dndement

Morning light, Tumalo State Park Bend Oregon

Tumalo St. park is only 25 minutes from my home but again it is one of those places that I have not taken the time to explore. I even bought a state park pass so I could park there and other parks in the state but never used it until now.
Robin, one of the pool/ hiking pals said “where do you want to hike this week, Tuesday?” I said I have never hiked Reily Ranch preserve or Tumalo St Park. So the plan was put together. Unfortunately, only 2 of the 4 of us could make it Tuesday, but it was the best day for the upcoming weather forecast. The plan was we would meet at Tumalo St. Park, leave my car and then continue up to Reily Ranch Preserve where we would start the hike. I went a little early because I didn’t want to be late and I knew that I could spend the time taking photos. There is something about the morning sunlight on the rocks along the Deschutes river.

And this morning was fantastic. Now that we are in fall there was the red willow branches, the yellow of the dried grasses, the green of the junipers and ponderosa pines, the deep blue of the river water against the pink pumice rocks, and the reflections of the rocks on the water.

No matter which way you looked. Down river or upriver.

Those of you who have followed me on Facebook know that over the years I have spent a lot of time photographing the rocks in the canyon I call Sage Ranch rd. Canyon. I see a lot of similarities between these rocks and those except that the river that probably shaped them is gone. The Deschutes is still here.

To me there is a timelessness about the rocks…. They have withstood a lot from weather, winds, and water for thousands of years. Yes, parts of them crumble and land in the river but still they stand a show of earth’s history.

As an armchair geologist who reads every book she can find on Oregon geology, I know the violent forces that created this scene and am at peace with it though I still have questions that no one can answer. Mother nature does not give up her secrets easily, and she is not going to write a book for me to read.

So I turn my camera away from the rocks and the river and look for other delights to photograph.

Thank you, Mother nature, for giving me the morning sun shining through an oak leaf. You are always giving me the hint that there is more to come in this life. Nothing is finite always changing.
Robin is here now, and it is time to explore more of your beauty.

Shevlin Park and Tumalo Creek. A beautiful place to hike

I first learned about Shevlin park more than 30 years ago when I would go to Bend on the back roads. But I never stopped. I always meant to. It was the site of a major fire the year we were building our log house here, and always on my radar to go. However, like many close destinations I will go later. Now being a member of the Bend Parks and Rec. system, I am looking at these parks close to home and saying why not? They are close, they are easy to get to, and I have friends through the park system who also like to hike. We all need a little exercise in nature that doesn’t require a major hiking plan with permits and large backpacks filled with food, bedding. and tents. A simple way to enjoy what Mother Nature has given us and the parks and rec. has preserved.

I had shared a post about Shevlin park on Facebook and said I wanted to go hike there one day… Thank You Robin for saying ” Why not Friday or Saturday?”
Saturday dawned bright and sunny a perfect day for a little hike. Three of the four of us met at the parking lot where the Aspen Hall is, and we started out. I admit I kind of forgot to take my camera out of the backpack, I as enjoying it so much. but the sight of the yellow Tamarack /Larch tree against the green evergreens and the red willow stems was too much to pass by without the photos. I let my hiking partners get ahead and sure enough they walked through the photo (in the center of the top photo). Then I concentrated on that bright yellow tamarack.

Because I dawdled on this shot, I had to hustle to catch up with both Robin and Susan. Not that difficult for me, but unusual since I usually am ahead.
I found them both waiting for me and checking the maps downloaded on their phones.

I couldn’t resist this shot. The hiker in the back actually stopped and asked if we needed any help. We were ok they were just trying to figure out where we were in relation to the end of the trail and a couple other parks that are adjacent to Shevlin but on the other side of Tumalo ck.

A few feet further down we came to this little bridge and Robin said “Photo time” we continued on to the weir.

there was a lot of interesting things to photograph along the way

looking upstream from the dam. There is a nice picnic area there to stop and eat. We sat and rested then decided to continue on to see where the trail ends.

At about this point we were about a mile and a half out and should be thinking about the return trip. This portion of the trail was a bit rougher than the trail below the weir, and we knew that the trail ended a few more feet ahead of us so we turned around.

