Mon - August 6, 2007

Serious Moth!

This little charmer was perched on the side of my car yesterday. It's about 2.5 inches across and I thought 'wow! check that out!'. I snapped a quick picture with my iPhone thinking it would surely fly away as soon as it saw me staring. But no, it paid me no mind, even when I opened the trunk to get out my camera. I think it thought it's camouflage was working... but it stood out pretty clearly on a black car.... ;-)

Posted at 09:04 AM    

Mon - March 19, 2007

Macro!

I got a new toy tool a couple days ago. A Canon 100mm Macro lens . This is an ultra sharp portrait lens that has the amazing ability to focus down to a ratio of 1:1. That means I can fill the frame with something that is about an inch wide. Macro photography is a world where composition, lighting and texture are everything. It's a fun challenge. AND... I can't wait to start using this for awesome ring and detail shots! ;-)

Blades of grass:



lightbulb:



Cherry blossoms:



I"ve got a ton of great pictures from the weekend, so stay tuned! :-)

~Bill

Posted at 10:49 AM    

Wed - January 17, 2007

Snowshoeing - Copper Creek

Sunday my friends Jeff and Sharon gave me a ride up to the Copper Creek Trail in the Mt Tahoma Trail System. We met Tom and Monty on the way up. They were all skiing and I was snowshoeing, they told me some other snowshoers would come, but they bailed, so it was just me and the skiers... I ended up jogging or walking briskly most of the day. It was about 10 miles with a fairly heavy pack, I'm still a little sore... ;-)

The newest member of Jeff and Sharon's family is Diamond, she ran non stop the whole day...



I got my revenge for having to work to keep up when we got this part of the trip, steep and deep, snowshoes rule!









Where are we? I don't know either....



The top of the mountain.. I knew I packed that big lens up there for some reason.





This next shot is what happens when the front element of your lens gets engulfed in snow and you try to wipe it off with your shirt....



They definitely got me back for the little steep uphill when we went back down, they were gliding, I was running downhill with a bouncing pack.



All in all an awesome day!!

~Bill

Posted at 07:53 PM    

Mon - January 15, 2007

Mt Rainier at 137 Megapixels

Yesterday I went snowshoeing up by Mt Rainier. I don't think we could have picked a prettier day! I'll share a few fun images from the day tomorrow, but today I spent a couple hours working on this 137 megapixel image of the mountain. I think that's the best, clearest view of Mt Rainier I've ever personally seen, see what you think by clicking below.

Click here to see a zoomable flash based viewer with the whole image!

Comprised of 16 images from my Nikon D2X and stitched together in photoshop.

Posted at 10:23 PM    

Fri - January 12, 2007

2007 Calendar

I love getting out and enjoying the great outdoors, whether it's way out or just down to the local park. And these trips often result in images that I really like.... If you'd like to own 12 of my favorite images in the form of a 2007 calendar, well here's your chance!

Click here: 2007 Fine Art Calendar

Posted at 10:06 AM    

Fri - October 6, 2006

Lake Cushman Forest Fire

With fall upon us and the trees changing and leaves falling I thought it would be great time for an overnight trip into the Olympics for some fall photography... Well I was unaware of the forest fire in the Lake Cushman area. So when I got to the road closed sign I turned around and went up another mountain road towards Mt Eleanor. I set up camp near a beautiful stream and watched the full moon come up through the smoky haze... And then as it got dark I noticed the smoky haze was associated with a line of forest fire that stretched across the valley below where I was camped!

The picture isn't as impressive as it seemed to me when I took it... but it was in the same direction that I had to drive out, so I decided to pack up and leave. A guy in a station wagon came down the road and asked me if I thought it was safe to stay in the area, I told him I didn't know for sure but I wasn't going to find out either.... Turns out that fire has been burning for 2 months and the wind was blowing away from our location, but better safe than sorry. ;-)



I did take the time as it was getting dark to take a few images of the beautiful stream that I was camped next to. This one is my favorite of the bunch and will be featured later this fall on the new fine art gallery that Dave and I are planning to set up. More information on that to follow...

30 second exposure, lit only by the moon filtering through the trees

Posted at 08:24 AM    

Sun - September 10, 2006

Mountain Home Lodge

Erin and I are having a wonderful time at the Mountain Home Lodge just above Leavenworth. We went for a five mile hike yesterday guided by the resident dogs... much fun. :-)

We spent a fair amount of time chasing grasshoppers... I really wanted to get a good picture of one taking off. It was harder than it sounds. I would set up with my camera pointed at one on the ground and Erin would walk towards it until it flew away (she's such a good sport)... I found the best chance I had to get a shot was to let the camera fire at 5 frames per second and hope one of them caught it, a couple times it worked. They are so fast I needed to use 1/4000 of a second shutter speed or faster to stop the action.

The view from the top of ridge was amazing as well. We could see all the way from Leavenworth to the far side of the Columbia river, with great views of the Wenatchee river as it meanders down the valley.

