My Alaska Airlines photo contest entry

A snapshot of my 3 entries to the 2010 Alaska Airlines photo contest... chances of winning are super slim but never know if ya don't try. :)
I decided to enter it last minute on the day of the postmark deadline and had to pick a few photos that happened to be on my laptop at the time... then super quick sent them to Walgreens 1-hour (they look like crap) and made it to the post office a few minutes before they closed...

Mt. Hood Sunset from frozen Kingsley Reservoir

I've been itching to get out on my dirtbike for a long time now with all this traveling and finally had a chance to go out for a quick sunset ride this evening. Forgot how much I love being on my Honda CRF450x out there in the woods. So much adrenaline riding fast through the trees, up hills, down canyons... then you get to the top of a viewpoint, kill the engine, and turns from crazy adrenaline trip to a peaceful calm moment with the flip of a switch. I love that I can hop on my bike and ride up some hills a mile from my house and be miles from civilization and totally secluded, in just minutes.
This evening I took my camera bag, hopeful for a nice sunset, and it was beautiful! After riding through a bunch of crusty, chunky, icy snow I stopped at frozen Kingsley Reservoir and got a decent view of Mt. Hood's west facing side with some sunlight on it.
Mt. Hood and sunset, check out the wind blowing snow off the peak! Brrrrr!


And a snapshot of my bike, camera, and frozen Kingsley reservoir with Mt Hood-

Curious fish in Sea of Cortez, Mexico

another Guinea Fowl Puffer photo!

I can't get over how cute these guys are!

Paddle boarding on the Sea of Cortez and Pufferfish photos

If you're reading this on a facebook note, please click here to go to my blog. The photos are larger and look much better against a dark background! Feel free to comment here if you wish though. :)

Today Bethany and I went stand up paddle-boarding (SUP) here in La Ventana Mexico before the afternoon winds picked up and kiteboarding started. SUP is so much fun, especially here in the Sea of Cortez! The water is so clear and calm in the morning... the feeling of silently and effortlessly gliding over coral reefs and thousands of fish is quite fulfilling. :)

This was Bethany's first time trying it out and she did great, loved it too.

I brought my snorkel stuff and underwater housing along... here are some of my pics-

Bethany getting used to the balancing act-

Beautiful clouds-

Bethany looking like a pro already-

I went for a snorkel and caught this absolutely amazing and adorable pufferfish called the "Guineafowl Puffer". They are really slow fish and catching them isn't very difficult. They look a little bit boxy and funny at first, then you bother them, and they'll instantly start rapidly sucking water through their mouth to entirely fill their rubbery body, then, hundreds of small quills come out of their skin. It's FASCINATING! As you can see, these things are freaking comical when in this mode... I love it.

Video would be even better because the action of their tiny little flippers trying to move about is hilarious. For a size comparison, this one is almost basketball size and weighs like 10 pounds with the water inside.

Onto the next puffer! This one is a Barred Porcupine Fish an is equally adorable... but what's crazy is that puffers are the earths most deadly fish, as the ovaries, liver and intestines contain a tetrodotoxin that is known to be at least 1,200 times more potent than cyanide!! A poison that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says can “produce rapid and violent death.” The spikes don't contain the toxin so it's ok to gently handle them, but if you eat one of these guys you'd be lucky to live for 24 hours. In Japan it's considered a delicacy and can be ordered at special high end restaurants for $100-$200 per serving, but people die every year from it being prepared incorrectly... thanks but I'll pass and have the tuna please.

Size comparison to my hand. Some were much larger but harder to catch the big guys!

Back to paddle-boarding-

Bethany is feeling great and looking beautiful at 24 weeks preggy! Our baby enjoyed the ride too. :)

On the way back the wind started to pick up, luckily it was at our back though.

Hoping to go again tomorrow!

Breaking Wave - La Pastora Playa, Todos Santos, Mexico

Lightning over Sea of Cortez, Mexico

I know I know.... totally slacking on blogging these days. Been keeping busy traveling, playing, and shooting a lot during our offseason. It's been nice to spend almost 2 full months in Mexico (first Isla Mujeres and now Baja California Sur) while it's super cold and rainy in Oregon right now!
Currently in La Ventana, Mexico learning how to kiteboard and taking lots of photos of course. Here is one I shot last night of an extremely rare winter lightning storm over Cerralvo Island in the Sea of Cortez. The island is also called Jacques Cousteau Island or Isla Cerralvo.

More blogging to come soon, hopefully!

2010 baby.... Happy New Year!

