bimjoriginal photography

first snow

2012-01-18T08:06:00.000-08:00

Woke this morning to the first snow of the year. It's still coming down actually. Forecast is for 4-6", but if it doesn't slow down it's going to be more than that.

I opened the blinds in the office to see what the conditions were @ 0630. It was snowing very lightly and we had about 2" accumulated at that time. Since I have the NEX-5N and it has this really neat feature called Hand Held Twilight (HHT) I figured I'd give it a try.

HHT takes 6 frames and combines them into one shot. This allows for hand held shots at faster shutter speeds than would normally be possible. Basically it's like doing an in camera multiple exposure that generates a jpg file. That's the only drawback- no can do in RAW. The results are pretty amazing though, and it will come in very handy for those times when I don't have a tripod with me.

The following shots will show you the out-of-camera (OOC) jpg that HHT generated, followed by the shot opened in PS and tweaked for levels and to reduce the vignette effect. All shots were shot hand held at waist level using the LCD to frame the shot. All shots @ ISO 6400 and shutter speeds between 1/15 and 1/25 second.

Oh yeah, it was pretty damn dark @ 0630, in case you were wondering. I know some folks never see that time of the morning short of a natural disaster. ;)

As usual, clickee piccie for larger view.

OOC

Tweaked

OOC

Tweaked

OOC

Tweaked

OOC

Tweaked

frosted leaves

2011-12-21T12:11:00.001-08:00

This morning was the first time that we've seen the sun for over a week. It was cold enough last might to form frost, which lasted until the sun came up. Except where the shadows still existed.

As usual, clickee piccy for larger view.

more xmas decorations

2011-12-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

More Christmas decorations. Some felt tea light figures that my wife made and a table runner layout. Then I got arty. I just can't help myself. I need a support group or something.

As usual, clickee piccy for larger view.

Tea light snowman.

And an angel.

Gingerbread!

Snowman again.

teapot dome

2011-12-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

Teapot Dome. The service station, not the scandal. Located just outside Zillah, WA, the station was created by Jack Ainsworth in 1922 as a commentary on the Teapot Dome oil scandal.

When Interstate 82 was started, the station was relocated approximately 1 mile to its present site. The City of Zillah purchased the building from the private owners in an attempt to preserve the structure. Teapot Dome Service Station was placed on the National Historical Register and was listed on the "Most Endangered List" in 2007.

The first clue to what awaits is this sign, viewable from the highway.

Wow! $1.79?? This looks promising!

There it is, gas pumps at the ready.

A little closer view of the building.

Well, the pump prices match the sign, what could go wrong?

At the pumps, ready to gets me some cheap gas.

Hmmmm… pump no works. Doesn't appear to be anybody home. Maybe check inside. Uhoh!

Too bad, they have all the right stuff advertised.

Maybe they're just remodeling. The meter is running.

I wonder if that's the original paint?

Ah, well, no joy on the cheap gas. After a last look at the teasing pumps & sign I head for home.

there's a submarine in my parking lot

2011-11-29T18:08:00.001-08:00

Ok, not a whole submarine, just the sail.

It's the sail from the USS Triton, the first submarine to circumnavigate the globe underwater (1960), following Magellans historic route. ( 1519-22).

The sail now resides in Richland, WA at a site prepared specifically as a monument, dedicated on November 10, 2011.

All shots with the NEX-5N & either the 16mm prime or the 18-55mm kit zoom.

16mm

16mm

18-55. Notice the perspective difference? All the following shots are with the 18-55.

And this last shot because my car is a photo hog and it provides a bit of scale.

clover island

2011-11-27T18:18:00.000-08:00

Clover Island is a marina/retail area located on the Columbia River in Kennewick, WA. The island has been upgraded greatly in the last several years, with the latest addition being a lighthouse.

I was there this morning and took a couple of shots. Most were with an old manual focus Vivitar 24mm f/2.8 lens. The long shots of the lighthouse were taken with the Sony SEL 55-210. Strangely I bought the Vivitar to use with my Contax RTS film camera and never took a shot with it. About the same time I bought a Nikon 4500 digital camera and the film stuff has been languishing in the closet ever since. I really need to drag it all out and get rid of it.

Anyway, these are the last pics from the NEX-5N until it returns from the repair facility.

Artist info.

Those most guilty of the upgrade plan. ;)

new camera

2011-11-26T20:22:00.000-08:00

So, I sold a bunch of Pentax mount lenses that I wasn't using very often and used the proceeds to buy a new camera. I got a Sony NEX-5N with 3 lenses- the 16mm/2.8, the 18-55/3.5-5.6 and the 55-210/4.5-6.3. I was loooking for something that was lighter than the Pentax K20 and lenses that would have equal/near equal image quality. I certainly got that. Way light with excellant image quality.

