictures and Del gave me the "if you EVEN" look that translates into "i will make you walk home." So, I took pictures of my fancy sunglasses purchased from a fine retailer on the streets of DC. (thanks again, tandori al for your help with lens.. as of 11:30pm on 8/17 it is still intact, too!). At first, I had the glasses about a foot away from me. My new lens was confused. Is it near or far? neeeaar? faaaaar? Then Del said "why don't you shoot closer." duh. That did the trick & the result is macro supergirl history. Check it out - you can even see the dust on the glasses.

- the one that says "stabs" -

For the past few weeks, I have been trying to get a picture of the little "stabs" label in Del's truck. I tried the Lumix. That thing has an f2.8. No luck. I tried my cell phone. Nice try, but no luck. Thanks Nokia. I was about ready to dust off the Canon A520. It wouldn't let me down. Or would it? I figured my new compact macro lens could take it. So, while Del was getting acquainted with his new friend Garmin, I took a dozen shots of Stabs. The only challenging part was not getting my own shadow in the frame. Nice job, new lens.

-the three pics of dreamy branches by the shore -

I took the next three shots by a willow tree near the Kirkland waterfront. I had fun using different aperture settings and shutter speeds and getting different effects of basically the same spot.

The composition of the top pic is a little strange, the branch is at a weird angle and there isn't really a central spot to look at. But, I love the subtle outlines of the boats in the background, and their placement in the frame.

The center one is so dreamy and calming. It just feels like summer when I look at it. I like how the picture is kind of divided into two parts: the reflection of the setting sun on the left and the willow leaves are just chillin' (yes, that is a technical term) on the branch, enjoying the warm weather. I think you might be able to see some of the round sun circles (I am not sure what they are really called) on some of the branches because I was looking directly into the sun. I knew they would be there, and I wanted them in the pic to give it that nostalgic feel- you know they way that movies do that sometimes... like when someone is remembering a fond memory of summertime activities from childhood (like swinging or playing out in the pool or running through a field at sunset or something)...

I wish I had composed the bottom one a little bit differently; maybe one step to the right? I would have moved the branch a little bit to the left so it didn't blend in so much with the boat behind it. Although, then I might have had too much sun in the corner? hmm. I still like to look at it, though.

- the one of the dock -

The pictures that I had taken just before this were really similar to Del's we were sitting side by side on the steps next to the dock taking basically the same pictures (except, of course, his are better). The argument is still out over who's shot it was ;) He continued exploring other areas and I shifted over to the dock to try a different angle. At first, I tried to focus in on the post/light things. That turned out just kind of ok. I took about 15 pictures in this one spot and I think that the one below turned out the best. As an added bonus, when I reviewed this pic on my home computer today, I noticed that I cought one of the kids in mid-air! Double click on the picture to make it bigger then look at the end of the dock, in the sun. wow, what a lucky shot!

- the one with the sailboats -

As we left the dock and willow tree area, Del and I chatted about timed exposures for a bit. Here are his helpful tips: first, start out in a low ISO; then, figure out the composition; then, try different shutter options using this rule of thumb: "2, 4, 6, 8." Meaning, start at two seconds and see if it is the look you want. Then, go ahead and try it at four, then see what that looks like. You get the 6 and 8 right.... so, from these steps you can figure out how much time you will need. Just before we got to the Thai place, I spotted this row of sailboats. Del was such a good sport and defied his growling stomach in order to help me with this shot. I had placed my camera on the edge of the dock (while making darned sure that I was holding on to the neck strap). I wasn't even sure what it would look like, composition wise (unlike my other cameras, this one doesn't have a preview feature where you can see your pic through the LCD. no big deal, I am just explaining). So, I took my first shot at a fast shutter speed and was pleasantly surprised to find out that placing my camera at the edge of the dock yielded a nicely composed shot. Who knew? So, I adjusted the shutter using the "2,4,6,8" approach. Whoa! Too Bright! At the time, I really like shot I had with a 1/2 second shutter speed, but, once I got home, I found that I like the 1 second one better, because the water looks so glassy. Enjoy.

