happy halloween

I carved this pumpkin years ago, and took a color slide of it.  Today I made a digitized version for the occasion.  Boo!

lemons

The plein air painters have moved inside for the winter.  Here is my still life with lemons from yesterday's gathering.

oil on canvas panel, 8"x6"

stained glass 2

Here is another abstract photo in the style of a stained glass window, courtesy of the fall colors along the lower Dungeness River near Sequim.

beaver arch

This fallen tree and its shadow join to form an apparent arch in this unusual photo, taken along the lower Dungeness River.  Both the bent tree and the stump at the arch's endpoint appear to be the work of beavers.

Of historical note:  The Gateway Arch in St. Louis was completed on this day in 1965.

stained glass?

Silhouetted branches and leaves turning color give the look of a stained glass window to this scene along the lower Dungeness River.

haze

In this cliffside view overlooking the Columbia River, haze from forest fires has softened the background details, allowing fore- and middle-ground elements to dominate.

snags and palisades

These snags were photographed in morning light high above the Columbia River east of Portland, near Memaloose Island.

on the bluff

Towering pines poised high above the Columbia River, near Memaloose Island, complete this morning scene.  They were photographed on our way home from the John Day Fossil Beds last month.

adventuress

The plein air painters moved indoors yesterday morning to escape the cold and rain.  We were late getting to Point Hudson Marina in Port Townsend, and missed the move.  But I did get this photo of the schooner Adventuress under sail in Port Townsend Bay.

cliffside

Fall colors peek out of the cliffside shadows on the bluffs above the Columbia River near Memaloose State Park, Oregon.

columbia river

This placid morning view of the lower Columbia River near The Dalles, Oregon, was captured from the bluff high above Memaloose State Park.  The scene was softened by smoke from a large forest fire west of Mount Adams, Washington.

grasses

More grasses at Port Townsend's Kah Tai Lagoon, as seen by the pinhole camera.

habitat

Pinhole photo of a grassy corner of Kah Tai Lagoon in Port Townsend, WA.

path 2

Here is another take on yesterday's scene.  Pinhole photograph from Kah Tai Lagoon in Port Townsend.

path

Here is a lagoon-side path leading to some fall color, as recorded by the pinhole camera at Port Townsend's Kah Tai Lagoon.

twisty trunks

Thin, twisty trunks are the theme of today's pinhole camera image from Kah Tai Lagoon in Port Townsend.

kah tai tree

Here is another pinhole photograph: of a lagoon-side tree, from last Monday's visit to Kah Tai Lagoon in Port Townsend.

kah tai lagoon

Last Monday, the plein air painters met at Kah Tai Lagoon in Port Townsend.  Arriving late, I took the opportunity to make pinhole photographs.  This one is of an arm of the lagoon, along its south side.

stalwart

The neglected bleakness of this old roadside church matches the surrounding landscape.  Found near Condon, Oregon.

thirtymile creek

For today's image, it's back to north-central Oregon.  We came across this scenic creek canyon, just a few miles south of Condon, Oregon, on our way back last month from the John Day fossil beds.

the flying pig

This lumbering, pedal-powered kontestant in last Sunday's Kinetic Skulpture Race was probably the most noticeable- you could see it coming a mile away.

Here, the Flying Pig approaches Port Townsend Bay for the water portion of the race.

The last entrant into the bay, the Flying Pig heads out on the water as the fire-breathing dragon makes its return.

I should point out: winning this race is not about coming in first.  It takes just the right mixture of zaniness, lackluster performance, bribery and cheating to bring home the coveted Mediocrity Award.  One machine just went in circles after entering the water.  I thought at first it was a design flaw; now I see it could have been a deliberate strategy.

We left the festivities at this point: it's not surprising that a race through water, mud, sand, and hilly streets, in which everyone is trying to finish in the middle, would go on for hours.

broken flowerpot

Here is another whimsical entry from last Sunday's Kinetic Skulpture Race in Port Townsend, WA.

underground gnome

Most of the entrants in Sunday's Kinetic Skulpture Race carried two or three people; some had more.  This was the only single-pilot entry.  Here, the gnome heads for the water...

then flips on his side and starts paddling the water kourse.

He was in the lead at this point, but the paddling was slow going.

kinetic kraziness

The 30th annual Kinetic Skulpture Race was held yesterday in Port Townsend.  The theme was "Apokalyptik."  The human-powered kontraptions had to be able to navigate (kwick)sand, mud (the Dismal Bog), water, and "hilly silly" neighborhoods.

There were a dozen entrants.  We witnessed the start (at low noon) and stayed long enough to see them all in the water and one or two back out again.

More photos to follow.

oregon teasels

These were found peeking out of the shadows along Thirtymile Creek, south of Condon, Oregon.

oregon scenery

Spectacular butte country in the vicinity of the John Day River in central Oregon.

painted hills 4

Here is one more image of the brightly colored hills in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

oregon geology

Sheep Rock, when viewed from farther north than in my previous photo, reveals more colorful exposed strata from the age of mammals.

painted hills 3

I almost expect to see the Curiosity rover's tracks in this image.  But it's not Mars; it's the John Day Fossil Beds in central Oregon.

john day river

This is the John Day River, viewed from the Cant ranch near the base of Sheep Rock, in central Oregon.  (Sheep Rock is off to the right, out of this picture.)

sheep rock

The iconic namesake of the Sheep Rock unit of the John Day Fossil Beds, this rock was apparently named for the bighorn sheep which were seen on its slopes.  In addition, the river valley from which this photo was taken was home to a sheep ranch, starting in the late 1800s.