Swan Creek Park

On Sunday I took a few photos at Swan Creek Park in Tacoma, Washington.  This lovely little stream valley is tucked away close to the Tacoma Dome, though you'd never know it from its remote feel. Rescued in the 1960s from being a landfill, the 290-acre parcel is a joint venture of Metro Parks and Pierce County Parks. The trail follows along and above Swan Creek (chum and coho salmon spawn here in late fall), which drains north along the east edge of Tacoma into the Puyallup River. Salmon Berry thickets and big-leaf maples swathed in licorice ferns flourish in the lower part of the canyon (a nice open walk in winter) switching to the conifers, Salal and Oregon grape that grow near the higher, drier parts of the trail.

A Day at the Races...

I spent yesterday afternoon photographing the horses, and surroundings, at the Emerald Downs Thoroughbred race track in Auburn, Washington.  I decided to use a few of my new photography techniques when creating these shots.  My favorite is the last photo...the little boy petting the horse.  Hope you enjoy the views!

I can't get enough of this location...

Cannon Beach, Oregon - it's just so magical, that I wanted to share more of my recent photos with you.
Make sure you click on the photos for a larger view. :)
Enjoy the views...to me they are some of my best shots ever!!

My 1st Photography Competition

I don't normally "toot" my own horn, but I wanted to share some exciting news about my first involvement with  an organized photography competition.  The contest was put on by the Tacoma Photographic Society, of which I am a new member.  It's an open competition that's being exhibited at the Spring Fair in Puyallup, Washington.  The Fair ends this Sunday.  There where approximately 180 entries in the adult competition.  The major awards that were given out included 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, around 15 Honorable Mention, and Four different Merit Awards.  I submitted eight photos, and was so please to win 5 awards (Three Honorable Mention, and two Merit awards)  The two Judges Merit Awards really meant a lot to me.  I guess the competition sort of validated that my work is good enough to enter more competitions.

I also want to thank all of you for following and supporting my work, with your wonderful comments and encouragement!

Hope you enjoy my entries!

"219 Washington Street" - Judges Award - Most Creative

"Pioneer Square Pergola" - Honorable Mention

"Eatonville Landscape" - Honorable Mention

"Santa Fe Cowboy"- Judges Award - Best Humor

"The Emerald Queen" - Honorable Mention

Check out my New Blog

I'm starting a new blog titled "HDR Photo of the Week"...so if you would like to subscribe to my new blog, it's at:
HDR photo of the Week

I hope you enjoy the weekly views!

 Santa Fe Cowboy

It's all about Light and the Absence of Light

It's black and white photography...

Black-and-white is back, because it's part of the power of photography.

Black-and-white is back in print advertising. In today's saturated-color manipulated-image world, black-and-white feels real. To many, it looks fresh.

Black-and-white is back because brides want to see black-and-white photos in their wedding albums.

It is crisp and clean with its patterns, shapes and lines to intrigue our minds. Black and white photography is honest. No flashy punched up colors to get in the way. It's art, plain and simple. From the deep dark richest blacks to the crisp clean clear whites, it tells a story. With its gentle gradations of gray, it holds our attention and makes us want to see beyond the surface.

This is the way photography was meant to be before color took over and clouded our vision of what a great print should look like. Now we often look at a photo as an exact rendition of a scene and that is all. "Oh look, my couch is green, what a lovely shade of green." Black and white photography is different. It is about textures and emotions, light and the absence of light.

It's been said that there is something sexy about black and white photography that you just can't get from color. I think it's true. Once you remove the color, it is like stripping a scene down to the bare bones removing the layers and leaving the form. You do not have to be an expert photographer to try black and white photography; after all, it was black and white film that not so many years ago captured the memories of many generations.

I hope you enjoy all of my recent black and white photography - make sure you enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

March 6th Photoshoot - Seattle, Washington

I ventured up to Seattle on March 6th and visited Discovery Park, and dropped by my favorite location - Pioneer Square.  Hope you enjoy the results!  Be sure and click on the photos for a larger view.

