Wow, what a day! That Joe knows New York like no one else and he was great to share it with our DLWS group. In the morning we visited Central Park…

After a short break where we went on a shopping trip at Adorama we were back out at it beginning with China Town, visiting Ladder 6 which is a great group of firefighters who graciously opened their station to us for awhile and even posed for a few photos…

We finally ended up on the Brooklyn Bridge for sunset where Joe had a treat and arranged for a ballerina to pose for the group. While she was taking a break I noticed her on pointe and had to photograph her feet…

I liked the spider webbing of the support cables…

…as well as the light and graphic patterns of the buildings…

Images captured with Nikon D700, AF-S 24-70mm, AF-S 70-300mm VR

I heard about Shaniko Ghost Town years ago but never made the three hour trip out there until Sunday. Taking a much needed break away from the office I decided it was time to go see what Shaniko was all about. I traveled east of Portland on I-84 through the Columbia Gorge to just past The Dalles and then turned south on highway 97 winding through rural Oregon with it’s farmland and little towns that time seems to have forgotten. The weather prediction was for partly cloudy which is exactly what I was hoping for and exactly what I got. With old barns, rural America and B&W on my mind I set off to explore new territory. And I was not disappointed as I found a wonderful old homestead with dramatic clouds in the sky; a perfect candidate for my first B&W of the day…

I worked the homestead from a few angles, working with the shadow and light, finding lead in lines to draw the viewer’s eye to the barn, knowing that I was working towards a nostalgic look in the final image.

The more I worked the scene the more images I found as if the old homestead knew I was a friend and began to reveal itself to me inspiring this five shot pano which I finished using NIK Silver Efex Pro to pay tribute to the spirits of those who had toiled on this land generations ago.

Finally continuing on to Shaniko I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in the actual Ghost Town as it is more of a tourist spot than ghost town but, not one to throw in the towel, I did some exploring and was rewarded with the old Shaniko Fire Truck. I have a favorite NIK filter set that I knew was going to be perfect for finishing the fire truck.

The day was just the creative shot in the arm that I needed to get back to work preparing for the final blitz of workshops and safaris of the year.

Images captured with Nikon D300s, AF-S 18-200mm VR II on Lexar Digital Media.

The Mamas and the Papas song runs through my mind as I drive east on I-84 through the Columbia Gorge looking for subjects to frame up in the viewfinder of the Nikon D300s I am reviewing. While there are still a few hardy leaves clinging to branches, most have fallen to the ground covering it in a lovely carpet of orange and yellow…

Multnomah Falls was running at springtime capacity…

The combination of the remaining color and the raging falls made it worth a quick stop…

Images captured with Nikon D300s, AF 10.5 fisheye, AF-S 18-200mm VR II on Lexar Digital Media

Last year Frank & I remodeled our bathroom and I kept you all up to date on our progress right up until the end when I failed to post the finished project leaving all my devoted readers hanging. Every time I’m at a conference or workshop someone comes up to me and asks how the bathroom turned out…so, here is the final shot of the bathroom project.

* I had to use my 16mm fisheye to get a wide perspective on a small space. I then took the distorted image into Capture NX2 using the fisheye correction feature and “viola!”…a corrected, extreme wide angle view! Just one of many very cool features in Capture NX2!!!

That’s what I call my upcoming Iceland Adventure with Focus on Nature where I have the opportunity to not only photograph the amazing landscape of Iceland, I have the opportunity to feed and nuture the passion of twelve photographers helping them to grow and bloom in their photographic journey. Group size is limited so sign up early!