Gold

It's starting......

The leaves here are just beginning their annual fall change.  I went for a short autumn color reconnaissance hike on Friday.  Although the main show in the Gorge is still a few weeks away, I did find a few nice golden leaves brightening up the forest.

Trying to get back in the swing of the 52 Photos Project, I noticed the week's meme is Gold.  This lovely little leaf, backlit by the sun became a perfect subject. 

I'm looking forward to prowling the mountains and Gorge and capturing more wonderful fall hues yet to come.  Stay tuned!

In the meantime, check out the 52 Photos Project for more gorgeous autumn scenes.

Street Art

Bet you never thought of asphalt pavement as an artist's canvas.  But....this week's challenge for the 52 Photos Project is to capture some type of street art.

I was very excited when I saw this meme.  I had just the photo!

Both my kids played instruments in their high school band.  Every spring, one of the band's highlights was marching in the Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade (similar to Pasadena's Tournament of Roses parade on a slightly smaller scale).  My husband and I would always watch our kids perform - sometimes sitting along the parade route, and other times by volunteering to march along with the kids, providing water for thirsty musicians.

I always loved helping out.  It was great fun to walk with the band and hear the crowd's cheers.  Of course, this also provided some wonderful photo ops. You can be sure my camera was never left at home.

Since the streets were closed many hours prior to the parade's start, it was a tradition for children of all ages to take sidewalk chalk to the pavement and produce blocks of colorful creations.  I captured this image as the band marched across some very vibrant artwork.  It's remained one of my very favorite photos from our marching band days.

To see more pavement creativity, check out this week's 52 Photos Project.

Tangerine Dreams

I was working on yet another skiing post, when I saw this week's 52 Photos Project meme - "tangerine."  With all the flowering plants popping out here in Portland, I thought this would be an easy assignment.  The skiing post got put on hold in favor of finding a suitable photographic subject.

Well......easier said than done!  My yard is a mass of green budding leaves, pink rhododendrons, and frilly white pear blossoms.  But nothing, no nothing, came close to matching that lovely peachy-orange hue.  Fail?

Then I remembered the tulips in a vase on my table.  I'd purchased a bouquet for my Easter dinner centerpiece.  Still in good shape, there happened to be two tangerine-y colored tulips to choose from.  After much hovering, and at least a zillion shots, I produced this winner.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.


Check out more fabulous tangerine images at the: 52 Photos Project.

Also sharing with Weekly Top Shot.

Fade to Black (and White)

I love black and white photos.  There's something about the stark simplicity of monochrome that intrigues me.  Details that would get lost in the whirl of color take center stage. 

But often the bright hues of real life captured on my sensor can be distracting.  I get so caught up in color, I forget about converting my shots to B & W. 

Thankfully the 52 Photos Project chose "Black and White" as its meme for the week.  A perfect opportunity to view some of my favorite images in a new light.

Fog in the valleys, view from Mt Hood Meadows

I took this photo from high on the slopes of Mt. Hood Meadows.  Although the sky was perfectly clear, fog lingered in the mountain valleys.  Mt. Jefferson rose prominently on the horizon, with Broken Top Mountain visible behind.  The bent over, icy trees added to the wintry scene.  Meadows has a shot similar to this view hanging in one of their restrooms (which is where I got the idea).  And it's also in black and white!

Frosty leaves

I captured the above image this past Monday morning.  A heavy frost covered everything outside in a thick coating of white.  These leaves had tiny needles of frost clinging to their edges.  Very cool when converted to B & W!  Although I'd intended to post only one photo, I liked this one so well, it got included too.

Check out more impressive black and white images by visiting the 52 Photos Project Gallery 40.

Gingerbread Fun

This week's 52 Photos Project meme is "What's cooking?"  The challenge - capture something that's happening in your kitchen.

Well......my husband does most of the cooking.  And I haven't had time to do any Christmas baking.  So instead of sharing something from my kitchen, I thought I'd share some fun gingerbread creations from my after-Thanksgiving Bend trip.

Zip line gingerbread man

The Sunriver Lodge, south of Bend, hosts an annual display of gingerbread houses.  Anyone can enter a culinary creation.  There are entries from small children, all the way up to local businesses. 