If you would like to purchase prints, or order note cards - go the my page on Fine Art America

The Pioneer Square Pergola - Revisited

Well...most of my followers know that lately I've been creating a lot of HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos. There is a reason...for me the results have been simply amazing! I found more early shots of this structure, and figured I better find out exactly what I've been capturing. With the help of Google, it's called the Pioneer Square Pergola.

A friend of mine informs me that the first photo is one of my only photos that conveys some sort of social commentary - a face of society that many of us tend to ignore. I think it's one of the more powerful shots I've created to date.

The following is from the "Seattle.gov" website:

The Pioneer Square neighborhood was the hub of pioneer Seattle. The first industry, Yesler Sawmill, was built in here in 1852.
In 1889 local businessmen returned to Seattle from a trip to Alaska with a Tlingit totem pole and gave the Puget Sound it's first landmark.
The first buildings following the Great Fire of 1899 were built around Pioneer Square and in 1909 an iron pergola was built as a shelter over an underground restroom, known as "the finest underground restroom in the United States". The Pergola and the totem pole still stand, along with a bust of Chief Seattle. This tiny park is at the heart of Seattle's historical district.

Hope you enjoyed a little bit of history...the underground restroom info is pretty funny!

Make sure you click on the photos for a larger photo...I'd love to know what you think.

Happy Valentine's Day!

"Hearts" - Soft Pastel Painting

May there be love in all your lives! Happy Valentine's Day to all my followers and friends!

My Favorite Photos to Date!

I'm so pleased with the outcome of these Pseudo HDR Pioneer Square scenes. A "Pseudo" HDR image is made from only one Raw image instead of three.

I feel these are two of my best HDR photos to date...and the first being one of my favorite shots of all time. It just shouts with color and detail! Note the reflections in the small puddle!

I'd love to know what you think...and make sure you click on the photos, because more detail and color show up in the larger images.

Thanks for dropping by!

The Emerald Queen Riverboat Casino in HDR

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The Emerald Queen Casino opened in 1997 on an authentic paddle-wheel riverboat, the Emerald Queen, berthed in the Port of Tacoma, WA. The boat and its shore side property were closed in 2004 as part of an agreement with the Port of Tacoma to accommodate further development of the waterway. The Emerald Queen is closed to the public indefinitely.

I hope you enjoy viewing this photo...it's another attempt using HDR technology. HDR photography is the process of combining 3 or more exposures of the same image. The idea behind high dynamic range photography is to highlight the best exposure for different parts of the same photograph.

Make sure you click on the photo for a larger view.

If you would like to order prints of this image, click here to go to my website.

Mount Rainier - The View from My Deck!

Nice view huh? I took this from my deck just a few days ago. It seems that the view changes almost daily...and when the sun shines on it, the mountain is an amazing sight. Hope you enjoy the view - Make sure you click on the photo for a larger image!

From "NPS.GOV:
Mount Rainier National Park encompasses 235,625 acres on the west-side of the Cascade Range, and is located about 100 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area. Mount Rainier National Park is approximately 97 percent wilderness and 3 percent National Historic Landmark District and receives approximately 2 million visitors per year.

At 14,410 feet, Mount Rainier is the most prominent peak in the Cascade Range. It dominates the landscape of a large part of western Washington State. The mountain stands nearly three miles higher than the lowlands to the west and one and one-half miles higher than the adjacent mountains. It is an active volcano that last erupted approximately 150 years ago.

New HDR Photography

I thought I'd take out 2009 with a few new High Dynamic Range photos that I captured last Sunday. These were taken a couple of miles from my house near Browns Point in N.E. Tacoma, Washington. Make sure you click on each photo for a much better view.

I'd love to know what you think.

To all my friends, and followers of my blog...May you all have a very Creative and Happy New Year!