The Clarity of 4x5 Film

I love this shot! The assignment was to shoot glass objects as part of a class that I'm currently taking. This was taken using a large format camera on 4x5 black and white film. The clarity and detail of the printed image is amazing! The negative was scanned in order to produce this digital image. BTW, no post-processing at all...just removal of some specs of dust on the negative.

Portland, OR

Finally had a chance to sort through some pictures of our trip to Portland. We had a really good time in this beautiful and environmentally conscious city! And we were extremely lucky with the weather, too. Rain was expected in the middle of our trip but the storm came late and it started to rain right when we arrived at the airport for the trip home. We biked a lot, drank a lot and ate WAAAAAY too much! In other words, it was good times!

The picture below is one of my favorites from our trip. This was taken from Crown Point along the Columbia River Gorge. The view is spectacular from up there and again, we were quite lucky with the weather. The really cool thing is that we are in Oregon, but just on the other side of the Columbia River is Washington state.

Here are some shots I thought that really summarizes downtown Portland...

Na and I goofing off at the Portland Saturday Market...

The Nines Hotel! This place is sooooo cool...everything from the location to the decor. The lobby is on the 8th floor (above a Macy's!) with all natural lighting supplied by an open atrium while all floors above have a bird's eye view of the lobby and Urban Farmer (the restaurant) below.

We took a bike tour of Historic Downtown Portland and got really lucky b/c we were the only two people on the tour! It was like a private tour for just the two of us. We decided to keep the bikes for an additional 24 hours after the tour so we can cruise around town. Weird thing is...it cost more than twice as much to rent a bike than it does a car! Bike rental for 2 people for 24 hours...$60 total. Car rental for 24 hours...$24.70 total (including tax!).

Some of the many places that we ate at...(from top, left) - The Sugar Cube, Voodoo Doughnuts, Urban Farmer, Saucebox, Brunchbox, Andina, and Mother's...

And of course, some of the food that we stuffed our faces with along w/some action shots!!!

I had a staredown contest w/Portland's official doughnut from Voodoo...guess who won? (See answer below...)

Happy hour at Urban Farmer in the Nines lobby...

Multnomah Falls - easy drive from downtown Portland and just awesome views in every direction. Wished we had more time, although we did hike to the top of the falls.

We arrived early and were able to snap a few shots before a lot of people showed up. I think two minutes after we took this shot, people were all over the bridge in the middle of the picture.

Here's a video Na took of us riding along the Willamette River on Saturday morning. The sun was just coming up and the city was just waking up. We were on our way to breakfast and just enjoying our ride and the cool, crisp air of Portland, Oregon...

The Many Faces of Little Madison...

So cute, and not camera shy at all! It didn't take Madison long to get into model mode. As soon as she was done with her breakfast, she was ready to roll. Her expressions can range anywhere from serious to mellow to soft smiles to laugh-out-loud laughter! Check it out...

Deanna & Rene's Wedding at Rancho Las Lomas

Congratulations to Deanna and Rene! We are very happy for the two of them! These two are probably the most easy going and fun loving people we know. The wedding was at the fabulous Rancho Las Lomas. This place felt like it was hundreds of miles away from the hustle and bustle of LA, but it was only miles from the heart of Orange County. Here are some of my favorites from the big day...

This is hilarious...click on the ring picture above and see if you can read the inscription inside Rene's ring...

A Little Sneak Peak...

From our trip this past weekend in Portland, OR...

This is from Powell's Book Store

Multnomah Falls

Death Valley National Park

You know how there are places that you always hear about and know about but just never seem to get around to going? Whether it's the timing, the weather, or whatever reason... Well, I can officially take Death Valley off that list! Joe, Jim and I made a quick trip out there this past weekend to do some camping, grilling, chilling and some serious photography time! We shot as soon as we got there on Friday evening, then first thing Saturday morning and then again late Saturday evening. Here are some of my favorites from the weekend...

Our campsite at Furnace Creek Campgrounds

Badwater Salt Flats - We got REALLY lucky here b/c we only got about 20 minutes of beautiful colors from the sunset. Prior to that it was completely overcast and just gray skies, but we were hopeful and patient...and it paid off!

Zabriskie Point

Tucki Mountain - This shot was taken at 8:30pm! It is actually moonlight that is lighting up the dunes, creating the shadows on the sand and the mountain. If you look closely, there are actually stars in the sky.

Banff

Our first ski trip of the new decade! We were up at Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada for 5 days and we went skiing/boarding on 3 of the days. The scenery is beautiful up there...I can only imagine how this place is during the summer when most of the snow has melted and the lakes have thawed out... BTW, did I mention that it was cold??? We don't remember ever skiing/boarding in this kind of cold before...I think the weather was somewhere in the -30°C range the first day we were there!

Here are Na and I at Sunshine Village (photo taken by G.T.)
This is a panoramic shot at the top of the Mt. Standish Lift at Sunshine Village photostitched together in Photoshop using 5 shots.

The historical and world famous Fairmont Banff Springs hotel...

The frozen Two Jack Lake...