New Portrait Work

Howdy! No wild adventures this week. Just a quick sampling of some of my recent portrait work.
Remember, you can click on the images to see 'em big


This is Alex Boling who is a really funny person to begin with but add a drawn on mustache, cigarette and beret... voila!


This is Alex again from the same shoot. He's a chameleon!


(INSERT COPY HERE)
This is Dan, Its fun to try and guess which pharmaceutical he might be selling.

... and last but not least,





In consideration of his anonymity and request for privacy, I cannot devulge the identity of my next subject... He is a renowned star of pro wrestling turned protector of all mankind


I present to you...



EL NINO!

WATCH OUT VILLAINS... theres a storm coming.

Seattle part three... and four

Okay, so what I've realized is that by day three of our trip, I was worn out. Therefore, I have fewer images for the last two days and it is for this reason I've decided to combine those days into one entry... that and I'm starting to get a little tired of Seattle.

October 12th
Gina loves to watch dudes throw fish and I love coffee. So... we headed back down to Pike Place for the fulfillment of the aforementioned.
Don't forget to click on the images to enlarge

fish...


crab...


and no trip to Seattle would be complete without a rendition of the famous Public Market sign... so here ya go

Once we'd had our fill of the Pike, we decided to head back out to Bainbridge Island for two reasons, first to explore the island further but more importantly... it was an excuse to ride the ferry once more.

P.S. I think that, next to the infinite beauty of the place, riding the ferry may have been my favorite part of out trip. Maybe I'm a dork... I don't know.


Here's a shot of the front end of our ferry which, by the way, can carry approximately 205 vehicles in one crossing. These things are huge, like cruise ship status!

Anyway, once we reached Bainbridge we did a little walking around and decided to venture north on the public transit to a little town called Poulsbo which is Washington's version of Solvang.


This is a picture from the boardwalk at Poulsbo's seaside park.

After we finished our walk and exploration we realized that we had like one more opportunity to catch a bus back to Bainbridge or else we'd be spending the night in Poulsbo.


A view of the sunset, SHUT UP SONTAG!, over Bainbridge on the ferry ride back.


One last shot of the Seattle cityscape as we pulled into port for the last time.

The next day we flew home but managed to do a little sight seeing before we had to head to the airport.


That's right, the Space Needle, which in hindsight, we probably could've skipped.
The Space Needle is part of Seattle Center which was built for the 1962 Worlds Fair. Seattle Center is kind of like a rundown third world version of Disneyland. None the less it was fun to see and experience.

Needless to say, Seattle has left a profound impression on me. It may take a few years but I'll go back... maybe indefinitely

Seattle Part Two

October 9th, our first full day in Seattle.

We started the day with fresh donuts from a vendor at pike place.
Remember to click on any image to see it enlarged


Krispy Kreme ain't got nothing on you!

And what better to go with a delicious krispy hot donut...



then a cup of coffee from the original Starbucks...
which coincidentally looks just like all of the other Starbucks
and tastes the same... nothing special

Once we finished breakfast and watched a guy throw a fish,
we decided to venture to Discovery park to take in some nature.
Discovery park is a rather large regional park at the north end of Seattle
that was once a military base and blah, blah, blah... bored


Here's Gina at the outset of our hike down to South Beach in Discovery Park


A view from the trail.

The body of water is called Puget Sound
and on the other side is Bainbridge Island
and the mountains you see beyond that is Olympic National Forest


A little further down the trail

Then after what I think was about a mile and a half,
don't ask Gina how far it was,
we arrived at South Beach



Because of its position, South Beach catches much of the driftwood
that floats across Puget Sound and so people make little forts and by forts I mean piles of wood



I took this on the North Beach which, you guessed it,
sits on the northern side of the peninsula from South Beach
I love shooting "cloud scapes." I thinks its the incidental nature of it.
I never get the same shot twice.



Heres just one example of the countless kinds of wild flowers we saw along the way



Here's Gina as we headed back up the hill from the coast




and here's Gina once we reached the top

I'm not going to say the trail wasn't really steep


a meadow



After we finished up at Discovery Park we hopped on a bus
and headed to Gas Works Park in the Republic of Fremont
I don't know why they call it a republic, they just do.
This park sits on Lake Union and has an old rusted out gas refinery in it.
Lucky for you, I don't know the history of it.



This was our view of downtown at sunset from Gas Works Park over Lake Union



then I turned around and saw that the sky was on fire.
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!
Thats Aurora Bridge which connects Fremont to Seattle

To finish our day we found a cool Bar and grill called Norms in downtown Fremont.
From the inspired decor you gather that the owners really like dogs
So much so that nearly every patron brought there pooch with them to dinner
It was kind of cool but, as Gina pointed out, probably broke some health codes.

Thus ends day two of our Seattle adventure!

Seattle Part One

Gina and I just celebrated our 3 year anniversary and we did it in Seattle.

Neither of us had ever been there so it seemed like a good excuse to go.

Because we have the attention span of goldfish,
I will break this entry up into four parts over the next four days.

So now,
I present to you Part One of our four day trip to Seattle



October 8th

(Don't forget to click on the images to enlarge!)

Why is every cities downtown cooler than ours!



Here's Gina thoroughly enjoying her "Dirty Chai" at our new favorite coffee spot, Pegasus Coffee, on Bainbridge Island.. we went back here a couple of times... I guess the pic says it all



Typical neighborhood view from Bainbridge Island.
P.S. We looked at some home listings while we were there,
$350k- 500k
Makes you a little sick, right!



On the ferry ride back to Seattle we had this view of Mt. Rainier
which is roughly 85 miles away. The air's a bit cleaner there.



I know that nearly every person who's taken the ferry from Bainbridge
to Seattle has there own version of this shot, but this one is mine!



This is the view of downtown we had while pulling into port.
I love the way the last bit of sunlight was reflecting off the glass buildings.



We ate at a restaurant called the Pink Door recommended by my sister.
This is the delicious bottle of wine we drank over quite possibly the best dinner
I've had all year!
This restaurant is really cool, Gina likened it to a scene from Moulin Rouge

Our waiter was rocking a barbell in his nose!

Tune in tomorrow for part two of our trip

Assorted Landscapes

Okay, I've had some time on my hands and I've finally gotten around to sorting out and processing some landscapes that I shot on a trip to the Redwoods and Big Sur this past April.

I also threw in a couple pics of my new favorite coastal spot, Torrance Beach.

Thats right, Torrance has a beach... who knew.

My buddy Brent Armstrong and I discovered Torrance Beach on a bike ride last weekend. We started the ride in Culver City with the goal of riding south until the path ended. Well guess what....

The path ends at Torrance Beach.


At any rate, please enjoy some natural beauty courtesy of moi.

This is the sunset over Morro Bay



Click to see this lizard chilling full size

This is the view of the Morro Bay wetlands from the Elfin Forest
which you can see giant sized in you click on it

A baby fern uncoiling in the sun at Henry Cowell Redwoods

This is Torrance Beach





This is what the sun looks like reflected in the sand at
Torrance Beach



This is what Brent looks like at
Torrance Beach