Island of the Sea Lions

Rocky island resort of barking sea lions and screeching gulls, complete with crashing waves and salty sea spray. Click the image for a larger view.

Claw

Empty shell of a crab claw. Exoskelotons are still one of the strangest things to me. Bones on the outside of a body. Weird, weird, weird. And the whole molting thing? What must that feel like?

Mine!

A gull in mid-squawk. Makes me think this clip from the animated movie "Finding Nemo" with all the gulls in a squawking chorus of "Mine-mine! Mine! Mine!".

Lion Around

Sleepy sea lion at Cape Arago on the Oregon Coast near Coos Bay. Couldn't believe how close we were able to get to this guy.

Summer Jump

A joyful jump into the ocean surf. This photo sums up our Labor Day weekend -- a memorable trip down the beautiful Oregon coast with plenty of stops at beaches along the way. Ahhhhhh.... summer. Please don't let it end.

P.S. If you haven't heard already, Google has released a beta version of Picasa 3.

• Need a super easy way to manage your pile of digital photos?
• Want to make some simple retouching without learning (or spending money on) Photoshop?
• Want a easy way to upload photos to your Blogger posts?

Picasa is worth the price -- FREE.

To answer your questions in advance:

• Yes, I use Picasa. Every cotton-pickin' day.
• No, I don't use it for photo editing, but I do think it's good for the average person (I use Photoshop).
• No, I don't worship at the altar of the omnipotent, omniscient Google -- even though I'm suckered in by all their freebies.
• Yes, Google will take over the world. But at least I'll have my photos in tidy little folders when they do.

Taiko

A trio of Taiko drums from this weekend's Oregon Symphony in the Neighborhoods festival just down the street. There's just so much to do in the city. Makes me happy.

Barbie Bike

A blur of pink and blonde. Kids at play in the park during the Oregon Symphony In The Neighborhoods celebration last Saturday.

Portrait of a Cellist

I've always thought the cello to be the most emotionally moving of all instruments, most like the human voice. My wife and I, both musicians, are determined to take cello lessons someday when the kids are grown.

This photo kicks off a week (or more?) of pictures from a shoot I did this past Saturday for the Oregon Symphony. I ended up with well over 2000 photos of the events and musical groups performing all day long in Portland's Mt. Scott park. Now if I can just find the time to sort through them all...

Backyard Camping - Crossmark on KATU

Zack looking like a poster boy for Oscar Meyer hot dogs. It's actually just one of several promo shots I did for an article on backyard camping that my wife wrote for KATU television's website. (Go check it out. Think they got the pictures big enough?)

Cross on a Dark Sky

From the top of a church around the corner.

Fleur

Architectural detail from Old Town Portland, a historical area that's gentrifying quickly.

Style Shop

I see this sign nearly every day as I wait for the bus each morning. Advertisement on the side of an old barber shop (which appears to be open only on Mondays).

Safety Green

Safety patrol guarding the myriad of joggers, cyclists and pedestrians crossing the Steel Bridge in Portland. I doubt this lower level of the bridge has ever seen so much traffic, thanks to the bridge being closed to the vehicles and the MAX train most of this month.

Before this, I didn't even know there WAS a lower level to the bridge--let alone that it afforded such a great, close view of the river. If you live in Portland, it's worth the stroll. Start at the Rose Quarter MAX stop, walk across the Steel Bridge, then follow the river walk down to Old Town / China Town. Great way to get our of your car and get to know the city.

Recycle

Guerilla tactics in the war on waste. A graffiti reminder on the handle of a dumpster lid to prick the conscience of anyone about to contribute unnecessarily to the landfill. Gotta love Portland.

Ribsy

Water spray and sunset almost make Ribsy seem alive. This statue at Grant Park in Portland pays honor to the beloved pet of fictional Henry Huggins in Beverly Cleary's children's book by the same name.

Queen Anne

A bit of Queen Anne's Lace in the morning sun.

Giggleboxes

I know two boys who can make each other giggle till the cows come home. Brothers and best friends.

Return of the Chicken

Watchful eye of the Chickenland Strut. I think I've developed a chicken phobia. Probably will dream about ninja chickens tonight.

Pretty in Pink

The most beautiful things are the most frangible and fleeting. From the Rose Test Garden in Portland's Washington Park.

(I just learned the word "frangible". Had to use it.)

Of Lines and Angles

Criss-crossed lines everywhere on a footbridge leading to the lower deck of the Steel Bridge across the Willamette River in Portland. Twin spires of the Convention Center in the background.

Pillar Face

An aguished faced carved in stone. Japanese American Historical Plaza on the Willamette River in Waterfront Park, Portland.

Gulliver

Speckled gull striking a pose by the Willamette River waterfront.

