Today’s horoscope was boring, so let’s skip it and go right to the good stuff:>) My adventures yesterday started when my neighbor/friend asked if I wanted to go for a drive to the Wynoochee Dam. For a cave dweller, I love a good adventure out in the world. We left at 12:30 and drove some highway, side roads and several unpaved roads for a couple of hours to reach the dam. It took longer than it should have, because the photo addict was on board. Greg and I have been on many photo journeys the last few years, and he’s pretty good at catching on to what kind of things I want to take photos of. Like this…
I’ll warn you now, I didn’t do well with taking pictures this day. My old Nikon would have been so much better. Me learning how to change the auto functions on this, otherwise great camera (Lumix ZS19), would have worked too. The light is the issue. Too bright and lots of white ruined most of my shots. Plus, the cold effects the camera, and man, was it cold!
Some turned out better than I thought they would, but I had to dump a lot. I’ll keep this one…
My first and top favorite thing on this adventure was found miles into the southern region of the Olympic National Forest. Picture miles of forest, with some logged areas in between. All you can see is a few glimpses of the rolling hills to the north west and everything else you see are trees. Moss covered and coated in frost, where the sun hasn’t hit yet. We came to a clear cut next to the road and, “Stop!” “Back up, did you see that!?” I’m ready to jump out with my camera before he even gets backed up. It was a flippin’ Christmas tree! What made it a Christmas tree and not just another tree?
It was decorated with ornaments, shiny beautiful ornaments. In the damn middle of nowhere. At least 25 miles to anything but wilderness. The kind of person who would do that, is the same kind who carved that big bull on the beach, the kind that carved the beautiful face in the side of the sand dunes, the kind who left that big silk sunflower in a piece of driftwood on the beach, or the ones who build the driftwood shelters. All their work and energy would be taken over by nature in the very near future, but they did it anyway, for you and for me. A stranger’s smile and good feeling. Wow.
May I present The Wynoochee Dam and surrounding area?
Okay, I’m not even halfway through, so here’s one more and then I will add a link to the rest when I get them on my photo site.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you got a smile or two and some visual pleasure. Oh, and I found a fishing pole with reel (in the dark) on our way out:>) It must have fallen out of someone’s truck and I happen to see a glint of metal.
Here’s the link to the slide show of this trip. http://wp.me/p3J4Ab-7o There is hand made bridge, a fairy, fish, gnome homes, an incredible sunset on the lake, rambling streams, a river, ghost trees, the Moon with Venus, the last glow of day, and close-ups of frost. Oh, and the dam.
Peace,
Patti
December 6, 2013 at 5:43 am
Frost on the ferns! That is something to see, when I think of ferns, I think of shady humid areas in the heat on a tropical forest floor. I forget ferns grow everywhere…even the colder climates.
December 6, 2013 at 5:49 am
We really aren’t much of a colder climate in western WA, like the northern and mid west U.S. We are very wet here and green up beautifully most of the year.
Thanks for stopping in and I hope your weekend is good.
December 6, 2013 at 8:59 am
Hm. There’s a story in that anonymous artist cum christmas tree decorator. And so many wonderful colors in your pictures!
December 6, 2013 at 11:02 am
I wish I knew…maybe we could make one up! Thank you!
December 6, 2013 at 11:36 am
What I like (in technical aspects) about these images, when the camera refuses to do what we thought we wanted… They appear as if with a ‘film-grain’, that gives the appearance of being taken from the late 70’s to early 80’s…a nostalgic glimpse if you will…
Also, Wynoochee-111 almost has an oil-painted look! Art imitating life, imitating art… or vice-versa!
Tip: http://www.lenshoods.co.uk/ , or even use a free hand to block the light coming in from the side of the lens (that dramatically changes the contrast, color, and light-balance. Oftentimes (intentionally) angling the camera too far up, or down frame will make much difference too…just make sure to frame enough to crop out the excess in landscape, or sky…
One more… A larger micro-fiber cleaning cloth (not only handy for touching up the lens) drape over your camera/lens when you’re not taking a shot to help keep it warm, and dry. Oh, and some cameras can emulate shutter-speeds to reduce or extend the ‘exposure’ time useful for how much light is allowed, and for getting clear images from motion shots.
Decorating a tree, in the middle of nowhere…is something I would have done…many years ago…perhaps it’s time again…
This message was brought to you in part by…the letter ‘e’, and the number ‘3’… 😉
December 6, 2013 at 11:46 am
Sesame Street! Do I win?
I agree with the “look” that’s why I didn’t dump some of them, glad you noticed.
I put in under my arm to keep in warm between shots:>)
I can make my camera be basically a manual SLR, but I have to read and learn! (between shots).
Thank you!
December 6, 2013 at 12:25 pm
Sesame Street! you are correct! (you win!)
Fortunately…we don’t have olfactory capabilities in our photos…yet! 😉 Yes, warm…usually a bit moist too…perhaps use the cloth in addition to underarm stowage? Humidity will condense on the lens when exposed to the colder temperatures.
“Digital SLR cameras, along with most other digital cameras, generally have a mode dial to access standard camera settings or automatic scene-mode settings. Sometimes called a “PASM” dial, they typically provide as minimum Program, Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority, and full Manual modes. Scene modes vary and are inherently less customizable. They often include full-auto, landscape, portrait, action, macro, and night modes, among others. Professional DSLRs seldom contain automatic scene modes because professionals understand their equipment and can quickly adjust the settings to take the image that they want.” From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_single-lens_reflex_camera
Don’t know if that helps…?
December 6, 2013 at 3:10 pm
Patti, wonderful photos. I particularly LOVE the fern with the red from the sun. Wow! That will be hard to forget! xo
December 15, 2013 at 3:45 pm
Luanne,
My WP notification thingy is not working properly and so I am going back to old posts to see who I’ve missed. So sorry, I missed your comment. Especially funny considering my post about comments!
Thank you for stopping by and commenting:>) I’m glad that fern photo struck you, as I wasn’t sure if others could see how beautiful it was.
take care and I will now check each post for comments, instead of relying on the notification thingy.
December 6, 2013 at 6:41 pm
The kind of person like you… As always, great images and a sense of wonder–excuse me, amazement.
December 6, 2013 at 9:46 pm
Hahaha, messing with my ubiquitous sensory descriptor!