Author Archives: Doug

My Uncle Blaine–He Was Bigger Than Big

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When I was five, he was a giant, much larger than any man I knew

He would take me for rides on his bulldozer—that was big too

Everywhere we went he was calm, confident and keen

With huge dams, big pipes or some massive machine

He was powerfully strong, but gentle, not gruff

Big problems or small, he could handle the stuff

An angry bull through the fence or a neighbor in need

Or even getting back at my mom with a watermelon seed

He had a great intellect that he didn’t wear on his sleeve

If his ego was large, it was impossible to perceive

The impact of his life on his family and friends

Is of a size I am unable to convey in the end

……..Me, I’m riding in an old pickup truck—a 1940s International Harvester rig

I’m riding with my uncle Blaine who was bigger than big.

Wynter Blaine Sturtevant 1922-2013

Room With A View

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On the recommendation of friends and family, Katie and I checked into the Ester Lee Motel in Lincoln City. After the drive down from Portland I was ready for a nap. I woke up just in time to catch the last moments of the sunset from the window of our room.

 

I should have anticipated that the sunrise might be worth getting up for, but I didn’t and It was. It was not only a colorful sunrise, but a lovely setting moon. Once again, I woke up just in time to click off a few shots from the window before the colors faded.

After breakfast, we came back to check out and I caught a parting shot from the same window.

Nice lodgings with a nice view–we also saw some whales spouting, but they were a loooong ways out there.

 

Five Eagles – One Crow

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There were five eagles soaring around over my house yesterday……and one crow harassing them. Eventually, the eagles moved on. It’s amazing what a little courage and determination can do. I couldn’t get all the eagles and the crow in one shot, but I got two of them.

Rightfully So

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On considering both sides of the issue –This is a photo and poem I put together a few years back for a greeting card, it is now available as a poster by clicking on the image.

Please share and subscribe!

The Winter Guest

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Once again, you can get to a greeting card version of this by clicking the photo. Please share this and anything else you like on my site, and or leave a comment – love to hear from you! Thanks for stopping by!

Doug

Christmas Ornament Memories

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I used a shot of my sister Virginia’s Christmas tree from a couple of years ago for this one.   The greeting card version is available at my Zazzle store, just click the photo.

Escape

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This is the second of two photo compositions I submitted for the Studio 360 Photo Remix Listener Challenge. You were supposed to incorporate one or more of the ten images they provided into a scene of your own. Here I used their pathway through the park, the crow, the marble head, the reaching hand, the derby hat from the man’s portrait, and some of their clouds (for the fog). I added some layers of my own cloud shots and my headless self running down the path.

……but I left without my……..Well, it wasn’t really mine to begin with.

Yes, now I remember

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This is the first of two photo compositions I submitted for the Studio 360 Photo Remix Listener Challenge. You were supposed to incorporate one or more of the ten images they provided into a scene of your own. Here I used the man’s portrait, the lady in the white dress, and the guitar. With a little :-) editing and manipulation, I placed them into one of my “puddle” shots, along with myself sitting on a blanket holding a guitar method book that belonged to my grandmother. I replaced the woman’s left hand with Katie’s–holding the guitar, then placed a harmonica in her right. I used the oil paint filter in Photoshop to give the greenery an even more otherworldly dimension. Phun with Photoshop!

….I used to  know that one.

 

Liberating Constraints

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This is a photo of the Seattle installation of “The Fin Project : From Swords to Plowshares” located in Magnuson Park. These are retired submarine fins, and the sculpture is intended to be a monument to “World Peace and Recycling.” Here I am recycling the sculpture and global peace idea with an “act locally” message.

Celestial Wind

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I had the idea for this photograph almost a year ago, but at the time it was too cloudy. I finally got back to my Uncle’s ranch in the Sierra foothills of California for an all too brief visit a couple of weeks ago, and the sky was clear! Most of the Big Dipper was below the horizon, so it took me a while to locate the North Star–especially since I was searching the wrong part of the sky to begin with :-) Seeing my initial results, I thought I had some nice shots, but not what I was going for. Next time I would need to spend a lot more time taking many more exposures to get the star trails I wanted. Then yesterday I discovered this little free program called StarStax. It proved to be the answer to my original vision. Most people go for continuous star trails, but I think the broken trails here work nicely with the blades of the windmill.

Notice the UFO (actually, an airplane) that tracked from the lower left up through the middle of the windmill. Also the one coming up from the same area and turning upward. That one is probably a plane as well, but I didn’t notice it while I was shooting…..Hmmm.