Hold onto your hats, it's gonna be a bumpy ride...and a long one.
You've been warned. It's a mish-mash collection of the last few days thrown together in no particular order...wait. That's not true. They're ordered by the numbering system assigned by each camera.
Aren't you glad you know that? Yeah, I didn't think so.
But, here we are so let's buckle our seat-belts and head on down the road.
And we'll start with thistle. They're interesting. I stand in awe of the Hand that fashioned these mini-marvels. With very small flowers, too!!
Amazing.
This is farm country and out of the blue a couple of huge threshers could come rumbling down the road. You stand aside and allow them as much room as they want.
When it's the season, these guys don't stop. The sun doesn't set until around 2100 and they don't stop till the sun sets. Hahaha, for these guys, time really is money.
The cab is like a mini-office with air conditioning, computers, dials, knobs and other gadgets. I can't imagine doing this for 12+ hours a day. Course, I can't imagine how tough it must have been before these labor-savers came along. All that work was done with horse and plow...and a whole lotta sweat.
And just around the corner it's a country scene. You might remember this scene (different picture, honest!!) from an earlier Chapter. It's just an interesting composition.
OK, I'm getting a little frisky here. I think this is a Redwing Blackbird. He was sitting up framed by a lackluster blue sky and the contrast was so great that what little color left to the sky was washed out. This picture cried to be B&W and then pushed around to further bleed out the grays.
I was trying for a B&W silhouette. I still haven't figured out how to do that with iPhoto.
Carol was excited about this extra large egg she collected one morning and had me take a picture of it alongside a regular egg for comparison. It was large!!
And it had two yolks.
Oh, and it was delicious fried up with a little salt and pepper.
It's a simple subject but the color is terrific. The rose had peaked when I caught it and was just starting on the slide down into oblivion. But I caught the color against the siding of the house and it really catches my attention.
Oh, and I'm liking this shooting with a tripod thingie. Hahaha, after a year+ owning this tripod I finally start using it and am enjoying it so much I'm thinking I should get a second tripod so that each camera can be kept mounted and ready to set up.
Hahaha, a kid in a toy store.
Honest!! This is a different day. Goldfinches just sorta look the same.
Regardless, I still get excited when I see one of these little beauties pop up.
And one of my favorites.
"My Little Chickadee!!"
We've been looking for hawks and not seeing as many as we expected. To be honest, I think we're seeing a LOT less than what I thought we would.
So when we saw this feller sitting on a telephone pole on the road to Amnity, it was a non-decision about stopping. Boom!! I pulled off the road and got out the camera and had the tripod set up and was just getting ready...just getting ready when he jumped ship and bailed on me.
I caught this quick shot as he fled the scene.
But eagle-eyed Carol spotted this Hawk sitting in a tree a good distance away. So far that to reach out to see him I was at the end of my zoom length.
We were driving through Basket Slough when we saw them.
Also in the slough on the hills to the west of the wetlands, we saw this Buzzard Tree.
There were, as we discovered as we drove further on, five Turkey Vultures resting on that tree during the heat of the day.
Bam!! Here's the first scene I pictured except this one's in color. Not as dramatic as the one in B&W. I prefer the B&W to this one.
Whupt!! Another picture of a Goldfinch!!
Hahaha, sue me.
She was an interesting subject. The females of this species aren't, like most females of every species, as colorful or bright as the male.
Haha, did you really think I wouldn't have any pictures of flowers!?!
Silly you.
I like this picture. I was trying for a composition here...trying to, sorta, shoot a still life.
It worked, somewhat. I did get some likes on this particular picture from my FB Album about Kathy's Farm. At least I was thinking and that's always a good thing.
Different bird. Honest.
But still, one of my favorites.
Annnnd, the All-American Goldfinch...
Nice pose, eh!?!
Kind of interesting. To me.
Every so often I get lucky and these two pictures are examples of one of those times.
I really enjoy the colors here.
The same shot with different cropping. Both pictures are good and I can't bring myself to delete either one. And I can't decide which one to put in this blog so I put both of them here.
Hahaha, so when I first saw this Winston Churchill jumped into my mind.
Can you see him? Pacing back and forth with his hands clasped behind him, head down and deep in thought. Hahaha, I really like this picture.
Sunlight in B&W. I keep working at it. Possibilities. Maybe.
I once saw a picture of an old church with a great sky behind it. This sorta reminds me of it with the rich colors. Now if I could find some way to balance the contrast between the front of the shed and the roof.
