Clouds at Home

It was a lovely day out, I was sitting in my usual spot so I could watch for cars coming while the kids were riding bikes. I looked up and the clouds were looking really cool. Once again, I took the photo with my Droid and it came out ok, but rather blah. So I punched it up in Lightroom giving it a little fake HDR treatment - or should I just say I tone mapped it? Either way, I like the end result! :)

McMenamins Rock Creek Chimney

It was a beautiful day so we went to one of our favorite places, McMenamins Rock Creek Pub and sat outside. This used to be an old barn that they renovated, then it burnt down and when they rebuilt it, they bought wood from old barns to give that old look. Just a great place! I looked over and saw this cool chimney. I didn't have my camera with me, just my Droid cell phone which has a 5 megapixel camera. Well, for a 5mp camera, it sure takes crappy photos! Videos turn out great, but photos suck. Oh well, when I took it I was thinking it would make a great fake HDR photo. Dropped it into Lightroom and played around. I'm pretty darn happy with how it turned out! :)

Azalea on Earth Day

I love how this azalea looks when it blooms, so bright, so full. As I was crouching down to get a different angle, I noticed how neat this looked against the green lawn. So I took the picture. :)

Riley on his Razor

This trike is made by the same people who make those Razor Scooters. What's cool about this is the back wheels can turn so he can do all kinds of cool spins on this. He really has a blast riding it, going between this, his bike, his Razor scooter, his skateboard, and now his new inline skates.

Maddie Riding her Bike

It was a beautiful day and the kids were outside as usual enjoying their bikes. We got Maddie a new bike awhile back and she really loves riding it!

Earth Day 2010

This past week was really crazy, and I failed big time on posting photos. To make up for it, I am posting several photos I took for Earth Day from around my house. And I have some photos ready to go for the next couple days. :)

Monster Truck Iron Man

ARGH! I got busy yesterday and didn't get time to post a photo! I'm getting lazy. :(

Here's another photo from when Maddie and I went to the Monster Trucks earlier this year. This is Iron Man jumping over the big hill. He didn't do as much as I wanted because it was the coolest looking Monster Truck I've ever seen.

Spring in Bloom

Got this at the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. I liked how it is framed with the tree's yet to wake up from their winter sleep.

Larry, Curly & Moe

Three Cormorants sitting on a log. All I could think of was Larry, Curly & Moe. LOL!

Beach Sunset

AND another beach photo. Yes, I like taking photos there, so many cool opportunities, especially at sunset. For this one it was a little dark and I decided to do a 4 second exposure just to see what it would look like. Turned out pretty darn good, especially if you compare it with this photo taken right after with no long exposure. While the longer exposure did lighten it up, I just really liked the overall colors in this version.

Playing on the Beach at Sunset

Another photo from one of our Neskowin beach trips. Here Marci and Maddie are enjoying playing by the waves as the sun is setting. This is one of my early photos when I started playing more with framing and composition rather than just pointing and shooting.

Old Tree Stump

I saw this old tree stump while hiking the other day and thought it would be fun to play with in Lightroom. It was and I like how it turned out!

Puffy Clouds

Riley's friend had a birthday party at this cool wooded area by us. While walking the trails I looked up and saw these cool, puffy clouds.

Live Long and Dachshund

My mother-in-law has a very cute Dachshund that she just loves. Each year we've gone to Reno we've found these very cool figures and have bought one for her. They crack us up!

Maddie's Peaceful Shoes

Recently Maddie got these neat shoes that she LOVES to wear everywhere, going to dinner, to the store, riding her bike, playing in the dirt, everywhere! We have to keep reminding her when it's ok to wear these. Easter was DEFINITELY an ok time. :)

Snow White

My Aunt Joan loves Disney characters and has these cool statues in her back yard. Here Snow White is enjoying the spring rain and kids running around finding Easter eggs.

Maddie and Me

While eating Easter dinner, Maddie saw me taking photo's and wanted me to take one of the two of us. I pulled her close and held the camera way out in front not knowing exactly where I was pointing the camera. I guess I'm getting better at pointing it without looking through it because I really like how this one turned out!

Red Rhododendron

A nice red Rhody at the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. It's a little bright for me, I should bring that down a bit in Lightroom. Still, I thought it looked good. :)

Thanks for the Peanut

After I gave this squirrel a peanut, he ran up in the tree and started eating it. I tried to get a picture, had the camera on full digital zoom, which makes it a little blurry, and it had a hard time focusing on the squirrel instead of other stuff. That was a bummer because I thought this is a neat photo with him looking at me. :)