63/365 - Dinner With Friends

My son had some of his friends over and I thought it would be cool to get an HDR photo of them at the table. I showed it to them after editing it and they loved it!

62/365 - The Train Station

61/365 - Lucy Goose

I recently got a cordless remote for my camera and used it for the first time photographing Lucy in HDR.

60/365 - Willow

When I was growing up I lived in a house that had a big pond in the backyard with lots of pussy willow plants. I spent a lot of time playing in my backyard and loved the furry little things. Since moving from that home, I haven't really seen the plant so I was pleasantly surprised while walking along a trail in the park and came across a few.

59/365 - Through the Chain

I saw this moss covered beauty a couple weeks back and really wanted to photograph it - but it was behind a chain linked fence! Today I went out and decided to take a picture of it anyway. While there I got the idea to get my lens as close to the fence as possible and take some pictures through the chain link. I'm happy with the result even though this particular photo isn't perfect. I might have got a link from the chain in this picture, but I don't care. I chose not to crop it, perhaps I should have...

58/365 - Why did the photographer cross the road?

The weather today was crazy! In the the morning we had a couple of inches of snow and then it turned to rain an hour later. A couple of hours after that big, puffy clouds rolled in with blue skies and sunshine and that's when I grabbed my camera and headed out. I ended up at an overpass where I knew train tracks were down below and the first side of the street I went to had low hanging power lines obstructing the view so I crossed 4 lanes of traffic to get to the other side. The things you do to get the shot you want...  I took pictures for about an hour and a half and shortly after I got home dark clouds rolled in and it started hailing! Talk about timing!

57/365 - The Bridge to Nowhere

It was pouring down rain all morning and I thought that I would be stuck inside all day. Finally around noon there was a break in the rain so I grabbed my camera and went down to Klineline Park. I walked down one of the trails and found this bridge. I didn't walk much further because it really didn't look like the bridge went anywhere, maybe it did, but I was alone and it was pretty secluded so I turned around and walked back towards the park.

56/365 - Untitled

I took my dog on a walk up to the park this morning and only got a few shots off before it started sprinkling. Then it rained the rest of the day so there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity for picture taking. While running errands I noticed a few blossoming bushes so that was exciting. Hopefully in the next fee weeks things will get more colorful and prettier around here.

55/365 - The Blacksmith Shop

This picture is of inside the building of the Blacksmith shop at Fort Vancouver where we visited yesterday. It was quite smokey inside and that's why the light streaming in from the window shows up so amazingly well.

54/365 Fort Vancouver Fur Warehouse

A couple of weeks ago I walked around Fort Vancouver and thought that it might be nice to take the kids there today so that they could ride their bikes along the trails. We actually went inside the Fort and took a tour of the buildings. We went to the Bakehouse, Counting House, Jail, Bastion, Chief Factor's Residence and The Blacksmith Shop. There were people inside some of the buildings to tell us a little history about the place and a "blacksmith" inside the Blacksmith shop. It was VERY smoky inside, but the kids enjoyed watching him make a square nail. The picture I chose today is of the Fur Warehouse where furs and pelts were stored. 

53/365 - Old Barn

I drove up to Battle Ground Lake because I had never been there and I thought that it might be a good place to take pictures. When I got there I found an over sized puddle that I'm assuming was the "lake", and a bunch of smokers fishing...or was it fishermen smoking? Whatever the case was, it wasn't pleasant and I didn't stay long. On my way home I saw this barn and pulled over. I stood in the bed of the truck in order to get this picture, otherwise, I would have been shooting through that barbed wire fence on the bottom of the picture.I added the gradient for effect.

52/365 - Morning Fog

It was a foggy morning and I would have loved to spend a few hours taking pictures, but things had to get done today. I stopped at this pier on my way into Portland and took a few shots before hopping back into my car.

51/365 - Magnificent Mammals

My son had a fever when he got up this morning so once again I was stuck inside. He's feeling better now, so I will definitely be snapping some new photos tomorrow. I haven't checked the weather yet so hopefully it will cooperate! This is one of my favorites from the zoo yesterday.

50/365 - Lazy Lions

Last week I planned on going to the zoo and invited my sister and her 2 kids to go with me today. It was cold so we kind of rushed (3 hours) through the exhibits but I was still able to get a few good pictures. My kids were a little shocked I had gone to the zoo without them, so i guess I'll be heading back there in a few months when I know my fingers won't freeze and fall off.

49/365- The Rainbow Connection

I was home with a sick little boy so I didn't go on a photography adventure today, however, this beautiful rainbow presented itself to me late in the afternoon.

48/365 -Blue

Nothing much today, just a picture I took while on a walk.

47/365 - Little Red Barn

My youngest son has the flu so I won't be taking pictures today. Here's one I took yesterday. I pass by this little red barn when I take my son to school and sometimes on my morning walks. I think it's cute. :)

46/365 - Stained Glass Window

Photographing nature is one of my favorite things to do, but the Northwest in the winter isn't all that exciting or pretty at times. The trees are bare and leafless, flowers only grow in flower shops and most of the time it's overcast and dreary outside. This project of taking a picture a day for a year really had me worried at times. I wasn't sure that I would be able to continue with it - because of the lack of beauty around me. This project has opened my eyes to see beauty in buildings, trains, bridges and other crazy objects that I wouldn't normally photograph or would ever look twice at. I can now say that I really enjoy this project and I'm glad I stuck with it.

Today's picture is of a beautiful stained glass window from a church downtown Vancouver. I chose this picture today because I had to pay a parking meter to park and walk over to this building in order to get this picture. I have to make that 25 cents count for something! :)

45/365 - Moon Girl

I walked the Waterfront Renaissance Trail this afternoon and came across this beautiful bronze sculpture. I assumed it was Sacajawea because I was close to the Lewis and Clark Trail, but I went home and did a little digging before I titled this post, "Sacajawea". Good thing I did! This is Ilchee, known as Moon Girl. She was the daughter of Chief Comcomly, the "one-eyed chief" of the Chinook Tribe and befriender not only of Lewis and Clark, but also of the early settlement at Astoria. The 7ft. tall 700 lb. bronze statue and the small plaza in which it is located, honor the Chinook people. I chose to post a close up of "Ilchee Bronze" because she just looks so regal and majestic.

44/365 - The Path

It was cold today but it was nice for picture taking. The sky was blue with scattered clouds and the sunset was amazing...from what I could tell looking out my garage window. I was stuck inside ALL day working so I'm using a picture that I took yesterday of the pedestrian path I walked to get to Fort Vancouver. It was really nice. It had a couple of viewpoints along the way, one overlooking the Columbia River towards the top of the pathway,  just past the trains and the other was of Mt. Hood in the distance with the Pearson Air field to the left. It was nice watching the small planes take off and land. Between the air field and the Portland airport, there were planes flying overhead nonstop. I could have spent a lot more time there, but I think I'll wait to go back once the weather gets warmer.

43/365 - Fort Vancouver

It was a cold and beautiful morning so I drove down to the waterfront. Once I got there I noticed that I left my SD card at home in my computer. 30 minutes later, I had my card, parked my car and headed to Fort Vancouver. I've been to the Fort before, many times, but today I decided to walk there by taking the pedestrian bridge that goes under the railroad tracks and over the Interstate. This is a picture I took from the long pathway that leads to the Fort.