It did take a bit to get used to shooting with a LCD screen again after using a DSLR for eight years. I have the external EVF on order because there are those times when the LCD just doesn't work too well. Namely for portrait orientated shots, which I tend to do a lot of. It's supposed to make manual focus even easier than the LCD, and with focus peaking and magnification it isn't that hard with the LCD.

Oh yeah, manual focus. This camera can be adapted to almost any 35mm format lens ever created.Very cool. I can use my Pentax lenses on it. In fact, the ornament pics below were shot with a Tamron 28-75mm/2.8 Pentax mount lens on an adapter.

Here's some initial shots as I get a feel for the gear.

More later, after the camera gets back from being serviced. Unfortunately it suffers from the dreaded "video clicking noise" which Sony fixes for free, so the camera goes in on Monday.

Tacoma Museum of Glass

2010-10-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

We visited this cool place last fall while I was between hospital stays. It's much more enjoyable on your own two feet than from a wheelchair, but that may just be me. :)

Doing something a little bit different this post. I've included a Google Earth map of the Museum of Glass area annotated with photo locations. First up is the map. As usual, clicky piccy for larger view (which are also larger than usual as well). Most of these shots are with the Pentax DA 10-17mm fisheye lens, because… I was in a fishy mood. ;)

Shot 1. Okay, this first shot is from the entrance side (east) of the museum. The water towers in shot 2 are on the far left and the fountain in shot 3 is on the far right.

Shot 2. These small towers are filled with water, some clear on top, others clear on the bottom. Occasionally they burp and you can see the bubble traverse to the top, but it's hard to see with the fisheye perspective.

Shot 3 & 4. A couple of shots of some glass fountains, though the water is off. Not sure if they ever turn it on or not. On both my visits they've been off.

Shot 5. This is a view from the wheel chair ramp of the pool/fountains in the last shots. For those of you who can do stairs, they're on the opposite end, behind the water towers in shot 2.

Shot 6. This is the roof over the elevator that opens in the museum (there's another that opens outside). As you can see from the map, this is actually a right triangle, but the fisheye does strange and wondrous things to object you shoot with it. This also serves as the east entrance of the Bridge of Glass, designed by Dale Chihuly, a Tacoma native. One of my favorite shots of the day.

Shot 7. The Venetian Wall (or most of it). It's 80 feet long and the back side faces south, so it catches sunlight all day long.

Shot 8. The glass towers, located in the middle of the bridge.

Shot 9. Last of the exterior shots. The Seaform Gallery. It's 20x50 feet and it hangs over your head like the coolest ceiling you've ever seen.

Shot 10. Moving inside for these. No pics allowed in the galleries of gift shop, but you can snap all you want in the hot shop, where the artist blow/form glass. Inside the hot shop, looking up.

The rest of these shots are rather blurry because it's not particularly bright in the hot shop and I wanted to convey the motion involved in forming the glass. Ok, I messed up the ISO setting & the shutter speeds are too low, but it sounds better if I done it on purpose, ya know?

Shot 11. Forming a vase using a wet newspaper pad and a little lung power.

Shot 12. Melting small bits of colored glass into the body of the vase.

Shot 13. After placing the vase into a wooden mold it is spun while air is blown into the vase to make it fill the form of the mold. In this shot the artist is holding the air in the vase with his thumb as the vase cools enough to remove from the mold.

After being removed from the mold, the vase is parted off the blow tube and placed in an annealing oven for 24 hours where it slowly cools to room temperature so it does crack from thermal shock.

This trip it was easier to see what was going on. Last rip they were making stem ware (wine glasses) and it was hard to see any details, and there was no blowing work involved. It's always a crap shoot to see what's going on in the hot shop, but it's always interesting.

I hope you enjoyed my little tour. :)

morning skies

2010-07-31T06:57:00.000-07:00

So, we've had some thunderbumpers rolling through the last couple of days. Pretty normal for this time of year, though they're a bit later than normal.

This is the scene that greeted me as I pulled into the parking lot at work yesterday (Friday). For once I actually had the camera in the car.

This morning (Saturday) I shot this one off the front porch. The rays are much more subtle, but they have a bit of color to them, which makes them stand out a bit.

Then I put the fisheye on and shot these.

