Wow... Where did all the time go?  I have been so busy with school that I haven't been keeping up with the blog like I had wanted to do.  For the most part, school has been going well. There have been a few speed bumps but that is to be expected. After all life is supposed to have a bit of challenge to it

While school kept me too busy to post anything, I did manage to get out and take photos. Since finals are over and it is heading into spring break, I thought that I would catch up a bit.   It has been a quiet evening going through the photos I have taken in the last year and half.

 This photo was taken at a local cemetery. This was one of  my first attempts at funerary art photography.   I am planning a trip to the cemetery in Jacksonville, Oregon during spring break. It should make for a nice day trip. And not to mention a good opportunity for photos in the historical town. 

 The early evening sky taken in late September 2011 in Oakridge Oregon. This was taken in the moment s leading up to sunset. We did end up having a bit of thunder late that night, not that it lasted very long.

Thomasina, my father's cat. This was taken outside my home before he came to pick her up. She was a bit too cooperative when I was taking photos of her. She kept coming up very close to the camera. In fact, she left kitty nose prints on the filter I had on the lens. Do you know how difficult it is to get kitty nose prints off of a lens??

She is a very friendly beautiful cat that is more than a bit klutzy from the stories I have heard.  Hard to believe that she was abandoned when her previous "owners" moved.

A close up of some moss growing near the base of a tree in Lithia Park located in Ashland, Oregon. This was a fun trip. There is so much to take photos of in Lithia Park. Definitely worth the time to go there.   This particular photo was taken of a tree just off of the trail across the creek near the lower duck pond.  That particular day was damp from the rain that fell during the night.  The raindrops left behind did make for some gorgeous shots.

Close up of an evergreen after it had been raining.  I really do need to get some books to identify the plants that I have been taking photos of. It would be nice to know. Of course, I am not really sure if I want to haul those books along on the photo trips. Leaving them in the car is one option, but that does make it impractical to identify the plant in question when taking the photo. And if a lot of photos are being taken of many different plants it could make it difficult to keep details straight about each photo. But I really don't want the weight of several books in my camera bag either.

 Lithia Creek . This photo was taken from one of the foot bridges in Lithia Park. THere are several that cross over the creek in various locations.  It was interesting trying to keep the camera steady with all the different randomly people crossing over and making the bridge bounce a bit... Especially the running teenagers.

Wood duck. This photo was taken at the lower duck pond within Lithia Park. There is a path that leads around the pond with several benches located near the water where you can sit and watch the ducks. These particular ducks were not exactly cooperative with me in taking the photos. They were shyer than the mallards which would swim close up to you. They were probably expecting to be fed. Too bad for them that I didn't have anything for them.

 Another photo of a wood duck. I managed to get this photo of the duck bathing. I was lucky to get this particular shot. It was taken close to the small islands located  off to one side in the pond. The wood ducks mostly kept either close to the island, on the shore of it, or hid themselves inside the plants growing on it. Between the trees and the rushes they had plenty of places to hide away.

A mallard duck at the same duck pond. There are many ducks that live at the pond year round. Most of the ducks there are mallards with a few  pairs of wood ducks. There was also a few ducks that I was unable to identify what type they were.  This was taken near the edge of the island I mentioned.

A close up of the frozen surface of the upper duck pond in Lithia Park. This pond is located close to the front of the park. It also has a few benches located near the waters edge for people to sit and enjoy the view. The upper duck pond was frozen while the lower duck pond  wasn't. All of the duck were hanging out at the lower pond. I don't think I saw an unfrozen portion of the upper pond when I was there.

 Another photo of the frozen pond. This one was taken in another part of the pond. It was incredible how much the surface of the pond varied. It was especially obvious once I switched over to my zoom lens. I was able to get a much closer look at the surface and could pick the more interesting surfaces to take photos of.

 Last spring I purchased an artist wooden hand model to practice sketching with. Too bad I haven't used it for that at all. I have been using it in some of my photography.  I am planning a series of photos of the hand in locations where you wouldn't exactly expect to see it. I just wish that it was a movable as Thing from the Addams' Family is. Oh the possibilities if it were...

 Here I was attempting some macro photography... without the right type of  lens.  Not really sure if it works.  But I do keep trying. Hopefully I will be able to get the right equipment to do this type of photography properly.

Taken at a local park during the start of the warm season. There is a water play structure at the park.

This is the cat that has been trying to adopt me. It was taken last spring while he was doing his best to convince me that I really did want to be his human. After all, he had saved me from those really huge crickets.

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.