An Oregonian Weekend - bridge, elk, fog, water....

We were given a perfect weather for a photography outing, a partly sunny day, according to forecast sources.  Well-prepared and arrived at the meeting location on time, I was first astonished at the quantity of Elk in the field. I certainly have not seen so many elks in such a short distance in my life.  Prior to this, we would cheer at our discovery if an elk was spotted along highway at the edge of tree forecast with the spread of an open field. Hunters raise their fear. They need an open field to gaze and a forest behind to protect.

Jewel Meadows Wildlife Refuge

I am not exactly a wildlife photographer. When I mention wildlife, I mostly refer to Birds and only a few tamed animals when opportunity comes and I am not alone. Deer is everywhere in my neighborhood. Some people love them, but in my mind, they are the primary criminals who are responsible for the lives of my flowers and plants.  I however take fawn pictures because they are cute and innocent.  

Elk is not common in residential area and therefore, becomes an interesting photo subject.  But my goodness, there are hundreds and hundreds, right in front of me. I have to make myself believe that it is real.

Elk and deer are related, but Elk is much larger than deer, twice or more. As big as they are, they appear to be tamed animal species. Interesting enough, I found male (bull) and female (cow) herd separately except that young bulls seem to stay with the mother before they fully grow up.   From what I observed, males seem to be a bit hostile to each other, have a fighting nature maybe. Females at the same time, seem to be calm and peaceful. See how they stand and partake of the food together.

Hours into elk watching, we had our lunch at Camp 18, a restaurant and museum for antique logging equipment and tools.  The restaurant was decorated with cast iron logging tools and accessories. Nice ambiance.  And I was glad that elk burger is not in the menu!  

I have hard time thinking how male's antlers end up in Asian herb stores.

As we planned to go to Astoria for the weekend, we departed from the group and headed north.  A short weekend trop like this one is my golden opportunity to take some pictures. I am not adventurous enough to drive long distance by myself. When my husband said, he liked to take back roads for a more scenic drive, I was thrilled.

“When you see something, just yell and I will stop.” I have the world-class chauffer as you know. Just because he is too nice, I sometimes suppressed my desire and not to ask him to pull over too often.  But, when I came across this scene just a few miles away from Astoria, I was out of breath and I screamed recklessly.  It was still early in the morning and fog was still floating above water. I wish I could use my tripod and stay there for a while, but there was ongoing traffic in both directions and I could only take a few snap shots.  The image is the original shot, no spice is added.  This is how natural and beautiful Oregon is and that's how I want to share it.

I first knew Astoria from watching the movie ‘Kindergarten Cop’ by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie has a heartwarming story and I have since admired the scenery of the place. When we pulled into town,  the distinguished Astoria-Megler Bridge across Columbia River is up there, lofty and magnificent.

Columbia River is the longest river (1243 miles) in North America.  I learned that from school. And now I am standing by the river and reckoning how wide is the river and how long is this bridge. The bridge is 6545 meter long, a bit more than 4 miles. It is almost impossible to see the end of the bridge from where I stand.

Evening was drawing near and sunset light had dramatized the beautiful beach area. When I noticed the sunset, I was outside hotel balcony, it is couple miles away from the bridge. Besides, temperature had gone down to low 30's at this point.  

The sunset bridge is so dramatically stunning and gorgeous. I found it irresistible. Put on my jacket, I was out of the hotel walking towards the bridge. I did not plan to shoot this sunset and not sure when exactly sun would completely go down, so I took couple shots at several stops along the way until there was almost no barriers between the bridge and where I stood. It is AS IS as you see, Astoria bridge at sunset.

A small wish was fulfilled after I decided to take the steps walking towards the bridge despite the chill.  I smiled at myself from the heart. Just up a notch, just little bit of extra steps, just make your mind and JUST DO IT.

Note:

I thought I was fully prepared for this weekend shot. But, I surely cannot cover the unexpected. In the midst of shooting, my memory card became inaccessible. Last part of the images I took cannot be recorded and I could not download my elk images from my camera either... I finally got help to get these elk images out in the open and conclude a wonderful weekend.

