Lunar Eclipse

Remember when we had that lunar eclipse back in September?  On the West Coast, we were able to observe the eclipse just as the sky got dark and the moon rose.  It was the first lunar eclipse that I remember seeing in a long time, if not ever.  They happen every few years or something, but it seems like most of the time I'm in a location where it's cloudy so I end up missing out.

This most recent lunar eclipse was on a cold, clear night.  I made Nick join me in the grade school's field behind our house, where we could get a good view without the neighborhood's houses and trees obstructing our view.  We stood and watched as the moon rose in the sky, my camera poised on its tripod, taking photos every few minutes.  I was hoping to catch the eclipse as the earth's shadow started to pass across the moon, but the moon was behind the horizon at that point and it was still light out.  I also wanted to watch as the moon began to emerge from behind the earth's shadow, but we were all too frozen by that point and wanted to get back inside to thaw ourselves.  So, we just watched the middle of the eclipse, while the moon was an eerie blackish orange in earth's shadow as it gradually floated higher into the sky and toward the west.

I'm sure you've all seen composite photos which show the moon partly covered, fully covered, and partly uncovered, all right next to each other, right?  I wanted to try something like that.  I set up my tripod and camera, figured out the moon's direction of travel, aimed the camera so the moon would start in the bottom left of the frame, and then snapped a photo every few minutes, tracking the moon's path toward the upper right of the frame.  Well, guess what!  The composite photos you've seen, they're all lies!!  The distance the moon travels while staying in the earth's shadow is a LOT.  As a result, those partially covered, fully covered, and partially uncovered moons had to be re-positioned in order to be right next to each other within the same frame.  See what I mean?  Here's my composite where I did not re-position any of the moons (3rd from the bottom left, I must've bumped my camera):

All of these moons are in earth's shadow.  At the bottom left, they are probably completely behind earth's shadow, while you can see toward the top right there's a brighter edge as the moon begins to emerge from behind the shadow.  In just that small amount of change of the shadow, the moon has traveled quite a bit within a single frame!  So now you know: those lunar eclipse photos are more edited than I thought.  Thought, next time I will use a timer so the moon is more evenly spaced, and a remote so I don't have to touch my camera to take a photo.

Here's another moon picture, just for fun:

Cushman

A couple posts back, I mentioned this magical place my family would occasionally (almost yearly) vacation where we'd regularly see adorable raccoons out and about.  We would stay at my dad's cousin's cabin on Lake Cushman, nestled in the Olympic National Forest in Washington State.  Growing up, this was my favorite vacation spot.

The four of us usually drove up to stay for a few days, sometimes a week.  The cabin sleeps 10 (three rooms with doubles or queens, one room with two sets of bunk beds), so we usually invited our cousins to join us since they lived reasonably close.  I loved being there with just my parents and sister, but I loved even more having my cousins join us.  Our days were filled with hikes at Staircase Park, lounging on the cabin's dock, playing in the water until we were shivering uncontrollably, playing board games, and gazing at the millions of stars.  I remember trying to count all of the stars in the sky one night, and I gave up after maybe 30 because it was hard to tell which ones I counted and which ones I hadn't yet.  It was too tedious a task, and kids just don't have that kind of patience!

My cousin Amy and I loved to use the paddle boat to putz around the lake.  Usually we stayed in our little cove, but occasionally we ventured over to boat ramp at the park down the shore.  One time we tried to paddle our way across the lake.  I don't think we even made it half way before we got too tired and turned around to start the long journey back.  In retrospect, that was not the best idea we've ever had considering there are often motorboats on the lake, pulling people on skis and tubes behind them.  Being a small, slow, human-powered vessel can be dangerous around fast powerful boats like that.  It must've been a weekday that we attempted our crossing since there was hardly anyone on the water.

I regularly reminisce about all the fun times my family has had at the cabin and to this day it is still one of my favorite vacation spots.  It had been several years since I'd last been up there, so I was thrilled when my parents suggested we go this past July.  Unfortunately, it was only my parents, me and Nick; my sister and her husband weren't able to join us this time.  Sadly the paddle boat was stolen and never recovered, so we didn't get to use it.  But it was still a great time with lots of relaxation.  We did all the usual activities, from hiking to relaxing on the water to playing games.

We had some beautiful sunsets during our stay at the lake.

These clouds started out yellow, faded to gray, then
became a brilliant orange which turned magenta
before completely fading to darkness.

These birds liked to just sit on docks along the water and soak up sun with
their mouths hanging open.

Father's Day Photo Hike

One of the reasons Nick and I moved back to Oregon was to be close to family and all the awesome outdoorsy activities available so close to town.  As a result, last Father's day I got to take advantage of both!  My dad and I took a few short hikes on a loop drive through the Columbia gorge, stopped in Hood River for lunch, and then to Lost Lake by Mt Hood, then up and around Mt Hood, stopping at Trillium Lake for the sunset, and then back home.  We took Nova with us but she was a huge pain pretty much the whole day.  She pulled so much more than she usually does on hikes and was super whiny the entire car ride.  I think the only reason she was worse than usual was because my dad was there and she doesn't see him often so she was extra amped up.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun to hike with my dad because, like me, he is into photography so he and I were both on a mission to capture some great photos of the landscape around us as we hiked.  I often feel bad hiking with others who don't care as much about photography because I make them stop and wait for me while I take a lot of photos along the way.  Thankfully everyone I usually hike with is very patient and accommodating of my obsession.  But when I'm with others who are also taking as many photos as I am, I don't feel bad.  Instead, it's almost like we feed off of each other, sharing tips and ideas.  And there's multiple sets of eyes looking for great shots.  Plus it was obviously nice getting some father-daughter time, too.  Bonus!  Here are some of my favorites:

We paused at Horsetail Falls in the Gorge.

