Tripod and Spray Bottle

Time Lapse No 18 - Las Vegas, Nov 2011

2011-11-22T17:15:00.000-08:00

Best viewed full screen, with sound on.

That is all.

Where Does the Time Go?

2011-07-26T00:16:00.000-07:00

I've really fallen off of the blogging bandwagon this year. I won't make excuses, I'm just not into it. However I do want to put some more photos here to help keep people updated... after all this is where you go if you type in the website from my business cards, I should have something here.

More of the same with the city and nature photos. I haven't taken a whole lot of pictures this year, but I do still get out a little to enjoy myself when I have some time. Nothing takes my mind off of my problems like three hours at sunset with my camera in a nice setting.

I still try to catch the special events here in Portland. Although I did miss two of the big fireworks displays for the year, I made it to the fourth of July. Hitting up the Rose Festival fleet was a little easier, since they were around for several days.

I've found myself working in the Poker industry this year. I really enjoy what I am doing now, it's fun and I am meeting a lot of great new people. I was lucky enough to visit Vegas during the World Series of Poker this year, it was a blast and I hope I can make it back in 2012.

My photography has also come in handy at the club where I spend most of my time. I get some great pictures of the local players, although few are as good as the shot of my fellow dealer Clint, above.

Anyway, just checking in. Thanks for taking a look!

A Quick Drive Through the Gorge

2011-01-20T19:44:00.000-08:00

One of my Flickr contacts has been posting photos of serious flooding up near Mt. Hood this week, so I decided I should probably drive out to the Gorge and get some pictures of the waterfalls with above-normal flows. I guess I would have been smarter to get out there two days ago, when it was pouring rain and melting all the snow off the mountains, but these are more dramatic than what I've gotten during the summer.

I didn't do any hiking, instead I just drove my car down the Columbia highway and hit a few of the dramatic falls on that route. It took just over an hour to get from Multnomah Falls through Latourelle, luckily there wasn't much traffic and the crowds were very light... at Latourelle, I was the only one there!

As usual, there are more photos from this and other series' over on my flickr page. I hope you've enjoyed these few photos, and hopefully I'll be getting more of them here soon.

I guess this is as good a spot as any to throw in the photos I took a few weeks ago when the gorge was all frozen over and I didn't really get to see anything other than a frozen Multnomah Falls. That was pretty neat.

Thanks for looking in! Have a great week, everyone.

Portland's Peacock Lane

2010-12-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

Last week I visited one of Portland's oldest holiday traditions, Peacock Lane. Since 1929 residents of this three block long street have decorated their homes and drawn people from all over town. I visited on opening night, when the street was closed off to cars, which made for much easier photography.

Luckily there was a steady rain falling for most of the evening, and I was able to get some nice reflections on the sidewalks and streets. The street was really crowded with people, but I did my best to take long enough exposures that none of them cluttered up the final pictures. You can see a few spots where someone stood in the same spot for the twenty or so seconds I shot (one in the above photo, and two in the below) but considering the crowds I was pretty happy with that.

Things came out really well for me, I was happy with how the pictures came out in the end. I hope you've enjoyed them, and as usual you can see more shots over on my flickr page, http://flickr.com/pdxsean. Thanks for taking the time to look!

Portland's Christmas Ship Parade

2010-12-18T09:16:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Ship Parade is a long-standing holiday tradition in Portland, with two fleets of ships that ply the Willamette and Columbia rivers. Recently I took a walk down to the Willamette to catch the fleet as they passed under the Steel Bridge.

These ships were tricky to shoot properly. The zoom lens I own is not really appropriate for low-light conditions, with a maximum aperture of f/3.5 and at these moderate zoom levels it was usually around f/4.8. Add into that the ships were moving at a decent clip and it took a lot of patience and some luck to get reasonably clear shots.

I hope you've enjoyed these, thanks for taking the time to view them. As usual you can see more images from this shoot, and others, on my flickr page, http://flickr.com/pdxsean.

Early December Catch-Up

2010-12-06T09:19:00.000-08:00

It's been a pretty good week for photography for me. I've gotten out a few times, made an effort to find some new industrial macro shots, and the clouds have cooperated for waterfront sunset shots. I hope you enjoy these best-of shots from the last week or so.

I hope you've enjoyed, and as usual there are more photos from these shoots available on my flickr page, http://flickr.com/pdxsean. This should be a good month for me and the camera, not only is winter one of my favorite times to shoot, I tend to look to bump up the annual shot count as the year comes to a close. Thanks for looking!

Riverfront Sunset, Downtown Rain, and Park Macros

2010-11-29T11:10:00.000-08:00

It's been pretty cold here in Portland the last couple of weeks, and I've been pretty lazy about getting out and taking photos. We had a tease with some snowy weather in our forecast, but sadly it never materialized. As it is, I've managed to get out a couple of times to take some pictures when the conditions demanded it.

When I find myself stuck inside too long because the weather doesn't inspire me to get out, I'll occasionally take matters into my own hands and head out with my spray bottle and macro lens and take some creative shots. This was the case yesterday when I took a walk up to Washington Park and took some photos as I walked the peaceful grounds.

With any luck, I'll get out and take some great shots this month. December is usually wet, and with the added lights of the holiday season I should find plenty of opportunities. I've got my fingers crossed, anyway. I hope you've enjoyed looking, and as usual you can see more from these shoots on my flickr page, http://flickr.com/pdxsean.

Highlights of Several Recent Shoots

2010-11-13T20:02:00.000-08:00

I've been out taking a lot of pictures lately. The weather here has been great for photography, in that it has been raining modestly with little wind. Over the last week, I've gone out several times to take some pictures, getting a pretty decent variety of shots, the highlights of which I am showing here. As usual, there are additional pictures from these shoots on my flickr page.

Fall and winter are among my favorite times to take pictures, so with any luck I'll be a lot more active over the next few months. We don't get a lot of snow and ice here in Portland, but there's often some to be seen a short drive away, so I'm expecting to catch some of it in the next few months. Should be a good winter for photography.

Thanks for taking the time to look, I hope you've enjoyed.

More Long Exposures of Portland's Skyline at Dusk

2010-11-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

We've had some great cloudy sunsets during the last week, and I've gone out to catch a couple of them with my camera. The first time out, the clouds sort of cleared up as I was shooting, so the results weren't quite as dramatic as I would have liked. The image above is the only one from that shoot that made the final cut, you can see that there are only a couple of clouds still in the sky.

The next day I went out and did the macro photography that I featured in my previous post, and the clouds were a lot heavier as the sun crept below the horizon. I was able to catch some really great long exposures. My goal was to take a lot of 90-120 second shots, and for the most part I was successful. However a couple of the test shots I did at 20 or 30 seconds ended up looking great, so I've posted the best of those as well.

I hope you've enjoyed! I've been pretty motivated to go out and shoot lately (it's this great fall weather) so you can expect plenty of more photos to come. I have a whole set from last night, and more than likely I'll get out to do another couple of shoots this week. Good times.

Industrial SE Portland

2010-11-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

My absolute favorite type of photos to take are these industrial style images, with my 60mm macro lens. Although I don't necessarily get too many highly magnified "macro" style images, the clarity of the lens and ability to get in close to my subjects really makes the macro lens worth hooking up for these industrial area walks.

I'm always surprised that I don't see more of this sort of photography when I look around online. There are so many little hidden treasures to be found looking around manufacturing and industrial areas. I don't take a lot of risks for any of these shots, all of them are taken from public sidewalks and the like... I don't get why other people don't see the same sort of things all that much.

As it is, I'm happy to be able to express myself through the camera in this fashion. My love of this sort of photography is the basis for the name of this blog, as I view my tripod and spray bottle to be the most important tools in making these images work. Although I could shoot this stuff handheld, and without wetting it down first, I wouldn't be able to get the level of complexity I do were I to approach it in that manner.