This summer has been so beautiful, that I had forgotten about the gray days Portland can be famous for. A welcome change from 90-degree weather.

Lone Dandy

A standout in the crowd. This field of dandelions featured the tallest specimens I think I've ever seen.

Honeycomb Grill

Honeycombed dots on the grill of this tractor. I'm leaving the large version of this one up on the web just for kicks. Click the photo to enlarge. If you're infatuated with dots, set the pic as your computer's desktop wallpaper.

Very Portland

Another detail from a Portland fire truck.

Speaking of Portland, I had someone say that I was a "very Portland kind of person". Didn't realize that "Portland" was an adjective. But I take it as the high praise it was intended to be. If they think I'm "very Portland", they should meet my wife.

Left

Turn signal from a Portland Fire Department truck. Just part of the festivities at the Mt. Scott Community block party this past weekend. Free food, rock climbing wall and roller skating--what more could we ask for on a sunny Saturday?

Bee Buffet

For weeks now, countless fuzzy bees have swarmed in a neighbor's front yard, snacking constantly on abundant nectar.

Lost Shoe - Photo Tip

Tiny shoe left on the park bench for its owner to claim.

-------------------------

A comment from a recent post asked how to get an effect like the one above where only certain parts of the photo are in color and the rest is black and white.

Answer: I painted the park bench grey.

No, it's Photoshop. There are many ways to get this effect. Here's just a couple.

PHOTOSHOP TIP
BLACK AND WHITE IMAGE WITH COLOR HIGHLIGHTS

METHOD 1: The more common , but more painstaking, work flow:

You could select the shoe using the magic wand tool or the magnetic lasso. Then feather the selection by a couple pixels. Then duplicate the shoe selection by jumping it to a new layer (Ctrl+J). Now make the layer underneath black and white. Tada!

METHOD 2: Here's a faster, easier way:

The original color of the park bench was a muted green, so the only colors in the photo are really pinks and greens. All I needed to do was create a new Hue/Saturation Layer, then desaturate all of the yellows, greens, and blues. All that's left are beautiful pinks (magentas). No selections necessary!

Even if you don't have Photoshop, most photo editing software mid-level and above will have adjustments for hue and saturation. Try it out and share your results!

[Is this tip helpful? Let me know! What else do you want to know?]

3 on Hydrant

Since yesterday's post obsessed with fire, it's only fitting to post a fire hydrant today.

"Never seen nobody take a picture of hydrant b'fore," says the middle-aged lady watching me from her driveway.

I forget how strange I must look--of course, I am a strange looking person in general--kneeling in the middle of the street to get just the right angle.

"Well, it's the ordinary stuff that makes for interesting shots," I smile back. "We get so used to it, we stop paying attention."

"Guess that's right," she nods.

Caustic Wisp

Love campfires. Hate smelling like smoke.

So how do you scientifically categorize fire? Doesn't seem like it fits as a solid or liquid or a gas. Those are nouns. Fire seems like a verb--a caustic wisp of inbetween when something alive escapes into nothingness, leaving ashes as a memory.

Am I the only one who ponders fire?

Hot Diggety - Crossmark on KATU

Nothing says "summer" like hot dogs on a campfire. Unless it's mosquitos. Or sunburn.

Head over to KATU.com to see Crossmark camping photos featured in a new article by my wife and fellow blogger, the Stretch Mark Mama. Be sure to check out her favorite chili recipe that you can easily take camping for--chili dogs! (A personal favorite of mine.)

Book Return

Outside the Gresham Public Library (Gresham, Oregon). Our family usually has at least 50 books out from the library at any given time. That's some serious reading going on!

Take a Bow

A gallant horse with noble manners. Or maybe he's just eating.

Enter to Win - Bloggy Giveaway!

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To enter:

• Browse through the Crossmark photo archives (see "Categories" column to the right) and select one photo that you would want on your set of notecards.


• Leave a comment on this post with the title of the photo you've selected.


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Wanna win more stuff? Visit the Bloggy Giveaways going on all this week!

Barn Light

Even a mundane, utilitarian object can have an artful appeal.

Volvo on a Lonely Street

Old Volvo with no place to go. Stitched from five separate photos.

Chickenland Strut

Ruler of the roost struts his stuff. No doubting who's boss in Chickenland tonight.

Blue Springy

Curls and swirls make this happy blue flower look like a jack-in-the-box popping up to say "hello!".

Filament

Summer night, evening lights, and music in the air. An outdoor concert on the lawn wraps up a fun evening of berry picking at Sauvie Island in Portland.

Bearded Wheat

Wheat stalk in amber sunset. Thanks to my farming in-laws, I'm proud to say that I actually know that this type is called "bearded wheat" for its long tendrils.