Cow (female)

Bull (male) 

Early Spring

Shade of Purple

It has been more than three weeks since I caught my cold. Nothing particularly serious and I intended to just tough it out. When my cold symptoms persist more than two weeks, I paid my doctor a visit.  The first dosage of two medication calmed my cold down in the evening, but I was sick like a dog the following day.  I have not had such pounding headache since I was in school.  I think I was reacted to the medication, but not sure so far.

Pain bounced around inside my body from head to toe, no definite destination, like a guitar out of tune and the player just ignored the note. I managed to go on my everyday routine, but I have not acting normal and I don’t feel inspired to do much of anything. Unless it is unbearable, I usually don’t touch any painkillers. Now I am not tough any more and I have to follow doc’s instruction to take them, yucks!

Little Miss Buggy and Daisy

I need a significant flower bouquet as gift for an important birthday. If I need flowers for my house, I went to grocery stores to get ordinaries just for the need.  For gifts, I go to my favorite florists to get something more exotic. 

With the large bouquet in my hands, I seemed to have hard time to let go. I wish I had one. In fact, not mentioning a large beautiful bouquet, I would be happy with a small bunch of wild flowers and keep myself entertained for hours and hours. I am addicted shooting close-up flower shots.  Winter has desolated the nature, no flowers, no colors, but why didn’t I think of using cut flowers from florists?  Why cannot I just indulge myself and get myself a nice bouquet?

Craving thought haunted me throughout the whole weekend while I was swallowing pain killers unwillingly…. On Monday, as soon as store hours hit, I was at the florist. My desire was in control.  I however did not buy a large bouquet, I only purchased about half dozen single stems. I figured I would get lots of fun out of them.

Snow White in the night

Now I have flowers, but it has been raining and natural light source is not readily available. I used window light when opportunity opens up, but it was mostly short. I tried to use rain as backdrop, but I did not like the result.  Rain in gloomy weather looks depressing, not charming, I am afraid. Particularly when the no-name devil was pounding my head recklessly and I had less than normal endurance....

I tried a few flower shots, not exactly what I wanted, but I thought to give myself a break and not to push myself too hard.

Royal Fantasy

Red has never been my favorite color though it is passionate, sensitive, cheerful and indulgent. I intended to shoot the whole flower, but the overwhelming bright color was choking me and I retreated to a section shot.

In comparison with the shot above, this red flower resembles a Queen with her luxurious richness and powerful charm, proud and magnificent. The white flower is more like a full-bloom young Princess. Her beauty and vitality are understated, and also through that subtlety, an extra-ordinary exquisiteness and elegance are displayed. 

For a long time, I like to shoot flowers with shallow depth of field because I like that dreaming and soft touch. For these two flowers, I made the switch to use small aperture. It takes a bit longer time to burst and the images have lots more clarity and sharpness. While I was picking and choosing, I still found the one with slight blur more attractive.

Have been home bound for a while. I am anxious to get out and shoot something else. I certainly hope that I am set for wildlife shoot this coming weekend.

Thoughts on Ice - one more thing to thank for

Brrrrr… but utterly beautiful.  Snow or not, I would still say Yes.  Have a cup of tea, sitting by fireplace and staring at the white wonderland outside. Isn't it one of the best relaxation you can have at home? It is a luxury for me, for someone who does not need to go out and work regularly.

There is no snow in Taiwan, only on couple mountain peaks. As I recall I only saw snow once in Taiwan after we hiked for hours and finally hit the mountain top. At that single event, I suffered a severe frozen feet and had to stay inside the hotel while everyone else was out cheering and tossing snowballs left and right.

When you grow up in tropical region, you have no experience whatsoever to be on snow, don’t know what snow gear to prepare and how thick the socks should be. It only snows 2-3 times a year here in Willamette valley. People are not trained to drive and function normally on snowy days. I simply quit driving if the road condition is slightly doubtful. My car was sliding out of control on snow and I could not stop it but to let it bump into curb and other time, bridge railing.  Thanks God, I am still alive.