All the fisheye shots were taken with the camera pointed straight (or as nearly as I could get hand-held) up. I really don't know why I waited so long to buy this lens.

ancient grafitti... a.k.a. petroglyphs

2010-05-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

The same weekend I took the shots from the hotel balcony I took these at the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park near Vantage, WA. I skipped all the petrified wood this trip as I was more interested in the petroglyphs. I'll go back and shoot the wood at a later date.

The sign explaining how the glyphs came to be at their present location.

The various glyphs.

This is just a sampling of what's there. I'll take a longer lens next time and try to capture the individual glyphs.

Wee Beastie @ Ice Harbor Dam

2010-05-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

Took the Mini (Wee Beastie- Beast for short) out to Ice Harbor Dam last weekend to take some pics. In all the times I've been there I'd never gone up to the overlook upstream of the dam. My bad. It's worth going to see the petroglyphs on the big boulder.

Beast looking at the monument from the parking spot.

I once had a photo-hog motorcycle. It couldn't hold a candle to the Beast. Sneaky bastard is in almost every shot. Only ones it missed is where it couldn't jump the curb in the parking lot.

See what I mean?

I figured if I just featured it in one it'd stay out of the rest. Like that had any chance of working.

Wide shot of the monument. And the Beast.

The curb in play. This Corps of Engineers emblem is embedded in the sidewalk going between the walls. My arms aren't long enough for this shot to work at 10mm. I even got my feets in there.

The entire monument. There is a plaque on each of the tall sections of the wall.

The plaque on the right side of the last pic.

And on the left.

The petroglyphs. This boulder was moved to its present location when the dam was built. It was on the original riverbank and would have been submerged by the lake behind the dam.

The upstream side of the dam. The curb is in play again.

View of the down stream side of the dam from the back seat of the Beast.

Shots of the spillways. And... yep, the Beast.

I give up. Here's a shot of the Beast w/the fish ladder in the background on the right.

The force is strong with this one. It bends objects to its will. Now you know why it's so hard to get a shot with no Beast in it.

The sticker on the left could explain things. At least why it's called "Wee Beastie."

view from the balcony

2010-05-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

We went up to the Cave B Inn at Sagecliffe. The "e" is an indicator of room pricing. These are taken from the balcony of our room. The place is very out-of-the-way, so it's very quiet and serene. The scenery is stark, though beautiful. You either love it, or hate it- there is no middle ground.

As usual, clicking the pics will get you a slightly larger version.

Earf M not flat. Earf R round... C?

Though expensive, the hotel is a worthy stay for those who don't need to be constantly stimulated by artificial means. There are TVs in the rooms, and internet service is available, but that's pretty much it. They do rent bicycles though, and hiking is encouraged. The site dog Couvey (Koo Vay) is an available (and willing) guide, and has been known to spend the night in a guest room from time to time.

I'm still sorting through pics, so there may be more added later.

lilacs

2010-04-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

The lavender lilacs are blooming hard this year. The white ones are struggling again. No idea why, though the weather has been a little strange so far. I have daffodils that never opened up too.

As usual, clicking the pics will get you a slightly larger version.

The blooms are particularly fragrant this year. Too bad they haven't invented "smell-o-web" yet.

The bees are absolutely swarming the lilacs this year for some reason. Hardly saw any last year, this year it's hard to get in the truck without including a few. They're small. They're fast. They're hard to shoot. Sometimes you get lucky.

butts, buds & blooms

2010-03-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

For some reason I have this strange compulsion to shoot the back side of flowers. I figure everybody shoots the front, why not give the back equal time? Weird? Yeah, but there ya go.

As usual, clicking the pics will get you a slightly larger version.

The old and the new. Last fall's leaves trapped in the grass and the new daffodil blooms.

Different bloom without the heavy leaf action.

Buds. These remind me a a snake shedding its' skin.

Buds again. They still remind me a a snake shedding its' skin.

Front side.

Togetherness.

Posing pretty.

wichita lineman

2010-03-10T19:47:00.000-08:00

Ok, it isn't Wichita, but they are linemen. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) maintains a training facility next to where I work. Sometimes they come out to play & sometimes I have my camera with me. These were taken on two different days. Helo work involved both days. Shots taken with the Tamron 18-250.

As usual, clicking the pics will get you a slightly larger version.

The first day they were playing in the basket that traverses the high tension wires. Dropping the basket off.

Basket's off the line.

Might be safer in the basket.

The wider (taller) view.

"And we were swingin'"...

That last shot was taken today as they practiced emergency rescues. Looked like fun. If only I were 20 years younger...

it's a gas man!