Susan took this shot of Robin and me, because we all know the photographer never gets in the photos and wasn’t really there….

we crossed several of these little bridges along the trail

I so loved the bright yellow colors against the darker evergreen trees.

As we were coming around the corner towards the weir I spotted this bank of yellow Aspens, I didn’t notice it as we were going up the trail

We stopped and had a little lunch/ snack, chatted and just enjoyed the sun along the creek. then headed back to the Aspen Hall and parking area.

As usual I was stopping and taking photos so got behind a bit.
I soon caught up to Susan and Robin who were sitting at one of the picnic tables outside the hall chatting and watching the families fishing on the small pond.

we sat, chatted some more and enjoyed the nice sunny day. All the while making more plans for hiking the parks of Bend Parks and Recreation.
I am ready to go again… any time.

Gnomes and Trolls, cousins and friends

The trolls and the gnomes are first cousins of the mischievous kind. You never know what they are brewing up when they get together. I heard that the gnomes had purchased some new slat skies that needed to be painted, and their plan was to come visit their troll family while the skis were being customized.

While the trolls had returned home for dinner the Gnomes pilfered … I mean borrowed a couple pairs of my reading glasses and set to work designing the new paint jobs for the skies.

and making plans for an epic snowball fight while they are waiting. Because there is nothing like a good snowball fight with your cousins

Piles of snowballs have been made

On both sides.

By the next day the skis were painted and ready to use and the gnomes went home sporting my reading glasses.
And the Trolls?

Well … They continued the snowball fight with the Lizards. At least till the lizards got cold and went home

The benefits of supporting friends and creativity…

I have totally enjoyed working with the trolls, they have allowed me to expand my creativeness. They have pushed me to execute some of my ideas that I had been trying to figure out for a couple of years. Many of those ideas came from the 52-week Challenge by Nicole Smith, Nicolsey Photography. I loved trying to come up with new ideas for the challenge, and the supportive conversations I would have with the other members of that group. The ideas were constantly flowing even if I could not totally figure out how to do it. I had quite the photo set up on my back deck but always knew that I wanted to move it back into my garage studio area. The back deck was too limiting even though it was convenient. I made the effort to use the photo studio area in the garage studio area this last year. Adjusting the height of the photo table, putting down flooring that is comfortable to stand on.

Another thing that has helped me with the photography has been the Current Class at the Bend Parks and Recreation. I have always had good balance but that really doesn’t stay unless you work at it constantly. The exercises in the pool are designed to improve and keep that balance and fitness intact. While photographing the gnomes and trolls I found myself constantly needing to step up on the little footstool to get the better shot or hanging snowflakes from the ceiling , stepping over it to adjust the scene, or moving it so I could bend down and pick up one of the Styrofoam snowballs off of the floor. All the while dancing on the floor to… Well Christmas music this time.
The thing is all of these things are easy to do simply because of the friends I have made over the years. From my little coffee group of online sellers, to the bigger group of people in the 52 week photo challenge, to the group of people in the pool who also like to go out to eat and hike. All of you have contributed to my health and enjoyment, in one way or another and I would like to Thank you for that….
So Thank You Friends….

Getting to know the Gnomes

A friend asked me to photograph her gnomes. I said absolutely. That would be really Cool and Fun. It was the gnomes that precipitated the cleanup in the photo area, and I have to say it was a joy to work in the photo area with no obstructions or obstacles.
Since I am getting a feel for photographing the gnomes I added the Troll family

Pretty soon there were games of hide and seek, and who could make the best snowballs

You gotta admit they were getting pretty good at it too….

But then the snow started falling and the trolls had to go home.

The gnomes broke out their slat skies and got ready to head home…. With plans to come back tomorrow and another snowball challenge…

My Photo studio needs a bit of reorganization, Again.

