Sky Watch Friday

Welcome to Sky Watch Friday. I took these photos on my trip to Big Sky country.....Montana! I shot these at Glacier National Park, an awesome place to go and enjoy the outdoors.

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Mom & Son

This is my first entry in Creative Photo. This was shot while snorkling off the Kauai coast last year. I used a Canon 6.3MP Rebel SLR with a 18-55mm lens. I played a little in Photoshop and came up with this.
Creative Photography is every Saturday, click on the Creative Photography to see other contestants.

ABC Wednesday........F is for Fair

F is for Fair. I chose this since we are currently enjoying our Oregon State fair through September 1st, Labor Day. State fairs have all the excitement depicted in the following photos. Not only are there rides, games, exhibits, but shows. This year we got to see Bill Engvall and Weird Al Yankovic in concert. Both shows were awesome and tremendously entertaining. Salem hosts the State Fair each year, and this years one did not disappoint.

Fair greeters

Rides
Love that Cotton Candy

Have a great ABC Wednesday, here to visit and join .

Ruby Tuesday

This Ruby Tuesday I have some shots of the Oregon State Fair. Each year in Salem, Oregon, we have a our State fair. Rides, exhibits, shows, food, games.... you name it we have it. My son and I went on this ride. I must have been crazy! The Zipper did have zip and my body felt it.

The next ride, which I didn't go on was the Slingshot. If you ever have done Bungy jumping this is close to it. Expensive though at $30 per ride, or two for $50. Wow!

Of course there is a lot for kids to do. Here my son, John, is trying out his sharp shooting skills at the NRA affiliated exhibit. Very accutate pellet type rifles powered by CO2 cartridges. It was a fun exhibit which also taught gun safety.

Ever held a baby chick? Here was a newly hatched being held by my son.

At last we had a some french fries for a snack. We had a great time at the fair, which runs through Labor Day. We are going back for more in a few days.

Have a great Ruby Day Tuesday. Join us by clicking on Ruby Day Tuesday.

Sky Watch Friday

Today is Sky Watch Friday and I took some shots today depicting our Salem Oregon skies. I love the fact that we ususally have great skies in the Northwest and we can readily obtain good photos.

These sunsets are only minutes apart and were captured off the coast of Kauai last August. We did a snorkling tour and this was on the way back to port. I always loved the sunsets in Hawaii, and will be returning for Hawaii's 50th anniversary of statehood in 2009.

Happy Sky Watch Friday, to join us please click here.

ABC Wednesday E is for.....

E is for Evergreen. Here are some shots of evergreens in Mt. Lassen National Park in California. The first one shows the evergreen trees with Mt. Lassen in the background. Mt. Lassen's elevation is 10457'.

At the higher elevations the evergreens are sparse, as is the air. This was a late June climb with my son, John.To see all the participants of ABC Wednesday click here.

Ruby Tuesday

Happy Ruby Tuesday. Here are some shots I got with a little red. The first was a robin redbreast just outside our bedroom. It was so fun watching the robins being fed. There were a total of four baby robins. Mom and dad did a great job feeding and raising them. They eventually left the nest and ventured out in the world.

The second shot was one of my favorites of my son, John. He holding a baby alligator during a swamp tour near New Orleans. Jean Lafitte Swamp Tours had a fantastic tour with interaction with the 'gators. Quite awesome!


Got something RED that you have photographed? Join us for Ruby Tuesday.

Sky Watch Friday

Happy Sky Watch Friday. This is a photo of my son, John, climbing up Mt. Lassen. He got me started and all I know is that I made it to the top, which happens to be 10457'. There is very little oxygen at that altitude or that's what it felt like to me. I loved the sky and the stillness during our ascent. We did have some smoke in the distance from the fires from Lake Tahoe (June 2007). These are my Sky Watch Friday photos. Sky Watch Friday here>

ABC Wednesday D is for Dahlia

D is for Dahlia, my favorite flower! It's ABC Wednesday and this is my first time posting and I figured that the Dahlia would be a good choice. I love growing flowers in our garden and capturing their splendor.

ABC Wednesday Round 3

Something Red for Ruby Tuesday

This was a rooster that didn't want me to take his photo. He was quite aggressive attacking my pants several times. I guess he was just a little 'territorial'. Around our house you will find roosters all over the place. Some ceramic ones, roosters in wallpaper borders, and metal ones in our garden. I don't know why my wife has a this thing for roosters.

Happy Ruby Tuesday (Click)

The King

This was taken at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. You can get some great shots of the gorillas, who will show various degrees of emotions. I wonder what they are thinking of us as we are patiently taking our shots?

Boating

This was a proud moment for John, now a 13 1/2 year old. He got to motor the boat all around Detroit Lake. We did a lot of fishing, but no luck today. Didn't matter, we had a lot of fun. This shot was with my cell phone, and it turned out better than I thought it would.

John and a little 'gator

My son John in 2005, holding a baby alligator during a swamp tour. Jean Lafitte Swamp Tours offers a great tour which is educational as it is exciting. We are definitely going back this October to do another tour, possibly the air boat this time.

Swamp Gator

Couple years ago we did a swamp tour through Jean Lafitte Swap Tours. Here is a shot from our tour boat. I found it quite exciting to be connecting this close. My son, John, was very excited to hold a small gator during the tour.

Hands-on at Wings of Wonder

This typlifies the hands-on experience at Wings of Wonder near Independence. My son, John, loved being able to interact with the exotic butterflies in the exhibit conservatory. Wings of Wonder is Oregon's only year round butterfly exhibit. In addition, you can adopt a butterfly and observe its amazing metamorphosis in you own home.

Butterflies, Our 'Wings of Wonder'

Sunday was a great day visiting a the Wings of Wonder butterfly exhibit just south of Independence. They have an 'hands on' 2,400 sq ft butterfly exhibit conservatory where you can interact with the butterflies, touching and photographing the many different types of butterflies. It is helpful to download the 'What's flying Gallery' from their web site to assist in identifying the various butterflies. Click here for their web site http://wingsofwonder.us/.

During the afternoon I took numerous shots of the butterflies on exhibit and the beautiful landscape grounds surrounding the exhibit conservatory. It should be noted that this is Oregon's only year round butterfly exhibit. In addition, they have a student group hands-on life cycle class.



These are only a few shots of the many butterflies on display in the butterfly conservatory. I will be posting additional photos in the next few days of additional 'Wings of Wonder' and the surrounding flower gardens. I highly recommend this location for children and adults alike. Just be sure you bring your camera, you won't be disappointed.