This weekend is the first time in a very long time that I have had both the time and the energy to go out and take photos. For the past few years, I have been very busy with school and being a single parent with very little time left over to do things that I enjoy. Mentally there is such a difference for me after going out and taking photos for the past three days. I managed to get out for a few hours each day. I must make a point of doing this every weekend.

While I didn't get a chance to shoot some portraiture photos, I did get to experiment with setting and played a bit with light. I also learned a few things about what to carry along with. If one is going to be lying down on the ground in an attempt to get the perfect shot, it is a good idea to carry something to lie down on.  It makes it easier to keep from getting thorns in you or to avoid other "prickly" plants. Also make sure your kid knows what poison oak looks like, especially if you are the one that catches it.

A list of helpful things to carry along (particularly if your camera bag is a back pack styled one). This list is by no means comprehensive.

• something to lie down on: I have a burden cloth. I can also use it to carry things in.
• meat tenderizer for bug bites and stings. (Works great on bee stings and the other stinging critters)
• bug repellant (And use it. Reapply when needed.)
• gallon sized ziploc bag with a hole for the lens to cover the camera with for when it rains or is otherwise damp
• extra battery for the camera
• car charger for the battery
• pocket knife (you never know when you can use one)
• map of the area
• GPS with a compass backup (Can't always get a signal for a GPS)
• cell phone
• something to wash the poison oak off with
• garbage bags to put the poison oaky clothes in (and a change of clothes) 

That should do it for right now. I am sure as time goes on I will find more things that are useful to carry along on these photo trips.

Now to the photos. All of the photos have a limited amount of editing done in Photoshop.

The technical information for this photo is: AV F5.0, Shutter speed 1/80, ISO 800 focal length 44.0 mm White balance :shade. This photo was shot near the Salmon creek trail head off of Fish Hatchery Road outside Oakridge Oregon. It was taken in the shade.

There is a trail that meanders through the woods and along the river or creek. The bridge is out, however, there are some planks that can be walked across if you want to hike the fitness trail. The bridge is still there, but during the winter months, the water uprooted the bridge and dumped it on top of a large rock.

Technical info: Shutter speed 1/13 AV F9.0  ISO 1600  Focal length 55.0 mm White balance: shade

This was shot at the other end of the trail near Cement Falls. The trail does lead there, but I drove to the parking located  near Rigdon Forest Service station outside Oakridge. (Not open to the public). There is a gazebo with a picnic table if you want to eat out there.  Follow the trail to Cement Falls and go past the falls. There is another wooden foot bridge shortly after it. The bridge itself is another good location to take photos at. This tunnel is under the railroad which passes through the area. It is located off to the right of the bridge.  I was standing in the mouth of the tunnel shooting towards the other end. I haven't had a chance to check out what is on the other side yet, but I plan to do so this summer.  Be sure to wear bug repellant if you are here during mosquito season.  They were out in force when we were here this weekend.

Technical info: Shutter speed 1/13 sec, AV F9.0, ISO 1600 White balance: shade

This photo was shot further up the trail from the little foot bridge near Cement Falls. It was an experiment with spider webs. I am not sure if it works or not. It was shot in mostly shade, though there is a lot of light showing here in the photo.

Technical info: Shutter speed 1/13 sec, AV F5.0, ISO 200 focal length 55.0 mm White balance: shade

This was taken along the trail that the other photos were taken. This was just beyond the foot bridge near Cement Falls.

Technical info: Shutter speed 1/60 sec, AV F8.0, ISO 400 White Balance : shade focal length 55.0 mm

This photo was taken near Cement Falls. This was a grassy area to the left of the trail on the way to the Cement Falls. I took the photo on the way back to the car.  This area was filled with tall grasses and flowers.

Technical info: shutter speed 1/13 sec, AV F5.6, ISO 100 focal length 55.0 mm, white balance: shade.

This was taken in the same grassy area as the photo above. I probably should have used a higher ISO, but I was experimenting that day.  I was experimenting a lot with photo setting. Not everything turned out, but I was having fun and I learned a great deal.

A few days ago, I had an unexpected and unwanted visitor in my shower. Somehow a tree frog had gotten into the bathroom and was hiding, er, hanging out in the shower. I didn't see it in there until I was showering. I am not sure which traumatized the frog more; the hot water or seeing me with no clothes on. 

So what to do with the frog hopping madly about in the tiny shower. Catch it , put it in the bathroom sink, and more importantly, take photos of it to post online.

Here they are for your viewing pleasure, photos of the peeping amphibian. 

I took this photos after the steam was gone from the bathroom. It kept fogging up the camera lens. Besides, waiting for the steam to dissipate gave the frog a chance to calm down. A stress out frog doesn't make for quality photos.  Bad enough the kid hadn't cleaned the bathroom yet.

