Tree – Rosario Beach

10. April 2012 · Comments Off on Tree – Rosario Beach · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

While in Mount Vernon over the weekend we went to visit Rosario Beach.  This is a small beach on what I think is a Native American reservation on the island of Fidalgo.  Today’s photograph was taken on the top of a peninsular overlooking Puget Sound.  I was taking some pictures looking out over the water and while the images were nice, they didn’t really grab me.

Then I saw this really cool tree.  It’s branches were kind of messed up and it looked sort of creepy and lent itself really well to a black and white image.  I got down low so the tree was above me and the sea was hidden over the hill and took the shot.

At the top of the hill there were a number of people just sitting on the grass looking out to sea.  Some people were talking, others were just lying there relaxing enjoying the sun.  It seemed that the nice weather really brought out the locals.  While this was nice it was quite hard to take a picture without people being in it.  In fact in the image below there were two guys sitting right at the top of the hill to the left of the tree.  As a result I removed them in Photoshop – cool eh?

Anyway I had a black and white image in mind when I took this and think it came out well.

For the last 100 days the Halo guys have been stuck in the house.  Sure they went out to play in the snow but they haven’t really left home!  So for the next 100 days they have decided to come to work with me and see what they can get up to.  Today Master Chief found a flower for Carter.  Not sure he really wanted it though.

High Street Fall City – Fall City

05. April 2012 · Comments Off on High Street Fall City – Fall City · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

A couple of days ago I found myself in Fall City taking some shots of the high street and river.  The main street is really pretty with blossom trees along the river bank and in the distance you can see the Cascade Mountain Range.  Of course having blue sky really helps make the picture but it wasn’t always like that.  When I arrived it was raining, then the sky cleared so I got this shot.  I literally walked over the road to capture a shot of a totem pole and the skies opened up again!

I guess that’s what happens when you live in the Pacific North West in April.  Today I left work and it was beautiful outside with blue skies and sun.  When i got home (8 miles away) it was hailing really heavily – it’s nuts!

Tomorrow I’m off work and going out with the family to the Seattle Aquarium so I should get some nice shots there and Saturday I’m off to Skagit County for the Tulip festival.  Of course I found out today that they haven’t bloomed yet so expect some fantastic shots of green stalks on Saturday night.

In preparation for the Olympics Carter decided to practice his pole vaulting, unfortunately it didn’t go too well.

Cherry Blossom – Redmond

31. March 2012 · Comments Off on Cherry Blossom – Redmond · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

It’s kind of funny how I end up picking a picture to post.  Yesterday while driving round Redmond I saw these great Cherry Blossom trees.  So I parked up and jumped out of the car (I take my camera and tripod everywhere I go these days).

The rain had just stopped so I was ok getting the camera out, and as you can see in the picture blue sky was rolling past above.  At first I set up the camera in front of the trees (there were two) and I took some pictures.  I was standing by the side of the road as passers by looked on like I was bonkers!  (Actually you would be amazed at the number of people who stop and ask what I’m doing, I mean I’m standing there with a huge tripod and camera taking pictures and people still ask.  These days I’ve started giving stupid responses too – I kind-a look at the camera, then at the person, and then say “I’m flying a kite” or something.)

Anyway, I took both horizontal and vertical shots and they both looked “ok” at best.  Behind the trees were some ugly buildings and there wasn’t enough contrast and the trees were kind of lost.  So I went off and photographed something else (see yesterday’s posting).   On the way back to the car as I walked past the trees I thought I’d try one more shot, only this time an up shot with the sky as a backdrop.

I thought nothing of it and went back to work.  When I got home I looked at all the images I shot and loved the last ones of the Cherry Trees.   The pink blossoms against the blue sky look great.  So here is my picture of the day.

Carter and Master Chief wanted some Kiwi tonight, although I’m not sure Master Chief is eating it right!

Blossom Tree – Redmond

26. March 2012 · Comments Off on Blossom Tree – Redmond · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

If you read yesterday’s posting you would have seen that I went out for a photo drive.  As I said in the posting I rarely have a plan, I just go out looking for inspiration.  Sometimes you just stop and try to capture an image without really being sure what you are after, and sometimes you know immediately what image you want (you literally can see it in your head).

What becomes really odd is, after doing this for a while you start to look for picture opportunities everywhere you go.  At work, out shopping on the way to school, literally everywhere.  What’s really funny – Lisa, James and Abi do it too.  We’ll be driving to town and everyone is looking out the windows for something to shoot.

As a result it wasn’t a surprise yesterday when I got a call from Lisa telling me about some blossom trees near Abi’s gymnasium.  Abi goes to gymnastics twice a week and she happened to have an additional 3 hour session yesterday.  When Lisa was dropping her off both Lisa and Abi pointed to the blossom trees and said “great picture”.  So Lisa gave me a call.

As I was heading back to Redmond, I went past the gym and stopped to get a picture.  The trees looked great, they were not very tall but the blossoms were in full bloom.  I took the picture below and definitely got the feeling that spring is finally here.

Carter and Master Chief were really thirsty tonight so decided to make themselves a soda.  So the grabbed the Soda Stream and away they went.

Newer articles »