Olympic Pennisula, Washington

    The use of slides was a fleeting time in my photographic quests.  Slide film was more expensive, and looking at my photos was more inconvenient as well.   It also presented me with slower film speeds than I was accustomed to, and I didn't understand the nuances of the medium.  Nevertheless, I spent some time with it prior to a greatly anticipated photography workshop trip in Washington, on the Olympic Pennisula.
    That week-long workshop was a great experience.  Traveling around the area with like-minded folks who were eager to share tips and techniques, and who didn't complain about getting up before dawn, was a breath of fresh air.   I was greatly intimidated at the time,  feeling like such a beginner.  And in may ways I was.  We were asked to bring photos for critique sessions, and not only was I petrified to have my work scrutinized so closely, but I felt out of place being the only person to bring prints.  I had never used slides, had no way to project them, so therefore avoided them.   
    Long story short, my work was well received, and despite my naivete, I felt like the other more experienced folks respected my efforts and abilities.  It greatly boosted my confidence.
I was encouraged to work in slides during the whole workshop.  I used up all the film I bought for the trip, but never went back to slides.  Now I'm kinda sorry....  Here are the ones that survived the years since, and the scanning process...

This is not a cropped version of the previous shot. I did change it to sepia, however.

I love the ethereal feeling of the foggy Washinging coast mornings.

The sun rays here were much more vibrant in person.  It was rather mystical at the time.

The great thing about the Pacific Northwest beaches is the endless variety of things that get washed ashore.  Driftwood is abundant, and I love it's shape and form.  I only had a couple of mornings here, I wish I'd had a lot more.

A window to the beach

Deep in the Olympic National Forest, it is so lush that its often hard to choose a focal point.  This tree was interesting.  I call it the "bat tree".  It kind of looks like the head of a bat and one wing attached to the tree.  I guess I have an odd imagination.

Slides from the Past

     I had a pipe burst in my kitchen about this time last year.  It flooded my dining room, which is attached to my living room, which is attached to the hall, which is attached to the bathroom...and so on!  The floor was ruined, and couldn't be matched, so out with the entire house of flooring.  Replacing it required pretty much everything in the house to be packed up and stored in the garage.  For four weeks, I lived in my bedroom, venturing out to the kitchen through dust and concrete as tile floors were laid throughout.   The damage was considerable but there was a bright side to this unexpected flood.  I got the rare, albeit forced, opportunity to completely clean out and weed all of my belongings.   So I dove in, box by box, ruthlessly scaling back things I no longer used, with visions of  mega yard sale profits in my mind.    

   Well, the house got weeded, but the yard sale never happened. I donated most of the things, but in the process I ran across a box of slides from a trip I had taken some 12 years ago.  It was like a forgotten treasure box!  A renewed passion for my photography resurfaced as I dragged out the light table, and the loupe and looked at my old work.  I spent hours sorting, and evaluating the collection, whittling it down to my top favorites.  

      No digital cameras back then...you didn't know if you got the shot until you were miles away and safely back at home.  In a way, it made us better photographers back then.  More attention to composition, more understanding of light and exposure and bracketing, careful attention to depth of field and focus.  You took care because you had to imagine the final results before you pressed that shutter button.  You didn't get a preview.  

      Each of those slides brought back memories of that time, and I can remember the act of shooting almost every one of those pictures.  I remember the surroundings, I remember what I was thinking as I composed my shots.  I remember the anticipation of getting those slides back a few weeks later to see the results.

    Now, I had to wait once more while I got the slides scanned and into my computer!  And now, with the ability I didn't have then, I can crop and edit those photos from so long ago.  I will share some of my favorites in small bunches as I go through and weed once again.  Brutally editing my work for the final time.

The Road to Work

I am fortunate enough to have a drive to work that crests the top of a local hill.  Some days, this affords me some really beautiful sunrises, or views of the local mountains in all kinds of weather.  I appreciate this scenery on a daily basis.  I find, however, that looking down along the road also gives me things to appreciate.  In the last two days, I've noticed these blue wildflowers and came back this morning intent on shooting them.  I haven't seen them here before, and don't know if I will see them again, so I am glad I was looking down...

 

These are some flowering bushes, also along the way to work.  
Just quick peek, up close, before I start my day....

These little buggers wouldn't hold still!

 Note the little white spider on the flower below...

Spring has Sprung!

    Spring has sprung in my neck of the woods, and with it the color and vibrancy of new life as well.  This post has a few of my favorite flower photos.  I know, I know...flowers are pretty run of the mill as far as subjects go, but they really are some of my favorite things to shoot.  Here are a few to entice spring into your heart. 

      Believe it or not, most of these were taken early in the morning at my local Home Depot.  Yeah, I got some weird looks from the early-bird customers, but I had an abundance of subjects to choose from in good lighting, I traveled only 10 minutes from my home, and it was free!  

Iceland Poppies

One of the benefits of my local garden center is that they have the plants outside, so natural dew is easy to find early in the day.

Sweet Alyssum

These guys just look happy to see me.  What says spring better than Johnny-Jump-Ups!