Day 30 - Derelict

I don't know how long this train has been sitting here, but it's been here for the couple years that I have been going by it.

I guess someone named Kase likes it too...

Day 29 - 1954 Chevy Truck

Everybody likes old trucks from the round-fender era, and we love them even more when they're rusty and sitting in a field with grass growing all around them don't we?

This particular truck is parked next to a busy highway that I travel to and from work occasionally.  It's an old flatbed that has a sign on one side advertising a pumpkin farm down the side road.  I didn't care about that--I only saw the rich color contrast on such a sunny day as today was.  Rust, oxidized red paint, green grass, blue sky, and white clouds.. How can you lose?

Day 28 - Backyard Guitar

I took my old Washburn guitar out of the case today.  I haven't looked at it for a little over a year, and you know what I found?  I found that, after I tuned it up, I still can't play it!  Ha ha... I never could play it actually... But I had fun "plinking" it from time to time.

I think it looks pretty good with a little of the trees in the back yard reflecting off it.  It really is a flawless guitar, but I didn't just want a shiny picture so I was skeptical as to whether or not it would make a decent subject.  It was also kinda stormy and dark out.  It didn't come out too bad.

Day 27 - Glasses of Goodwill

Today Suzie and I took a ride up to one of our local Goodwill stores.  We weren't looking for much really, but we each had our cameras with us.  It's funny what kind of stuff you can get a picture of in a Goodwill store. (thanks for the idea, Sarah!)

Suzie had the most luck with toys in the toy aisle.  I had a couple of good ones there too, but I opted for this instead.  I liked the colors and the perspective.

Day 26 - Old Stuff

What better way to portray a pile of my antique books and my old cameras than making the picture look as old as the subject matter?  I could probably add a simulated crack or fold in it, or maybe a smudge or something like that here and there.

Nah, it looks fine just old by itself.

Day 25 - Sun Shadows

This was a simple one.  I was milling around the kitchen and saw this and snapped it.  Even though I took a bunch of pictures today, this was a simple one and got the "nod" from me.  It's just a shot of cabinets.  So simple.

I didn't even need to tweak it, and that's pretty rare.

Day 24 - The Blue House

We spent the entire day driving all around the Stanwood and La Conner area of Skagit County.  The big tulip festival they have up there was pretty much over by this weekend, so all the big fields of tulips that the area is famous for had all been topped and the fields of color were gone.  We stopped at a tulip farm (tourist trap actually) that still had a lot of them in bloom, so we did get a lot of very colorful shots of tulips anyway.

We also took a lot of pictures of interesting scenes of rural Washington settings during our drive.  Although the day did present me with a lot of shots with amazing colorful tulips, I instead chose this shot as my daily treat.  it was hard to ignore it when it had that dramatic sky behind it.  The dark clouds with sporadic sunlight was all around us today, and it made for some interesting shots that really popped out at you.  This is one of my favorites from today.

Make sure you click all these pictures I post to see them full size... Especially this one!

Day 23 - Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse

"Grab your peanuts and follow me!"

That's what's on the back of some of the wait staff's t-shirts at Jimmy Mac's.  You go in the door, grab yourself a bowl and fill it with peanuts, and the waitperson will show you to your table.  In case you haven't figured it out yet, you throw your peanuts on the floor there.  They have a pretty tasty Armadillo Ale they brew, as well as good happy hour stuff.  We like to drop in there on occasion.

When you're in Jimmy Mac's, you walk with a crunch.

Day 22 - Courthouse Colors

This is a covered walkway going into the Kent Regional Justice Center (aka courthouse) from the parking garage.  I've been here before and liked this walkway.  It's both stark and colorful at the same time.  Add the fact that it has a shape and I find it kind of visually appealing.

What?  You don't?  Sue me.

Day 21 - Workin' Shoes

These are Suzie's favorite shoes.  They look horrible.  You know what though?  They are comfortable, they are trouble-free, worry-free, and above all:  They have character.

Especially in monochrome.

Day 20 - The Neely Mansion

This house is a very historic place here in our area.  I am fortunate to live very close by so I drive by it all the time.  It's not open very often, and wasn't today either, but I stopped at the gated fence and shot from there.  When it is open I'm sure I'll stop in for more pictures.  I guess that means expect a sequel some day in the future.