2010-03-05T07:59:00.000-08:00

Well, it used to be a gas conversion plant. Made gas from coal in the early part of the 20th century for Seattle, WA. Closed in the '50's, bought by the city and turned into a park in the early '60's. Kind of a neat place. They built a kite flying mound with a sundial where you are the... whatchacallit? The blade that casts the shadow. Didn't get a decent pic of it this trip though. Maybe next time.

As usual, clicking the pics will get you a slightly larger version.

Upon entering the park at the northwest corner you are greeted by this finely decorated fire hydrant.

A view of the remaining part of the plant from the kite flying mound.

And a wider view of same.

Shot from about half way up the hill.

Part of the seawall at the south end of the park. And the sign sez: "Do not enter the water. Do not launch or land boats. No swimming. No fishing. No wading. The lake sediment contains hazardous substances." As in like the byproducts of reducing coal to gas.

And the flip side of the sign.

And a shot down the seawall.

Part of one of the stacks, taken from the seawall area. Artfully framed by the tree I might add!

Same end of the plant, taken from the hill between the plant and the seawall.

A close up shot of the pipes/stairs/rails etc. Oh, and the Magic Graffiti, which appears even though there's a 10 foot high chain link fence around this and prominent "No Trespassing" signs. Has to be magic, right? Surely no one would break the law to deface city property!

Couple of big stack blowers.

And a place to rest your seat. Or "the agony of defeet!" Or something. Thoughtfully provided by Mr. & Mrs. Lee. This is in front of a bench on the south side (facing the lake) of the hill.

And upon exiting the park the same way you came in you are presented with this inadvertent modern art sculpture created by slicing a hole in the wall for a foot path. No idea why the wall is shaped like that. Looked kinda cool though, so I shot it.

I only spent about an hour in the park. Had Momma with me & I always feel guilty making her wait while I shoot 100 pics. Next time I'll go by myself so I can hang out longer. And on a sunny day. The light was perfect for shooting flowers, but it totally sucked for shooting anything else as you may have noticed. I'll also get a shot of one of the many sea planes that uses Lake Union as a runway.

There's also a children's play area in one of the buildings where they painted the machinery bright colors and let the kids clamber over it. Probably great fun, have to wait til next time. Oh, BTW- if you go visit wear old shoes. There's goose crap everywhere.

welcome to the world

2010-01-28T18:10:00.000-08:00

We had a new addition to the family today. Travis James Parsons Jr. came into the world at 11:36AM. Welcome aboard sport.

Big sister Lydia sez "what's that?"

"My new brother?"

"Are you sure?"

"Really?"

"I don't think so!"

"I'm gonna have to ponder this..."

Grandma & TJ

"My first closeup"

"Kiss him?"

"I think not!"

And the eyes come open

"Ok guys, that's enough social interaction for one day. I need to take a nap."

burning cloud

2009-08-08T09:04:00.001-07:00

I was looking out the window early this morning and what did I see? A cloud on fire! Imagine!

It started with a spark from this transformer.

And then it just got bigger...

And bigger...

And even bigger...

Until it burned up almost the whole cloud!

And that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Then again, it mighta just been the sun coming up.

misc. flowers

2009-07-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

These are from my son's yard. They are less about the flowers themselves than they are about the Pentax 18-250mm lens that I rented for the trip to Quincy. Interesting lens. On the plus side the huge range is very handy. On the minus side any time you tilt the camera up or down the lens will extend or retract on its own. Most annoying. There is a lens lock that will keep that from happening, but it only works at the shortest focal length. A lock that worked no matter where the lens is in the zoom range would be nice.

While the lens works pretty well in bright light it struggles in shadows. I had to use +1 to +1.5 ev to correct the exposure. This seems to be common for any shot that doesn't have the sun directly behind you. Strangely, used indoors it seemed to expose much closer to neutral. I haven't figured out how I feel about the bokeh yet.

Overall the lens performs pretty well. I'd buy one used if I could find a good deal on one, but I wouldn't pay full street retail for one. Maybe more than a week with it is necessary to get a real feel for what the lens will do. Anyway, here's the pics.

Orange lily

Something purple

Another something purple

Yellow & orange. Burnt orange almost.

White lily

Daisy and a fly

Oh, I forgot to mention that these are a mix of hand-held and tripod shots. They were pretty universally soft, but responded very well to sharpening as you can see.

laying of the wreath

2009-07-19T05:57:00.000-07:00

Every year on the birthdays of John and John Quincy Adams the US Navy places a wreath on their tombs. John Quincy's birthday happens to be July 11th and this year the ceremony was conducted on Friday the 10th. The Naval Reserve unit in Quincy does the ceremony for John Quincy, the crew of the USS Constitution does the ceremony for John.