Thank you for looking, I hope you've enjoyed! As always, you can see more images on my flickr page, and you may follow my infrequent remarks over on twitter @pdxsean. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Water - From the Beach to Downtown

2010-11-02T17:03:00.000-07:00

After a reasonably slow month of October, I've had a pretty productive last week or photography. The first images are, actually, from October, and had sat forgotten on my hard drive until earlier this week when I remembered to post them on Flickr. I had taken a drive up to Washington's Long Beach peninsula with hopes of shooting Oysterville and their lovely state parks, but ended up at my second-fallback locations of Ilwaco and Cape Disappointment.

In the last week, we've had some good rain here in Portland, accompanied by little or no wind, which has meant some great night photography for me. I've taken a few walks around downtown with my camera and have been pretty fortunate to catch some nice images. Even better, the temperatures have been generally in the upper fifties in the evening, so it was much more comfortable than one would expect for spending hours walking around in the rain.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this winter, photo-wise. I hope that there will be plenty more great rainy nights, and with any luck I'll be able to shoot some fog and snow. Stranger things have happened... but either way, I'll try to stay happy with what I get.

I hope you've enjoyed, and thanks for taking the time to look at my work. You can, as always, see more of these images on my flickr account, and follow my infrequent tweets over on twitter @pdxsean.

Waterfalls, Leaves, Zombies, and Bikes

2010-10-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some highlights from the last six weeks or so of shooting. It's been a quiet time for me, but I've still tried to catch some interesting images.

As usual, you can see more on my flickr page, http://flickr.com/pdxsean and you can also follow me on twitter @pdxsean.

Thanks for looking, everyone!

Portland's 2010 Fashion Night Out

2010-09-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Twitter has served me well over the last year or so, drawing my attention to some interesting local events that I'd never have heard of otherwise. Last night's Fashion Night Out is a great example of this. I'm neither interested in fashion nor consumption in general, so I'd never have heard of this event were I not following a Portland current events account.

It was a fun afternoon. Every thirty minutes the models would do their walk down the runway and basically stop and pose at one specific point. As the night went on, it became easier and easier to plan my shots and get the timing down right. The lighting was a little tough, it was overcast and even with no filters I had trouble getting a fast enough shutter speed to get crisp shots. I probably should have hiked up my ISO to compensate. Unfortunately I didn't notice the softness of many images until I came home and saw them on my PC.

All said, it was a fun way to spend a few hours and some great practice I wouldn't get otherwise. I'll definitely keep my eyes open for future runway/fashion opportunities, if nothing else it's very rewarding to take pictures of attractive people.

As always, these photos and more can be seen on my Flickr page, http://flickr.com/pdxsean. Thanks for looking!

Portland Symphony Waterfront Concert Fireworks 2010

2010-09-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Oregon Symphony has an annual event wrapping up the summer down at the waterfront. Last year, I got some great pictures of ballerinas and a decent shot of a cannon blast, but had to skip the fireworks. This year, I decided to go with the light show.

I've never seen the east bank of the Willamette so empty for fireworks. A few of the Flickr Nightowl group were there, as I had expected. Other than that, nobody else seemed to care. I arrived more than an hour early to get my spot, but could have shown up at the start and still had the same space.

I haven't had much luck with the fireworks this year. I wasn't so thrilled with my 4th of July shots, and the Rose Festival show was rained out. I've also made a few attempts at taking pictures of the fireworks at nearby PGE Park with no success... so I was pretty excited to have a good opportunity for a winning shoot to wrap up the summer. Although I didn't have as many shots to choose from as I might have liked, I was still really happy with the shots that came out.

Getting the timing down is the hardest part, as you have to guess when the shells will explode, adjust the shutter opening based on brightness (I'm on BULB setting using my remote) and try to close the shutter before the next barrage explodes. I'm still trying to get the correct brightness level of the city, I'm not sure if that's possible considering the brightness of the fireworks.

All together it was a good night. It was warmer than on Independence Day, it was not crowded at all, and the technical challenge of firework shooting provided some rewarding results. Hope you've enjoyed!

Overdue Summer 2010 Update

2010-08-16T18:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't been taking a lot of pictures this summer, but I have gotten out a few times with the camera. I haven't been posting anything here (not sure why, I do update another site regularly) but you haven't missed out on much. If you'd like to see more, you can click any of these images and get to my flickr page, where you can see several additional images from each shoot.

The Rose Festival came and went, during a surprisingly rainy June. The festival traditionally opens with fireworks, but the night was so windy and rainy, I wasn't able to get any interesting shots. I did get down to the bridges (with my umbrella) and took some pictures of the fleet.

When I was a teenager, Pacific City was my favorite beach on the Oregon Coast. I haven't been there for many years, so I decided it was time to spend an afternoon there with the camera. The beach is a lot more popular than it was 20 years ago, but it's still a nice place to stop in, and the pictures around the back of the cape are worth the drive.

After having the Rose Festival fireworks rained out, I was particularly eager for the show on July 4. I took plenty of pictures and really enjoyed the fireworks, but I think I could have chosen a better vantage point. I just hope I can remember to consider that next year.

Portland's Hawthorne Bridge turns 100 this year, and in celebration half of the bridge was decorated with a light-art display. There were numerous technical and logistical glitches with the display, although after a few days the display looked pretty nice if you happened to see the bridge after 10:00 at night.

Finally, last weekend we had the annual Twilight Criterium over in the Pearl District. This bike race brings in plenty of racing talent and is a pretty fun event to watch. The atmosphere is festive but the crowds are reasonable... it's easy to circumnavigate the track and you can cross to the inside easily if you wait for the trailing motorcycle to pass.

St Johns Bridge at Sunset

2010-05-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

On my birthday, my brother had me over for dinner and cake, and I had a good time hanging out with his family. The food was great, the kids were really well behaved, and everyone got along really well. So good times all around. The kids went to bed at 8, and the timing was perfect for me to skate out and hit the Sellwood Bridge at sunset.

My brother lives out near St. Johns, one of the more remote neighborhoods in Portland. It's a twenty minute drive... longer during rush hour. I don't get out there much, although I should. It's a nice neighborhood with some interesting features. I haven't visited since I bought my D80, so I'll probably have better luck if I return.

Out in St. Johns, they have the historic St. John's Bridge. I believe this bridge would easily win in a poll for a favorite of the seven bridges crossing the Willamette... people really love this bridge. I think it's nice, but honestly it's probably my fourth favorite, after the Steel, Fremont, and Hawthorne. But it's nice all the same.

As I was leaving, I remembered the cool adjacent industrial area. I literally put my car in reverse and drove backward into the parking lot. I hopped out and enjoyed the access to the rail line and tried to make the best of it, and the last bit of light in the sky.

Carnival for Cinco de Mayo

2010-05-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

The waterfront holiday season traditionally starts May 1 in Portland, as we kick off our Cinco de Mayo festival. Running through the fifth, they have rides, games, and lots of food and entertainment. A few fellow Flickr users and I got together and did some shooting.

One of them, the talented Andrew Curtis let me borrow his fish-eye lens. It was really interesting to play with. It had a manual aperture setting, which was really cool. A pretty crazy lens, it was fun to be able to play with it.

I returned to the carnival the next night, hoping for a better sky behind the rides. I'm glad when I go back to a place a second time, because it's then that I remember to try some creative shots. I figured out the timing on these zooming shots pretty quickly and had plenty to choose from when I came home.

I hope you've enjoyed!

Downtown Rain, a Watch, and the Waterfront

2010-05-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

It's just been a series of short photo shoots for me lately, I haven't gotten out and done anything serious or particularly interesting. I wanted to share these images before I got too far backed up on my posting.

We've had a lot of rain lately and I've gotten out shooting in it a couple of times. Shooting in the rain can be really rewarding, but it does present a lot of challenges. I can never stay out for more than ninety minutes or so. In my hurry to work before I get completely soaked I tend to get a lot of crooked shots, or encounter other easily-prevented flaws.

That being said, the night/rain combination does make for some great shots.

Tonight is the first night of the Cinco de Mayo festival here in Portland. Traditionally, this has been accompanied by fireworks, so I am very excited about the possibility of getting the first fireworks of the year tonight. However, their website doesn't include the fireworks in their schedule, so it has me a little worried. I guess the worst-case scenario would be just shooting the carnival rides and so forth. Which isn't really so bad.

A Few Sunset Shots

2010-04-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

There were some great clouds the other night, and they held up long enough for the sun to go down and allow me to take some pictures of them. Thank you, local weather!

I just realized the other day... the first of the summer's fireworks displays will happen in just a couple of weeks. I am so excited!

Two Time Lapse Videos from This Weekend

2010-04-11T23:58:00.000-07:00

Something I really don't do enough of with my camera is time lapse photography. The acrobatics exhibition at Pioneer Courthouse Square this weekend really inspired me, however, and I took a ton of pictures that could be made into videos. I had about ten segments worth, but four of them really stood out. Following the lead of my Time Lapse hero, Andrew Curtis, I kept the videos down to 90 seconds, which means I had to make two.

Unfortunately, they don't allow tripods in Pioneer Courthouse Square, so I had to do these in an impromptu fashion. For the first video, all of it was handheld. Which worked out, but I could only do 1/20 second exposures... not exactly intriguing.

For the second, I did longer exposures and sat my camera on something solid. The second segment, the camera was sitting on my bag on the ground, and unfortunately I didn't catch all of the bottom of the frame. Oh well. It's still pretty interesting. I hope you enjoy them both.

Cirque de Soleil's Kooza Exhibition

2010-04-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

Cirque de Soleil is visiting Portland this week, and they've sponsored a circus-themed acrobatic exhibition in downtown Portland. I went down and spent a few hours there yesterday, taking pictures of the performers.

I tried to do something a little different with this shot, doing the zoom-while-shooting thing, which gives the illusion of movement. This is pretty tough to do properly with such fast shutter speeds and no tripod. Still, I got this one to come out pretty well, I think. I will try to get some better today.

There were plenty of children visiting the exhibit, and most of them took the time to get their faces painted.

Many of you know I have been trying to get more comfortable with sort of editorial/people shots, with some mixed results. This event made it pretty simple, as there were a lot of people there looking at specific things rather than trying to hide from my camera.

Many in the crowd got involved in the fun, learning juggling and doing some hula hoop action.

I usually don't share so many photos publicly from one specific shoot... I really don't like diluting my exposure, and of course it's always a good idea to only show the best of the best.

Two factors inspired me to share so many images publicly this time around. First, I had a LOT of great images come from this shoot. I could easily have shared 40 which I was very happy with. Secondly, I took about 400 shots of performers and crowd, so there was a lot of great stuff to choose from... you're still only seeing a tiny bit of what I was happy with.

I had thought that these were actual Cirque de Soleil performers, but then I looked at the details of the fliers and information being handed out... these are local performers, and not people from the circus itself. Which makes me a little disappointed... I feel I was misled by the promotion.

Also, I feel bad for the local troupe doing the work here, as they are very talented performers and they get no promotion from their work here. If I hadn't talked to one of the people working with the group, I'd have no idea who they actually are. So congratulations to Portland's own Pendulum Aerial Arts! Nice work, all of you.

There were so many cute kids there! It sure was nice to be able to take pictures of them without feeling like some predator.

Congratulations to the many talented local artists performing in the exhibit. They were amazing, and in a few days you'll be able to see some stop motion video projects I've put together from their performances. I hope you've enjoyed my pictures!

Weisendanger Falls, Some Industrial Stuff, and a Sunset

2010-03-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to stay active the last week, pushing some boundaries and just doing my best to be motivated and getting out.

Spring time is my favorite time to go hiking, I love the wet trails and generally busier creeks. I was hoping the recent wet, cool weather would equal plenty of snow melt and higher water, but it wasn't really anything I noticed.

The rain was perfect for me, coming down heavily for about fifteen minutes as I reached my turn-around point, and then just sort of spitting out a little bit for the two hours I shot on my way back to the trail head. The wind wasn't really a factor, so I was able to use my umbrella when needed, and caught most of these exposures umbrella-free.

I've also decided that it is time for me to familiarize myself with post-processing on my images, mostly in hopes that when I am taking pictures for a living I will be prepared to fix up some images that aren't quite where I want them. I shot this industrial shoot with that in mind, it really required me to rethink my whole approach.

Lucky for me I haven't had the need to learn much yet, although what I've picked up in the last week has been really helpful. I've learned to heighten my contrast without giving an artificial look to my images, which is great. I've also picked up a tip or two I might need when I take some portraits, although none of those practice images are here.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing these! Not much else to report, I'm just keeping my head down, working through my planning, and trying to stay positive. I'm on my way to making this work!

Some Images From the Last Few Weeks

2010-03-22T11:01:00.001-07:00

Not a lot to talk about right now, it's been pretty quiet around here as I enter my second month of unemployment. I'm still working in a lot of study time, it's amazing how many resources there are out there. I've tried to get out a couple of times a week to take some pictures, although I am kind of full of waterfront shots and the like.

I've been playing with the custom settings on my camera lately. Getting deep into the options, it's a lot of fun! I've found a way to make some of the trickier night shots come out better. That orange light that is so often used for streetlights can come out really ugly, but this particular mix of settings tends to tone it down.

Mr. Bigglesworth was sitting in the window as I was preparing some test shots, so I decided to do my setup shots on him. Surprisingly, he sat still the whole time and just looked at me, so I was lucky enough to get the settings right and a good composition.

The other day I took a walk up to Washington Park and did a short shoot there. I just wanted to get out and do something, and I hadn't been up to the park for months. As you know, most of the interesting shots here have been done many times, so I wanted to try to find something new.

Luckily a few flowers are starting to bloom, so I had some more predictable subjects to shoot when I couldn't find anything interesting and new. The wind was really blowing, so it made the flower shots tough to take. I went with a higher ISO to try to get a nice clear shot.

I hope you're all doing great! I just wanted to share these. I haven't really had anything exceptional come through lately, but I am still out there trying to stay sharp and keep my imagination alive.

Oscar Night at Portland's Hollywood Theater

2010-03-07T22:49:00.000-08:00

I volunteered to help with a photography project at the historic Hollywood Theater here in Portland today. The non-profit theater hosted the official Oscar party for Portland, and I took part as a "paparazzi" on the red carpet.

Although I am not an experienced event photographer, I am still pretty happy with how the shots came out. Amazingly, I had way more quality shots than I could choose from... it was very tough narrowing it down to a modest amount for my blog.

Normally when I shoot, I use my tripod and spend a ton of time setting up the shots... with these, it was mostly try to catch the people as they walked a very short distance past me. I had a lot of trouble with focus and catching people looking normal. Some people would stop and pose for the cameras, and I'd try to catch them as they stood still for ten seconds.

Most of these required a lot of cropping and some degree of color manipulation. The preceding photo, for example, was shot in color and was filled with a lot of wasted space. I'm really happy with the way the BW cropped shot looks, but I still would rather have had some shots (like this one specifically) come out better. Well, it was good practice all the same, and that's how I get better.

It was a lot of fun to be taking pictures with a small group. There were four other photographers, and we tried to do our best to make a bunch of flashes as people walked up the carpet. I'm not sure how well it created the illusion of fame and fortune, but most of the people walking by seemed to enjoy it.

