…is posted for sale on ebay!!! The camera is in excellent cosmetic and working condition. The rear lcd is free of scratches. The camers has just over 25,000 clicks so it’s just getting into it’s groove! Don’t miss this great opportunity to own the camera that Soctt shot with. And not only do you win a great camera, the winning bidder also receives the three book set of Scott’s Digital Photography books…signed by Scott himself!!! But wait, there’s more…$250.00 of the proceeds of the sale of Scott’s D300 will go to a charity that is dear to his heart…the Springs of Hope Kenya Orphanage. So what are you waiting for? Dig deep, bid high, win a great camera and more and help make the world a better place today!

While our niece and her husband were visiting we hit many of the local tourist spots concentrating on history when we could. It’s fun to put the tourist hat on and see your own home through fresh new eyes. Our route back from the coast took us right past the Evergreen Air Museum where the Spruce Goose has found a home. My assistant volunteers at the museum on Thursdays and was gracious enough to get us in as his guests with a VIP tour which included a visit to the cockpit of a DC3…

And a very special treat…a visit to the flight deck of the Spruce Goose. We got to sit in the same seat that Howard Hughes sat in when he flew the “Goose” that historic flight of one mile in one minute at an altitude of seventy feet.

Using available light I exposed for the interior of the plane and let the windshield blow out. I rather like the result as if the plane is flying into the great beyond with Howard aka Bernie at the controls.

It was a great opportunity to photograph the inside of the fuselage both front and rear…

Images captured with Nikon D3X, AF 16mm fisheye, AF-S 24-70mm on Lexar digital media

With our niece Nikki and her husband Bernie in town for a visit we are going to do all the fun tourist things we can cram into the next week. We began with a trip to the coast stopping at Camp 18 for breakfast where this old rail car sits on the track….

Bernie is a history buff so we visited Fort Columbia, Fort Stevens and Fort Clatsop. Of course, I had my camera in hand during all our explorations. Since our day was spent visiting historic spots, I felt that B&W was in order so, I used my infrared converted camera to capture the images and then finished all the images into B&W…

I liked the hint of color showing through as it made the images look older and faded like I would expect images from that era to look.

Images captured with Nikon D200 converted to Enhanced Color Infrared, AF-S 18-200mm on Lexar digital media.

Grand Canyon, Feb 2009

It’s been an amazing 2009 so far with adventures to Yellowstone in Winter with DLWS, the Grand Canyon in Feb, back to Yellowstone on an Excellent Adventure in Feb. I then went from -teens to +80’s and visited the lovely Isalnd of Kauai with DLWS, followed by Photoshop World in Boston in March. April found me at the Oregon Coast for a few days and another Excellent Adventure to Fort DeSoto. May kicked off with DLWS Outer Banks and ended with an Excellent Adventure Storm Chasing in Tornado Alley. I spent a full month in Alaska leading a couple of Excellent Adventures to photograph Coastal Brown Bears followed by a visit to Brooks and finished up renting an RV with my parents to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Storm Chasing, May 2009

Alaska Coastal Brown Bear, June 2009

I am home for a few weeks, busy playing catch up from a great first half of the year and planning new adventures. I not only have several special, new Adventures coming up, I have been asked to be a guest instructor with Cruising Through Life as well. Here’s what I have on the calendar so far…

2009 Dates
Sept 20-23 DLWS Maine

Oct 1-3 PS World Las Vegas

Oct 18-21 DLWS Great Lakes

Nov 15-18 DLWS New York

Nov 30-Dec 4 Excellent Adventure Bosque del Apache Full

Bass Harbor Head Light, Maine

Snow Goose Bosque del Apache, NM

2010 Dates
Jan 10-13 DLWS San Francisco

Jan 16-22 Excellent Adventure Yellowstone Winter Wonderland 4 spots, 2 spots available

Jan 30-Feb5 Excellent Adventure Yellowstone Winter Wonderland 4 spots, 1 spot available

Feb 15-19 Excellent Adventure Grand Canyon (finalizing dates and costs now, contact to be added to the list) 5 spots, 3 spots available

Mar 7-10 DLWS Santa Fe

Apr 4-7 CTL New Orleans

April Excellent Adventure Fort DeSoto (finalizing dates and costs now, contact to be added to the list) 5 spots, 3 spots available

May 9-12 DLWS Moab

May 16-22 Excellent Adventure So Texas (finalizing dates and costs now, contact to be added to the list, 5 spots, 4 spots available…this is a very special 7 day safari with deluxe accomodations and photo opps at four different ranches)

May 30-June 6 Excellent Adventure Alaska Brown Bears (this adventure sells out every year) 6 spots, 3 available

June 6-13 Excellent Adventure Alaska Brown Bears (this adventure sells out every year) 6 spots, 4 available

June 20-26 Excellent Adventure Storm Chasing (Back by popular demand) 5 spots, 4 available

Alaska Brown Bear, Spring 2009

Roseatte Spoonbill Tampa Bay 2009

Supercell Storm Chasing Spring 2008

That takes us into the first half of 2010 and I have several more Adventures and special appearances lined up. I am also available for private tutoring as well as custom adventures for private groups. For more information contact me at laurie@laurieexcell.com or call the office at 503-703-3872. I look forward to shooting with you soon.

We kicked off the Portland PhotoWalk with a bright, sunny day, no rain in the forecast…not so unusual for most of you but for us here in the Pacific NW with outdoor plans, that’s a good thing. I wanted to arrive early to be there and greet old and new friends alike but, there were a few enthusiastic walkers already there, eager for our upcoming adventure.

Our route took us through Chinatown…I liked the juxtaposition of the Chinese influence tucked in with Old Town and the red lamp posts made great, colorful additions to several photos.

Next stop along the way was Portland Union Station. Now here’s the kicker…my husband works at Union Station and we’ve been married 15 years…I have always wanted to photograph the inside of the station and it took organizing the Portland PhotoWalk to finally make the opportunity. Now I’m glad I did.

It was fun to see where everyone had their cameras pointed and to what great lengths they would go to get the shot…I can hardly wait to see their images!
With a camera in hand I began to see something interesting in the normal, everyday rubble that we pass on a daily basis and never look at twice…like the light playing across the pattern of a garbage can…

We encountered some friendly folks along the way who willingly stopped for a photo or two…Christoph (sorry for the misspelling) was waiting for the train to Vancouver, BC where his dad was getting married. Then he was off to San Diego to meet up with his buddies before heading to the tip of Mexico…what an adventure!

Our route wound us through the Pearl District filled with old warehouses intermixed with trendy boutiques and ended at OnDeck Sports Bar & Grill where we viewed each others images on the back of our cameras…yes, there was some serious chimping going on in between tipping back a pint and a great lunch. I want to thank everyone who came out and participated in the PhotoWalk. Shoot, Ken (wheelchair front & center in the group shot) even came along in his wheelchair he was so excited to be at the Walk…all 1.5 miles! It was an excellent day with lot’s of photo opportunities and a chance to see old friends and make some new. Thanks also to OnDeck for the great service, friendly atmosphere and killer Quesadillas. And a special thanks to Scott Kelby for coming up with this brainchild, putting it in motion and the huge success is has turned out to be. It’s like a snowball rolling downhill out of control growing and growing until…I can hardly wait to see how big the Worldwide PhotoWalk it is next year. I’m looking forward to see everyone’s images. I know it’s going to be tough selecting the best of Portland. I don’t envy Scott having to pick the best of show for some lucky winner who will win a grand prize of amazing products.