Off The Page

I love Crocus. They are the first flower of the season and I'm compelled to photograph them every year. But, how many of the same images of a Crocus do I need to post every year. Hence the edit. I had seen this before and decided to give it a shot and I really like it. The actual image of the flowers are largely untouched, just the perimeter modified.

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Wet Heron

This guy stood around quite a while for me but her sure was dirty and haggard looking. The background was very un-appealing too so I thought a perfect conversion to sepia.

Steeped in Fog

A line of lumber cars is disappearing into the fog yesterday morning. I thought that could be an interesting image. As I was shooting it all looked very monochromatic so that is how I present it. This is actually an HDR image that I perhaps have over compensated on. Like an alternative view? Mouse over the image for a different version. (Mouse over tutorial at right.)



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Bridge Over Silver Creek

The snow was fairly deep, for the area, at the top of the South Falls and facilitated this image. I like the little footbridge and the railing of the safety fence leading up to it. The 177 foot South Falls is just to the right of where I'm standing for this image.

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Silver Creek Falls

A little compilation I put together from my visit to Silver Creek Falls a couple days ago. I had hoped there was a lot of snow still up there, but no. There was a little snow but not enough to make a photographic impact. But, the falls were very nice and the trek was very tranquil and a great form of relaxation therapy. :-)

Top row left is South Falls, the first one most visitors visit and walk underneath/behind.
Top row right is North Falls from the parking pullout. A bit of a hike to get to so less visited.
Bottom is likely the least visited, Middle Falls. A good walk on great paths both north & south.

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2 for the Birds

A couple from the yard while out playing practicing with the 150-500 a couple days ago. Not too bad but I have determined that I need a new tripod. Camera shake is horrible! The slightest touch sends the whole set up bouncing.

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Frozen Crown

Snow & ice covered hair piece looked interesting to me. It looked like a lost crown, frozen, awaiting its owner to return, never to be found. Kinda sad to think of all the reasons it just sits there.......

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Dark Sky

I have seen the dark skies behind this barn for a while, but this one is one of the best and I was in the right place at the right time. Great contrast of the sunlit barn and the very dark & rainy skies behind.

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Lammy

Lamb? Lame? Perhaps. I was following an eagle and this guy was curious so I grabbed a shot of him. A waste of pixels? Naw. :-)

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Lighthouse on the Coast

An image I took last summer with my old Olympus IR camera. Been keeping this one around for a day like today. Can't wait to get back to the coast.

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Sea Rvens

Pictures are a couple Double Crested Cormorant overlooking a nearby farm and the Santiam River below. One is drying his(or her) wings after swimming for dinner. They have to dry themselves like this because they do not have oils as ducks do and their feathers would mold if they did not dry themselves. Personally, I like the literal Latin translation for Cormorant: Sea Raven.

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All American

Boy did this guy pose today! I feel fortunate to get these images of this young adult Bale Eagle. Just sitting atop a power pole, letting me grab quite a few shots. I was in the car, didn't get out as I didn't want to startle him into flight, braced on the window frame. No, not the highest of image quality, but I am still amazed at how well the Sigma 150-500 does do. The real cool part for me is how rarely I usually get this close to an adult. Today I actually saw 3 eagles in this area, this adult and 2 yearlings. There must be a good nesting area close by. I was actually on the way to see if the Egret was still at the lake and it seems not. I like both croppings, but I don't care for the power pole in the second image. Is that ok? What do you think? What I love about the second image is how he appears to be looking right through the lens at me.

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Egret #2

Another version of the egret of a week ago. Not the best image quality but I like the pose and reflection he is giving me.

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Into the Sunrise

More geese, another location, another day. This time though the clouds look like a painting naturally. I may have helped a little, but the colors were awesome this fine morning.

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Painted Geese

No, not a painting, but an image of geese over an outcropping of trees. It took a lot of patience to get this shot with the geese as the sky was mostly clear of birds though we could hear them in the distance. Fortunately for me (unfortunate for the geese) hunters scared them up from a few miles away and they flew over the wildlife refuge I was at.

The image has been heavily processed in Topaz Adjust and Photoshop. I had no idea of how I would process this image but thought it would be good to play with Topaz with. I'm still experimenting with that software and I really like what it can do.

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Heron on the Surf

I forgot about this image and found it while looking for something else. This Blue Heron was searching for lunch during low tide at Seal Rocks on the Oregon coast. I was really surprised how long he stayed around and posed and the first time I had seen a heron searching for food in salt water. Guess I should not have been surprised as it all eats! :-)

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Reflections of a Lake

A few days ago I showed a couple images of an eagle. Well, in the stand of trees to the right is where he was. It was a stretch and this is a little misleading as it was taken with a fisheye lens. :-)

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HighRise

An interesting grab shot while driving in the city. My wife was driving and I was clicking. This was my favorite.

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Young Bald Eagle

So, this young Bald Eagle was taking a break from hunting. I must admit, without this lens, the new 150-500, I would not have been able to get this image. The eagle was a good 150 yards away and the image is heavily cropped, but it works.

Funny, my brother and I were out taking photos and at this area we were alone for quite a while. Coincidentally, just before the eagle shows up so did about 6 other cars, cameras ready. Someone calls out "It's an eagle" and we all turn and do our best to capture him. Soon after all others were gone and we were left shooing scenic shots of the lake. (I'll post one soon of the lake.)

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Power of 2 sources

We had a couple awesome sunrises this past week. I felt fortunate to record one.

I felt the contrast of man v.s. nature in this image with all the color was very moving.

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