Wordless Wednesday: Cranberry Coast and Fort Stevens Wrap-Ups

In order to be ready to start fresh for March I am going to wrap up two sets of photos from a trip to the Cranberry Coast back on the 5th of February and to visit my dad on the 11th of February in Astoria, OR. What better time to do that than Wordless Wednesday :o)!

Deer in Grayland State Park on the Cranberry Coast

Settings - ISO 200, 50mm, ss1/200, f/9.0 (full manual, cloudy wb)

What the cranberry coast is famous for...a cranberry bog!

Settings - ISO 200, 250mm, ss1/100, f/5.6 (full manual, cloudy wb)

A stormy sea at my favorite park - Fort Stevens State Park

Settings - ISO 200, 50mm, ss1/1000, f/7.1 (full manual, cloudy wb)

Outside my dad's house in Astoria, OR

Settings - ISO 200, 50mm, ss1/50, f/3.2 (full manual, cloudy wb)

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going to fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why." - Eddie Cantor

     

Tones on Tuesday #24 2.28.12

"Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it." - Mia Hamm

Do you ever have those months when you just can't get out from under everything? That has been February for me. But I have decided that instead of getting down about all of things I didn't do, I am going to start anew and continue my work toward my goals in the month of March. Therefore, I am not going to share any showcases this week. We will start fresh with the regular Tones on Tuesday format next week. For this week, I am going to share a picture and anxiously await your photos :o). Then I will get to do my favorite thing...visit your blogs and Flickr sites and be inspired by your talent! I hope you understand and stick with Tones on Tuesday.

Now it's your turn to share your photo with altered tones. Here are the guidelines for Tones on Tuesday:

• The basic idea is to share one photo where you have altered the tones. Such as a black and white, sepia toned, selective coloring or colored photo. Feel free to share the original and edit, or just the edit.
• Please share a photo that you have taken and edited yourself.
• One photo per photographer please. If you have more than one photo in your post please indicate which one if for Tones on Tuesday.
• Please link up with your permalink and not your blog address.
• Attach the Tones on Tuesday button to your post
• Leave comments for the other participants, share the love :o)!
• Have fun!

<center> <a href="http://scatteredhorizons.blogspot.com" target="_self"><img border="0" alt="Scattered Horizons" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_U2oqLh1UmXZMxfX_WPVaPVWJYh_HuiqvmOJi2frJOmTvsFe8rQPCPuzZfqD9Rm5Lz1E9ijR7i5_09GjPNDZeIcGNOwpU1VlkboGqGPGHxc0q-s28fzb99utdKzU6TvONWyodJtseQ/s1600/tonesontuesday2.jpg"></a> </center>

Disclaimer - By participating you give Scattered Horizons permission to share your photo on this blog. Photographers will be given credit for their work.

My photo is of a recent trip I took to try and de-stress a bit. On the way back from the coast we stopped in Portland, Oregon to take a picture of the city lights. This photo was taken at the end of the Eastbank Esplanade near OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). My goal was to capture the color and the lines. I competed with wind, cold and water that was anything but calm. I am happy with the result though and would love to go back in better conditions. In Lightroom, I cropped, straightened, adjusted many of the basic settings and used the tone curve a bit. What do you think?

Settings: ISO 400, 18mm, ss3.2sec, f/7.1 (full manual, on tripod, tungsten wb)

"Colors answer feeling in man; shapes answer thought; and motion answers will." - John Sterling

Joining the link ups below. Be sure to check out the beautiful shots and join the Tones on Tuesday link up found further down!

    

I Clicked it Up a Notch - February

Even though I love I Clicked it Up a Notch hosted by Courtney, I was a little nervous to participate this month as I have stumbled quite a bit when it comes to my photography goals. However, as I mentioned in my Tones on Tuesday post I plan to start fresh and to do that I need to reflect in order to grow.

While I didn't do too well on many of my goals in February, there was one that I really tried to commit myself to...

Goal 12. Take a 10 minute time-out during every photo shoot - As I mentioned when I made this goal, I often get caught up in taking pictures and finding the shot and then I miss opportunities and moments. Therefore, I have been purposefully pausing to put my camera down and just be in the moment and in the beautiful places I go to photograph. More often than not, this is when I stumble upon a favorite shot from the shoot. An unexpected image or perspective that I would not have seen within the viewfinder. It also allows me to experience a place more fully as I open my other senses beside sight to the space. 

The photo below happened as I was sitting in the dunes on the Long Beach Peninsula taking my 10 minutes. My main focus when on the beach is the sun, sand and waves. I love shooting through beach grasses, but my aim is usually to frame the beach and ocean. As I was taking my 10 minutes I was fascinated by the way the light played in the grasses, cast shadows on the sand and how well the colors of the grass and the sky and the water worked together. I am very glad I took my time-out and was able to "see" this shot :o). 

Settings: ISO 200, 50mm, ss1/4000, f/3.2 

(full manual, sunlight wb, clean edit in Lightroom)

"The best things in life are unexpected - because there were no expectations."
- Eli Khamarov

Tones on Tuesday #23 2.21.12

Hi everyone! I am so sorry for the delay in this post. I had some difficulty with a dentist appointment. I will get everything up soon, but until then feel free to link up. Be sure to come back, though :o)!

Now it's your turn to share your photo with altered tones. Here is the guidelines for Tones on Tuesday:

• The basic idea is to share one photo where you have altered the tones. Such as a black and white, sepia toned, selective coloring or colored photo. Feel free to share the original and edit, or just the edit.
• Please share a photo that you have taken and edited yourself.
• One photo per photographer please. If you have more than one photo in your post please indicate which one if for Tones on Tuesday.
• Please link up with your permalink and not your blog address.
• Attach the Tones on Tuesday button to your post
• Leave comments for the other participants, share the love :o)!
• Have fun!