The frog was starting to move a bit more. I would shortly put the frog outside. Shortly after this photos was taken, the frog  made its great escape attempt into my room. Not a good idea. I managed to catch it before I lost sight of it. It would have been a bad thing if I hadn't managed to catch it.

Here is the frog safely outside. I think it may still be a bit stressed out. That shower was fairly hot and shampoo was involved before I discovered the frog and got it into the bathroom sink.

Spirit Lake

Today we attempted to go to Spirit Lake . The plan was to take photos on the way to the lake and at the lake. It didn't quite work out that way.  The trip there for the most part went well. It was overcast, drizzling rain (very light) and the weather was cool but comfortable.  There was very little traffic on Salmon Creek road. Generally during the summer months there is a lot of traffic on that road due to campers, hikers and mountain bikers. It was nice to be able to drive and check out the scenery without having to deal with tourist traffic.

The road leading to Spirit Lake was mostly clear. There were a few trees that had fallen across the road, but they had been cut and the pieces removed. There were also a few largish rocks on the road in some places.  There were also some trees that looked like they were going to end up in the road sometime in the near future, but looked stable for the time being.  Along the way, there were several small waterfalls. There was also some small patches of snow visible.

We passed one large pickup truck coming down from the direction that we going in. I didn't think much of it at the time. The drive was uneventful. I would stop and park the car whenever I saw something that I wanted to take pictures of. Then the trip came to a stop. The road was block by snow. A lot of snow. And it was deep enough that it would have been foolish to try to drive through or over it. That brought the trip to Spirit Lake to a halt.

 

Th e above photo is the road. It was taken near where the road turned.  The snow was deep enough that getting my car over it would have been risky. And it was densely packed. I was able to walk on the snow without sinking into it or getting snow in my hiking sandals.

Anyway, here are some of the photos that I took in this short day trip. I took over 100 photos on this particular trip.

This photo was taken where one of the trees that fell splintered apart. Plants were already growing up through the fractures. The rain was not too bad at this point. I didn't need to put a gallon Ziploc bag over my camera. The log was soaked. When I leaned up against the log to get a better shot, my jeans were soaked where they came in contact with the log.

One of the several waterfalls on the way to Spirit Lake.  I think most of the waterfalls were from either spring melt runoff or springs that run during the rainy weather.  This waterfall was right next to the road.

This particular photo is of a waterfall that I think may flow year round.

There were many rhododendrons in various stages of blooming up there. Most of them were of this shade of light pink, though there were some that appeared to be a much darker pink.

A view of the overcast or misty sky through the trees. This was taken at around the 3000 feet elevation level.

 

Scotch broom, my nemesis. This plant's pollen has caused more allergy flareups for me. 

Another shot of the sky seen through the trees.

This is a photo of a white Douglas Iris. This one was taken on the way back down to main road. The rain was tapering back to a fine mist , for awhile.

I am hoping to be able to make it up to Spirit Lake after the snow melts and before the mosquitoes are bad.

It has been a awhile since I have posted anything. School and life in general has been hectic. Since I have a small break in between terms, I am taking the time to post some more photos.

 This photo was taken somewhere outside Oakridge, Oregon. It was taken the day the Tumblebug Fire started. The sky was overcast and there had been thunder with some visible lightening. In fact, the storm was the reason we left Mule Mountain. I have no idea of where this lake is located at. I was following a friend and was totally turned around when she stopped here so we could take photos.

This photo was taken during on of the last times it snowed here. I took this standing on my front porch. It is one of my first attempts of taking photos of snow. (We aren't discussing the Scout snow trip photos. )

I took this photo on the campus of Lane Community College . The water on the leaves is from a rain that fell earlier in the day.

This is another photo taken from my front porch. It was a drizzly type of day. I wasn't able to get out in the woods and take photos. Homework demands kept me home. But I did manage to get this shot.

Last summer, we went for what was supposed to be a short drive to Indigo Springs. We ended up at Summit Lake in Klamath county. Wonderful drive even with the washboard roads. This photo was taken on the shore in the late afternoon. If you are planning on making a trip to Summit Lake, make sure tht your vehicle has a lot of clearance. The road that goes around the lake has very deep irregular ruts in it. More than once, I thought that I was going to break something on my mini van.

This photo was taken at Salmon Creek campground. I have taken quite a few photos of Salmon Creek waterfall. I didn't focus on the complete waterfall in this shot. Instead, I focused on just a small portion of it in an attempt to catch the water as it fell. I was standing across the river from the falls and I was using a zoom lens to get the closer shot. Nice place to go camping by the way.

Last but not least this photo. This one was taken at Greenwaters Park alongside one of the trails that run behind the park across the river. There is a bridge that leads to the trails.