Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Skater girl

I visited the ice skating rink at Roy Raley park yesterday to get wild art — that's newspaper speak for those photos that come unattached to any story – for today's paper.
I really liked this photo of 8-year-old Chelsea Kendrick. I snapped the shot of her as she whisked by on one of her circuits around the rink.
But because it didn't show much of the rink, or anyone else, or even her skates, it didn't work so well for the paper. I'm glad to be able to post it here.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Land of snow and fog

I took this photo atop Cabbage Hill more than a week ago. It was when the valleys were socked in with thick fog. But once you got above it, the sun shone on snow covered hillsides.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

A light in the dark

I went to a candle lighting ceremony Sunday night in Milton-Frewater. It was a to remember children who died in the community. It was cold and rainy, but once the service started it was worth the discomfort.
At the end, after everyone had spoken, there was an odd silence. Then Pastor Duane Geyer began singing "Silent Night." Everyone joined in. It was soft, simple and sweet. A memory I will cherish as a moment of pure giving and caring.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Remember

On Sunday Helix students laid wreaths at the headstones of veterans in Olney cemetery. The VFW and their teacher praised the project as a way to get the teens involved in the history they are learning.
I was thankful the school contacted me, so I was able to speak to the students and be there on Sunday for the event.


Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Visiting Frenchtown

The Frenchtown Historic Site had its official opening on Saturday. Some of the first visitors got to walk up the trail to the cemetery marker, as well as read all the interpretive signs along the way.
I had submitted this as secondary art for Sunday's story, but I'm glad the editors used the primary photo instead. I still like this one because it implies the solitude one feels atop that hill. For 150 years, the settlement and the Battle of Walla Walla have failed to be remembered and marked properly. Now, thanks to the folks with the Frenchtown Historic Foundation, everyone can learn about what happened there in December 1855.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Outhouse race, take two

This is my second-best shot of the 15-second outhouse race, which was part of Pilot Rock's Winterphest on Saturday.
The better shot appeared in Sunday's East Oregonian, or you might still find it on our website: www.eastoregonian.com. I'm so proud I was tempted to post it again here, but I decided against it.
This photo isn't as in focus as the one that appeared in the paper. However, it does capture a great look on Bryson Thorton's face. I'm not sure if it's joy or terror. Before the race the boy was very, very excited to get to ride in the Pilot Rock Chamber's mobile port-a-johns.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

3 ... 2 ... 1 ... Christmas!

I attended Milton-Freewater's light parade and tree lighting last Friday. I shuffled up the stairs of the Valley Christian Center church just as the crowd finished the countdown and lit up the tree. It was very dark, so I was glad I could at least see the all the people cheering the tree lighting in the photo.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Halo

I drove to Walla Walla on Monday and was kicking myself on the way back for not bringing my camera. The sunset was amazing. The last rays of the sun hit the Blue Mountains at just the right angle to illuminate the snow in golden light. I didn't get a picture of that.
I did pull over and get this shot with my cell phone. (The phone has no zoom and wouldn't have been able to capture the mountains.) It worked OK for this sunset shot, where the sun lit up the clouds in a big circular arc.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Geese in a row

These geese flew over me when I was on a walk last week. Yeah, they're pretty far away, but I like how they're all in a line.
Click on the photo and zoom in to get a better look at them, so they're more than just little black dots.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Skies so blue

The skies seem extra blue on the days we get to see them this winter. This was a sunset photo, taken on a bridge over the Umatilla during one of those cold days last week.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Winter bloom

I found several flowers, including this rose, apparently still in bloom during the snows last week. Even with a light layer of powder atop its petals, the flower still held up in the winter cold.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Old truck

This is the logo on an old truck that's been parked in town for a few months with a "for sale" sign. I liked how it looked covered in snow - especially when the snow melted a bit in the sun.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Festival alight

I covered the Festival of Lights in Hermiston again over the weekend. This year I spent about an hour with the family that puts on the carriage rides, watching them set up for a cold night of carting people around the light displays. I was surprised how well my camera did, even in very low light and the subjects moving around so much.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Big white world out there