Along the trail at Lost Lake

About two thirds of the way around Lost Lake

 And more photos...

Drought and Orchids

We had a drought last summer.  I don't know if the drought has been officially declared over yet, but with the amount of rain we've been getting in the hills so far, and the snow in the mountains, I'm guessing it'll be over this year.  But we'll see what kind of weather we get the rest of winter and this coming spring!

The wetter it is, the more the rivers swell.  I've seen Willamette Falls become almost not even a water fall because of how full the river was.  As in, the river's level was as high as the upper part of the falls, so there was no water falling over a ledge anymore.  This past summer, it was just about the opposite.  In my 3 decades of life, I'd never seen the water fall reduce to such a small trickle.  The rock and man-made structures typically hidden by water were completely exposed.  It was so historically low that I decided to document it.  These photos were taken just up the way from the old paper mill, and across the river from the water treatment plant and the old locks.  Take a look:

As usual I had some orchids blooming at various points during the summer.  Here are a couple of my favorites.

Brassavola Nodosa

Cutest Little Bandit

One of my favorite animals as a kid was the raccoon.  They are quite common around here, though I rarely saw them in our yard.  However, almost every time we vacationed at my dad's cousin's cabin on Lake Cushman in Washington, at least one or two raccoons would show up on the property, often in the morning or evening but quite bravely coming up onto the deck as we gawked from the other side of the window.  I was always disappointed that my mom required us to stay a healthy distance away from them.  If I'd had my way, I would have invited them into the cabin to join us for breakfast.

Although my husband and I live in the suburbs, we are only about a half mile from the end of suburbia before it turns into the rural farmland and woods that surround the Portland Metro area.  I would say it's a safe bet that there are lots of raccoons in the area, however I hadn't seen any live ones since moving back here in May 2014.  Until last summer!  We have a giant oak tree with an age that varies depending on which arborist you ask.  They've thrown out estimates anywhere from 150 to 350 years old.  Either way, it's old.  Our back yard, where the oak is, is completely fenced all the way around with a 6-foot solid fence that goes into the ground.  Despite that, a juvenile raccoon decided it was worth the effort to enter, and made its way into the big oak tree to spend some time lazing around high in the branches.  It was a beautiful sunny morning and I had stepped outside to take in the fresh morning air warmed by the sun, when I happened to glance upward and see a little bandit in the branches up above.  I'm lucky I saw it because they are good at blending in.  While it hung out, I was able to observe it and snap a few photos of it from the ground.  It snoozed, moved to a different branch, snoozed some more, and also occasionally watched me as I watched it.  And the whole time it was incredibly adorable.  Feast your eyes on this fuzzy little morsel!

Peek-a-boo!

Look at the dangling feet!!!

What kinds of wild animals do you get near your home?  What are your favorites to observe?

Flowers from Last Summer

I probably say this every time I write a blog post, but I'll say it again.  I haven't posted in way too long and I'm trying to catch up on some photo editing!  The ever-growing stash of photos to edit is continually getting bigger instead of getting smaller, which isn't a good thing.  Maybe I'll make a New Year's Resolution to post twice per month.  Or maybe not.  I've never been big on making resolutions like that.  I'm always trying to improve myself and I don't think it's important to time it relative to the start of a calendar year.

Anyway.  Last spring and summer I had a few orchids blooming and was fortunate to have some beautiful evening sun for "posing" my plants.  I also captured a few roses from the bushes in my yard.  I love roses and would live in the Portland International Rose Test Garden if I could.  What a dream that would be!  Minus the crowds, of course.

If you're reading from my home page, be sure to click "read more" for more photos!

Encyclia Radiata -- a non-resupinate flower (the blooms look 'upside down'
but they are truly right-side up; most other orchids are resupinate, where their
buds rotate during growth so the flowers open upside down)

Roses for a Birthday

One of the big reasons my husband and I moved to Oregon was to be close to family.  Neither of us had family in Indiana, and Oregon offered a much larger job market and a relief from winter, unlike northern Michigan.  I have loved getting to spend significantly more time with family as a result.

My mom's birthday is at the end of May, and this year it was on a Saturday.  It worked out perfectly to take her on her actual birthday to explore the International Rose Test Garden in Portland, right at the peak of the roses blooming.  Almost every plant had at least some fully open blooms, and most varieties were filled with beautiful, fragrant flowers.  The sky was a patchwork of clear blue and white puffs and the temperature was just right for jeans and a t-shirt.  The day could not have been much better.

Being that the gardens are so popular and it was peak season, we had to start pretty early because it gets crowded fast during the peak season, so we arrived around 9:30 and got a parking spot right up front.  As we wandered the rows upon rows of roses (ha!), time flew by and the crowds got thicker.  We ended up staying for over 3 hours!  I think we saw every variety of rose.

Of course I took loads of photos.  It's hard to resist when you have such great subjects at your disposal.  When editing the photos from the Tulip Festival, I feel like I used a bit of a heavy hand with some of the vibrancy and color saturation adjustments.  So with these, I only edited the exposure and nothing else (except removing an occasional speck or something like that).  No adjustments to contrasts, vibrancy, or saturation.  I really wanted to let the flowers speak for themselves.  Here are some photos of my favorites.  (Click "Read More..." to see more)

It may look like a peony, but it's a rose!