My Studio is the victim of many different projects, because well at one time it was an unfinished 2 car garage. It really could use a ceiling. But that is another project for a later date. My housemate and I had bought some of those interlocking mats for the floor and while they were nice there were not enough for the room. Then we found a really good deal on Marketplace and bought 20 more. They were slightly different but went together with the original ones, okay. Still though there were not enough. This if a 500 sq ft room, and the hard cement floor is cold…

This summer I had several things I wanted painted or stained including some boards for my photography to use as props and stands and when finished everything got shoved back into the studio in the unused area. Eventually some of the painted blocks 2×4’s and 2×6’s made their way to the actual photo area, and I have used them. They work great for elevation changes. Last month we found on Marketplace 20 more of those interlocking mats. When we got them home, we realized that they were thicker than the original mats. That meant reorganizing all of the mats in front of the photo area so that the thicker mats were there and the others were covering more of the high use areas of the floor. I began pulling up the thinner mats in the photo area and piling them around. I moved my rolling rack that was mostly filled with photo props and fabric backgrounds and tried to put some of the thinner mats there against the large garage door. They were too big. So after a day of trying to organize the floor I quit and moved on to more projects. With all of these projects and others inside the house that meant moving stuff from in the house out to the studio, things are starting to pile up in the studio. There are little trails to the photo area, the freezers and to the door. Another find last week on Marketplace we got 20 more of the interlocking mats only these were 1ft X 1ft. I decided that those would work under the rolling rack but hadn’t gotten to it. A friend had asked if I would photograph a couple of her gnomes and I jumped at the chance it sounded like a lot of fun. I got them last night went out to my photo area and well couldn’t get to it. There are stacks of various different sized interlocking mats there are painted 2x4s and 2x6s there is a cabinet I removed from the house, there are new bins that needed filling with some of the stuff I had collected to photo, and there are other cube units that never found a home. For my photo project I wanted hanging snowflakes but in order to get that I had to move a light above the photo table.
So the organizing began. the rolling rack got moved and the new small tiles installed, the empty bins were filled up and labeled with subject matter and put back in the rolling rack that was back in its home. The cabinet was now in a corner and a cube shelf unit was also with it. More of the thinner mats were pulled up and the thicker mats were put down. The light above the photo table found a new home lighting up the area around the rolling rack and I have a 8 ft long 1×2 board hung from the ceiling with cup hooks so I can hang snowflakes

and I got the background changed moved the white down and tracked down my snowballs.

I will start shooting the gnomes Tuesday, I need to find some ski’s

Hiking Discovery Park Bend parks and rec.

Yesterdays hike was at Discovery Park. It was just three of us gals this time.

We hiked the Outback trail and then the Manzanita trail. This shot of the park is from the manzanita trail slightly above the park. In total we hiked a bit over 3 miles. Then we stopped off at the covered picnic area and had a lunch.
I admit I didn’t really do this park any photographic justice. To me it seemed separate from the hike we were looking at doing. But it really wasn’t and I think I realized that later when I processed the photos.

And you know when you are the photographer you have to come up with some creative ways to be in the picture.

We were enthralled with this sculpture about the coyote and the crow legend.

and this time Susan offered to take a photo so I could be in the shot.
A lot of the Outback trail is within several new and emerging neighborhoods, so I didn’t think to take photos. The hike is really about getting out and walking so not always do we have great views.
The part of the hike that I feel I really didn’t do justice to, was the mural about Women of Discovery. I tried to capture it with this collage but… Well I have to go back and try again.

It wasn’t really my focus, I thought it was pretty cool and loved the artwork. It wasn’t until we sat down in the covered picnic area and had our lunches, just talking about hiking, walking, getting out together, talking about health issues related to a sedentary lifestyle and aging. How we have overcome some of those issues because of the pool class we take, changing our diet or modifying how much we eat…. You know Women Stuff…. Aging Stuff… Social Stuff… Inclusion Stuff…. People Stuff…
At this point I kind of had an idea of how I thought I should take this blog as I started looking at the photos. Realizing that my mind set included this mural and I had not been able to do justice to it the way I felt is should have been photographed. I was all ready to hop back into the car and try and photograph it again, I had to stop and say Not today it is too late in the afternoon… Stop rushing around, do it tomorrow after the current pool class….

Fall Chores time.

