Watershed – Redmond

04. August 2012 · Comments Off on Watershed – Redmond · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

Today was probably the hottest day of the year.  We hit 91 degrees in our garden and it was so hot that Lisa couldn’t sit outside and sunbathe.   The skies were a beautiful blue color and I wanted to capture a picture that showed you all what a lovely day it was in Redmond.  I can honestly say, that when the weather is nice the Pacific North West is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

So I grabbed my camera and tripod and jumped into the car and headed off to find some inspiration.  As it was really, really hot, I didn’t want to do any hiking, I needed to find somewhere I could park the car, leave the safety of the air conditioning and run (or walk briskly) to a photography viewpoint, take a picture and get back in the cool car quickly.  At least that was my plan.

On the way out of Redmond Ridge where I live I stopped by the side of the road to shoot some berries against a blue sky, they came out well but didn’t convey the magnificence of the day.  So on I went.  Eventually I found myself in the Redmond Watershed which covers acres of land that’s preserved for wildlife.  I parked up and got my gear and started to walk.

After 5 minutes (which incidentally was far to long as I was starting to sweat), I found this small lake.  The trees on the other side of the lake were really grand and topped by the blue sky and there was this great reflection in the lake.  The lake itself was a bit messy with logs and “stuff” floating on the surface, but there was nothing I could do about that so I set up the tripod and took some pictures.

I think the image came out really well and Abi sat with me this evening while I processed the image and posted it to the site.  She also contributed to this posting making suggestions on what I should write (she wanted to say I was sweating like a pig but she wasn’t there so how would she know?)

Today we had a barbeque and Lisa made some corn.  Carter and Master Chief wanted some too and pinched it when we weren’t looking.

Koi Carp Gardens – Maui

25. July 2012 · Comments Off on Koi Carp Gardens – Maui · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

I’ve mentioned (a few times now) that the Grand Wailea Resort was really big facility.  One of the areas of the hotel I haven’t really talked about are the gardens.  Directly below our hotel room are these amazing Koi Carp ponds that are surrounded by beautiful gardens.  Each morning I’d go down to the gardens to take pictures and I got quite a few that I really like.

I spent a lot of time looking for little geckos to photograph that would come out in the morning sunshine to warm in the sun.  I had one successful morning and got a gecko sitting on a huge green leaf, I’m sure I’ll post that in the future.

There are paths that take you through the gardens that cross the ponds that the are linked together and the water is full of huge Koi Carp.  The little wooden bamboo bridges you walk across and bamboo stairs that take you to different levels within the garden are really cute and there are also several little water falls joining different pools and levels together.  Also every now and then you come across a thatched roof gazebo.  These provide lovely places to chill out and avoid the direct sun in the afternoon and enjoy the serene atmosphere of the gardens and I’ve even seen people enjoying breakfast in the gazebo’s in the mornings.

A lot of the palm trees (at this time of year) have really small coconuts which are the size of a small potato.  In the evening we’d swim in the pools and find these baby coconuts at the bottom.  The kids called them potatoes and used them as dive targets to retrieve from the bottom of the pool.  The naughty thing we did with them however was take them to our room on the 9th floor at the end of the day, and throw them off our balcony into the Koi ponds – this was completely Lisa’s doing (nobody is going to believe that) and I spent lots of time suggesting it was a bad idea.  Fortunately she never hit a fish and nobody saw us or kicked us out.

Today’s picture was actually taken on our last day.  I wanted an image that had a bamboo bridge, part of a pond, a fish and a thatched gazebo in it, and ironically this was the only one I got.  I even got a tiny waterfall under the bridge.  The vibrant colors really capture the gardens and hopefully help you appreciate just how beautiful this place was.

When we got to the airport, Carter and Master Chief spent a lot of the time looking out the (very dirty) airport windows at the plane that was going to take us home.

Banyan Tree – Lahaina

16. July 2012 · Comments Off on Banyan Tree – Lahaina · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

As we have just arrived in Maui and are not yet used to the time difference between Seattle and Hawaii, Lisa and I decided that we need to go and see the “sun rise from Haleakala” sooner rather than later – we are still getting up at 7am.  Now I’ll write more about this tomorrow but basically it involves us getting up at 3pm and driving for two hours.

So we needed a car! (We didn’t get one as we don’t plan on going out of the hotel every day – we thought we’d just rent one when we needed it.)  So we decided to go to the Haleakala National Park tomorrow morning and got a car today.

To make the most of the car, this afternoon we visited Lahaina in the west of Maui.  This town is the largest on the western part of the island and is just south of some of the best beaches in Maui.  I would guess that the town is not that big (population wise) except when the tourists arrive, then it goes a bit nuts.

Lahaina’s claim to fame is that is used to be the capital of the state (until that went to Honolulu) and it was the center of the whaling trade for this part of the pacific.  These days it’s all about the tourists.  The town is full of restaurants, tourist shops and it feels like, shaved ice establishments!  Really, as you walk down the high street every 3rd shop sells shaved ice.

The reason we like to go though is to see the banyan tree.  For those of you who don’t know, this is an amazing thing to see.  The banyan was originally brought to Hawaii from India – the one in Lahaina was planted back in 1873 and back then it was only 8 feet tall.  Now it’s over 5o feet tall and covers 2/3 of an ache.

What makes the banyan tree so cool is that its roots travel along its branches and then dive for the ground and take root so it starts to look like another tree.  In fact when you see the banyan tree, you think it’s a dozen or so different trees all in the same area.  But the truth is it’s just one big tree – with over 10 trunks and nearly a quarter of a mile around.

Taking a picture of this tree and doing it justice is almost impossible.  Firstly there are hundreds of people all over the place trying to do the same thing.  Next it’s just SOOOO big they don’t make wide angle lenses big enough to really get it all in!

So here is my attempt, this is just the middle trunk that spreads out its branches to 10 or so other trunks that root in the ground.

If you ever get the chance to visit Maui, you MUST find the time to visit this super cool town and see this amazing tree – you really won’t be disappointed.  And perhaps you can enjoy it while trying some shaved ice.

The guys got together this evening to enjoy a moment together and watch the sun set.

Palm Trees – Maui

15. July 2012 · Comments Off on Palm Trees – Maui · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

So I totally messed up tonight.  Here we are on Maui for crying out loud on the west side of the island in the Grand Wailea Resort, so you’d think a great sunset picture was a pretty safe bet!  Well it is if you don’t fall asleep on your bed after coming back from the pool all day!

Lisa pointed out that the sun was going down so I grabbed my camera and headed down to the beach.  On my way I could see the sun just going down and missed a beautiful sunset – what an idiot!  Fortunately, this is only day one so I have plenty of time to make amends and capture a few beautiful evenings.

So I had to ask myself, what should I post?  I was walking back to the hotel feeling pretty dejected and when I saw this scene.   The sun still had a little orange and yellow and the trees were silhouetted against the dark blue sky, and I thought, Palm Trees, that’s very “Hawaiian”.  So this is tonight’s posting (I know, very imaginative – but you try staying awake after 4 hours of a nine year old dunking you under water).

This is one of the walks from the hotel down to the beach.  The hotel is absolutely amazing and I’ll take some shots of the building and grounds over the next few days and post them too.  Clearly I can’t leave this as an afterthought and expect to get a great image in 5 minutes  at the end of the day – so much for paradise!

The Halo guys were having fun in the pool today, but they were blatantly ignoring the “no diving” rules.

Western Red Cedar Log – Snoqualmie

05. June 2012 · Comments Off on Western Red Cedar Log – Snoqualmie · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: ,

When you visit Snoqualmie and pass the large waterfalls you immediately come to the railway museum.  You drive along the road with old railway exhibits to your right and then hit the town main street.

Just as you arrive at the town you pass this large (well large isn’t really the right word, maybe massive or enormous would be better) log.  The log (or tree trunk) is actually behind a barred fence, when I first saw this I wondered what the fence was for I mean who is gonna steal this massive piece of wood?  But the fence isn’t there to stop thieves, no; it’s there to stop vandals!  Apparently before the fence was put around the tree truck, the city of Snoqualmie were getting frustrated with people carving their name in the wood.

So what’s a huge tree trunk doing near the main street?  Well fortunately there was a very large plaque next to the tree so I can answer that.  It appears that back in the day a major source of income for the community was lumber.  Once the railway was built the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Company did a roaring trade in huge Douglas-Firs, Sitka Spruce and Western Red Cedars.

The Lumber Company had a mill about a mile north of town and used to move 15 foot diameter logs around town on massive carriages.  Of course all this happened in the late 1800s and the mills did really well until the mid 1900s when cheaper alternatives to these massive trees were found.

This huge log is a reminder of Snoqualmie’s past.  It’s pretty impressive even though the fence around it kind of spoils the view.  I had to push my camera through the bars to get a picture.  I tried shooting from further back but the bars ruined the shot.  And while the fence is doing a great job stopping those pesky vandals, they really need to find a way to keep the pigeons out!

The say an apple a day keeps the doctor away.  Does that work if you share it?

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