mmmmm mmmmmmm MOSSY!

A few months ago - one of my good friends, Malcolm - came over and stole me away from my work computer for a lovely drive out into the woods near Acme for some much needed fun and conversation. He knows me - and my love for broken down, rusty, falling apart and forgotten things - so that when he told me we were going to an old Saw Mill ... he neglected to tell me about the amazing moss covered truck that would greet me when we turned the corner. I think he just "forgot to mention it" so he could see my eyes light up and hear me squeal like a schoolgirl. I think I even bounced up and down in my seat and clapped my hands before frantically searching for the seat belt release so I could go attack one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen!

These are some of my favorite shots of the outside of the ol truck. I just cant get over how much moss is on that thing! Its glorious!

Now....now that youve seen the outside - let me show you what I found when I pulled the door open (it wasnt too happy with me and creaked and groaned and got a little stubborn on me...but I won in the end) - I was shocked to see that the keys were still in the ignition and there was moss dangling down from that too! I had a bit of a hard time getting shots without sun glare but these are the best of the bunch and I think they turned out pretty well :) Enjoy!

It was a great afternoon and an amazing gift from an amazing man. :) Thank you Malcolm for spending the day with me and showing me this wonderful piece of history and for that sparkle in your eye and the giant grins you get when you are watching me run around, squealing at old junked trucks - You are a treasure of another kind. :)

Peter Iredale Shipwreck - Sunset of my dreams

While on Vacation with my family in June - we made a stop at the Peter Iredale Shipwreck and played in the sand and explored the remains for a while during the day...then my wonderful husband sent me off on my own with my camera after all the kids were settled in their bunks back at the cabin - so I could go see if I could get the kind of sunset photos I have always hoped for...and wow...did I ever!

Not only was it the perfect weather (stormy with sun patches) but I got a sunset AND something rusty...all in one shot! I spent a good hour out there and watched the sky go from bright oranges, to deep purples and amazing yellows. I couldnt get over how different the sky looked from one minute to the next and when I turned around away from the wreckage toward the shore, I was taken aback by the incredible misty purple and pink of the sky. Here are some of my absolute favorite shots from the evening. I took over 600 pictures just of this sunset...let me tell ya, it was hard to pick just a handful...let alone pick out ONE favorite. But the first photo (above) ended up being the favorite of 8 of the 10 people I emailed for input and they all picked the winner!

I entered it in the Northwest Washington Fair this year - and when I rounded the corner of the arts building entrance, I saw my photo next to a giant ribbon (its bigger than the 11x14 photo I submitted!) for a "Best in Show" and first place for my division prize! Im always coming in second or getting honorable mentions - so I was super excited to finally have a first place ribbon to display. Its a great feeling. :)

I couldnt resist trying out a filter in my editing program that makes water shots look like they were shot during a bright moonlit night...this last one is titled "Ghost Ship" and has a totally different feel to it than it does in its original version.

If you are interested in purchasing any of these photos - please visit my online store.

Peter Iredale Shipwreck - 2008

*Family Photo by random stranger - thank you random stranger!*

When I was younger - we would occasionally visit my father's hometown of Hammond Oregon and then head down the coast a ways to Seaside. I dont have many actual memories of those trips.... but I do remember visiting this old ship from time to time.

It's changed alot over the past 30ish years and it was one of the stops I wanted to make when we took our kids down to the Oregon Coast for our family vacation this year. I wasnt disappointed! I got to spend a week with my family, at the beach, with beautiful sunsets and RUST! I couldnt have asked for a more perfect vacation!

According to Wikipedia - "The Peter Iredale was a 4 masted steel barque sailing vessel that ran ashore on October 25, 1906...it was abandoned on Clatsop Spit near Fort Stevens. The ship was named after Peter Iredale, who not only owned the vessel as part of his shipping fleet, but was also a well known figure in Liverpool, England where his business was headquartered...Sailing from Salina Cruz, Mexico...they were bound for Portland Oregon with 1000 pounds of Ballast and a crew of 27 including 2 stow aways..." Needless to say, it was swept ashore in some knarly winds and remains there today. You can read more about it here.

Now that you know some of the history behind this beauty, here are some of my favorite "Daytime" shots of her and the wonderous power of the ocean to reclaim the ship. You can see the barnacles that thrive on her skeleton, you can see where the waves have carved their names into the steel beams...its a wonderful experience and I encourage you to make a stop there to see her before shes consumed completely in the next few years.

I loved crawling inside her - looking out at the sky and the ocean from within the skeleton of the hull. Its quite awe inspiring to be standing in the shell of what used to be a great ship - that housed various human lives...and to sit and reflect on all of the stories that must have been created inside the walls that used to be there...who were they? I always get a little lost in thought when I visit old houses and places that used to be inhabited by people, years before me...

I went back later in the evening when the kids were all settled in bed and my husband hurried me out the door of the cabin to send me off to get some sunset pictures...Im SO glad I did! I got to take some of the best sunset shots of my life thus far - though Im sure someday Ill find another amazing opportunity.

Ill save those for a seperate blog...They have their own story to tell.

Sometimes...

Sometimes...


You just need to






Stop - everything


And just.....breathe...

Ive got the blues

Ok....now dont go falling out of your chairs...you arent imagining things...I am actually posting something besides rusty broken chains and abandoned houses!! Every once in a while I like to get out and enjoy fresh air instead broken down sheds with moldy old couches in them!

I recently purchased a lovely little filter that - as you can see - makes the sky a more vivid blue than most normal camera lenses achieve. I cant believe I waited so long to get one of these...its going to save me HOURS of editing this summer by giving me bright blue skies instead of washed out ones - that always lead to color adjusting and manipulating each photo by hand! I think this is going to turn out to be one of my best investments so far!

Anyway - the first set of photos I took on Saturday morning out at Larabee Park off of Chuckanut Drive in Bellingham and was just amazed at how blue the sky turned out in the photos - usually its a white washed out mess...and now its almost TOO blue!

I wandered around the various places that can be found down there at the park and ended my explore here - where these two were sitting and sharing probably the best spot in town for sipping morning tea! What a beautiful view.

Then Sunday evening, I wanted to see how it would do with a sunset situation and I wasnt disappointed there either. This is by far my favorite shot:

These next few I did actually use a second filter in Adobe Lightroom to pull out only the blues in the shot and they turned out looking like something out of a sci-fi movie or perhaps just a really bright moonlit night -

I was so focused on the seagulls in this shot - that I didnt notice the "Horizon Line" in the background until I got home to play around with the pictures. :)

And so there we have some nature shots for a change....dont worry - I found another house I want to sneak into soon...rust will be back to my blog in no time ;) But until then, I hope you enjoyed these. :)

Thanks for visiting!