Down But Not Forgotten

This shot is part of an idea I had when I saw this gorge full of discarded cars and trash. I went on a hike with my daughter and saw this gorge but did not have my camera with me. The next year we returned with plans of crossing the river but the run off from Lake Chelan was quite intense compared to the same time the year before. The year before we could have walked across the river to get to the gorge. The images below show what we were up against, I had to come up with another idea if I wanted to get there. So as I left with an unsuccessful attempt to get to the gorge I kept my eyes open and noticed a piece of property on the other side of the river with a dirt road leading to it. So the next day we searched for the road and hiked down the river bank on large boulders not sure if we could even get there. As I hiked I kept in mind our safety and hoped we could hike without causing an avalanche. When we got there and I was shooting my leg sunk into the rocks causing my foot to get buried and scraped the side of my ankle. I had an idea of shooting up the gorge and making the cars look like a modern art sculpture but that idea did not work. I have a few more shots I am working on from this shoot.

This is a shot from the hike on the first day. The year before we could have walked across the river.

Everything including the kitchen sink. I can not imagine seeing this view and thinking this would be a great place to dump my trash. 

Banjo Creek Farms Revisited

I have shot Banjo Creek Farms in winter in the post Banjo Creek Farms. Here is a shot during the summer. I like to visit the same place at different times of the year to shoot a completely different feel, like the post This Old House would not be the same at any other time of the year. Not that you can't get a good shot during a different time of year just a different feel. 

Red Duck Nursery Manson Wa

This is my Grandfathers old orchard it is now the Red Duck Nursery in Manson Wa. I still laugh every time I think about my cousin being perplexed about people buying metal chickens. I see that he has sold quite a few in the area surrounding the nursery. My wife like the large chicken on the left, but not as much as the Bill King (the owner of Red Duck Nursery) likes it. That is why it is still there.

Old Barn and Mount St. Helens Revisited (6 months later)

I visited this barn in early February 2013 the image is in the post Old Barn and Mount St. Helens. I am amazed at the amount of decay the has happened in such a short time (6 months). When you compare it to the post Barn in Washington on 97 to Barn in Washington on 97 Winter the time span is almost 7 years and the decay is barley noticeable. What is different the barn taken with Mount St Helens is on a high flat plain compared to a valley in the barn on 97. Was the wind on the flat plain able to knock the whole exterior wall down or did a group of teenagers help that wall fall? The population is greater around and closer to the barn taken with Mount St Helens. Is one barn built better than the other? Is one barn older than the other or was there more snow fall in the area that had greater decay in a shorter time? I like to watch things change over time that's why I find it interesting to revisit places at a different time of year or years later and think about what is different. If I did not take photos I would not notice the subtle or drastic changes. Photography has taught me to slow down take a step back and notice what is around me look at what is different from yesterday. If I travel what's different here than at home and take time to enjoy it. I have enjoyed watching the colors of fall this year, I got and early start when I was in Tahoe and shot the aspens in the post This Old House. It reminds me of the quote "Stop and Smell the Roses" I did research and could not find the author of the quote.

When I saw the clouds surrounding the peak of Mount St. Helens I could not help but think how similar it must have looked to the around the time when it erupted on May 18th 1980. I remember going to my Grandparents orchards a few months later it was amazing to still see the ash on the ground about 3 to 4 hundred miles away.

Old House Weed California

In early February on my way home from Manson Washington I found this old house just after some slight showers. It is just north of Weed California  a mile or two from the south end of US Route 97. 

Old Truck Town of Chelan

 I have been going to Chelan, Washington almost once a year for most of my life and there is one thing I have noticed on the way to and from Chelan. When a truck no longer needed it does not go away it becomes part of the farm or orchard, I guess it's a way to pay homage to the old work horse, just like putting an old horse out to pasture.

McDonald's Old Style

This is the  McDonald's in Yakima Washington it is strait out of the 1950's. This how McDonald's looked when they were franchised in May of 1953 the second McDonald's was opened in Phoenix, Arizona by Neil Fox an executive at Occidental Petroleum. Under the single arch located up on the roof is the original McDonald's mascot Speedee, he was later replaced by Ronald McDonald. Inside they have a McDonald's themed motorcycle, a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz you can eat in along with a 1957 Chevy Bel Air. They also have a Rockola jukebox and the interior of the building is decorated with pictures of 1950's icon's from Rock and Roll to Hollywood movie stars. 

West Woodin Street Bridge Chelan Washington

This is a backup shot I had planned after a shot of the head of the lake fell through. The day we got to Manson Washington the sky was filled with cumulus clouds that were a bright pink. I hoped for the same thing with no luck for the rest of the trip.  The bridge is on West Woodin Street in Chelan Washington.  The resort at the far in the bridge is Campbell's. I shot three slightly different composition bracketing for HDR and plenty of the same exposure so I could pick and choose the final shots to be used in the final HDR image.

McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park

We decided to take U.S. Route 395 to Manson, Washington instead of  U.S. Route 97 we went east on California State Route 299 at Redding California. I knew it was a good decision when I smelt smoke and all the fire trucks kept going straight on Interstate 5. We missed three forest fires going this way and the traffic was nonexistent. U.S. Route 97 was closed at Goldendale Washington. The image is McArthur-Burney Falls in Northern California on California State Route 89 6 miles north of Burney, California. I shot four sets of nine images for the HDR image so I could stitch a panorama together. I only use seven shot for the HDR because the way I shoot the images I have duplicate of two of the bracketed images. It was hard to shoot these images because of the mist from the falls kept getting on the lens. I saw several people swimming despite the 42 degrees Fahrenheit water temperature. It probably felt wonderfully refreshing because it was 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mack, International, Ford, Moreland, Transport and a few unidentified trucks

Here a few more shots from the salvage yard in Toppenish, Washington. I found old makes that still exist to day like Mack, International, Ford and a couple I did not know like Moreland and Transport. If anyone knows the makes of the other trucks would you please let me know Thanks.

On the left is Mack Bulldog and on the right is an International.

There is a Ford on the left and Mack Bulldog in the center and an International on the right.

This is a Moreland the company was started by Watt L. Moreland in 1917 an lasted until 1940. The company was located in Burbank, California.

I do not know the make of this truck, but just above the windshield is the word "union".

The goats in the background came out of the brush on my first visit and scared me.

On the door it says "S-H Garage PHW 3348 7321 E. Sprague Spokane" I looked up the address which is about 215 miles away. I assume the PHW 3348 was the phone number and I could not locate the exact address. I thought it would be interesting to find out what was there now.

The truck on the right is a Transport, I could not find any information on the company.

Toppenish Salvage Yard

I was recently was in a Google + hangout with Keith Cuddeback and Georges Pauly. We talked about how we processed our HDR images and shared our work. We all had a different workflow and used different software. Seeing how others work gave me new ideas and it was great to get some feedback on what other people think good and bad. It caused me to think about how I process my images. Actually it caused me to download Adobe Lightroom and do some research on it so I could work on my HDR images that I create in HDR Efex Pro 2 in 32 bit file format. I have been using Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended and I have to convert the files to 8 bit file format (loosing valuable data) so all the tools will work in Photoshop. I actually did not process any images for a while after I downloaded Lightroom I played with it. I have some research to do before I will feel completely comfortable with it. I remember the first time opened Photoshop 4 I could not get it to do anything not even make a mark and it involved a lot of reading and playing around before I felt comfortable altering images. There are people that make images from scratch with Photoshop like Bert Monroy, one of his most impressive works of art is Times Square. He always says it's not work it is play which is true if you enjoy the process. He approaches Photoshop from a totally different direction than I do. To see a short video of him at play click this link. I had the privilege to meet him, take a course for free and get my books signed. It was odd to see him walking down the street as I was arriving to take the course we met at a street corner and talked as we arrived at Keeble and Shuchat in Palo Alto. When the night ended we were still talking and they had to kick us out of the building. He is a really nice guy and loves to teach. I do not use Photoshop the same way as Bert Monroy but seeing how he uses it helps me get around problems when I am processing images. Getting back to the hangout I thought about what we had talked about and went back and reprocessed some images I had wrote off. Part of it was at the time I processed them I was new to HDR and treated all images the same and part of it was the advances in the software. Below are some of the images I reworked.

Ford

The second car in is a Dodge. I like the hand crank on the corrugated roofing material
where the hood should be on the first car.

Hunters Shack

This is a hunters shack (mancave) up in Manson Washington. 

A Few Unidentified Autos

These are a few cars and trucks I could not identify. If you know I would appreciate if you let me know. Thanks they are located at an auto salvage yard just outside Toppenish Washington.

This reminds me of an ice cream truck

This kind of reminds me of a train

I wounder how many cars this tow truck towed here

Old Red Dodge

When I saw this truck it kind of reminded me of my favorite truck a 1993 Dodge Dakota. It had 250,000 miles on it when I sold it and had only been towed three times. Once when I ran over a Honda parked on the freeway at night that was locked up like it was in a parking lot no lights. I tried to merge onto the freeway looked up and all I could do was spin the steering wheel to miss it as much as I could (the guy had an accident and walked away). The second was when the breaks went out and the third was when the water pump seized up. I still see it once in a while. This one was located in a salvage yard just outside Toppenish Washington.