Today dawned bright and chilly, a perfect day to move the winter firewood onto the back deck, getting ready for winter.
The Troll kids took charge and brought out their lizards to make the project more fun.

Poppa T took charge and soon had everyone moving pieces of wood to the back deck steps.

Popa T was soon joined by Mylo who said he was an expert on cold winters and could organize this expedition in no time.

Several trips were made from the large wood pile to the deck steps. Everybody pitched in.

Including the German Shephard Aurora. After loading a good amount of firewood onto the deck steps it was time to start moving the wood inside the protected deck.

Everyone was having a great time, there were jokes and singing. Stories to be made up ready for the fire come the first snow.

Piece by piece two layers of firewood 8 feet long and a little over 2 feet high, stacked and ready for use.

Well done guys it is time for a little nap. I certainly need one……

Fall colors along the Deschutes River Bend Oregon

I have lived in Central Oregon for just over 30 years and for some reason I have not taken the time to photograph the parks along the Deschutes river. There is an incredible series of parks along the river that are all connected by easy to moderate walking trails. Fall is probably the best time to enjoy those trails with the fall colors reflecting in the water. I figured that this Sunday would be the best day to hike along the trails in town. Bend Parks and Rec and the city of Bend have spent the last several years working on the trails that runs along the river and through the city of Bend. It is a series of trails that run from South Bend down river to north Bend running about 25 miles. I wanted to walk and photograph the Drake park area and along the river going down river with no set stopping point. Of the 4 pool pals, two were unavailable and that left just Robin and myself. Since Robin lived a couple blocks away from Drake Park, she was an excellent guide, and I would not have seen as much beautiful scenery as we did. I admit I would have simply done a quick photo shoot around Drake Park and then walked as far down stream as the Newport bridge then turned around.

We did a loop around Drake Park, and I took photographs and more photographs gathering impressions as I went.

I looked up, I looked forward, I looked down.

There were reflections everywhere along the river

We made our way down river towards the Newport bridge on the new trail

towards the first street area and on to pioneer park.

We continued till we ran out of pavement and turned around, the trail continued on north but we really didn’t need to go further. Save that for another day.
I was fascinated by the kayakers navigating under the bridge and thought of my niece Sarah, wondering if she had kayaked this section of the river, thinking yes, she would have.

on our way back to Drake Park we went through the old down neighborhood and enjoyed even more vibrant colored foliage.

Along the way there were always places to stop and reflect, places to sit and even a bit of whimsy with cookies for your pooch

I am so glad that Robin and I took this hike and hope that we can share it with the other two gals in a different season. I also hope that you enjoyed my impressions of this hike.

In search of Fall colors along the Metolius River

I love tracking down the reds and yellows of the fall leaves, one of my favorite places to go is the Metolius River. I found a spot down river from Camp Sherman that never disappoints.

Candle Creek Campground is at the end of a dirt and gravel forest service road. It is a quiet campground and this time of year not usually filled with campers.

I really love to concentrate on the leaves and plants on the ground

My other goal was to find the trail I had spotted the last time I was at this campground I wanted to know if it went to Bridge 99/ Lower bridge campground. However, the best color was the opposite way…. So I concentrated on that, then worked my way upriver finding the trail head. My house mate Susan and I had decided that it would be a good idea to move the car closer to the trailhead. We found a spot that was a boat ramp and parked there. The trail I was looking for was the West Metolius River Trail 4018 and the furthest down river leading up to the bridge.

The goal was to see how good the trail was and to see if there was good color.

The trail was good where we hiked, a few logs that had fallen and were chopped away but easy to navigate. Soon we came to a small log bridge crossing a creek

I have to admit I had no issues with the bridge. Susan was not as agile as I am, so she came across much slower than I did.

We went a few feet further and then decided to turn around and head back to the car. Neither of us have been doing much hiking lately and there was no need to go to the end of the trail. I had an idea where it was at the bridge.

This is the look you get from your hiking partner when you continue to dawdle taking photos on the way back to the car ….

back at the lower bridge campground and bridge we stopped to take more photos.

I also did find the bridge end of the trailhead. Planning on trying it another time.

It was a good and beautiful day and I enjoyed it immensely