Headed home today. A great weekend and a nice break. Happy birthday to me. :-)

A couple shots this morning:

Posted at 10:10 AM    

Thu - September 7, 2006

Just passing Through

This buck wandered through my yard today. If it wasn't for the dogs barking I'm sure I would have missed it... I'm also amazed he hung around long enough for me to get my camera and change lenses. Lucky me. ;-)

Posted at 04:39 PM    

Thu - June 22, 2006

Stock Photo Quest

I'm on a mission to come up with good stock photos for possible use as an Olympia phone book cover. The publisher contacted me a few days ago after seeing my website and liking my work! They have other submissions, but it's cool to be personally asked to submit. I took these last night, let me know what you think. Also let me know if you have any great ideas for Olympia themed shots. I have to decide what to show him by Monday....

Posted at 09:44 PM    

Sat - June 3, 2006

Red Headed Woodpecker

Another Woodpecker crossed my path today. Erin and I were working in her backyard and this brightly colored guy landed on one of her trees. Seems like I'm really on a bird kick! I have no idea what kind of woodpecker this is, so if you do please let me know and I'll update this post. Also do you think that damage to the tree is life threatening? He's pecked it a lot....

I've been working a lot of today on a new album design and it'll be posted tomorrow, I bet you can't wait! ;-)

Posted at 06:16 PM    

Fri - June 2, 2006

Harlequin ducks

It's been a while since my last post. I've been out of town on a camping trip, I'll post some pictures from that soon, but today I'm showing off these cool ducks that were across the Entiat river from where we camped. I used a 600mm lens on a monopod to 'reach out' and catch them hangin out on the rocks and swimming in the waves. These are rare ducks to see and mostly live on rocky streams far north of here. More information can be found here on the Alaska Fish and Game Website .

Posted at 08:01 AM    

Mon - May 15, 2006

Relentless pursuit of the ball

I spotted this dog on Arcadia Beach in Oregon yesterday. He was very motivated. I couldn't help but take a few pictures. :-)

Posted at 12:32 PM    

Fri - March 31, 2006

Woodpecker and Tree Frog

It's a beautiful Friday morning here in Olympia! When we got up this morning Erin pointed to the glass on the front door and said 'look there's a frog out there'. And sure enough, a tree frog was sleeping on the glass. I took a couple pictures of it sleeping, but they weren't very exciting and I didn't want to disturb it just for my sake, but I got lucky and an insect buzzed around the front of my lens, suddenly I was much more interesting to our little friend!

And Yesterday when I went for my lunchtime jog, I spotted the resident woodpecker, sometimes I can see this one out my office window:




It certainly feels like spring!

- Bill

Posted at 07:59 AM    

Mon - March 27, 2006

Big Glass

I went to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge to test out my new lens. It's a super heavy, super fast telephoto. i can't wait to try it with field sports, it'll be awesome! Here are some of my test shots while 'small bird hunting'. The animals there aren't caged or netted, but they are used to people, so it's a great place to see deer, beaver, birds and aquatic animals. I did see one heron taking off, but I didn't have my camera out of the bag yet.... next time!

Posted at 02:46 PM    

Mon - March 13, 2006

North Fork of the Quinalt

For the last couple weeks Erin and I have been planning the first camping trip of the year. A 2.5 mile hike from the end of the Quinalt River road. This post is a bit long, so bear with me....

Saturday started out in a discouraging way. I'd been hoping for good weekend weather all week, the forcast kept changing, but it seemed to be at least possible that it would turn out be warm and sunny. By Friday night I had a sore throat and was actively ignoring the fact that I might be getting a cold. When I woke up Sat morning my head cold was a little worse and it looked like this outside:



It seemed the weather was not cooperating at all.... but after some coffee and a pact that if it was miserable at the trailhead that we would turn around, off we went. It was a beautiful drive and we stopped at the Lake Quinalt Lodge for a last 'potty break' before heading into the wilderness.

As we drove up the valley it became clear that the snow would be a sure thing at camp, but it was such a beautiful day that we didn't worry about it too much (at least I didn't). The directions we had said to cross a bridge over the river and then turn right onto the gravel road that would end at the trailhead. When we crossed the bridge we saw that the road to the right was closed with a gate and our friends Paul and Kelly had parked their car and begun the hike from that point. The note they left said they planned to hike up the road and find somewhere near the river to camp. The sign said it was 3 miles to the campground, normally accessible by car so we figured that was their destination and decided to shoulder our packs and head that way too. But just before we got underway a park ranger drove up and told us that he would investigate the road and if it was clear he would open it. So we waited and sure enough he came back and had even given Paul a ride back down the road to get their car. With the gate open we headed up the snowy road to the campground.

Erin by the gated road and me at camp posing with my pack, I only had to pack about 50 feet from the truck to the tent site:



The others; Kelly, Paul and Paul's brother Dave all got a good workout walking about 3 miles up the snowy road.





Erin and I took a walk to the end of the road where the ranger station is located, there was also a 'fancy outhouse' that was a welcome find.





We had a fun evening around the fire, complete with hot buttered rum and Tutie Fruity marshmallows:





It was a COLD night and I think we'll do some more research into cold weather sleeping gear before doing that again (Erin plans to research the rooms at the lodge down the road.... ;)

Sunday was another beautiful day:



Seeing snow and ice in the rainforest is both unusual and beautiful, even with the long cold night, I'm glad we went.

Bill

Posted at 09:22 AM