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.

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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!