Eventually I kind of got the hang of where people would be walking by, and how to properly get the shot exposed with my flash. It was a real learning curve, I tell you what! As the hour wore on, I set my focus to auto, tried to leave my zoom at 70mm, and just caught people right at one specific spot on the carpet. It worked out really well, and I had shots that I really didn't have to crop much at all. Unfortunately, I did have one of my best shots ruined (the woman above with the hat) with a too soft focus... well, I'll remember that next time.

This was a great experience and I hope I am able to take part again next year. After the red carpet festivities, I went inside and was treated to a delicious catered buffet and enjoyed some of the Oscar show on the big screen. It was a really festive party, but unfortunately I wasn't really able to get any great pictures of the goings on.

I had a few shots come out from inside the theater... shot handheld at ISO 1600, then brightened up considerably with Picasa. I'd have loved to take my tripod... I didn't really think it'd be appropriate, although in retrospect it would have been just fine.

Sunset from Oceanside Beach

2010-02-17T23:49:00.001-08:00

We're having a stretch of beautiful spring-like weather here in Oregon this week, so it's been a good time to have some free time and be able to be outside. Last weekend, I had thought about taking a trip to the beach, but the weather was rainy so I stayed home. This afternoon, I realized that I could go to the beach on a weekday if I wanted to... so I did! I hopped in my car and two hours later I was driving up to Oceanside beach, my new favorite spot on the coast.

I was a little disappointed when I looked at the tide charts before leaving, as high tide peaked at 3:00 and I thought that would be way too early to make for interesting sunset shots at 5:40. Turns out it was a good thing, when I arrived at 4:30 the water was still fairly high... I couldn't walk on the sandy beaches, it was a lot of stumbling on the rocky upper beach.

The thin clouds in the sky were perfect and I was really lucky to get such an amazing sunset. It's always a risk with sunsets, clouds can disappear in less than an hour, so catching the right clouds just takes luck. I had some tonight.

Hope you enjoyed!

Sunset from the Waterfront

2010-02-14T21:24:00.001-08:00

I was a little surprised to see that I hadn't been down to the waterfront recently for a sunset. I guess that is what happens when the sun sets before I get off of work... I just have fewer days to try to catch good skies and go down there. I saw today's mostly cloudy skies, with chances of showers, and decided it would be a good chance to get another shoot in.

Boy was I right! I was really happy with the way things came out. Not only was I able to get a passable sunset shot (rare for downtown) but the clouds behaved the whole time I was down there and I managed to get a lot of great shots. I even busted out the super long exposures, which I hadn't been doing many of lately. Two minutes is a long time to wait for a shot, but boy they are worth it when they come out.

I'm looking forward to spring and the time change coming up in a few weeks. There should be plenty of interesting opportunities as the year starts up again. Good times.

Best of 2009 Photo Slideshow

2010-02-13T15:02:00.000-08:00

I've recently made a few new online fans of my photography. I do love it when people let me know that they enjoy my work, and I always encourage them to look through my stream and see all the variety I have to offer. However, with about 2000 photos available in my public stream, it can be a bit much.

So I've put together a Best of 2009 slideshow for both newcomers and old-timers alike. It was pretty tough to narrow these down, but I came up with a nice selection showcasing all of the great images I was lucky enough to capture last year. It sure is fun to walk down a little memory lane, even if I am like two months overdue for putting this sort of thing together.

Thanks for watching and keeping up with me all this time.

Hiking up Eagle Creek

2010-02-08T19:37:00.001-08:00

One of the most popular hikes in the Portland area is Eagle Creek, deep in the Columbia River gorge. This hike is popular for a reason, as it leads to gorgeous cliff-side views and some outstanding waterfalls.

Some may recall photos I've taken of the area over the years, especially of Punchbowl Falls, which we'll see more of here shortly. On Sunday, I made some great time hiking up, and ended up going further than I had in the past before I decided to turn around. I had to say, the new area I found (past the "high bridge") is gorgeous and worth the effort.

The day was reasonably warm, and although the air was damp it never really rained. The hike was surprisingly crowded for a winter's Sunday (especially with the superbowl on) but aside from that it was a great day to be out. It really is a great trail to conquer.

Previous photos of Punchbowl falls have had an annoying distraction, which luckily has been swept away over the winter. When I visited this year, the giant log had fallen and washed up on the small rocky beach nearby. I had to climb over it to get out into the stream and take this shot, but I sure am glad I had to... it looks a lot nicer without that log there.

Some Modest Recent Results

2010-02-04T19:11:00.001-08:00

On Sunday I went for a walk with my camera and new tripod, with the intention of catching some industrial shots and then switching to the downtown river shots as the sun set. Things worked out well enough for me, although the industrial area I chose was a rather boring one and I didn't find a lot to shoot. You may recall, I did find a bolt. I was mostly interested in the item on the ground and using it as a background, but sadly it didn't come out. The shot I did like, however, is still pretty good.

I walked throughout the neighborhood and got some good exercise, which is probably the most important part of these shoots... I am pretty lazy and do need to keep up with occasional exercise. Turned out the few shots I did take came out interesting enough, so it's all good in the end.

The afternoon had started out partly cloudy, and I had been pretty excited about getting some great cloud shots. They thickened up as sunset approached, however, and by the time the sun went down they were pretty thick overhead. As usual, I was pretty happy with the way the camera is able to pick out some more interesting textures in the clouds than my eyes.

Some Rainy Downtown Shots

2010-01-27T10:25:00.001-08:00

It was raining last night, with no wind... so I had to take advantage. I got pretty wet, but kept my camera dry. I was fairly happy with the shots, although some of them are a bit cluttered. I guess that's the nature of shooting in the rain, I can't really take as much time (or posses as much dexterity) as I might like.

Despite the conditions, I managed to get a good sixty shots, and from those I had a dozen or so I liked. Of course, half of those duplicated the other half, but it really helped being able to pick out the one that was straighter. I had some real trouble keeping things level, as with the rain and umbrella and all, I didn't take as much time setting up the camera as usual.

One thing that always surprises me with my night shots is the extraneous clutter that I don't see when I am out shooting. In the shot above, for example, all of those signs on the side of the street... I didn't even notice them when I was out. Of course, with it being dark and all, I'm not sure I could have even seen them if I had known to look. Looking through the viewfinder for these, all I really can see clearly is the lights.

I tried to play around a little with the zoom and whatever, it makes it pretty tough to get different angles when you can only stand so far out into the street. Most of these were shot from in front of a parked car... which is why they all seem to have the edge of another car in the bottom right corner.

Finally, I headed to a parking garage I had visited a couple of months ago. I remember saying that I would come back in the rain next time... and I did! Good for me.

I hope you've enjoyed!

Some Jewelry Macros

2010-01-25T21:22:00.001-08:00

I was asked to take pictures of some very nice jewelry recently, and of course I was happy to help out. These were some great pieces to work with, and I learned a lot while I was doing the little shoot.

Most of these images have had some modification... there were bits of hair, crumbs, and so forth that snuck into the photos and I had to black them out. On one or two you can see a tiny hair on the jewelry, I couldn't do much about that. I had to brighten a few of them too, I'm terrible at accommodating for indoor work.

I think I did a good job overall, I had the white balance right and good focus on almost all of them. Doing all this macro work reminded me of why I love that lens, but also why I need to stay in practice with it. It has it's quirks.

A Few Wet Industrial Shots

2010-01-21T20:59:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend, we had plenty of rain here in Portland. On Saturday, the rain let up a bit, and I decided it would be a great day to head over to the industrial area and see if I could round up anything interesting. Plus, I wanted to try out the new tripod base that my parents had bought me for Christmas. Yes, I would once again have a tripod where one leg didn't tend to slowly collapse upon itself. That really helps.

I did manage to find a couple of good shots at the first place I stopped. However, the wind picked up soon after I arrived, and was blowing the misty rain about in gusts. Unfortunately, this doesn't work very well with the umbrella... it either blows the rain around it, or tries to blow the umbrella away.

