Dayna at the Grotto

I highly doubt anyone reads this blog that doesn't also see me on Facebook - but just to continue what I started I thought it appropriate to post this set of my 3 favorites Dayna and I took this previous week.

If any of you have been to the Portland Grotto, you know just being in the presence of some of these statues instantly transforms your state of mind to a far more peaceful state. Dayna did an absolutley wonderful job capturing what we where both feeling at the time.

Enjoy.

Night at the Library

So if you know anything about me, I'm not a reader. So whats a guy to do when your pregnant wife decides we're going to the library at 7pm when the sun set half an hour ago? Well, I've wanted to learn how to do low light photography for some time now :-) Here's my first attempt.

Thank you Beaverton fountain for being such a good subject. Your not quite as good as my wife, but you did your best.

Enjoy!

These are a little more fun with the backgrounds. Amazing what you can do with $5 and picnik. lol

My Beautiful Wife

So I've put my energy towards something good. Thanks to my father for some industrial lighting, my wife and Evan for modeling for me, and having enough cardboard, duct tape, and aluminum foil, and bed sheets around the house to not spend a dime. So heres to trying out something new in the wonderful world of photography. Kinda cheated on this one though... Taking pictures of someone naturally as beautiful as my wife was as simple as pointing and shooting in her general direction :-)

Lost in the Woods

So, so much for posting weekly, eh? Amazing to me how NOT having a job seems to take more out of your day then when I'm employed. At any rate, it was really great to be able to get away from the job search - aka: beating my head against the keyboard - and see a bit of the great outdoors.

Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think.

Old Columbia River HWY

So my thoughts have been very scattered this week as work went from being way too much, to dying down to a lull that could potentially put me back on the unemployment list - over the course of a single week. Seems like thats a small metaphor for life - highs and lows - capturing and holding on to those highs are what gets you though the rougher spots. Honestly I have no worries right now about what may be coming my way - this too won't stop the world from spinning and another day from coming. After all - I have my God, my wife, my family, my friends, and my camera. Everything else will work itself out in due time.

And besides - unemployment lets you randomly take the longer road less traveled cause your not in such a big hurry to get back to life. Like the last time my wife and I were going up to see my grandparents and great grandma - we took the old Columbia River hwy route and these are just a few of the precious gems....

Classic Multnomah Falls shot. Nearly everyone has this one, but I like mine the most ;-)

One of the bridges by the lesser stopped at falls.

Our traveling companion. Caution: Objects in mirror are cuter than they appear.

My Wifes favorite stop - Lookout Point.

I had a different close up water shot to share, but blogger kept turning it sideways! This will do well as a replacement though I suppose ;-)

Dayna ~ to you my lovely wife who very well might be the only person left still visiting this page, I PROMISE to share my precious few rustic barns next week!

Till then - God Bless!

From the Back Porch - Revisited

Hmmm... So had life get in the way there for a bit but the important part is I'm back I suppose.Between hard drive problems and 6 month old benign cysts its been a crazy few weeks... and thats only the start of all the craziness - lol. But bag all that. Photography is what this is all about.

Life is very unexpected at times. And honestly, those rare moments are what is the true beauty behind the lens. Here two of the craziest moments I've captured... and they happened all where you would least expect it - right at home in the boring farm land of America (boring and quite IS why I personally would want to raise kids in such a place - so don't take that as me dissing).

This flower was literally growing out of a crack in the concrete where my grandmothers back porch stairs are. Being the primary entrance and exit to the residence, we all had to step over this little smiling guy for about a week and a half while he graced us with his presence. I dubbed it "delicate defiance" and it reminds me of how even the most delicate of us can push back with our personality.

The hot air balloon woke up the full house at 7am on a Saturday morning. For some reason or another the pilot decided our back yard was the ideal place to land. The kids certainly didn't mind - neither did I as you can see. If you look closely, you can still see the frost on the roof of the house - cold morning to be sure!

Thanks for being patient with me - and I look forward to seeing any new comments on these or any other of my photos. Till next week!