Wheat sunset

This is yet another photo of my wheat shoot a week or so ago. I hesitated to post this one because it reminded me of other wheat shots we've had in our paper by other photographers. But with a lack of photo opportunities this week, I felt guilty not posting anything for a few days.

I did adjust the color on this one - increasing the black level to make the wheat more silhouetted. I do like the way the sun shone over one of the wheat stalks.

Fun on parade

This is another photo from the Athena Caledonian Games parade.

This woman was tossing out candy from the Athena Christian Church float. She was having such a great time doing it. She was all smiles and waves to everyone she knew on Main Street.

Small town excitement

This is from Athena's Caledonian Games parade. I love that everyone, even the dog, is looking up the street to see what's coming next.

Dog days of summer

I took this photo at the Pioneer Humane Society a few weeks ago. We were getting photos of the pups up for adoption. This dog looked far too happy to be ownerless, so I used a more sad-looking dog for the photo.

Given that temperatures are nearing the century mark, this puppy's lolling tongue seemed appropriate. I love summer, but sometimes it's tough to stand the heat.

As American as ...

I got to do a fun story about soap box derby kids who will be racing this weekend. This is a secondary photo that didn't make it into the paper. Here Charles Jordan, right, helps his 11-year-old daughter, Charley, put her car together.

I particularly liked this photo because it showed them working on the car, but also had the American flag waving the the background. To me, soap box derby is a classic scene of Americana — like apple pie and baseball.

Distancing

This is another wheat shot from last week. I like the distancing in this one -- the way the wheat in the middle ground is in focus and the background and foreground is out of focus. Admittedly, this was just a lucky shot. I took one looking toward that grain elevator and was very happy to see how it turned out.

All about the details

Here is a nice detail shot I took at Logs to Frogs. Even this close-in look had lots of sawdust!

I asked one carver, "what's with all the bears?" He said bears sell well. They're a fad that most people like. While he could carve lots of creative things -- "dragons and fairies" were his examples -- they wouldn't sell.

Let the sawdust fly

I went to Logs to Frogs in Milton-Freewater this weekend and took about 300 pictures turing the quick carve. I ended up featuring one carver, so I couldn't use many of the photos I took of the other men.

In the quick carve they had to make something in an hour and fifteen minutes. For some that meant concentrating on a few objects they knew they could do well. For others it meant committing to one design and going with it.

When they first started it was all gung-ho.

I had a lot of fun with the fast-action mode on my camera, which caught all the flying sawdust. Here are two of the more spectacular shots.

Wheat wonderful wheat

Either side of Highway 11 is covered with golden blankets of wheat this time of year.

I drive up and down the roadway so much, I've seen the wheat start as little stubble, grow to golden stalks and lighten to amber waves.

I took a time out on my way back from Milton-Freewater last night to get some close-up shots of the plant in the evening light. Little lady bugs held on tight to some plants, like the one above. I also tried to get a sense of place, capturing the Blue Mountains in the near distance (right).

The chase is on

This was from Athena's Caledonian Games. I watched some of the novice sheep dogs Saturday morning. This proved for more difficult photos, since these dogs were still learning their craft. Many of my other photos the sheep are going the opposite way from the dog, or the dog is far off at the edge of the frame.

Mountain scape

On my day off this week I went to the Wallowa Mountains. I took a trip up a relatively short hike - four miles each way - to Maxwell Lake.

I was surprised, even though it's July there was still lots of snow and ice on the lake. But it was a beautiful way to get away from the heat of the flatlands.

Keeping the tradition alive

I got to witness tribal fisherman wade into the cold Walla Walla waters Thursday morning. They were giving an example of traditional gaff hook fishing for Gov. Chris Gregoire. One of the fisherman called it "feeling for fish" rather than "fishing." It's just another example of how traditions are different on the reservation.

A story about the governor's visit is in today's edition of the EO.