I tried to wait it out, but the weather only got nastier the longer I waited. Which was too bad, because it really is nice when things are already wet down and I don't have to mess with the spray bottle. I guess there's always next weekend.

I also received a response from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines this morning. They won't compensate me for the image that they would like to use. However, they only wanty to use an image that I don't really care much about at all. So I've decided to let them use it. I am really surprised that they wanted it... although I guess it does have a good photojournalistic style to it.

We'd Like To Use Your Images...

2010-01-20T18:28:00.000-08:00

I received an email today from iFly Magazine, the digital magazine of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. They have asked if they could use some images for an upcoming article on Portland. They didn't specify which. I wrote them back and asked which images they were interested in, and whether they would be compensating me for the images.

I couldn't access their website from work, but when I got home I took a look, and it's one slick online magazine. It's very fancy, but I think we're all on modern internet connections here so you should be able to check it out.

http://www.iflymagazine.nl/

Hit the little "ENG" button near the top right to change it to English. Anyway, it's pretty multi-media heavy.

I did a little searching about this magazine, and read a glowing review from some trade blog... apparently this magazine is very popular with KLM's customers and has helped them gain a lot of repeat business.

http://tinyurl.com/dmtvmx

So now I have to wait for their response. In my experience, they will respond and inform me that there will be no compensation. Everyone who has ever asked to use one of my images has promised me nothing more than credit, and I tend to refuse. While I have let a few meh-level images be used, I don't think I've ever given away the use of any shot I am particularly proud of. I imagine KLM will be wanting one I am proud of.

I appreciate the value of my work, and the value of photography in general... I think a lot of people give their work away needlessly, and I don't want to be one of those people. So I've refused in the past based on this principal. And with this offer, I'm even more inclined to refuse, as they obviously have the budget to build a high level website and maintain it. I'd like to think that whenever someone gives an image away, that means someone else doesn't sell an image. Unfortunately, the reality is looking more like someone else will just give theirs away instead.

So there's where I have a sort of quandry. Although it's a principled stance, does it really mean anything? I'm not a professional, nor am I well-known. So why not give it away? Am I really making myself less valuable for doing so, when my financial value as a photographer is already well into negative territory?

We'll see what I decide when I hear back. This should be an easy pass, but it is awfully high profile (relatively speaking) so it's kind of flattering, especially considering my lack of success...

My First 2010 Industrial Shoot

2010-01-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

I realized the other day that I haven't done an industrial shoot in months. I think the last one I did was in October, when the sunset was creeping around 6:30 or so and I stopped in North Portland after work. Maybe there was a failed attempt after that, all I know for sure is that my macro lens hasn't been on my camera for months. I decided yesterday was the day to correct that.

Scanning Google Maps, I found a new pocket of industrial area that I was eager to check out. I drove out there and realized that everything in the area was fenced off or really remote. For some reason, I'm not as bold when it comes to approaching remote places as I used to be.

Luckily, I had a backup plan. I drove across the river and stopped in <s>beautiful</s> downtown Vancouver Washington. I hadn't visited for a year or so, and thought that maybe I'd be able to find something interesting and new. Unfortunately, I was mostly wrong.

I visited the train yard and walked around downtown, but didn't find a lot of things to catch my eye. I was surprised at how little was going on at the train station... maybe it was the Sunday afternoon that kept it slow.

I came home after sunset, happy that I had gotten some exercise and out of the apartment. I parked my car in the new garage (yes, I've changed again) and realized that I hadn't taken any picture of this new space. So I shot a few until I heard the garage door opening and someone coming in. Then I tried to scramble and pretend I was putting my camera away into the trunk of my car. Just a casual guy leaving, not some weirdo taking pictures of the garage. Heh.

December Photo Highlights

2009-12-29T13:55:00.001-08:00

I've really been engrossed playing Medieval 2 for the month, and have barely managed to get out and take any pictures. I did go out one evening when the clouds looked promising, and took some pictures from the Broadway bridge. The clouds thickened up and I was disappointed, but the photos still came out OK.

Another evening, we had some fog. This really is a rare thing for downtown... I don't remember having any fog during my free hours since last winter. Anyway, I broke myself away from the video game to take some shots in the fog. Although it turned out the fog wasn't all that thick once you got to the heart of downtown. You'd think it'd be thicker by the river...

And I've thrown in a couple of Christmas photos as well, just because I can.

I doubt I will be breaking away from the game in January... it's still as addicting as the day I bought it last month. I guess I should be happy, I'm really getting a great value for my $20, but at the same time I feel like an addict... thank goodness nobody is going to call 9-1-1 on me.

Some Long Overdue Photo Catching-Up

2009-12-07T16:44:00.001-08:00

How is that for a clunky title?

I don't think it's any secret that I haven't been posting lately. Most of my evenings are spent playing 'Medieval 2' with the occasional hour or two of online poker thrown in for good measure. I've gone out and done a few photo shoots over the last few weeks, but haven't taken any time to put the pictures up here. Hopefully I can correct that with this quick dump of some of the best photos I've taken over the last few weeks.

These first three are from an walk I did around Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, which is sort of on the edge of Portland proper. I used to ride my bike through here daily, back when I was interested in keeping in shape and somehow wasn't playing video games all the time. Oh, it was that year when I didn't have a working computer. Explains a lot.

Anyway, I had a nice little walk around there for an hour or so and managed to get a couple of nice photos. Yay, wildlife areas!

The next couple are from a walk I took up to Washington Park. I wanted to get out of the apartment, and didn't expect a lot of excitement from the photos. And I was correct in my assessment: there was nothing exciting. But a couple of photos worth showing, so there you go.

We've not had a lot of rain here (despite what you may have heard, it doesn't rain constantly in Oregon) but I did manage to get outside for one evening when it was dark and rainy. I love the kinds of photos that can come from a good nighttime rain photo shoot, but of course they can be tricky to get. I didn't last very long, I was cold and wet and wanted to get back to my beloved video games.

I don't think my post-sunset shots of the Willamette River and downtown need any sort of description. So why am I typing here exactly?

Finally, last week I had Thursday off, and woke up before sunrise to head down to the waterfront and get some rare sunrise photos. Which came out pretty much as I expected: pretty and sunny. So there you go! Hope you've enjoyed.

Novembers Photos So Far

2009-11-09T23:58:00.001-08:00

Good timing on the drive home this particular evening.

I love these fall skies... almost every night is a treat. Lucky me, catching that plane.

You might remember this shot. The last time I was here, I wasn't happy with my results because the skies were really clear or flat or something.

Much better this time, and I like this shot a lot more.

Yet another dramatic sky on my drive home.

It's great to be able to just stop and run down to the river and take pictures for a half an hour. I'm enjoying it while I can.

Finally, some rain! It was coming down pretty good the other night, with no wind, so I decided I should get out and enjoy it.

And I did! I walked through downtown and took pictures of the MAX on the new line, and did some shots from a whole new parking garage. I was able to get some really interesting stuff, but for some reason this one really stood out.

On Sunday, I wanted to go for a hike and enjoy the passing showers. I decided to try something new, and drove up to Lucia Falls in Washington. It was a nice drive and the falls are pretty cool. I think they'd be nicer with a lower flow, as they are pretty short and were really churning yesterday.

As it is, the shot I took of the river heading down and around that island came out the most interesting. I loved that mist coming off the trees, it only hung around for a couple of minutes.

Last Weekend at the North Coast

2009-11-03T21:55:00.000-08:00

As you'll recall from my last batch of photos, I took a quick drive out to the coast last weekend. The sunset was a pleasant surprise, the main focus was a quick visit to Forts Stevens and Columbia. Those of you who have been following me for some time will recognize this sort of place, as I've taken many trips over the last few years to the many decaying military batteries lining the Pacific.