- the dark ones with two moons -

The next two pictures were taken at Phantom Lake in Bellevue. This was an exciting shoot. It was full of mystery (why in the heck did those people bring their many, many children to the park at night?), danger (my tripod fell over and the D300 was in certain danger), and intrigue (how do I get my camera to focus? it is a secret!). Broooohaaahaaahaaa. I learned a ton. a ton in this short side trip. I learned about using the flashlight to focus on something else then returning to the original shot when your camera won't focus. I learned about using manual focus. I figured out how to change the focal point of the shot. I learned that I was on track for figuring out the ISO/shutter combos of night shooting. It was great. Del also filled me in a bit on white balance. Look at the two pics below... the top one has a nice, warm glow in the sky while the bottom one is more of a cool blue. The difference is the white balance. For the bottom one, I had my camera on the "auto" mode, but Del suggested changing it to "sunny" in order to bring in more warm tones. Turned out nicer, eh? I left my shutter open for about 25 seconds for these shots (I think... off the top of my head I cannot fully remember & I am too stinking sleepy right now to look up the details...so, I could be making it up -even though I usually save that for Wednesdays).

-the one with a bunch of lily pads -

I had so much fun with the two shots above that I wanted to try my newfound skills on a slightly different view. After Del helped me figure out how to adjust my stinkin tripod, and after a bunch of attempts to use fancy flashlight work, combined with some manual focusing, I was able to capture the pic below (btw, tripod & I still aren't good friends, but it is getting better. someday. sigh. someday).

And that, my friends, is how I spent Saturday. It was a nice, relaxing day that in many ways reminded me of the del and lori show, season one. As always, thank you for reading all this stuff and for taking a peek at my pics.

Discovery Discovered

The pics from this post were taken on Thursday, the 14th. It has been a busy weekend, so it took awhile to catch up...

On Wednesday evening, I heard a bit on the radio that tomorrow (Thursday) would be the first of the five hottest days of the year. It has bittersweet ring to it, doesn't it? On one hand it is awesome to have five straight days of glorious summer weather, yet, at the same time, it signals the ending of summer; another summer...gone.

With the promise of nice weather, it was certainly tough to stay indoors Thursday! The view from my office is of a big, gray building. Ugh. When the weather is crummy the gray building blends in with the sky. I am not kidding; sometimes it is hard to see where on begins and the other ends. However, on Thursday, it was gorgous out, and the bright blue sky was a welcome contrast against the boring gray slab.

I still had Cole's f1.8 50mm and was dying to take some more pics! I figured I would try my luck and see if Del was interested in heading out on a photo shoot. It is blitz time for him, and usually that kid is a GHOST during blitz - either because of multiple functions, traveling, or just plain-ol' peopled out. Anyway, lucky me, he needed a break! We soon found ourselves being guided through the streets of Seattle via google maps. After a minor detour through Ballard, we made it to Discovery Park. We have been there before, but hadn't had much luck getting to the lighthouse. This time, we were on a mission.

Ok, at this point, I realize that I have given a horribly long introduction to this set of pictures. I will save you from the great stories of how we got down to the lighthouse (hmm, this way or that way?), how we got out of there (darkness!), and the virtues of women's restrooms (they are stocked with necessities, unlike the men's).

Let's take a look at the pics, shall we?

"Seinfeld"

I called this one "Seinfeld" because it was taken from the point where we had stopped during our trek last summer. I hadn't eaten enough that day, and felt woozy-weird, so we stopped there for a minute. Guess what - del's phone worked there & we watched a bit of Seinfeld. Random, I know. We stopped here again on Thursday because of the great view.

"Rock"

Since Cole's lens is a fixed lens, I was not able to zoom in closer to the lighthouse. No problem! I found a rock nearby that had no problem posing for a portrait.