I took the first shot and metered on the front of the shed and the sky was blasted out. I metered on the sky for this picture and lost the front of the shed but it was the better of the two so I stayed with this one.
So this is a long story. Carol was out getting eggs and she yells to me, "Jack!! Come quick and bring the camera!!"
I rush out (my running days are long over) with the camera in hand and she points to a fir tree about 150-200 feet away and asks if I think that a hawk. It was a rather large, tan chested bird up near the top and so, yeah, it did appear to be a hawk.
I set up and started snapping and realized I still had the camera in monochrome.
Looking at in the viewfinder it looked like a hawk.
Imagine my surprise when I downloaded this and found it was...a Scrub Jay. But a BIG Scrub Jay.
Hahaha, not even close to a hawk.
Before he flew away for good, he moved over to the outer branch and I got this shot. Then, because I'm an Artsy-Fartsy kind a guy, I put it into B&W and then hit it with film noir. Haha, I am soooo cool. And Arty!!
I must have been in a real dark mood cuz I kept it in B&W and got this and then zapped it in film noir, too. Sure beats the sky up, doesn't it?
And finally this valley scene. You've seen it before in a different color picture. It was early in the morning, that explains the dark shadow from the huge fir next to the chicken coop.
BOOM!!
Let's go to McMinnville and take a walk along 3rd Street, the main street in the old part of town.
McMinnville is a trendy little town of about 35,000 souls. And, obviously, a couple of them have a good sense of humor.
Have you seen this man?
Mind you, it was around 1000 in the morning and there was this street scene. The guy in the plaid shirt was drinking a bottle of beer while the girl in the long black dress was sipping something that could have been a mimosa...out of a long pilsner kind of glass. A lot of loud talking too.
The beautiful people.
Everyone is gearing up for the Total Eclipse of the Sun. This shirt was on sale in one of the tchotchke shops.
I have my shirt...you'll see it in a future Chapter.
Ol' Benny Franklin. Unfortunately, he's guilty of some serious man spreading. Hahaha, I don't suppose they worried about it in his day.
On our way back we saw where our Valued Homeless had infested the bench. Shame who Ben has to hang around with now.
The Old Hotel Oregon...Built in 1905 it has been, in its storied history, a hotel, restaurant, lounge banquet hall, Western Union, Greyhound Station, Beauty Parlor and Soda Fountain. Now it's home to one of the MeMenamins Restaurants. And one of the big points of attraction is the rooftop bar offering a 360 degree view of the Willamette Valley.
These gi-normous roosters were on sale along 3rd. What a conversation piece, eh?
And just because my youngest is named Tommy. Well, that's what I call him. He's all hoity-toity now and calls himself 'Thomas'.
He'll always be Tommy to me.
To fit into the hipster trend, they even have a B&B on 3rd that is also a small, fashionable, but trendy, bistro.
Latte, s'il vous plait.
Looking north on 3rd. They've done a great job of revitalizing the downtown. There were a couple empty shops but I imagine they have plans for them.
Interesting building. I am exploring angles and pushing colors...blue skies and gray building. The obvious effects of the polarizing filter.
How cool must it have been to have an apartment above the movie house? Really!?! How cool would that have been in this theater's heyday!?! Maybe even get reduced ticket prices for the movies. Always a double feature with cartoons if you were lucky.
Playing with the cameras again. This time the Nikon and I was shooting sans tripod. Old style, holding it in my shaky hands.
Not as crisp as the others.
This one, too. The clarity is off just by a click. Makes the argument for the trouble of the tripod.
So I was learning more about my camera and put the Nikon on the tripod and shot the water fountain at f2500. I had to push the film speed to ASA 3200 and let the camera pic the aperture but I got some of the water frozen.
I would have though at that speed it would have frozen...more. I'll work on it.
ZIP. We're in Sheridan at the Mini-Market getting some romaine lettuce for a Caesar's Salad and we had to cross the bridge over the Willamina Creek. Which has more water in it than the Rio Grande did passing by El Paso.
OK, I've been shooting exclusively with the Nikon on the tripod. And, yeah, I'm happy with the results. I give up some in mobility and freedom but I gain more in clarity and definition.
So I decided it was time to give the Canon a workout on the tripod.
And, away we go!!
A baby bird (?) urging his Momma to feed him.
He looks to me like he's big enough to go and get his own food but, well, she must be one of those "helicopter" Moms cuz she kept hovering around him and fed him constantly.