It's tricky trying to find new things to shoot, especially at Fort Stevens. I think this was my fourth visit there with my camera... possibly my fifth. It's a small enough space that there aren't many things I haven't shot already.

Once I figured this out, I realized I could try something different with the familiar settings. Long-time fans will recognize this scene, a long-time favorite, but with a new twist. I haven't really done any of these zoom-in shots recently, so I was happy that I thought of it while at Fort Stevens.

Across the river from Fort Stevens is the smaller Fort Columbia. It's on a steep hillside overlooking the mouth of the Columbia River, the Astoria Bridge, and Astoria beyond. All this, and somehow it has terrible views. There are too many trees and fences to make any scenic pictures work.

Another little trick I wanted to try was playing around with my flashlight in a shot. So I did! I thought it might make things look haunted or something sweet like that, but instead it looks like I played around with a flashlight.

Another of those zoom-y photos. Intense! Did I mention I was there on Halloween? It's true. Too bad the place isn't really all that scary. At least both of the bases were almost completely empty, I think I ran into eight other people at both parks combined.

This would be a great place to visit in the fog. It's a shame it is two and a half hours away, I don't know how I could plan out such a visit, since the weather is so unpredictable. One of these damp and cool weekends, I'll have to get a hotel in Astoria so I can at least double my chances.

While I was there shooting, I kept thinking about how I wasn't really finding any good shots. Just this doorway and that hallway and some window and broken rail... of course when I got home I looked through the photos and found a ton of them that I loved. I had a hard time paring them down, as usual. There are a few bonus shots on Flickr that everyone can see, if you feel like the eleven here aren't enough.

As I mentioned, Fort Columbia doesn't have much of a view of anything, and when I saw the potential for a beautiful sunset I decided I had to cut my visit short and head back down to Fort Stevens. Twenty minutes later, I was at the beach and getting ready for the sunset.

The sand kind of got the best of me, as my tripod tended to shift without me noticing. Many of these shots are slightly crooked, but there are a few that are way off! And I really need to get that sensor cleaned, as the dust spots are just awful. You can't see them in these, of course, but they're very obvious in the shots I took at f/22.

As usual, thanks for taking the time to look at my pictures! I hope you've enjoyed.

Some Recent Photos

2009-11-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

As I've probably mentioned, I am taking part in a 365 project this year, which involves taking a photo every day. Although I've always been a prolific photographer, this once-a-day thing is a great experience for me, and is helping me in a lot of ways I wouldn't have considered.

As it is, the time spent on daily pictures tends to take away from the time I spend actually posting on my (other) blog, so I don't share them as often as I'd like. So, without further ado (or interesting narration) here are some of my favorite 365 shots from the last time I checked in.

Fall Colors at Silver Creek Falls

2009-10-21T17:18:00.001-07:00

I know a lot of you consider fall to be the best time of the year. I'm not quite convinced that any time of the year is better than any other, but I'll allow that fall is beautiful and has a lot to offer. I think it's probably the best season for photography, since it offers great colors, more rain, and a much better selection of evening skies.

Since Fall is really kicking in here in Oregon, I decided last weekend to head down to Silver Creek Falls. It was supposed to be raining all day with no wind, so I figured it would be perfect for some great wet shots of the trees and creek and whatnot.

It rained for a lot of the drive down, which was fine. I like driving in the rain, I feel so warm and comfortable in my car, and it's always like "Take that nasty weather! I'll show you." I'm not sure what I am showing, other than my ability to make a car payment.

I always seem to think I can find a better way to get to Silver Falls, and inevitably I end up getting lost. There are a lot of back roads crossing the valley between Portland and Salem, and it seems like I have determined that I will drive down each one of them. On this trip, I wanted to replicate a drive I had taken the last time I visited, and planned out with a map before I left. I was to take Hwy 213 from I-205. It's so simple, I didn't even need to write it down.

I'm not really all that familiar with the exits on I-205, since I basically only use a small section of it to get around town. So I was trying to pay close attention, in the rain, in somewhat heavy traffic. Suddenly there was a slew of highway offerings. 212. 224. So many to choose from. But no 213? I must be confused and need 212. 224 is too big.

Then, as I get off the freeway onto 212, I see a sign for 213, just the next exit up... since it's about impossible to get back on the freeway, I figure I can just drive south on surface streets. Ah, to be so optimistic...

I won't bore you any more than I already have, suffice it to say I spent a half an hour longer than I wanted driving around some very pretty back roads before I finally found my way back to 213. It was beautiful and frustrating at the same time. I didn't arrive at Silver Falls until almost an hour after I had planned, and of course by then the rain had all dried up.

I quickly revised my plans for the hike based on my late arrival. It didn't really change much... I've hiked along the North Fork of Silver Creek plenty of times and know how far I can get in what period of time. I also know all the spots from which to take photos, so it didn't require a lot of critical thinking on my part. I just had to hustle.

So I hurried down the path and made it to my turnaround point at just the right time. I know I keep mentioning it, but 365 has really shaped the way I think through my photography, and I found it second-nature to make specific plans for each of my shots as I was walking down the path. That was really cool. All of these were planned out as I passed through the first time... and they all came out!

I even learned from previous trips and made it to the north end before it got too dark for any photos. As you should be able to see, it was a close call! I probably should have moved a little more quickly, or skipped one or two of the more boring shots. I think there was one vantage point from which none of the shots made the final cut. Should have skipped that I suppose.

As it is, I was very happy with the results. I hope you are too! Happy Fall!

Time Lapse Photography: Las Vegas Fountains

2009-10-08T22:25:00.000-07:00

First off, I want to offer no thanks whatsoever to Windows Movie Maker. Unfortunately, the longest time lapse video I can seem to get out of it is about two minutes. Anything longer, and it just freezes up every two minutes.

So I guess you can thank that program for keeping this a more reasonable length. It's probably for the best.

I shot these in Vegas during my time between tournaments. I thought the passage of all the people on the strip might be interesting, but I wanted to be able to catch people stopping and doing things too. As I was looking for a suitable background, I came across a fountain where people were sitting and kind of just waiting around.

Well, it didn't take too long for the two ideas to come together, and here you go.

If I feel like battling Movie Maker some more, there's another one of these to come from my trip...

Las Vegas Photo Dump

2009-10-03T13:51:00.001-07:00

It's funny to think that it was only a week ago that I came back from Vegas. It sure seems like longer than that! Unfortunately, I don't have any particularly interesting stories to tell about my trip, so it's been kind of tough to think of a narrative to accompany the photos.

For the volcano shots, I did a lot of scouting around before the first show. I picked out two spots where I thought I would be able to get a clear view of the excitement. I didn't bring a book or my headphones or anything, so it was pretty dull waiting around and holding my spot for the two shows, but I dutifully stood at the fence waiting for thirty minutes before each show.

At one point (still at the volcano) a couple standing behind me (who arrived five minutes before it started) began complaining about my tripod. Which I had carefully set to only stand as wide as my shoulders. It's not like the tripod was any wider than I was, but people still complained. I just don't get it.

Have I mentioned how difficult it is to take a picture of a black building at night? Well, it is. Thank goodness they have those white lights running up the side.

This is the multi-billion dollar "Project City Center" that is slated to begin opening this winter. It's amazing to think of all those condominiums that they are still building in Las Vegas. I wonder what they will do with them? It's not like they have a hotel or apartment shortage. I have a hard time thinking this place won't lose some guys in Dubai a ton of money.

Another change since my last visit. Still a very difficult hotel to take a decent picture of, the setting sun at least gave me some cover by shadowing the ugly street part up. The Encore looks nice, but Wynn isn't much to visit, especially as far north on the strip as it lies. So I didn't take any time to head down there and settled for this better-than-nothing shot.

