Ellie, and her friend Ellie, went to Salem back in May to be honorary pages for a day. Here they are on the capitol steps before changing into their page outfits.

Posted on July 11th, 2011 under outside of ashland, people, places. Tags: ellie, salem. Comments Off on Honorary Pages

Back on father’s day I was trying out my 24mm prime lens while on a bike ride up in the Siskiyous. As luck would have it, just as I got my D7000 out of the bag to take a photo of the Caterpillar Trail sign, a few riders came down so I got to test out the responsiveness in low light.

For the first rider I had the dial in the “Auto-No Flash” mode and didn’t have time to change it. Needless to say he blurred a bit as they were coming down the trail fast. That first shot was taken with a shutter speed of 1/160, ISO200, f6.3. I had a few seconds to adjust for the second guy pictured above. I quickly spun the dial over to Scene and then moved the scene to “sports.” I then fired off the above three shots in rapid succession. The camera fired at 1/1000 with an ISO of 500 and f4. I was pleased with the result of three well focused, sharp images (in poor light even), with a frozen rider in each.

Posted on July 8th, 2011 under nature, only in ashland, people, places. Tags: biking, photography, siskiyous. Comments Off on Caterpillar Trail

I’m actually in Denmark at the moment. If you care to follow along, check out my other blog. Check out the guy on the right, waving at me. I was down in the harbor (Nyhavn), enjoying a canal cruise.

Posted on June 29th, 2011 under outside of ashland, places. Tags: water. Comments Off on Copenhagen, Denmark

A short walk from the Butte Creek Mill is this covered bridge. Originally built in 1922, it was moved to its current location (and altered) in 1987. That is why the sign on the bridge says Antelope Creek Bridge when the bridge no longer spans Antelope Creek. To be honest, I was a little disappointed (underwhelmed) by this covered bridge. Perhaps it is the cement the bridge is now resting on that ruins the feel. Butte Creek Mill, on the other hand, was cooler than I expected.

Posted on June 26th, 2011 under outside of ashland, places. Tags: eagle point. Comments: 1

Brandi Carlile opened for Ray LaMontagne a few nights back at the Britt Festival. Although Ray was kind enough to provide me with a photo pass (as photography isn’t allowed at Britt without one), it (and all of the photo passes issued that evening) had the stipulation that photos could only be taken from this one spot (which was obviously far from the stage and only capable of capturing Ray’s backside or occasional profile).

One good thing about this vantage point is it can give you a good shot of the crowd too (with a wide angle lens).

I used my new 50mm 1.8 for this second shot. I think I could have gotten some great shots with it from my seat down front in what became lower light later, but I didn’t get to test out that possibility due to the rules.

Finally, at the maximum zoom in my bag (200mm), here is as close as I could get. The possibilities weren’t very numerous from a fixed point with a band that doesn’t move around or change expressions much, but I still had a great time and Ray and the Pariah Dogs sounded great.

I’ll give you more variety from Brandi here soon.

Posted on June 25th, 2011 under outside of ashland, people, places. Tags: britt festivals, jacksonville, music, people, photography. Comments: 1

I’m in Copenhagen, Denmark (at least I hope I am–I have actually pre-blogged this to post when I’m in Denmark). But this was the view a week and a half ago from Medford on the Bear Creek Greenway which runs from Ashland all the way to Central Point. From this vantage point on the bike overpass you get a clear view of Mt. Ashland and the I-5 sign pointing you to Ashland.

Posted on June 24th, 2011 under places. Tags: Bear Creek Greenway, medford, mt. ashland, signs. Comments Off on Mt. Ashland from Medford

I think I have finally nailed this shot of Ashland Creek which I’ve taken several times before but never to my entire satisfaction. The key ingredients are:
1) right season (late spring or early summer–more green and more water)
2) tripod
3) right day and time (sunny day in the early morning before the sun is really out)
4) no wind (if the branches or leaves are blowing in the breeze then the “pop” doesn’t pop)

Equipment and EXIF data:
Nikon D7000
Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II lens
$20 tripod
f/22
1 second exposure
ISO 280
18mm focal length

Posted on June 18th, 2011 under lithia park, nature, only in ashland, places. Tags: lithia park, photography, water. Comments: 1

This past weekend we took a trip, for the first time, to visit Butte Creek Mill in Eagle Point, Oregon. I say trip, but it really isn’t that far from Ashland. The weather was fine and the views of snow covered Mt. McLaughlin against a blue, blue sky on the way were fantastic. I didn’t stop for a photo of Mt. McLaughlin though.

Grains have been milled here since 1872, and the owner told me that the water turbine currently in use has been used for about 100 years. The system was interesting to examine–especially since it was actually working and was not just some demo in a museum.

Posted on June 16th, 2011 under outside of ashland, places. Tags: buildings, butte creek mill, eagle point, national register of historic places. Comments: 1

Today’s photo was my random desktop image of the day. I took this picture of Ashland’s most famous hotel back in February on a snowy day in town. I left the shutter on my LX3 open for 8 seconds.

Posted on May 29th, 2011 under only in ashland, places. Tags: ashland springs hotel, lx3, national register of historic places, night photography, snow, winter. Comments Off on Snowy Ashland Springs Hotel