Our cat is strictly an indoor cat. We live on a busy street and I am paranoid he will get run over.
Since it has started snowing he has been desperate to get outside. I think he wants to go play in the white stuff, or eat it. He tries to lick the snow off my boots when I come in.
Like the cat, I've spent a lot of time indoors, too afraid to get the camera wet. Good news: today it is supposed to be sunny.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Shades of white

Snow touched down in the foothills of the Blues this morning. I took a few shots on my way back from Helix, though no matter far I drove east, it seemed I couldn't quite reach it.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Pride

I took photos at the VFW's Veterans Day Memorial yesterday morning. This woman facing the camera, Maxine Tangney, had the most content look on her face throughout the ceremony. You could tell her pride for veterans in her family is part of who she is.
In this photo Tangney gave a little smile to a fellow Auxiliary member as she walked to place a flower at one of the war markers in Veteran's Memorial Garden at Pendleton Pioneer Chapel, Folsom-Bishop.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Last leaves

Yes, it's still fall, but it really feels as if winter is closing in fast.
I took these fall foliage photos over the weekend, and I bet they'll be the last I capture. Leaves seem to all be cascading off the trees in an alarming rate.
Meanwhile it's foggy, cold and damp. I saw snow in the back of a pickup this morning. Winter is so close I can feel it in my bones.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Looking on the up side

Took a trip to downtown Walla Walla this weekend. I didn't have much time for photos, but snapped this one of the floor above the Book & Game Co. I like the blend of different colors: red, yellow, orange, blue and green.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Little dogs, big world

My friends came to visit this weekend, along with their two dachshunds. We went for a walk in the evening autumn sunlight, and I took the opportunity to snap some dogs-eye-view photos.


Friday, November 5, 2010

Fleeting light

This was the sight I saw when I stepped out of my front door this morning: sunshine cutting through the fog to shine on the North Hill. It was a fleeting moment. Even in the time it took me to pull out the camera, the sunlight began to fade. By the time I had taken a few shots, the hill was dark.
It's just another reminder that fall is in full swing, and winter isn't far off.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Raise the bar

I tagged along with the volunteers setting up the Festival of Lights in Hermiston. They expertly raised this arch, which sits at the opening of the many arches making a light tunnel on the fairgrounds. Everyone cooperated well, kept tension on the right cords, and the arch went up without a hitch.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Soft

Not a lot to say about this one. It's another photo from my walk along the river walk on Monday.
I haven't had a lot of time to go out and take photos with only an hour of sunlight after I get home from work. I'm often busy for that hour with other tasks. I'm dreading the end of daylight savings time, which will mean almost no sunshine at the end of the workday.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Red and yellow


Here are a few more photos from my fall afternoon walk. These were taken along the Pendleton River Parkway. I took the walk near sunset, when I knew the light would be great.
By the way, I love fall colors.


Fall


I went on a stroll yesterday and took some fall photos. With these I experimented with light and focus. I'm just getting familiar with the new camera and this was the first real try at taking photos with it. It was fun and I'll likely have a few more photos from my little excursion.


Monday, October 18, 2010

New camera


I am excited, and a little nervous, to announce I have a new camera. My wonderful husband ordered me an early birthday present. In honor of the occasion, I have this self portrait. Yes, it was taken in the bathroom. Yes, all the lettering is backwards because I used the bathroom mirror. Yes, that is a shower curtain behind me. Hey, it's the only mirror in the house with good light.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The wine-to-be

This is another photo from my winery visit last Friday. Winemaker Ashley Trout is taking notes on a sample of wine-to-be. Inside this big white bin was two-and-a-half tons of grapes just starting their fermenting process.
This photo wasn't the most exciting, that's why it didn't run with Saturday's story. But I like focusing on the sample up close, with Trout doing her work in the background.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Bounty

I had the privilege of visiting a Milton-Freewater area winery on Friday. Just before I left, the sun came out of the clouds and shone across the vineyard. It was a great chance to catch it lighting up the grapes nestled in the leaves.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

How to throw an atlatl

These are three photos of Tracker Denny, an 11-year-old boy with a talent for throwing an atlatl.