"Feed me, Seymour!!"
And she did. Every time!!
I just liked this...the two of them looking in the same direction. That orange blot is a flower against the far fence...making 70 or so feet away.
I've seen him being fed several times now. Lazy slug.
On our bucket list was a stop to the Brigittine Monks for some fudge. Kathy too us there the last time we visited and I had the location already picked out.
Carol opted for the 'Extra Dark Chocolate fudge Royale' while I got adventurous and went with the 'Pecan Praline Fudge Royale' and never regretted my choice for a minute.
They didn't last long but they were Mmmmmm, Mmmmmm, Good!!
FLOWER!!
Hahaha, a coneflower, to be concise. Gotta get them in every-once-in-a-while.
Gotta thing for flowers. If ever you doubt the existence of God then go, go visit a flower. These things don't just happen by accident. Nope.
We had planned to drive around and one of the places we were aiming for is Amity. I mean there is only a certain number of hours in a day you can sit in the back yard enjoying the quiet and the cooling breeze while watching the birds frolic in the trees. Only so many books to be read and FB pages to be checked. And then you gotta move. So we did.
First stop was Amity, The Small Town Jewell in Oregon!!
I know it's true cuz they said it was on the sign.
And because they have a Pub named...wait for it...
The Blue Goat
How cool is that!?!
Hahaha, Carol wants to steal this sign and take it home with her.
But we didn't go into the Blue Goat. Instead we kept walking and came upon this, the Samuel Robert Winery.
Talk about trendy and nouveau. This place was tres chic.
Sacre Bleu...this is the sight that greets you as you walk in. Austere, clean, nicely appointed. I liked it.
And at the other end looking toward the street. See how they left the rafters exposed. Nicely done. With a skylight, even.
The bar is a small affair demonstrating the importance of the experience of drinking the wine rather than the familiar bar scene experience. The large, 30-35 feet long, table dominates that end of the room. They used a lot of empty wine bottle for decorations.
A wine barrel serving as a base for a table.
And an old upright. This part of the building was once a barbershop.
I enjoyed just walking in and seeing the room. Hahaha, I'd have gotten upset if I'd had to pay for a glass of wine there. I didn't bother to ask.
Right next door was an Antiques Shop - Treasure Attic.
It was a treasure. Both Carol and I enjoyed spending nearly half an hour in the shop.
It was chockfull of treasures of all kinds.
Oh, to be rich!!
What a cool stove. Ready for cooking!!
Found a couple books but they were a bit pricey and I already have 20-30 books waiting to be read now.
And I could have easily gotten a couple of these old cameras. For decoration, y'know.
Some of the treasure to be found inside.
Carol suggested this shot. The colors the flags and the trucks. The feeling of seeing this just off the main street in Small-Town America.
On the way out of town, I stopped at the Grange Hall.
What an elegant and well-used building. Yeah, it's showing its age but it still has class.
They must do a bazaar or flea market kind of sale to raise money. I'd guess these knitted afghans are waiting to be sold. This is the dining room, or so the sign says...
There on the wall along the steps. To the left is the Model Train Show. I'd have liked to have seen that.
Around back the Grange is less fancy and more utilitarian.
The architect had an eye for symmetry. I wonder why they closed off so many windows...especially on the second floor.
These past days have been time for me to relax. Yeah, I know that sounds odd...relax from what? But, yeah, it's been nice. It's been like a vacation and staying in a hotel. I've enjoyed it.
The thing I've enjoyed the most is that I've spent a lot of time reading about digital photography and experimenting with my camera. I know you've seen this before but as I am learning with the tripod, practice does make perfect. And so I'm practicing with different aspects of photography.
Here, again, is exceedingly fast shutter speeds in an effort to 'freeze' something. Working on the concept, the composition and getting the damn camera to focus where I want it to. I'm learning.
Kathy's backyard shot from the southwest corner...looking towards her house hidden behind the trees.
And I just turn to the right and shoot along the back of the neighbor's yard and the field behind it.
Looking down and looking small, I found a Ladybug. How small are those flowers, eh?
Looks like Dad has joined the family for this dinner. Though, to be honest, I never saw Dad help out feeding Junior. Always Mom. Dad took care of his own gullet, so to speak.
And that was it. A lot of pictures. I've trash-canned over a thousand. I'm at least getting better at self-editing. Oh, and I'm learning to use the tripod. Please experiment a little.
All in all it's been good. Easy days and good company with a little excitement thrown in for good measure. Good times.
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