The gingerbread adventure park

There was a couple dozen gingerbread "houses" on display.  One of my favorites was the gingerbread adventure park, complete with a licorice/candy cane zip line!

I took the fisherman's photo for my husband

The adventure park also featured a skier, kayaker, mountain biker, and this fisherman, casting for goldfish crackers.  So creative!

The brewpub was my favorite

But this entry was my favorite.  Bet you can't guess why!

To see more of what's happenin' in the kitchen, head on over to the 52 Photos Project website.

Also linking to This or That Thursday.

The Skies Above

It's been a few weeks.....but it's time to get back in the saddle with the 52 Photos Project.  This week's meme is The Skies Above.  When you look up in the sky, what do you see?

There's tons of sky photos stored on my hard drive.  The only hard part - finding them!  But when I came across this image, I knew it was the one.

This image was taken many years ago in my husband's hometown of Yankton, South Dakota.  One night at sunset, a thunderstorm rolled in over the Missouri River.  My sister-in-law and I happened to be walking along the riverbank and were lucky enough to witness the sky turning these fabulous colors.  And I was fortunate to have my camera with me.

For more creative shots of the sky check out the 52 Photos Project here.


Also Linking with:  Orange You Glad it's Friday.

Golden

Gallery 26 of the 52 Photos Project is up and awaiting your images!  This week's prompt is golden.

Hmmmm......golden.....I pondered my photographic options.  This time of year, there's lots of golden leaves flying around.  But that's just too obvious.  Then I remembered I'd recently earned something golden of my very own.

My lovely finisher's medal

In my haste to get out a post on my Portland Marathon experience, I'd neglected to include a photo of the finisher's medal.  In the many races I've run, this is hands-down the most beautiful medal of them all.  It's heavy-duty, with a lovely etching of a rose on the front (Portland is the "City of Roses"). 

Back view

The backside is even more special to me.  It has an accurate rendition of Mt. Hood (my favorite mountain) and Timberline Lodge.  There's nothing I love more than spending a day up on Hood, be it skiing or hiking.  And T-line Lodge is such a beautifully constructed building in a fantastic setting.  Because 2012 is the 75th anniversary of the opening of Timberline Lodge, I thought it wonderfully fitting to include this Oregon landmark on the reverse side.

Not only is this medal a lovely shade of gold - having it around my neck reminds me of my huge accomplishment.  I might not have been the fastest runner, but I did finish the entire 26.2 miles.  I'm as proud as an Olympic athlete. 

I too, am golden.

Orange

I originally wasn't going to participate in this week's 52 Photos Project.  The prompt this week was "orange."  Although I have many photos of orange things (I am an Oregon State fan after all!), the obvious seasonal orange thing (aka a pumpkin) I've already posted.  The fall colors here haven't quite kicked into full gear, so no great foliage pics yet.

I was gonna post a self-portrait of me from last year all decked out in orange for an OSU football game (go Beavs!).  But that photo isn't really artful or beautiful (and you see enough of my mug on this blog!).

Then I remembered my tiger lily images from a hike this past summer.  These lovely orange blooms are my favorite wildflower.  I especially liked the angle of this shot - a top view highlighting the artful curl of the petals.  I hope you enjoy it too.

More cool orange photos can be found here: 52 Photos Project  and also here:  Orange you Glad its Friday.

On The Street

This week's prompt for the 52 Photos Project is "On the Street."  I've missed a couple of weeks, but the current theme is right up my alley.  I'm a transportation engineer and street construction is my job.

 

 

 

This photo is from a project I worked on back in 2007.  We reconstructed the streets in the heart of downtown Portland to add light rail tracks. Of course, sometimes rebuilding the street also includes the sidewalk.  One pedestrian did not take kindly to our sidewalk detour.  This graffiti made me laugh and I had to memorialize it in a photograph.

 

The project has been complete now for three years, and I still smile when I see light rail trains traveling through the heart of the city. 

 

Check out more great images of "On the street" at the 52 Photos Project.

 

 

 

 

Delicate

Weekly photo challenge time!  The current prompt from my friends over at the 52 Photos Project is Delicate.

