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Let’s not forget how we got to the park

Took advantage of some dry roads this morning to head to Bald Peak State Park. I should have worn a jacket as it *looked* MUCH warmer than ~30deg outside!

I’ve been dying to get out and shoot some photos of the fall leaves, but it just never seems to happen!  Here’s one out the living room window ..

Started off an early Saturday morning with a drive in the vette, in search of a new playground.  Not so coincidentally, we chose the one on the other side of some curvey country roads   Just south of River Road in Hillsboro, OR, is Rood Bridge Park.  There are currently MANY improvements being made, with small streams flowing around, a frog pond, a nice play structure, nature trails, etc.

Snapped a few shots of the Tualatin River while visiting Cooke Park in Tigard.  Lots of smoke from a BBQ, and some drab lighting.  HDR to the rescue!!

It feels like I’m finally starting to get back into the picture-taking groove again.  I had a few great photo op’s during this weekend’s 4th of July celebration, out visiting Cam and Dave in St. Helen’s, OR.  The view from the hill at their house turned out to be spectacular!  At 20-30 miles from downtown Portland, I figured we’d be too far away to see much of the fireworks action around the city, but it turns out the distance allowed us to see over 100 shows!  I REALLY need to start bringing a tripod to these gigs! Check out the ridge in this photo, where you can see all the tiny explosions in the distance (click for larger):

A nearby field and cloudy sunset made for some great HDR opportunities:

Pitch black in between bursts, the picnic area become brightly lit for the brief moment of the mortar rounds exploding:

And a few obligatory 4th of July sparkler shots:

Had an incredible family vacation this week to Whistler, B.C. for some snowboarding and relaxation.  The camera(s) got a good workout, and I’m just now finding some time to go back and see what I got.  I found some good shots from both the Canon 40D around the house / lodge, and also from the Canon SD870 from up on the mountain.  Here are a few HDRs to kick off the set:

This first one was a little tricky given the fact I forgot my tripod.  I had a small “camping” clamp on version, which I had to prop up on an electrical transformer box (which was surrounded by deep snow).  After climbing on and pointing the camera in the approximate direction, I got this: