May 2005 Archives

This guy was traped among the rocks as the tide left. He was being asaulted by seagulls. I wonder if it's still alive? Can you tell by looking?

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 28-135mm IS
Shutter = 1/200s
Aperture = f/6.3
Focal Length = 120mm
Flash = Off
ISO = 800

Here's a flower pic from the Washington Park Arboretum. I still have a ways to go on macro shooting of flowers.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro
Shutter = 1/500 second
Aperture = f/11
Focal Length = 100mm
Exp Comp = -1ev
Flash = Off
ISO = 100

This is a picture of an old house on the Fort Lawton grounds. The old buildings are all abandon now; however, there are still many Navy families that live in the Fort Lawton housing area. The fort is on the list of closures this year. I wonder what will become of this extremely valuable real estate once it's closed. Hopefully the government will keep the land open.

This is also my tribute to Veterans on this Memorial Day 2005. I just finished reading a book about the war of 1812 and we've come a long way. It's funny, however, that in those times the reasons for war were so much more obvious than today. In 1812 it was essentially impressment of American men on British ships that America could simply no longer tolerate (among other things). Interestingly, many Americans in 1812 wanted to simply continue the status quo rather than fight a war. Time makes all things more clear.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 28-135mm IS
Shutter = 1/400s
Aperture = f/13
Focal Length = 70mm
Flash = Off
ISO = 400

I reprocessed this photo because I thought it would look great as a black and white because of all the contrast in the image. When I was done it didn't look that great as a plain black and white, so I added a custom tritone to it in PS. Which looks better, the color version... or this one?

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 28-135mm IS
Shutter = 1/400s
Aperture = f/11
Focal Length = 28mm
Flash = Off
ISO = 200

I took a trip to Discovery Park. Fort Lawton is located here as is this Doppler radar tower (at least I think that's what it is). Looks like a giant soccerball in the sky. The day was hot and sunny, 87 degrees. This sort of weather isn't the best for pictures, especially at midday but I couldn't resist.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 28-135mm IS
Shutter = 1/800
Aperture = f/13
Focal Length = 135mm
Flash = Off
ISO = 200

In the evening I took a stroll among some tombstones in the historic Bothell Cemetery. Many of the town's founders are burried here. It's so easy to get caught up in the things that affect our lives that we forget how good things really are. The people burried here are war veterans, pioneers and homesteaders. They were here when there was nothing and built a town that we still enjoy almost 150 years later. Lead a good life because at the end of the day, only the shadow of your tombstone will bear witness to the time you spent as more than simple dust.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 28-135mm IS
Shutter = 1/320s
Aperture = f/11
Focal Length = 35mm
Flash = Off
ISO = 800

I think this is a Heron. It was perched on the roof of a covered boat slip at the harbor in Kenmore. There are a few Heron and Eagle's nests in this area. I missed some good eagle shots today, but I'll try again soon.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 28-135mm IS
Shutter = 1/400s
Aperture = f/10
Focal Length = 117mm
Flash = Off
ISO = 200

This little guy was right in the center of my trail. Good thing I didn't step on it! I've never actually seen a snail eating before. This little guy was munching away. It shrunk into it's shell when my camera lens cast a shadow over his little eyes. He popped right back out as soon as I backed off a bit. That plant must be really good.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 17-40mm f/4L
Shutter = 1/200s
Aperture = f/8.0
Focal Length = 38mm
Flash = Off
ISO Speed = 1600

Still can't find on the net what these flowers are... I'll keep looking though. There was only two this time but I've seen many on various hikes in the area.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 17-40mm f/4L
Shutter = 1/640s
Aperture = f/4.0
Focal Length = 39mm
Flash = Off
ISO Speed = 800

I went hiking today with the intention of doing a 6 mile R/T hike to Peek-A-Boo Lake in the Glacier Peak Wilderness area near Darrington, WA. I got most of the way to the trailhead and found the road totally washed away from the storm damage in 2001. Since I was only a couple miles from the "real" trailhead, I found a way around the washed out road on foot. I only got about a mile in when I had seen my 10th pile of bear droppings. Since I was alone and had no bear bells or bear spray, I figured I'd rather be safe than dead. I think the bears have reclaimed this territory for themselves for now. I headed back down the mountain and found a short one mile jaunt down the Sauk River to fill my time. Lots of flowers and I still got a view of the mountains. Not my ideal kind of hike, but it will have to do.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 17-40mm f/4L
Shutter = 1/1250s
Aperture = f/5.6
Focal Length = 38mm
Flash = Off
ISO Speed = 1600

Another picture from the Ashland Lakes hike. This one I converted to B&W in Photoshop. I like the way it came out with the soft, new spring growth on the trees. I was very glad the mosquitoes weren't out quite yet.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 50mm f/1.4
Shutter = 1/1250
Aperture = f/2.8
Focal Length = 50mm
Flash = Off
ISO Speed = 800

Skunk Cabbage was everywhere on my hiking trip. Some of them were about 3 feet tall. The biggest I've ever seen. This one was only about 12 inches tall. The bigger ones really smell BAD.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 50mm f/1.4
Shutter = 1/200
Aperture = f/2.8
Focal Length = 50mm
Flash = Off
ISO Speed = 200

Another picture from my hike this weekend. The soft sound of the falls in the background made for a nice relaxing lunch break. Amazingly I saw only a couple other hikers all day long. I'd never heard of this trail before and found it nearly by accident. I'm definitely adding it to my favorites list.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 17-40mm f/4L
Shutter = 1/320
Aperture = f/9
Focal Length = 27mm
Flash = Off
ISO Speed = 800

Here's a picture from my hiking trip this weekend. I was hiking the Ashland Lakes Trail. It's about 10 miles round trip. This is the lower twin. The upper twin is much larger and has a nice waterfall. There will be several more pictures from this series.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 17-40mm f/4L
Shutter = 1/125
Aperture = f/14
Focal Length = 21mm
Flash = Off
ISO Speed = 1600

Another one from the vault since I'm still working on the computer upgrade.

Camera = Canon Powershot G2
Lens = Built-in
Shutter = 1/100s
Aperture = f/5.6

I wonder how long this table has been here. The metal is fairing better than the wood. Entropy always wins.

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 50mm f/1.4
Shutter = 1/320s
Aperture = f/3.5
Focal Length = 50mm
Flash = Off
ISO Speed = 400

Here's a picture of the object I spent way to much time with this weekend. Apple released their new OS X - Tiger last Friday. The installation went well but had some trouble with things that were partly my fault and then the other thing that wasn't my fault at all. Rather, a LaCie hard drive failure. The Apple Store was really nice and took it back (they have the best customer service) and I was able to get another, which is working much better. Thanks to Sandro for convincing me to return it!

Camera = Canon 20D
Lens = Canon 50mm f/1.4
Shutter = 0.6s
Aperture = f/5.0
Focal Length = 50mm
Flash = Off
ISO Speed = 100