That's a tough topic.  The first thing that came to mind was a flower.  But I've been posting lots of flower photos lately.  I wanted something different.

Going back through my photo archives, I hit gold.  Oregon is rich in waterfalls, and I've got many photos of lovely cascades.  The above image is Middle North Falls located in Silver Falls State Park.  This lacy cascade is especially fetching in the spring, when snowmelt swells the water volume, and everything is a rich shade of green.

Check out more wonderful images here in Gallery 15 of the 52 Photos Project.

White

Time for the weekly 52 Photos Project challenge!  This week's prompt is white.

Yep, white.  The color white.  You know, that's an easy topic for me.  The avid skier that I am, I've got oodles of photos featuring lovely white snow.  The only hard part - which one to choose?

I finally settled on this shot, taken last February during my ski photography class.  I caught this snowboarder mid-spray as he was charging through the powder.  This was one of my instructor's favorite photographs.  He said I did a great job capturing the action.

So for all of you suffering in the summer heat, here's a cool snowy scene.  Close your eyes and imagine yourself on an icy ski slope.  Aaahhhhh..... this makes me wish for winter. 

Check out the 52 Photos Project Gallery 14 for more creative images.

Growth

It's time again for the 52 Photos Project weekly prompt. This week's topic is growth.  What's growing in your neck of the woods?

In my backyard, there's a circular raised flower bed.  When my son was in high school, he put a greenhouse on this spot.  This structure lasted until he went off to college.  Upon taking it down, my husband discovered the footprint had left a bare circular area in the middle of our lawn.  We jokingly referred to it as our "UFO landing site."

But my hubby, the green thumb that he is, turned this barren area into a wonderful raised flower bed.  Every year he puts in tomato plants and a wide array of different flowers. 

When my son was home in mid-May, he bought a large packet of wildflower seeds and planted them all in this circular planter.  Later in the summer, I noticed a ton of thick, green plants emerging from the soil.  At first I thought they were all weeds, and asked my husband if we should take them out.  He refused to pull the plants, believing the "weeds" were mostly flowers.

The hubby was so right.  Last week the entire flower bed erupted in a blaze of colorful bachelor buttons.  My son is due back in town next week.  His timing couldn't be more perfect - the flowers should be at the height of their bloom.  Now he'll get to enjoy the fruits of his labor. 

To see more photos of new growth, check out the 52 Photos Project here.

And thank you everyone for stopping by and leaving a comment.  It's great to hear from so many nice people!

Circles

Another week of the 52 Photos Project.  This time our assignment (should we choose to accept it) is incorporating circles in our images.

This was a hard one for me.  And it shouldn't be considering my engineering mind (or maybe it should - engineers are not known for their creativity!)  But a house across the street had the most lovely flowers - all with nice round centers.  Ahhh!  There's my photo!

To check out more "circle" pics click on the link right here.

Thanks to all the great people who've stopped by and left comments.  You rock!

A Different Pathway

It's week 11 of the 52 Photos Project.  This week's prompt is "A Different Pathway."

There's comfort to be found in following the familiar path.  But what happens when we deviate from the norm?  New discoveries await!

In my quest to hike all 100 hikes in William Sullivan's "100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon" book I've trod on many different paths.  It's been a wonderful goal - there's a thrill to finding a yet another new special place.

Last Sunday, I took a hike in the foggy woods near Carson, Washington.  This trail led me to a grassy knoll, and a huge meadow brimming with wildflowers.  I'll post a full report once I've sorted and edited all my photos.  Stay tuned!

In the meantime.......go out and find your different path.  For inspiration, check out more photos from all the creative people who posted here.

 

Just Chillin'

It's week 10 of the 52 Photos Project.  This week's current gallery prompt is "release."  Our assignment is to post a photo depicting life's more relaxing moments.

Columbia River Gorge view from Dog Mtn

Anybody who's followed this blog for awhile knows exactly the photo I'm going to share.  I unwind by getting out into the wilderness.  One of the best ways is hiking to the top of a steep mountain.  And once on top, relaxing in a flower-filled meadow and taking in the views.  I return home happy, refreshed, and invigorated. 

How do you chill after a hard day's work?

This week's 52 Photos Project gallery can be found here.  Check it out!