If you're a history buff at all and you're in Quincy on October 30th, go to the Church of the Presidents and shoot some pics. I can't be there, I'll be 3000 miles away and will have to live vicariously through your pics.

Oh yeah, post here and let me know where online you posted the pics so I can see them.

Michael Cook, President, United First Parish Church exits between the Navy Honor Guard.

Enter the wreath

Post the colors

Lieutenant Commander Orlowski is a very photogenic guy

Retire the colors

The wreath at rest

My son got more (and better) pics and you can see them here.

tall ships

2009-07-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

I went down to Boston Harbor with my wife and my son to view and shoot the tall ships while they were in port. Unfortunately I'm relatively unstable on dry land and in-camera shake reduction helps, but not much. Putting me on the deck of a moving boat makes taking clean pics problematic at best.

So, with tall ships you'd expect tall masts, right? Right.

US Coast Guard cutter Eagle. The USS Constitution is behind the Eagle and was undergoing a rigging rehab. In the far background is the Bunker Hill Monument.

The old amongst the new. Sandwiched between two modern pleasure yachts is the tall ship Europa.

This ship was absolutely immaculate. A real beauty. Makes me want to reenlist. NOT!

And finally, because I have a short attention span- The Old North Church steeple as viewed from the middle of Boston Harbor.

For more (and better) pics see alohadave's blog. What can I say, he's younger & better than me.

Boston aquarium

2009-07-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

As a side trip we went to the aquarium at Boston Harbor. Creatures strange and wonderful abound.

Church of the Presidents

2009-07-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

As a part of our day spent with the Adams family we also toured the church where the remains of John, Abigail, John Quincy and Louisa Catherine are interred. The church, known as the Church of the Presidents, is actually called the United First Parish Church (Unitarian).

The tour costs $4 and is worth every penny. The tour guides are most accommodating and knowledgeable. They encouraged us to take as many pictures inside the church as we wanted, going so far as to suggest that we mount the pulpit for pics. The interior of the church has a very interesting architectural feature. The ceiling appears to be quite arched when you stand under it. When you move to a corner of the interior it is apparent that the huge arch is much flatter than it appears. A nice optical illusion.

When viewed through the viewfinder while shooting directly under the center of the ceiling you can "see" the curve. Strangely the ceiling appears nearly flat in the pics. This feature alone is worth the cost of admission.

Starting with a view of the church taken from across the street, the pics move inside the church, ending with the plaques placed on the wall outside the crypt. If you find yourself in Quincy with a couple of hours to spare the tours are well worth the minimal cost and time they require. Highly recommended!

Abigail's cairn

2009-07-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

During the battle of Bunker Hill and the subsequent shelling of Charlestown Abigail and John Quincy Adams stood of the out cropping of rock to watch the smoke of the battle. The cairn was built by the Daughters of the American Revolution and originally contained a "time capsule" which was found during repairs to the cairn.

Unfortunately, the houses and trees prevent actually viewing the area of interest, but the gentleman living across the street from the cairn was most helpful in pointing out the proper direction one would have looked.

the Adams family

2009-07-08T04:36:00.000-07:00

We are visiting our family in Quincy, MA. Since this is coincidentally the stomping grounds of John and John Quincy Adams we decided to take a tour of the Adams family homes. It's a nice little tour starting at the Visitor Center and ending at "Peacefield", where four generations of the family lived.

The Park Service moves you between sites on a trolley for the princely sum of $5. Save your pennies.

First a statue of our main subject, John Adams.

Next, Abigail and young John Quincy.

The house John was born in. The house was never painted and this is the original siding.

Another view of the house from near the stone fence (original) between the houses, which sit only 75 feet apart.

Our tour guide informing us "no photography inside the homes" and some history of the houses.

The house John Quincy was born in.

On this end of the home John ran his law practice. The window on the left is where his law clerks worked, the window on the right is John's office. The door was added after the home was purchased to allow clients to access the office without disturbing (or being disturbed by) the family.

Next stop is "Peacefield" the property John and Abigail purchased after returning for Europe.

And a wider view.

The property also includes the "Stone Library" which John directed John Quincy to build of local stone to protect the books from fire. Sorry no pics allowed inside here either, though it would make a stunning pic.

Neither John nor John Quincy would live to see the library completed. And thus ends the tour of the Adams homes. Next up- Abigail's Cairn, which is not part of the tour, but is close by the two original homes.

welcome

2009-07-07T18:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog. I've decided that I need a place to post multiple pics of photo shoots and this is how I decided to do it.

Posts will vary in size and frequency. It may be weeks between them, so check back occasionally.

I hope you find something that you like from time-to-time that makes you want to return.