Sunset – Redmond Ridge

30. October 2012 · Comments Off on Sunset – Redmond Ridge · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

So yesterday I was driving home from work thinking “what should I post tonight?”  To be fair, that’s pretty much all I ever think about on the way home but such is life for a “post a picture a day” idiot.  I have to say I actually have quite a few nice images to share with you so it really was a question of which one.  But then I saw the sunset over my neighborhood and saw the chance to get something new.

Now what I’ve learnt to do when I see something nice is stop immediately and grab the camera.  The day’s of “Oh I’ll get that next time” or “I’ll get it on the way back” are well and truly over – it NEVER works.  So just by Abi’s school I pulled over and got the camera.  The sky looked great but I noted that just down the road you could see a really nice yellow and orange sky against the roof tops, so I went for a walk.

Anyway I found myself by a small park area with some play equipment and what I think was a lamp.  Against the sky everything was in silhouette and I thought it made a really nice image so I started taking some pictures.  I kept moving around and trying different compositions and ended up selecting the image I’m posting tonight as my favorite.

I thought the sky looked great and love the fact I can just see some leaves on the floor and make out the shapes in the foreground.  It just goes to show you can capture a fun picture anywhere.

The guys where getting ready for Halloween tonight, they were really excited about getting some candy tomorrow, I guess we will have to see how they do!

Water Catchment – Redmond Ridge

24. August 2012 · Comments Off on Water Catchment – Redmond Ridge · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , , ,

I got home from work tonight and the sun was starting to go down so I thought I’d walk to the end of the road and see if I could get a picture of the water catchment area in our neighborhood.  I don’t go there very often (I should really as Roxie our dog loves running around the trails by the water) but I thought the low sun might make a nice image.

So I grabbed the camera (and Roxie) and Abi and I set off to see what we could shoot.  I should point out here that the other reason we don’t go there is because Lisa doesn’t like frogs.  Those of you who know here know that she can’t even say the word, she call’s them Ya-ya’s.  So we never visit the trails and water.  But as Lisa wasn’t coming with us off we went.

We actually picked a good time to go as the sun was shining on the trees and shrubs and it was really pretty.  The water reflected the tree line and the moon was even out behind one of the trees at the top.  I grabbed a couple of shots and we walked around the pond.  It’s a good job Lisa wasn’t there as there were Ya-ya’s everywhere.

The image I would have liked to capture really needed a wider angle lens, but mine’s in the shop so until that comes back I had to stand back a bit further to get a shot I liked.  The reflection of the trees in the water made this picture and the greens and yellows looked great.

For some reason tonight the guys decided to cook come spaghetti, getting it out of the pot though was a bit of a challenge.

Independence Day – Home

04. July 2012 · Comments Off on Independence Day – Home · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

As today is Independence Day I had the day off work and spent the whole day pretty much with Abi.  I guess I should say here that I used the time to capture some great new images for the blog, but I didn’t get to do any of that.

Abi and I spent the early afternoon in the hot tub (it was in the mid 70’s outside) and then we went to the movies together to see Brave.  We had a really great time together.

By 4pm I was starting to worry as I didn’t have an image to post tonight, but Lisa pointed out that we were going to a July 4th barbeque and I would get a chance to capture something there.

So at 6 o’clock we walked up the road to Chuck and MaryLou’s house for a neighborhood get-together.  We had lots of food and drink and set off some (neighborhood safe) fireworks for the younger kids.

Two things struck me this evening; firstly there is definitely a sweet spot for children who like fireworks, probably below 11 years old.  Then they become horribly miserable until they can watch them legally with alcohol when they are older.  I say this as the 11’s and under were having a great time, and the adults, who were drinking and lighting fireworks (not a good idea at the same time by the way), were enjoying themselves.  But my son and his girlfriend (15 year olds) were totally uninterested and miserable.

I also observed that we say the strangest thing to our kids on holidays like this.  What other time in the year would you tell a 9 year old to go out into the middle of the street and wave around a phosphorus coated pyrotechnic that you just set alight and tell them to have fun!  Any other time I’d shout at them, asking “what are you doing playing with fire?  It’s incredibly dangerous and a stupid thing to do!”   We are very odd.

Anyway I did manage to get a nice picture.  Abi was playing on the grass with her friend Serra and Jillian, her old baby sitter.   They were doing handstands together and laughing on the grass.  I jumped at the chance to get a nice shot of the girls.

Carter and Master Chief were feeling very patriotic today and lit their sparklers to celebrate July 4th.

Jaguar XK150 Roadster – Redmond

18. May 2012 · Comments Off on Jaguar XK150 Roadster – Redmond · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: ,

I’ve mentioned before that I prefer older refurbished cars to new fast ones – clearly this is because I’m getting older and going super fast doesn’t excite me anymore (thank goodness).  If I was being honest I don’t think super performance cars have ever been my thing, I’m too much of a poser I guess.

I have also stated I love some of the old American classics from the 50’s, with their huge bodies and massive fins they are just so unaerodynamic and far away from today’s designs I think they look amazing.  Plus coming from the UK I only ever saw those old cars on TV so I guess there’s something attractive about that.

But my favorite car from last week’s car meet was interestingly an English model.  The Jaguar XK150 Roadster.  This car was just, well, beautiful.  I could have looked at this all day and did for a good 40 minutes.  For me it kind of merged the style of the old big cars of the 50’s and 60’s with the sweeping aerodynamic lines of a modern model today.  Plus I actually remember seeing car’s like this in the UK when I was very young and fell for them then.  This model was the predecessor to the E-type Jaguar, a model that received huge critical acclaim in it’s day but one I never really liked.

I talked for a bit with the guy who owned this and he told me he brought the car back in 1997 and finished the refurbishment in 2003.  He also admitted that he paid others to do all the work and he has always been too scared to work out how much he’s spent.  Clearly it was a lot.  Anyway, hope you like the picture, trust me when I say it doesn’t do the car justice.

Looking around my office the Halo dudes found some Insights Lego blocks and started to play.

Daffodils – Redmond Ridge

04. April 2012 · Comments Off on Daffodils – Redmond Ridge · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

Well spring is definitely here, all around my neighborhood are daffodils.  I took this picture outside Abi’s school on the way home from work.  I was driving by the school and saw loads of flowers across the road and parked up and grabbed the camera.  I shot these daffodils by placing the camera almost on the ground and shooting up as I didn’t really want to capture the houses behind the flowers.

As I couldn’t see through the view finder (I wasn’t going to lie in the dirt) I had to take around 20 pictures before I got one I liked.  Bizarrely behind me just across the road was James.  He saw me pull up and jump out of the car.  He was with a friend and they were (I guess) laughing at me.  I didn’t even see him until after I got back in the the car and drove off!

I really liked this picture as the daffodil is kind of a special flower for me.  My mothers name was Daphne and always loved these flowers (probably because everyone called her Daff.  She passed away very young in the mid 80’s and never got to meet Lisa or my kids.  So when I see these flowers they bring back fond memories (I know my bother and sisters still feel the same).

Anyway you should all get used to flower pictures as this Saturday I’m off to a tulip festival in Skagit County, so from this weekend you will be seeing a lot of tulip shots on my blog.

Today Abi experienced a bad makeup day – largely due to the Halo guys…

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