An atlatl is a weapon predating the bow and arrow, used by American Indians in this area. On Saturday, Tamastslikt Cultural Institute had an Archeology Celebration, giving visitors like Tracker and his family a chance to try using tools their ancestors used.

As archeologist/anthropologist Tom Bailor explained it to me, an atlatl works like those plastic extenders people use to throw tennis balls for dogs. But this throws spears. These three photos give a good impression of how it works — a key being the second photo with the point of release shown.

I didn't use these photos in the paper because the quality isn't the best, and, as always, there's limited space.



















Monday, October 4, 2010

Barbed wire

When I was in Lowden for the Frenchtown Rendezvous on Saturday, the sunset cut a beautiful golden swath through sprinklers in a neighboring field. I took this photo peering through the fence to that field.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Flock of seagulls

It's a bit hard to see unless you enlarge the photo by clicking on it, but there were many, many seagulls flying above the waters of the San Juan beaches last weekend. This is likely a regular occurrence, but I found it surprising how many flapped together across the skies.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

San Juan sparkles

I visited my grandmother in the San Juan Islands last weekend. I tried to get some neat shots of the water, without much success. But I did like the way the sunshine sparkled on the stones in this photo. We were fortunate to have a wonderfully sunny afternoon before the usual cloudy, rainy weather set in for the rest of the weekend.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Let 'er Buck

So here are my photos from Round-Up. I was so busy writing all week, I didn't have time to take any photos until Friday and Saturday. But here they are, the few images I was able to capture from the centennial rodeo.
This is one of the snub saddle bronc competition on Saturday. He was the only cowboy who held on for more than a few seconds, long enough for me to get a good photo. It was still a fun event, at least from my seat in the stands.

Tiny Dancer

This little guy was absolutely fixated on the dancers during the competition. He was amazingly decked out in his own regalia. And rather than playing with his feathers, he watched, entranced, at something he will likely get to do himself one day.

Move to the beat



Before I went to the rodeo Saturday I watched the American Indian dance competition in Roy Raley Park. I never cease to be impressed by the colors, the beadwork, the intricacy of the regalia. It's also exciting to hear the singing, drumming and dancing.

Generations of pride

These are photos from the Westward Ho! Parade on Friday. While many of the kids in the parade looked a bit tuckered out (I wouldn't blame them, having to walk miles in moccasins in the rain) but many of the adults looked exceptionally proud to represent their people in the parade.
Here are a few of those proud adults, and one baby, from the parade.





Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Whoo-whoo!

We stood near this little fella during most of the Westward Ho! Parade on Friday. He was so excited, he kept shouting "whoo-whoo!" at every one who passed. This got on some other parade watcher's nerves, but thought it was cute.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Getting ready for the show

Though Round-Up week has officially started, things seem to be just getting underway. Vendors are popping up by the rodeo grounds, RVs are rolling into any open space available, and the Main Street Cowboys are closing off Main Street for the "greatest free show in the west."
This is a photo from a Round-Up Monday a few years ago. I spent the day with the Main Street Cowboys as they worked tirelessly from the break of dawn, getting their show on the road.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Bringing back Frenchtown

Yesterday I attended the groundbreaking for the Frenchtown historic site. It's being built at one of the only parts of Frenchtown still standing: a cemetery marker for the St. Rose of Lima Church.
This photo is of the waiting grader, sitting in the field of bunchgrass that was once a cemetery. In the background, the cemetery's white maker stands tall.
When the development is finished, an overlook and interpretive signs will sit along with that lone monument.
A story about the groundbreaking appears in today's East Oregonian.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Bzzzzz

I caught several bees in action during my Sunflower photo shoot Saturday. I like the mix of focuses on this one. I apologize for the power lines in the background, they were hard to avoid.