I don't think there are a lot of opportunities to get dramatic clouds in Vegas. I guess you'd have to be there the two or three days a year when storms roll through. I'm glad I don't live there, because I'd get pretty frustrated waiting for them.

One of these days I'll actually cough up the dough to stay at Caesar's. I don't know why I like this place so much, but it still is my favorite spot on the strip. It's just got the nostalgia of old Vegas but with a completely modern and sophisticated feel.

Their casino is huge and they really do a lot to maintain their status as a high class place. They have a pretty good poker room, which is a plus for me. Finally, my grandpa spent a lot of time in Caesar's during the sixties and seventies, so the emotional link is there too.

Las Vegas Highlight Reel

2009-09-27T23:26:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last week in Las Vegas. While I spent most of my time playing poker, I did take my camera along and did some shooting when I wasn't in a tournament.

I started with the easiest subject, the fountains at the Bellagio. I think the experience of photographing those ballerinas a few weeks ago came in really handy, as I was able to play with the timing and try to catch the movement of the water in a predictable manner. I'll have more Bellagio shots to come shortly.

I stayed at a center strip hotel (the reasonably priced Bally's) and had great access to the big name casinos. I didn't get particularly creative or unique with my shots.

In a sense, it's hard to do anything but staged shots in Vegas, as there is so much going on. Power lines are everywhere, and ads cover almost every bit of open space. You can see several in this shot, although I did my best to exclude them. I couldn't really go any wider here, or else the street lights and construction cones and such would start to get in the way.

Down at the south end of the strip, I did my best to get an interesting shot of the MGM. You can see the construction cones and standing traffic (this signal took 120 seconds to cycle through) but all in all I think it turned out pretty good.

There's a huge construction project going on on this end of the strip, Project Cityscape (I took a few photos you'll see later) so it really felt isolated. To get back to the center of the strip, I had to walk about a half mile, maybe a mile, through a narrow construction walkway, often covered, with people who are much slower than I.

I'm so glad I didn't stay down at this end like I have in the past.

On Thursday and Friday, I really focused on playing poker, and my photography took sort of a back seat. I had a couple of hours between tournaments on Thursday evening and decided to do a few daytime shots.

Here we see the "Eiffel Tower" at the Paris casino. Again, there are basically only two shots of this that work. This one, and another you may see later, taken from the south. Otherwise, you'll have a streetlight in the way, or a rail or a big garbage bin or billboard or some such BS.

It had been a long week, and on my final night as I returned to Bally's, I decided I would make a real effort to get this cool long exposure shot of myself. It took a lot of tries, most of them embarassing as I knelt down like an idiot on the moving walkway and spent a minute or so repeatedly trying to stay still for two seconds.

It wasn't easy. But I think I did all right with this one. Although I look terrible! In my defense, it's one in the morning... although I'm not sure that excuses those bags under my eyes. Ugh!

The Fountains at the Bellagio

2009-09-27T23:22:00.001-07:00

As most of you know, I spent last week in Las Vegas. I did pretty well playing in the poker tournaments, although not quite well enough to bring home a profit. I had a good time tho, and really enjoyed hanging out in this exciting, lively part of the world. When I wasn't playing poker or eating delicious buffets, I was carrying around my camera and tripod and taking some photos. Unfortunately, as I mentioned yesterday, I had a hard time getting creative in this land of streetlights, power lines, and advertisements. Still, I did my best to bring home some nice shots, even if many of them are the standard views you see from Las Vegas.

The Bellagio Fountains were a natural starting point for me. The Bellagio is right across the street from both Caesar's Palace, where I was playing poker, and Bally's, where I was staying. So I had to walk right past it in the evenings on my way back to the hotel from the tournaments, and of course it was very handy when I was leaving the hotel after gathering my camera. Plus, of course, they really are beautiful.

The great thing about these fountains is that they run four times an hour, and about five minutes at a time. So I had plenty of opportunity to get a lot of shots and try different setting combinations to get the right effects. I really did get a lot of pretty shots of these fountains, and it was hard to narrow them down to just these five or six... I have another 20 or 30 I'd like to share, but they'll never see the light of day. I did upload a few extra to Flickr, tho, so you may be able to see them there.

Although they played a lot of different music for the fountains, all I ever can think of is Celine Dion and "My Heart Will Go On"... the song I heard when I first saw the fountains back in 2001. The music from this trip was a lot better, and the fountains really are amazing with their blasts of water, but my mind only seems to bring up that stupid song.

They play the Star Spangled Banner at midnight when they shut down the fountains for the day, which I found to be nice. Like the old days, when the TV used to go off the air and they'd play the national anthem then, too. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see if the lake displayed a test pattern.

I hope you've enjoyed. Vegas doesn't put on the level of free shows that they did in the heyday, but that's OK. I am happy to see what they do still have. I didn't get a chance to shoot the Sirens at TI, because they are very very crowded, but next up is a series of shots of the volcano at the Mirage.

106 and 107 - Two West Burnside Businesses

2009-09-15T21:47:00.001-07:00

A couple of photos of nearby businesses. I do like these night shots. They make pretty boring things look a lot more interesting.

There is a homeless guy dancing wildly there in front of the store, the other guy was playing a guitar and singing. Powell's does attract the most creative class of street kids.

Today I decided to go for another walk and catch some other building at night. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I had an eye on a building several blocks away.

Before I even got to Burnside I realized I have never really taken a look at this building. So I had a real victory there for laziness, and barely walked one block for my photo.

Industrial Photos from NE Tillamook Street

2009-09-10T22:20:00.001-07:00

It's funny how much stuff gets left behind due to 365, as I focus on getting the one shot posted. It's been 11 days, I think, since I stopped in the industrial area after work and spent an hour focusing on just one block. I got quite a few good pictures out of that small area. It's probably something I'll do more often now that fall is coming.

I don't have much else to say, so I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Have a great night!

96, 97, 98 : Three Portland Views

2009-09-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

I drove up to Vista street on Friday night, just to get a quick shot of the city with the cool clouds in the sky. However, that shot didn't really come out all that impressive.

Instead, this throwaway shot I took of Mount Hood ended up winning the day for me. I am not sure why, it's not really all that special, but I really like it. I don't think I feature Hood enough in my photos, although I see the thing all the time. It's a beautiful part of my town, so here's a view of it with the city.

A fellow Flickr user, Jon, turned me on to a cool municipal staircase in the southwest hills which has a great view of a previously unexploited part of downtown.

It's a pretty short walk from my place to here, so I made it my goal on Saturday as the sunset drew near. Those stairs are brutal, steep and climbing directly up the hill. I don't know how many steps it is (100?) but it was exhausting climbing them.

The view was well worth it, and I certainly shall return.

Today I discovered that it's not really all that far a walk to Macleay Park from my apartment. It was really weird to walk through the trendy shopping along NW 23rd, and then around the NW Industrial area where I like shooting, and then suddenly I am on a hike out in the woods. Portland really is awesome.

I haven't visited this place in some time. It was about time I returned.

Oregon Ballet Theater at the Waterfront

2009-09-04T12:40:00.001-07:00

In the last few months, I've discovered Yelp.com, which is a sort of review-based community social network sort of thing. I don't quite get the "friend" side of it, but it's a great site for finding places to go eat and things to go do. I've discovered a lot of interesting activities through this site, including that bike race I visited a few weeks ago.

Last month I saw that there would be a free concert from the Oregon Symphony down at the waterfront, and I signed up for a reminder. Getting an email telling me that there's something fun to do for free is pretty cool. I did a little research beforehand, and found out about the artillery. The ballet caught me off guard.

I was trying to get some pictures of the crowd and such when they announced the ballet coming to the stage. I had no idea what sort of shots I would be able to get of them. I had been doing pretty long exposures for the crowd, both of those shots were in the 20-30 second range.

