Surprised by the Bee

A couple weeks ago I was up at Pittock Mansion in Northwest Portland. The weather was still sunny, great for photography. After taking a few obligatory skyline photos, I focused my attention on some of the colorful flowers that surround the mansion. As I was shooting the flower in this photo, this bee flew in right on cue and landed on the flower, did its thing, and flew off. I was surprised with the great results of this impromptu appearance of the bee.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. Several things have happened in the last month plus since my last post. The biggest change is that my old computer decided to make an untimely crash. Thankfully, between having saved backups of all my photos onto both an external hard drive and to CD’s, and being able to recover some things from my old computer, I am glad to report that I didnt’ lose anything critical. The other “good” that came out of the crash (if you can call a crash “good”) is that with moving everything onto a new computer, I ended up with the opportunity to upgrade from Adobe Photoshop CS3 to Photoshop CS4. I am thrilled with the upgrades that Adobe made. I am also really enjoying learning to use Adobe Bridge for viewing and sorting my photos. Next is getting my website updated and back online.

Until next time…. Cheers!

Art or Vandalism

I’ve heard it debated over and over as to whether the graffiti on railroad cars is art or simply vandalism. My take is “it’s both”. Now before you go raking me over the coals, let me explain my position. I’ve seen some amazing artwork on the sides of railcars that would impress even the most famous of artists. Granted, the odds are that the work was done illegally. I’ve also seen some rather vulgar and obsene work that is nothing more than explitives hastilly spray-painted on the same train cars. Technically all of it is vandalism. The artwork, such as that in this photo, take a tremendous amount of skill to create. I feel that these artists are sadly misuising their talents and need a better outlet for their expression. I’d rather see this type of artwork done in a legal manner, but that’s not likely to happen anytime soon. I’ve never condoned this type of vandalism, nor will I ever support it. If I see someone tagging the side of a railroad car or structure, or commiting any other illegal act for that matter, be sure that I will be on the phone with the police reporting the illegal activity. At the same time, I will accept the fact that graffiti is a part of modern society and will continue to photograph anythinig I see as creative. I encourage your thoughts on this.

Missouri Pacific Heritage

Conquering The Hill

Fun in The Sun

Majestic Mount Hood

Lack of Recent Activity

Some regular readers may have noticed a lack in activity here on my blog. I’ve had guests in from out of town and have had very little time to be out taking photos. However, this will soon change. In the meantime, I’m working as time permits on a good-sized update to the website and perhaps a few minor changes here on the blog. Stay tuned…

Through The Fog

Dew On The Petal

Bridge at Multnomah Falls