More than three decades ago, I went on a business trip to Cleveland, Ohio in winter time.  Having been there half dozen times, I thought I had all my warm gears with me, heavy coat, glove, scarf, stocking hat and I wore a long boot, fully-lined leather boot.  It was snowing and raining. Hotel called a cab for me.  While I was waiting, I decided to call my client to reconfirm our meeting time. Thomas, import manager of the company, mentioned on the phone that they were ready to place an order with me. An order? It was the first order! I had pursued this big company (still in business) for almost two years, and they were ready to officially become my customer. My heart was beating hard and almost leaped out of my chest.

I grabbed my purse and dashed out of my room. The cab driver was waving at me outside hotel entrance. I gave him a big smile and sped up my pace towards the cab. The next thing I noticed, I was looking at blue sky with my four wings up in the air. I came down hard and flat on my back. Cold, hurt and embarrassed, I managed to get up and throw myself into the car. The driver was worried, but I used my fake smile to reassure him that I was OK. It was too big a deal for me that I let my emotion took control of me. I stumbled on ice because I was in the hurry and it is also because the leather boot made in Taiwan those days did not have slip proof grids.

 Snow came down yesterday, well, it was more like a blizzard. I had urge to go out and snap a few shots, but it was so cold and I dare not drive down the hill myself, so I decided to wait.  Overnight the snow was accumulated close to one foot high and stopped. It was raining and temperature is supposed to go up. If I want to shoot snow, I had to act now. So, fully dressed, I stepped out of the door.

My goodness, the snow is so deep and hard that it hurts if I just slightly tilted my foot against the edge of it. It is definitely not the powdery and soft snow that I was experienced in ski area. I had to walk slow and steady to make sure that I was stepping on the right spot. I am not kidding, I can only take one step at a time. 'One step at a time' and 'one thing at a time' did not exist in my life, but nature is giving me the lessons.

From distance, it is all white. Come closer, it is all clear, crystal clear.  Every single tree, limb and leave are covered with ice. It is icing, not just frosting. This is the first time that I had chance to enjoy crystal trees and bushes since I moved to Oregon.  Everything I saw is coated with ice, crisp and solid.  

Want some frozen berries from crabapple tree? It is frozen good, triple layer icing and looks yummy. It is your winter natural ice cream here.

If not for this icing, I would never pay attention to this piece of twig from oak tree. On normal days, it was just another piece of debris that I have to collect from the ground and put them in compost bin, but today it jumped out on me.  I viewed it like a piece of treasure.

It was treacherous to just walk around in the neighborhood. I actually stepped deep in a few ditches and scared myself to death. This reminds me of those who hiked across the mountains and ravines  covered in snow and what kind of trauma they could face. When we are deep into nature, our life is so vulnerable. A pitfall can lead to a major disaster.

In the past, I questioned the wisdom of taking risks for the unprecedented exploration and taunting experiments. And now I appreciate these pioneers and heroes.  It is for them, we are inspired to strive for mission impossibles and that is the reason that we get to enjoy new technology and new toys in our life today and beyond.

A simple example like mine. If I did not dare to walk in hazardous condition, I would not have chance to explore these icing up-close.

The next day, ice was gone and snow was melting.  I could not find my crystal tree, frozen berries and icicles any more. They are temporary and we cannot wait around. When opportunity popped up, here we go. Act Now.

Olympic races were on TV.  We like to watch figure skating like everyone else.  Just for fun, I took a few panning shots off TV. These figure skaters work so hard to perfect every movement. It shows particularly clear from the pictures.  It is an art form that human being has created to maximize our body potentials. People devoted years of life to come here to compete for the God, the moment of fame. What I see is their spirit and the physical beauty presented through their extra-ordinary performance.

TV was on and I was attentive to Olympic broadcasting... We heard a loud noise from behind our house, a sharp Crack sound, then immediately a Bang, sound like extremely heavy something hit the ground. The (at least) 50 feet oak tree could not handle whole load of ice and finally gave in, fell on the ground.  Thanks God, it hit the common area between our next door neighbor and our house.

This tree normally leaned towards left side of our house where our office is.  It is a healthy tree and we did not think it would cause any hazard.  But nature runs its own course, this tree may have done with its life-spam and due back to heaven. You know what, I just escaped another potential trauma !!! Do you believe there is a Powerful Hand Above? I do, I do and I do.

Understated

Winter is mild in Bay Area. Temperature is at least ten degree higher than Northwest. 

