Remind You of Something?

I had some time and a willing partner, so I did a bit of testing on a location that I'll later do a more format shoot at. I'm recreating an old image. What I learned in this, is that it was shot with a telephoto lens. The original is much more compressed from foreground to background than my shot at 55mm on DX format. 80-200 next time.

Adventuring in Buckley

M and I did some exploring on the trail from Buckley to South Prairie. We had to stop at the big bridge because it was in the middle of being paved.

100 Degrees

Hot day, M in the sprinkler!

Vintage Hydros

It was pretty cool seeing the old boats out!

The Boys at the Races

This is what the boys did all day!

Boat Races!

It was exciting to see the boats on the water, and the planes in the sky!

Experimenting w/Lensbaby

B practicing the piano.

My Girl w/Vintage Bike

I put this image in a number of places because I like it a lot. Flick'r in b/w, jpgMag standard color, and here in rainy day blue. I hope other people like it as much as I do :) Lensbaby!

The Old Bardahl

The boat races in the Tri-Cities had a heat of vintage boats. It was cool to see the Bardahl, Thriftway and Oberto roundtops!

Wicket in Kennewick

At Mom and Dad's house, backyard, with my new 50mm NIkkor @ 1.4.

Suntop

Brian and I rode Suntop and Skookum, then hiked Crystal Lake. Quads are sore!

Falls off Skookum Trail

Brian and I spent some time working on some pictures here. We needed a break from the ride anyway!

Hanging with J and V

We took a walk to a park and E wanted to walk Wicket. He did a good job!

Triathlon in Vancouver, WA

Karen was 2nd Female at the tri this weekend! Her running is going great, swimming is coming around, but the bike still needs some work! It was fun to watch. We also visited with my old friend John and his family over the weekend.

Lake Jane Swimming Lessons

The boys did well in swim lessons, one more round of lessons in a couple of weeks.

White River Tennis Camp

B liked tennis camp a lot this year.

The Life of Brian

Mt. Rainier is the single most dominating icon of Western Washington. It inspires awe, it is a part of the life of everyone that lives here, and someday, will be the destruction of many.
Brian is a complicated character, but one thing you can count on is an adventure in the wild outdoors if you give him the chance! Today was quite a day. I am always up for adventure, mostly. On the itinerary for today was planting two poles/signs in cement for the DNR and some exploring on mountain bikes around Ashford. Brian has a key to get past the gates on the forest roads in the area. He volunteers for them. We drove the rodes and checked out yerts and high huts, and planted a few poles. Then we decided to explore a new "trail". Sort of a grade, or forgotten path. It was hearty riding, steep, over plants and rocks, mounds and ditches. At one point we had to ditch the bikes for the way was too encumbered for them. We tossed our helmets and took off in cycling shoes to climb the highest point we could see. Steep. No trail. Bush wacking, tree wacking, rock, bugs, steep, sand covered-rocky-steep. He got to the highest point, I got close before my fear of slippery slopes and heights overcame me. Quite a view. Rainier, Adams and St. Helens. Then foraged on a new direction, no trail of course, wacking in the direction of our bikes. We missed a bit, but close enough. Cycling shoes. We found our bikes, rode on down the path, then Brian had a flat and we couldn't get the tire off the rim. !!! WTF. He rode it flat out, of course. No adventure is complete without Brian riding out on a flat. We found the car, planted another pole, ran across a bear, then rode the steepest grade of my life up to High Hut (Pictures above are from High Hut). Steep like, you have to lean way forward or you fall over backwards. Nothing but "bring it" or fall over. Bear. Oh yeah. We chased it in Brian's Subaru. (Wished to God I had my telephoto lens). We scared the tar out of that bear. Poor thing. Last but not least, a brief dip in a mountain stream to wash the sweat off. Now that is quite an adventure for a Wednesday morning. What did you do Wednesday?

Buddy Brian

I like this as a portrait of Brian. It speaks to who he is as much as a single portrait can. Of course, he is much more than "Outdoor Adventure Man". This image doesn't show those other parts of who he is, but single portraits never do.

Butterfly in Ashford

This was at a friend of Brian's home. We were returning some tools we used cementing in a few signs in the forest park near his house. We were there just a moment, I wish I could have spent more time.

I Love This Kid!

Here is M on the Xti w/85mm f1.8, pretty sweet set-up. He had a great time riding and shooting my two favorite hobbies. He said he liked shooting better. Cool.

Just a Few of Karen's Habits

Enumclaw Parade TKDC

Tae Kwon Do Connection at the Enumclaw parade. The boys broke boards! The onlookers were impressed!

Nice Flowers on Skookum Trail

Karen and the boys and I did a nice hike on the Skookum trail. These were some nice flowers along the way.

Karen and Mr. Wicket

We were at Deep Lake with Karen's family, Shelley has been visiting.