"Wheat"

This picture was taken just as we approached the beach. I was still too far away to have a nice lighthouse picture, so I set a low aperature (around f1.8 or maybe f2.5) and focused on the wheaty plants in front of me instead. You can see the ranger's house in the background.

"Rocks"

Ah, sad. This is an example of how quickly the light can change. As I approached the lighthouse, I noticed the sunlight reflecting on the rocks at the base of the lighthouse. I spent so much time getting set up & figuring out my tripod that I missed the best light. Even though the pick is crummy, I still remember how beautiful it was and figured I would share it with you in case you want to take a moment and imagine the rocks with warm, golden light reflecting of the wet rocks. aaaaa, nice huh?

"Lighthouse 1"

There it is, the place we have been seeking. The place that we have had on our list of places to visit. Nice, huh? Nice and crooked, too, huh? I am not good friends with my tripod yet.

"Lighthouse DMA"

This one is a lot nicer, isn't it? The composition is better & it is in focus more, too, eh? .... Del took this one with my camera.

"Rawness"

And here I am. I figured that since Cole's lens is intended for portraits I should at least have a portrait pic. After a couple of "Oh hey"s, del figured out the right settings and took this one of me. I tried the 'ol set the self-timer and run in front of the camera routine to get one of both of us, but the lighting wasn't in our favor (and I was a dork and left the polarizer on. Photoshop can probably fix it..) p.s. I named this one rawness because I had *just* adjusted my camera to shoot in raw... I had to convert the raw file into a jpeg to post, so I called it "rawness." enjoy.

"Sky"

Ok, this one is no where near as cool as Del's (I can't even believe we were in the same location) but I'll post it anyway. I am using this blog to show my progression as a photographer, so, I gotta post the crummy ones too. The sky is pretty cool though.

And now, we can officially cross Discovery Park off the list. Thank you for checking out this group of pics :)

1.8

Greetings from Bothell! There is a little path that runs along a creek near my office that is a perfect place to get some air and take a little break from numbers and figures and rates. Can you believe that New Dan has worked with us for over a year and hadn't visited the creek yet? It was a nice, sunny afternoon, so New Dan, Cole and I headed for the creek; two Canon XTis in hand. It actually ended up being a mini-lesson on my camera - I didn't know about the mirror lock-up feature, OR the long exposure noise reduction feature either! (yeah Nikon fans you heard that right... noise reduction... excellent color saturation with less noise, baby). I only took a few pics during the afternoon because, sigh, we had to get back to work! The pic below is a sample of my random "oh pretty - CLICK - keep moving" shots.

The lens is intended for portraits. I saw a few of Cole's pics from a wedding that he attended last weekend and they turned out amazing. After work I looked around my place and didn't see many folks to take pictures of (THIS is when a loving, adorable kitty would come in handy, eh?)... but I figured I base my joy on the ability to capture a great macro shot anyway, so I headed out to my balcony to take pictures of my newly blooming flowers.

Well, the sun had set a bit and my balcony was in the shadows. The pics were horribly boring. I decided to head out somewhere, anywhere, in search of something interesting to shoot. I went downstairs and chatted with my neighbors for a bit, then my little neighbor boy's shiny tricycle caught my eye. The sun was shining so perfectly on it, and the 1.8 lens would be able to blur out the assorted cars in the parking lot. A token of childhood. Just as I pulled my camera out of the bag, the little cutie jumped on the trike and sped away. Sigh.

It is kinda funny - guess where I ended up... back at the creek! I only had about 30 minutes to spare before meeting some friends (movie night!!!) and the creek was on the way. I ended up taking about 50 pictures there in about 20 minutes. The lighting had changed in the few hours that had passed and it took a bit more effort to find the shots I wanted (the lighting was pretty harsh by this point).

