Day 68 - The Secret Garden

I wish I was more artistic sometimes.  I liked the idea of the half-open gate revealing a little of what's behind it, but as usual for a lot of my high-falootin' ideas, it didn't quite come off.

But I still like it.

Day 67 - Gage the Forlorn

It was time to pack up and leave our rented house in Ocean Shores this morning.  Multiple families all scurrying this way and that.  Chaos, noise, and all in infamiliar surroundings.  Gage didn't know what to do.  At one point I caught him at the top of the stairs, looking about as forsaken and sad as you can get.

I think he was homesick.

Day 66 - Blazing Kite Colors

Saturday's post presented quite a problem:  The day was split into multiple "happenings" and I had to select from over 500 pictures!  There were choices like deer in the back yard, seagull nests on roofs, giant waves, surfers, and--not the least of which--The big kite festival that took place there this weekend.  There were even pictures of us each flying our own kites later on, and a sunset after that.  I'm telling you:  It was a tough choice!

In the end, just plain colorful photography won out.  When I saw this blast of color on a blue sky it looked like an ad for Kodak.  Ok, maybe it's a tad boring... Click it to view it in its larger size and you'll see what I mean.  I'll post the other pictures from our weekend adventure on our Smugmug site in the near future.

Day 65 - Surf Jeep

The members of Suzie's family rented a house for the weekend at Ocean Shores, and because we had no access to internet I had to wait until getting home to post.  Along with Suzie's family Sarah and her boyfriend Sopha came along too.

Friday evening around sunset someone (probably Tony because it's his Jeep) got the idea that we should head to the beach for some pictures.  A bunch of the guys took turns playing in the surf, doing donuts and spewing spray as they zoomed by we photographers. There were some interesting pictures from that session--Not the least of which was Suzie getting doused with spray when he went by one time.

Day 64 - Speeding Boys

This is Shayne.  Like most little boys, it's hard to get them to be still for any length of time.  Add to that the fact that he has just learned to ride a 2-wheeler without training wheels like his big brother, Joe, and this is how you are going to see him.

I could have taken this shot easily with no blurring (and did) but it didn't give me the effect I wanted.  I wanted to show motion.  After all, that's what little boys are made of:  Motion.

Day 63 - Pot Patterns

Back at a store again... This time it's the local Home Depot.  There are always good things to shoot in a store.  Sometimes store policy or personnel won't let you take pictures inside of their store, but I usually shoot first.  I figure I can just plead innocent.  What's the worst that could happen?

This was a series of flower pots that I found back in the outdoor-but-under-cover garden department.  I tweaked it in Adobe Lightroom with a "preset" called Direct Positive.  There were other minor things I did but I don't remember them.  I like the pattern and color variation between the three of them.

Day 62 - Patiently Waiting

All these John Deere, Husqvarna, and MTD tractors and mowers lined up at my local Lowe's store--Patiently enduring off and on rain and lackluster sales.  All sizes of them, all trying to look their prettiest to catch the eye of that feller with the need to own a fancy lawn tractor.

I shot this one with my 70-300, maxed from a distance out to achieve the desired look I was after:  Squashing the picture's depth and rendering it flat.