<center> <a href="http://scatteredhorizons.blogspot.com" target="_self"><img border="0" alt="Scattered Horizons" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_U2oqLh1UmXZMxfX_WPVaPVWJYh_HuiqvmOJi2frJOmTvsFe8rQPCPuzZfqD9Rm5Lz1E9ijR7i5_09GjPNDZeIcGNOwpU1VlkboGqGPGHxc0q-s28fzb99utdKzU6TvONWyodJtseQ/s1600/tonesontuesday2.jpg"></a> </center>

Disclaimer - By participating you give Scattered Horizons permission to share your photo on this blog. Photographers will be given credit for their work.

Favorite Photo of the Week: Lake and a Sunset 2.11.12

An extremely busy and stressful week ends. It was a week filled with disappointments, but also with moments of blessings that filled me with hope. While I may not have captured those moments with my camera, I love that I am able to capture the same feelings in my photos. The two photos below do just that, the first seems like a physical manifestation of radiant hope and the second is just one of those blessed moments. 

Settings: ISO 200, 50mm, ss1/100, f/7.1 

(full manual, spot removal and a bit of a creative edit in Lightroom)

    

Settings: ISO 200, 50mm, ss1/100, f/7.1 

(full manual, cloudy wb, preset applied in Lightroom)

  

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all." - Emily Dickinson

Tones on Tuesday #22 2.14.12

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope your day is filled with many opportunities to tell the people you love that you love them :o)! Thank you for taking some time to view the showcases from last week and link up your photos. I LOVE learning from you!

Jaymi at Live, Love, Travel

The vibrancy of this photo and how the colors pop individually and together is a bit of magic! I love the details of the bubbles. Definitely a technique I am going to have to try! Thank you for sharing with us Jaymi.

Courtney at The Story of Us

What struck me most about this photo, beside the beautiful and soft black and white tones, was the way the objects chosen worked so well together. They not only spell the word love, but they all have a lovely antique feel. Thank you for linking up Courtney!

Sivinden at Just a Moment...

The light and shadows in this photo are simply stunning. They draw you in and I for one just want to wander down the path and do a bit of exploring. Thank you for sharing Sivinden!

Jaymi, Courtney and Sivinden please go HERE to grab your showcase button. 

Now it's your turn to share your photo with altered tones. Here is the guidelines for Tones on Tuesday:

• The basic idea is to share one photo where you have altered the tones. Such as a black and white, sepia toned, selective coloring or colored photo. Feel free to share the original and edit, or just the edit.
• Please share a photo that you have taken and edited yourself.
• One photo per photographer please. If you have more than one photo in your post please indicate which one if for Tones on Tuesday.
• Please link up with your permalink and not your blog address.
• Attach the Tones on Tuesday button to your post
• Leave comments for the other participants, share the love :o)!
• Have fun!

<center> <a href="http://scatteredhorizons.blogspot.com" target="_self"><img border="0" alt="Scattered Horizons" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_U2oqLh1UmXZMxfX_WPVaPVWJYh_HuiqvmOJi2frJOmTvsFe8rQPCPuzZfqD9Rm5Lz1E9ijR7i5_09GjPNDZeIcGNOwpU1VlkboGqGPGHxc0q-s28fzb99utdKzU6TvONWyodJtseQ/s1600/tonesontuesday2.jpg"></a> </center>

Disclaimer - By participating you give Scattered Horizons permission to share your photo on this blog. Photographers will be given credit for their work.

Now for my picture this week...

On of my goals for the year has been to take a picture a day with my iPhone and post it on my Facebook page and to do a post a day on my blog. While I have taken a picture a day, the posting part in both cases hasn't been something I have been able to make a permanent part of my routine. I am trying not to be too hard on myself as this weekend I traveled to Astoria to see my dad for his birthday and this week I have parent teacher conferences. However, I am a very goal oriented person and find it difficult when I don't achieve my goals. I am going to try and focus on why I set those goals in the first place though...to stretch myself to keep taking pictures, to learn and grow and to continue to fulfill my passion. 

The photo below is from my weekend celebrating my dad's birthday. We took a trip to Longview for an errand and stopped at the park surrounding Lake Sacajawea. It a huge park with the most amazing trees. My goal was to capture the serenity of the park and to showcase the beautiful trees. For processing I used a preset called "Sweet" in an attempt play up the tones and the subtle differences in the lighting throughout the photo. Just another day of fulfilling my passion :o)...

Settings: ISO 200, 50mm, ss1/100, f/7.1 (full manual, cloudy wb)

"Glory lies in the attempt to reach one's goal and not in reaching it." - Mahatma Gandhi

Joining the link ups below. Be sure to check out the beautiful shots and join the Tones on Tuesday link up found further down!

    

Poetic Winter: Warmth 2.11.12

One of my favorite views in Astoria where my dad lives is at the top of Coxcomb Hill where the Astoria Column sits. I love to go up there and look over the Columbia River, Youngs Bay and the Pacific Ocean. This weekend while visiting my dad to celebrate his birthday I headed up the hill to see the sunset. It was bitterly cold with a slight wind, but I could not help but be filled with warmth at the sight of the sun's rays breaking through the clouds that had filled the sky the entire day. I can't help but be awed by such a sight. I can't help but feel privileged to get to witness and photograph it. I can't help but drink it in.

Settings: ISO 200, 50mm, ss1/100, f/7.1 

(full manual, spot removal and a bit of a creative edit in Lightroom)

Settings: ISO 200, 50mm, ss1/80, f/7.1 

(full manual, spot removal and clean edit in Lightroom)

"Such lovely warmth of thought and delicacy of colour are beyond all praise, and equally beyond all thanks!" - Marie Corelli