I chose this particular picture because the building storm added a little "goth" to the shot.  Although I wanted to turn this one into something from The Munsters, I refrained because the blooming trees around it just didn't work.

Day 19 - Vine Power

Sometimes an idea just doesn't translate to my camera.  This is a good example.  I drive by this little square enclosure next to a 7-Eleven store almost every day, and most of the time have to sit at a red light next to it, giving me plenty of time to ponder it.  I knew I just had to take some pictures of it.  The whole thing has some sort of very powerful vine growing all throughout the cyclone fencing.  All the foliage is kept away but the vine is simply not removable as you can see.  Anyway, today I finally did take a few shots.

It's kinda cool, but it's not what I hoped for.

Day 18 - My Biker Babe

It was a beautiful day for it here in the Pacific Northwest, and Sue and I went out for a ride on the Harley today.  We stopped a few times here and there for pictures, but I kept capturing pictures of Sue.  At one point we stopped so we could take some pictures of some old train cars on a mothballed railroad track.  What were my favorite pictures?  Sue.  In this shot, we had just stopped along the road so she could try out an infrared filter she had bought.

I love her against this field.

Day 17 - The Hanging Tractor

Every day I go past this meadow near home.  The gate has a big timber frame over it that used to have a real, full-size antique tractor hanging from it.  It was a very cool and rusty tractor, and the space came to be known to locals as The Hanging Tractor.  A few years ago someone apparently decided to sell it or take it down before it fell and killed somebody.

All I know is that this meadow has an enclosed look of an arena or something and it fascinates me.  We drive by and always seem to glance over at it, thinking how cool it would be to own it.  Today there was off and on sunlight beaming here and there between rain showers, and the wall of trees was pretty dramatic:

Day 16 - Crescent Kitty

This is Cookie.  She is our kittycat and we love her dearly.  She has this thing that she does whenever she feels all "warm and fuzzy", and that's where the term Crescent Kitty came from.  She will plop down on her side and put her little front paws up in praying position.  During that, she also has her body curved into a crescent moon position. She just screams, "Pet me and rub my belly!"

How can we refuse?

Day 15 - When Pictures Change

I stopped on the way home when I saw the train lights waaaay down the track.  I was in a perfect spot, so I did a U-ee and went back to the small crossing I had just passed.  As I set up the camera, I glanced down the track to see how fast it was coming.  No problem--It was still way down there.  Well, apparently it had been stopped, and when it started moving again, it hauled ass.  Before I knew it, it was blowing its horn as it approached me.  I had everything set up except the most important part:  The camera settings.

I had literally seconds to snap a bunch of pictures as the commuter train blew past me.  Although I had it on the shutter mode I wanted, it wasn't on the right aperture.  The result?  Horribly overblown and bright.  Just for fun I played with it in Adobe Lightroom and went, "Hey!  I like that!"

It's totally weird, but I love it!

Day 14 - Virgin Stainless Steel

These are coils of raw stainless steel that came in at work today.  It comes in to our shop several times a year for a specific product we make for one of our customers.  I've looked at it more than a few times, noting how cool it looked and that it might make a neat picture.  I think what originally caught my eye was the fact that it was shiny like chrome, and also had a nice, smooth, rolled edge on it that caught the light.

Anyway, the timing was perfect and I caught these guys near an open shop door, bouncing some pretty cool light off a nearby pallet jack.

Day 13 - Bugs on the Wall

There's a place I pass on the way home (you notice that happening a lot on this blog?) almost every day that has a few bug art pieces on the outside of the building.  Because it is a pest control company, it is sort of a fitting thing.

This particular steel ladybug has several words that I'm not interested in (nor is anyone else) labeling parts of it.  Labels or not, I like strange art, and this fits that category.

Day 12 - Bring Me a Shrubbery!

This is a house that I drive by all the time.  I always loved the strange but precision trimming job the owners seem to relish when it comes to their topiary work.

I felt it was time to exploit them.