Luckily, they stood on the stage for a minute or so before the music started, and I had time to do a few sample shots. I set the ISO to 800 and played around with the shutter speed. I set it to 3 seconds (@f/5 or so), which actually gave me a lot more light than I needed. The first few shots were way too bright.

Eventually I settled in on the 2 second range with a slightly higher f/stop, and got these great swirly shots. I tried to time my shots out to where either the dancers were standing still, or moving into their still poses, or just moving out of them. It was a lot more fun than I expected.

I am glad I went out and took these shots, instead of staying home and being lazy. I almost did, but after a little pep talk I was able to get going. It was a nice walk on a warm summer evening. When I got to the waterfront park, I realized I hadn't looked to see which part of the park the concert was at.

I had arrived in the middle of the mile-long park, where I had expected the concert to be. But it wasn't. I had also figured I could follow my ears if I came to the wrong spot. Wrong again. No music to be heard. I decided to go to the south, since that is the fancier end of the park, and I figured it might be more likely to host an orchestra. Turns out, I was right!

I really had no idea what to expect with the whole trip. I had been prepared to take pictures of the crowd and hopefully orchestra. I wasn't sure how I would shoot the cannon, but I figured I would treat them like fireworks. The ballet was completely unexpected but all that movement practice I've been putting in really paid off.

Although I probably would have done this shoot even without 365, it's nights like last night that really make 365 worthwhile. I get a lot of practice and thought in all those boring days where I took so-so shots, and that totally pays off when I have the chance to catch something interesting and new. I was confident and reasonably comfortable taking these pictures, even though it was a subject for which I was unprepared.

Photos from the Waterfront Concert (95.365 and a bonus shot)

2009-09-03T23:18:00.001-07:00

There was a concert downtown at the waterfront, and I managed to get down there in time to see some ballet dancers take the stage. This was unexpected and proved to be an interesting shoot.

The lights on the stage were really bright and I was able to play around a bit with a variety of shutter speeds... and still usually ended up with a too-bright shot. I had a lot of them come out pretty good, this mysterious one was my favorite, even though there isn't really a clear view of any of the dancers.

That image is my 95 shot, and it's also slightly cropped.

The Oregon National Guard brought out their artillery to help the Oregon Symphony with their rendition of the 1812 Overture.

I've never shot them before and had no idea what to expect. They are very tricky to shoot, and since they only fired them about five or six times each (in rapid succession!) I didn't really get a chance to look at what I was getting.

As you can see... not much. I think next year, I'll just get in close and see if I can get something a little more interesting.

This bonus shot (which was the primary goal) is cropped and slightly brightened.

93.365

2009-09-01T22:57:00.001-07:00

I changed parking garages today. I had been staying in a pretty nice garage, which was the only one open at the time I started renting there.

In the mean time, several lots have reopened in my neighborhood. I justified staying at the other lot because it has guards patrolling and the occasional valet passing through.

After my car was broken into last month, I decided that it wasn't worth any extra money to stay there. So I moved to a lot that is right next door to my apartment, instead of four blocks away. And it's about 2/3 the price, so there's some extra money.

The drawback of course is that I am now parking in this lot, the one that I like to take pictures in because it looks like an abandoned warehouse. Yay!

92.365 San Jose Steel

2009-08-31T21:55:00.001-07:00

I am happy that the sun is setting a little earlier. Sure, it means summer is coming to a close, and that is kind of sad... but the light is now strong pretty close to when I get off of work. If I dawdle around and take my time driving home from work, I can actually arrive at a photo destination late enough that I am going to get quality photos. So that's good news.

Tonight I stopped at the North Portland industrial area and took an hour to shoot a few blocks. It's an area I've visted several times, but I still managed to find a few new things. This sign on the side of a fence really caught my eye with it's bright colors and metal clamp thing. Of course, I quickly realized a black and white shot would be more impressive, so I went with that instead. I am glad I did, it came out great!

89.365 Steel Bridge at Night

2009-08-28T22:43:00.001-07:00

It was kind of showery this afternoon, and I was really excited that I would be able to get out and break in my new umbrella with some awesome dramatic sky shots.

So as sunset neared, I loaded up the camera and tripod and headed out. I hopped on the MAX and got off down at the waterfront. I was truckin' along feeling good when it started to rain.

And then I realized... I had left the umbrella at home.

Unfortunately it was pretty showery through the whole time down at the river. I managed to get in a couple of shots, and this was easily the best.

Can't believe I forgot the umbrella. Ah, what could have been...

A very nice lady running a crepe cart downtown, where I stopped for a snack, was really interested in my work. She and I talked for quite a while, and she was very generous in her praise. I think I might be able to work out an arrangement with her, she expressed interest in having some product photography done. That'd be sweet indeed!

86.365 The Morrison Apartments

2009-08-25T21:57:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure why I keep thinking I can just walk outside my door and find an interesting shot in five minutes.

Tonight I walked to a bar I thought might look cool, but there were cars in front of it and people hanging out smoking, so I wasn't able to take a shot. I walked to another restaurant, and they were closed. Also, not very interesting. So there was that.

I was pretty discouraged and was considering going for another of the easy "local art" shots, then I realized I'd never really shot The Morrison.

The Morrison is the neighbor to The Civic, replacing the old Civic building and providing low-income housing. It's a nice looking place and it's good to see a lot of the same people living there that used to live in the Civic.

Not really a great shot, but still something relatively new. There's something in that anyway.

83, 84, and 85 - Three Weekend Shots

2009-08-25T00:25:00.000-07:00

Finally I had a chance to go out and do my late night star shots again, although even this trip fell pretty short. I drove up to Larch Mountain again Saturday night and when I arrived just after sunset the skies were mostly clear.

However, over the next half hour as the skies darkened, the clouds rolled in. I did manage to get a couple of fairly short shots in, focusing on the small plots of sky where the clouds weren't going to cross.

Most of my shots ended up with clouds in them, and thus came out with a very distracting red haze covering the stars. However, among the decent shots I had this one, which appears to have a meteor streaking across the side. I love the way it flares up and then burns out. Total luck! I didn't even see it when I was up there...

I got home pretty late on Sunday and didn't really have time to think about my shot of the day... it was already 11 and my brother was going to be stopping by to visit and stuff.

So I decided it was time to pull out the sculpture-across-the-street card. And voila. Another "meh" photo.

See, I'm making these "meh" photos become the norm. Then, after 365 is done, you'll all have lowered your expectations and then I'll be even more proud of myself than I already am. Bam!

(Speaking of lowering expectations...)

I was looking around my apartment, trying to find something interesting for tonight's shot. I was debating whether to go out and try to find something in the street, or try to find something in here.

As I was looking out the window, I saw this metal handle (shiny) and the great lines of the window (diagonally) and then the wonderful bricks and street in the background (bokeh-ey) and, well, I figured I had my shot.

This is a good example of how something can seem pretty awesome when you see it in real life, but turn out totally "huh" when you take a picture.

You know how when I have a really nice shot, and I say "It didn't look anything like that in real life?" Well, this is the same thing, but in the opposite direction. It's not all victory laps and high fives around here. Oh no. You're thinking of Sean E Simmons.

The 3x0 folks will get that one.

Reset!

2009-08-24T23:14:00.000-07:00

I had some crazy idea that I would be able to make my own photo art sales blog thing here on Blogger a couple of years ago. I put a lot of work into it, and it never went anywhere. It just sat there, for a year, doing nothing for me. The photos got more and more outdated, yet I kept telling myself I'd tweak this or fix that.

So today I realized that's not going to happen. So I deleted it all.

I'm not sure where I am going to go with this. I probably should do two blogs: a photo blog, and a poker blog. So I need to check out the dashboard and whatever.

But there'll be something here soon. Most likely, we'll see photos and poker both here soon when I take a vacation to Vegas.