There is the comfort of convenient access to Asian food supplies and I can hang out with my siblings as often as I want.  However, it is almost impossible to move back to California after decades when some real estate has been multiplied by 10’s times.  Fortunately, what matters the most to me are the beautiful nature and down-to-earth people here in Northwest and my daughters seem to enjoy here more, too.

Landscape and flowers are my favorite subjects.  When I am on the road, I also enjoy street photography and architecture. For the fact that I am still bashful pointing my camera at people, architecture becomes something that I am gravitated towards.  When my sister asked me if I was interested to go on a real estate house tours with her, I immediately said Yes and surely I am glad that I did.  It was an eye opener for me.

Many ordinary looking houses have high quality construction and outstanding interior decoration. On many occasions, I thought I was walking into a basic house, but boy, the simple entry leads into a big space and brings out whole load of drama. Land price is outrageous and property sizes are quite limited, but this is where I learn how to make best use of the space and create such nice places that you can still enjoy as you live in the country with acres land.

I lived in Palo Alto (where Stanford University is) for a short period.  It is a very civilized place with old houses and well-established business.  I liked it because it is quiet and organized, but a bit of staleness and out-of-date when I was there 20 years ago.  The moment when I left, the real estate started to take off, up and up, and still soaring.  It is now the place where all the young and successful silicon valley entrepreneurs live.

Steve Job's house is probably the most photographed in the neighborhood. The house sits on the corner of the two prestigious streets. If he is not well known, people can easily walk by without noticing it. Outside the house is a practical Audi sedan, not fancy stuff.

A genius who makes the big splash and impacts our modern life dramatically and yet lives so humbly and understated. That's where my respect and admiration come from.

I have been repeatedly taught since childhood that the most profound speaks the least and an empty vinegar bottle shakes and makes noise. Undoubtedly, I am influenced greatly by this cultural standard that I tend to evaluate a person by his or her demeanor. It is not judgmental. We all have our favorite people that we like to hang out with, and that's how I have my picks.

This house belonged to the founder of Hewlett-Packard.  It is nestled in layer of trees with large front and backyard.  It is the kind of house that you live here, work here and have relax time here without having to go to a park.  A bit of seclusion can be obtained in the extremely expensive area.

In this street alone where both houses are located, housing prices are ranging from 7.5million to 20 million which is way more expensive than the celebrity houses in Hollywood and other exotic locations outside the country. I have never thought this would be the case. While Hollywood celebrity are pursuing luxurious indulgence, loud and clear, these intelligent people are quietly challenging their wiz to change the world.

Just to show a few more pricing property with the kind of architecture that I like. Appearance makes no dramatic statement. Quality is presented on its own. I know if I come closer, I will spend hours to photograph the details.

I am not that interested in the success of young biz tycoons and the value of these expensive houses. What I found interesting is the appearance of these houses, and how they are presented to a pedestrian like me. They are nice, but not overwhelmed.  They make you stand a while to enjoy, but not to blind your eyes with glamour and flame.

Unlike the mansions of Hollywood celebrities and rich heiresses in New York, theses houses do not have the sign of luxury, sensation or uniqueness.  They look just like one of the better houses, manicured, maintained and have a character of its own. They don’t strike you in ostentatious way, no boast, no big splash. Instead of cold and exclusive, they actually look welcoming.

If you have noticed, I enjoyed looking at the entry way of these houses. A lettuce entry with evergreens to welcome the guest to unfold the

multi million dollar home hidden within. Other than privacy, how these people so not care about their appearance? I just love it. I believe people overly look out their appearance possess a sense of insecurity and the confident ones contrarily don't care.  Here are the proofs.

Walking down this narrow sidewalk, I thought this street should be named Humble Avenue. I wandered in this street for a good hour and did not see a single soul coming out of the houses. It will be interesting for me to witness if they are as respectful as I expected, well, it is not important.
I have been addicting to Orton effect in the last couple weeks. I have applied it to some of the images for my fun sake.  I hope I did not overdo it and you think I am such a bad cook.

I caught a pretty bad cold that has lasted for a while and dragged me down. I thought spring is almost here and I can finally get back on track, but it is now 29 and will go down to 22 tonight and tomorrow as I am writing, yucks.