Train ride to Portland

These are some photos from a trip from Albany to Portland during Labor Day weekend.

Around Albany Station...




Salem Station along the way...

The hydro-electric plant and industry at Willamette Falls...

Pulling out of the Oregon City Station...


Portland's Union Station...



Union Station Tower at Night...

Photographing Bicycle Races

A couple of weekends ago, I photographed bicycle races for the time. The races were local, in downtown Albany (Oregon), with the streets barricaded. Photographing in a new situation like this is certainly a learning experience.
The races provided opportunities for a number of different types of shots. To me, low angle shots, rather than shooting from a standing position, make the action appear more dramatic (thanks for the tip, Dale!). Other things to consider were sun/light position, different angles, backgrounds, and matters of motion. Since the race course was set up as an irregular loop through town, there were plenty of different angles to try while having the riders well-lit. I found head-on shots to be some of my favorites.



Getting in tight on the corners was good for close-ups. You can see the muscles flexing and the looks of determination on the faces of the riders.

Capturing the look of the movement and speed is another challenge when shooting the races. Motion blur conveys that for me and panning can add an extra element.


Photographing the races was a lot of fun and I look forward to doing it again next year. There are more photos of the race on my Flickr Photostream - http://www.flickr.com/photos/robrrobinson/.

Photos from Monterey

To go with the last post of the Leafy Sea Dragon watercolor, here are some photos from the Monterey Bay Aquarium with many more on my Flickr Photostream.

Sea Dragon

This watercolor on ink sketch comes from a recent trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a visual and learning treat. The Leafy Sea Dragon has amazing camouflage for living among marine plants. Take a look at the video on the Monterey Bay Aquarium site to see how the sea dragon moves and to see its relative, the Weedy Sea Dragon.

More from Marys Peak

A great thing about taking photos at Marys Peak is the variety of subjects and the variety in the scale of those subjects. They range from views of Mt Jefferson across the Willamette Valley, 87 miles (140 km) from peak to peak ...



... to square inches for close-up views of wildflowers.


Designated as the Marys Peak Botanical Special Interest Area, there is an interesting mix of plants due to the peak being the highest in the Coast Range (4097 ft, 1249 m).


The day of our visit, two things were very noticeable, the many butterflies visiting the wildflowers and the thick blanket of clouds below the north side of the mountain.



Looking forward to another visit during a different season - always something new to see.

Milestone

This photo of backlit Fireweed taken on Mary's Peak, west of Corvallis, OR, is not spectacular, but it is special for me. Seven month's to the day after getting my Canon 7D, I took this, my 10,000th photo, with it.

Every time I think of the days of film, I am reminded how much I love the freedom of being able to take as many photos as I want without the prohibitive cost of processing. It's not that I am trying to take a lot of photos as an end in itself. I take many shots of things to try new subjects, try new ways of taking photos, and capture them at a "perfect" moment by taking multiple shots. It's great practice. And I just like taking pictures!

Photography, like plein air painting, is my way of seeing subjects very closely and very thoroughly. You start seeing details and things that were not even noticeable before and you get to know your subject better. Knowing my subjects better helps me to produce better photographs of them. So, hopefully every time I look through my viewfinder, I am learning something.

Now, to get more of those 10,000 photos online to share... at least the better ones (always more to learn!).

Colored Pencil Sketch

It has been years since I have used colored pencils, but I recently bought a pack and wanted to try them out with a quick sketch. Found a handy subject in an African Violet in the living room. Tried a fairly representational approach, good practice for the hand/eye coordination, drafting skills and seeing details - colors, shapes, textures.