Grapes Lake Chelan Washington

While up in Manson Washington I wanted to capture a shot of an apple orchard so I could remember Manson the way it was most of my life. It was actually harder than I thought it would be, so many of the orchards have been taken out and grapes put in for wine. I did come away with this shot of a vineyard.

Banjo Creek Farms

This is Banjo Creek Farms in Manson Washington I have seen it change hands many times. It has had a simple petting zoo, a restaurant with live music, sold antiques and had exotic animals like Clydesdale horses and Texas Longhorn cattle. It seems no one can make a business survive in this location. My wife loves the place and has dreams of owning it one day.

Majors Yakima Washington

It seems like every time I go through Yakima Washington I see another restaurant that is interesting. There is an original McDonalds that  has a single arch. You can sit in convertible cars inside and there are jukeboxes on the tables and there is a large old fashion jukebox also. On this trip I found Majors with a burger fries and a glass of Pepsi on the roof. It seems like Yakima is frozen in time somewhere around the 1970's.

Teapot Gas Station @ Night

The Teapot Gas Station was built in 1922 by Jack Ainsworth on what later became U.S. Route 12 in Zillah Washington. The station was intended to be a reminder of the Teapot Dome Scandal that rocked the presidency of Warren G. Harding and sent Interior Secretary Albert Fall to prison for his role in leasing government oil reserves in, among other places, Teapot Dome, Wyoming and the Elk Hills Oil Field of California.

I started to process this shot in HDR and did not like the results. I did not like the starbursts on the pumps and the gas sign. I also did not like the glow of the light on the roof of the teapot. I wanted a crisp edges because I thought the starbursts were distracting. I could have shot with a wider aperture(shot at f/11) like f/4 or so, I will have to experiment. I used scripts to stack the images that I shot for HDR. Here is a great video to explain scripts and layer stacking for star trails. I also liked the control of the tone and saturation of the lights on the domes on the gas pumps and other parts of the image.

The result of stacking and masking in Photoshop.

The result of processing through HDR software.

IOOF Cemetery Grass Valley

The sky seemed pretty ominous when I saw tomb stones sticking up along the horizon I turned the truck around and got these shots. The Cemetery was in the middle of nowhere just north of Grass Valley, OR. I saw the farm in the background and thought that they must have relatives buried here and thought I should include it in the shot.

IOOF is Independent Order of Odd Fellows they care for cemeterys. This is the Grass Valley Cemetery.

Old Farm and Windmill

This hay farm is located just north of Shaniko Oregon and south of Grass Valley on Highway 97. The windmill was in great condition it was made by Aermotor Wininmill of Chicago the only windmill manufacture in the United States that was founded in 1888. The house was home to hundreds of pigeons.  It appeared that the farm was still in use, there were tire tracks and the barn had fresh hay in it.

This house was two stories but you would have to be very brave to tackle the battered staircase. The house also had a rock foundation.

Old Barn and Mount St. Helens

I passed this barn with bison being back lit by the sun years ago and I was in too much of a hurry. I will get it next time only to never see that again. I have regretted that ever since. So when I saw this shot I took it. The barn is on Highway 97 just outside Goldendale Washington just inside the southern border just north of Oregon. The mountain in the background is Mount St. Helens.

Lake Chelan at Night (Winter)

I have been going to Lake Chelan in Washington for almost all of my life. I decided to take a shot of it at night. The first attempt was overcast and I had to wait until the next night. The moon was three quarters (full moon would be the best) so it could light the landscape. I took it from the south side of the lake (hoping to get the north star in the shot) where the legend of the lake turnout is. I wanted to shoot north and make circular star trails. The lake is about a mile wide at this point. So it was hard to make the hills on the other side of the lake big enough in the composition and still get the north star in the shot. The shot is made up of 14 four minute exposures. I had taken 31 but the lens fogged it was 22 degrees outside. It is hard to tell when the lens fogs on from the LCD screen on the back of the camera and you don't want to interupt the sequence. On warmer nights fogging will not be a problem. I was able to sit comfortably and take a nap in my truck right next to the camera.

Philips 66 Kent Oregon

I have shot this Philips 66 in Kent Oregon on Highway 97 several times.  It's is amazing what an image shows that we forget about. The most obvious thing is the Orange Crush sign on the roof. You can also see the fuel pumps are made by Gilbarco, a sticker in the window for Wynn's Oil Company another sticker for Salem Cigarettes and a sticker for certificate B restaurant. This station has been closed since gas was 66 1/2 cents per gallon that was in 1979. I have been trying to show the cars going by because there is no reason to stop anymore since the station is closed. I got that in the second shot. I was not happy with previous attempts.