The pics below are from the second trip to the creek. While I like these pics, my one big critique for myself is that the subjects are all centered. Such boring composition! But, I just remind myself that I am concentrating on the technical side of actually pushing the right buttons on the stinkin camera... once I get comfortable with the controls I'll be able to concentrate on other areas.... oh man, I hope :)

p.s. the last picture is of a spider... not sure if you can see the details on the small blog pic.

Thanks for reading this and viewing my pics! I hope they made you smile, thinking of a warm, sunny afternoon.

Well Fine Then...

I was disappointed with my lack of luck today at St. Edwards Park, so I went to my friend, Del's webpage for inspiration. Lucky me, he had snapped some fantastically cheerful and summery shots today at Alki. One picture in particular, a pic of a viewfinder, or as they say in the professional photography world, a "pay telescopy thing," reminded me of a pic I took in New York in December. I found that picture, and a few others from my December 2007 NYC trip that I thought would be fun to share. OH, and for the record... I heart NYC.

"Gimme Your Gold! Gold?"

This shot captures the essense of Chinatown... it has the grittiness of the subway, the sophistication of Kenneth Cole, combined with the reality of a pawn shop. It was a busy Saturday morning and there were shoppers everywhere, searching for the best bargains on everything from cashmere scarves to knock-off purses to 8-track tapes. As an added bonus, this shot reminded me of home and endless jokes that involve a cat named Pinky and his desire for Gold. Gimme yo gold! Gold? Go-uld? Gold! (beep). I have this pic in my kitchen now.

"Animal Lamps"

I had fun in this shop too, so many funky lights!

"Happiness, 20 Percent Off"

These lights crack me up, especiall the stickers... Happiness, 20 percent off. Who knew you could buy happiness? And on sale, too! Not only that but sexiness AND good fortune! Sold!

"Top of the World"

And here it is, my shot that is so similar to Del's! He thought it would be interesting to take a picture of something you are supposed to look through with something you are looking through (hmm, did I get all that?). I took this one because I thought that the view finder looked like a face, like it was looking out over the city. It kinda reminded me of the maid on the Jetson's cartoon, too. What was her name... Rosie?

Thanks for reading these! Hope you enjoyed the pics from my little trip to NY. Oh, by the way, these were all taken with a little Canon A520 point and shoot in complete program mode. I just turned of the flash and set up the shot.

Nature Photographer's Lament

On a whim, I decided to head to St. Edwards Park, again. Like last time, I was sidetracked, but this time, I actually made it to the park. However, I made it there just an hour before the park closed. I headed towards the sunset, figuring I would find a trail to the beach. On the way there I stopped to take a picture of the the old seminary building. It is quite cool, I loved the bricks and the old-school style windows (ok, every architectural design buff in the world just cringed with that description. sorry?)

I found a trail, which, I guessed went to the beach. I had no idea. I didn't know where it would be going. It was a nice, wide trail, so I threw my camera in the bag and jogged down it, figuring that daylight would be zipping away and it would be better to gain some time on the way down then have to super scramble the way back up.

After about 10 minutes of winding, I realized that I could be on a very long trail. It was lovely; I enjoyed the fresh air and watching the warm tones from the sunset glow behind the trees. I figured I would just stop right there on the trail and take pictures from there. When in Rome...

I tried to catch the sun behind the trees, but really, the camera (or specifically, the camera operator) could not capture the beautiful colors. I started to take pictures of the trail itself when all of a sudden my camera became unresponsive. I thought that maybe I had mistakenly set up a really long shutter length, but even turning my camera off didn't help. I ended up taking the battery out, reinserting it, only to get a message that, sadly, my battery had died.

A few hikers were coming up the trail then, so I asked how far until the beach. They said it was only about another 10 minutes or so, that I was about half way there. Hmm, what to do? Given that my battery had died, the mosquitoes were killin me & I was without my trusty flashlight, I decided to call it good.

Maybe the third time will be a charm?

St. Edward's Park, Seminary Building

The Half-Way There Stopping Point