Day 11 - Da Hawg

My poor ol' Harley doesn't get as much time out as it used to, but it likes me to occasionally open the garage door so it can at least see the outdoors.  It will stare outside longingly, hoping for the day when I finally include it with my new best friends:  My wife and my camera.

Day 10 - Canoeing in Seattle

Suzie, Sarah and I rented a canoe today at the University of Washington campus and explored the marshes and waterways that make up the Marsh Island area near the Seattle Arboretum.  It was great fun!

Although we all took lots of amazing pictures, I decided to post this seemingly ordinary shot.  Why?  Because it captured what we were doing!  Between the three of us we got pictures of ducks, turtles, Canadian Geese, beaver-gnawed trees, Blue Herons, and other cool things.  We also got lots of killer shots at the Japanese Garden.  This shot isn't of our results, but rather, the adventure itself. I like this shot because it shows us having a great, great day in the Pacific Northwest.  It shows us doing what we were doing often throughout the day:  Putting our oars down and grabbing at our cameras!

Day 9 - The Hungry Sentinel

This was taken right near work.  There is one these power line towers right next to our building, but this was the next one down. I see them all the time--Waiting, watching, hoping for a scurrying morsel of food they snatch unawares.  Our shop is near grassy fields and a river so it's apparently a good place for eagles.

I've tried a few times in the past to catch a decent shot of one of these guys, but for one reason or another never quite made it.  This one was one of the best I've gotten yet.  If only I had a really good lens!

Day 8 - Fairy Shelters

I'm not really happy with this picture, nor was I with any of its brethren.  It's kinda frustrating when you like the composition and colors but the focus is substandard.

Oh well, I kinda like the idea of the picture though.  If only I captured a fairy peeking out from behind it...

Day 7 - Zoomy and Gloomy

I stopped on the way home with the intent of catching one of the trains that passes through regularly, but apparently I missed it.  Because it was raining I was camped out under a freeway overpass, and while I was waiting for the train I started messing around to kill time.

I finally gave up on the train and went home.

Day 6 - Dry Ice!

I've had this kicking around in my little, pointy head for some time now.  At work we get newly-manufactured aluminum parts back from the heat-treat people all the time with dry ice packed around them.  I know how much fun it is to put dry ice in water, and I wanted to throw them into the photography mix.

This was a first for Suzie and I.  We both had a blast doing it, and we both realized that there are things we don't have that would enhance them even more, like good lighting and backdrop material.  The good thing is I can bring dry ice home almost any time I want!

This was, by no means, my best shot.  After all, dry ice and water makes the coolest tendrils of "smoke".  I just really liked the lighting in this shot.

Remember, always click the pictures I post to see them full size.  Sometimes they are cropped by the blogger software to make them fit on this page in preview mode.

Day 5 - Bare and Derelict

I love old buildings.  It's the bare, weathered wood that jumps out at me.  These are the kind of pictures that are good black and white or color.

Day 4 - Landscapers

The sign tells it all doesn't it?  What kind of landscaper would put a toilet at the end of the path?  This is a small sample of the oddities that one might find at my parent's house.  It's truly an interesting place to visit.

Day 3 - The Easter Egg Tree

I saw this the other day in my home town of Auburn, Washington, so I checked it out again today on the way home.  I love it when someone takes the time to do something a little different like this. I think the Easter bunny lives here.

I wonder what kind of seed it takes to grow an Easter egg tree?

Day 2 - The Forever Fence

Okay, it's not really that big of a fence, but when you look at it, it almost seems to go everywhere.  This is a farm/ranch/whatever near us that we drive by all the time near home, and for whatever reason they have all their critters up above the nice fenced area.  I guess the fenced part is just for people like us to enjoy.  They apparently love it because they paint all these posts every years.  That a lot of paint...

It's hard to capture a sprawling place like they have, so instead I just settled for a portion of it.

Day 1 - Clean Light

Happy April Fools Day!

You know, it's awful hard to come up with a picture of the day when you have to work overtime and get off work late.  For this--My inaugural post in my new 365 Project Blog--I hoped to have something really amazing, but I'm happy how it came out nevertheless.

You'd never guess that it's our soap dispenser from the bathroom with a flashlight behind it would you?