Yes I know this is hideous and makes no sense... but it's 4AM New Years day and I just felt like creating something before bed. :)

Pelican and Sunset... can you say cliche! :)

Pelicans and sunsets, two very cliche and commonly photographed things, but how can you not when it looks so beautiful! This was our last sunset in Isla Mujeres Mexico before we headed off to the snow and cold in the states. Our tans are disappearing as I type.... :(

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Bethany and I arrived to Michigan yesterday to spend Christmas and New Years with her family. It's been cold, windy, and wet but great times with family makes up for all of that. :)

Hard to believe we were just in sunny & warm Mexico yesterday! Here is a photo I shot a couple days ago at Isla Contoy Island National Park in Mexico. Bethany and I had a wonderful relaxing day there before we headed back to the cold weather in the states.....
Now we're already thinking about our next warm getaway. :)

Ever feel like you're being watched?

This is a 3 foot long stingray who buried his entire body under the sand when I spotted him today. Just left one eye popping out to see what was going on!

Sunset on Mt. Hood at Trillium Lake

A couple days ago I knew the sunset was going to be beautiful on Mt. Hood... of course I wanted to shoot it, but from a different perspective! I opted to head up the mountain to Trillium Lake. After a 2 mile hike (with some jogging, I was running late) in the snow the view really paid off. The mountain lit up vibrant pink because there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I also waited around for a bit to catch the moonrise which was beautiful, but not quite in the right spot to get the shot I was hoping for with the moon rising behind the mountain. Maybe next time. :)

Mt. Hood with frozen Trillium Lake in the foreground-

I'm not much into the color pink, but in this case, I can deal with pink!

Last minute of pink sunlight on the mountain-

All the direct sunlight is done and the colors dramatically change-

Long exposure, see the star trails? You can also see a light and the lifts from Timberline Lodge-

Moon rising over Trillium Lake and Mt. Hood-

Moon rising over Trillium Lake and Mt. Hood-

This mornings view from the office

Not too shabby of a view from the office this morning! From left to right, Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams. Love them Cascades!

Just one pic for now... more coming later!

Full moon rising over Hood River

Shot this from my deck about an hour ago. Beautiful full moon rising over the hills in Washington!

Canon 40D with Canon 100-400mm lens, zoomed into 400mm.


One more-

2AM fog from my deck!

Fog and an almost full moon made for some interesting photos off my deck last night.



Kinda sci-fi ish isn't it?

Colorful day in the Columbia Gorge!

Our busiest season (summer/fall) for Blaine and Bethany Photography is finally winding down after a crazy year! Still have a bit editing and albums to finish up but it's been nice to have some free time to get outside and shoot!

Here are a few photos I shot today, sunrise and sunset! The days are short this time of year so it's easy to have time for both.

Incredible un-enhanced colors at sunrise-

Mt. Hood, Oregon at sunrise-

Oak trees-

Mt. Adams, Washington at sunset, check out that color!

Mt Adams Washington-

Sunset colors-

Mt. Hood Oregon, with the White Salmon bridge in foreground-

Downtown Hood River!

Just a quick photo I shot last night of downtown Hood River, I love home. :)

Panorama photo of Hood River, Mount Hood, Columbia River, and Bingen Washington

I just got home from shooting a beautiful sunset this evening. Definitely had to take advantage of the clear blue skies because it's been gray and raining for weeks! I shot many photos tonight but couldn't wait to get home and stitch together these images I shot as a panorama. It's 18 frames shot vertically on a tripod with a 21 megapixel Canon 5D Mark II camera and stitched together. Printed out at full resolution, the print would be well over 100 inches wide, and that is even cropped in!

Who wants to buy the first edition fullsize print? :)

It'll look like crap below but click to see it larger. It may take another click to see it larger because browsers often scale down to fit the width of your screen...

gettin crazy at Point Reyes

I used to shoot these kind of photos all the time in my earlier days of photography... not so much anymore though. Guess I just got a little bored of it. Last month in San Francisco it was fun to do this shot and revisit that style! Got it right on my first try. :)

30 second exposure on tripod. After the exposure started I'd hop in the car and punch it... drive fast with only parking lights on while passing the camera, then click the headlights on a little ways away from the camera, to avoid overexposing the road and stuff.

More aerial photos of Mt. Hood, Hood River and the Columbia River Gorge!

I could never get tired of hopping in my friend Ken's plane and buzzing all around taking photos and enjoying the beautiful sights. It's such an incredible experience seeing the rugged mountains and landscape from perspectives that not many people ever get to experience! I hope the photos I take bring you close as possible to experiencing it yourself though! :)

The conditions weren't absolutely perfect for photography like our previous trip, so the photos aren't quite as good, but still spectacular nonetheless! The blanket of fresh snow on Mt. Hood was gorgeous!

I think those are "lenticular" clouds over Mt. Hood, which means super high winds! We didn't even get really close to Mt. Hood but still experienced 45 knot winds!

We buzzed away from the Mt. and cruised over the Columbia River for a bit. Here is a freight train heading east in Washington.

Every mountain bikers favorite spot... Syncline! See the trail zigzagging up?

The lighter blue house is ours! :)

Sharp turn before heading into to land!

My sister Lindsey got to come along and enjoyed it... although she later admitted she was on the verge of puking the whole time! Not at the fault of our pilot... just that the Frangers don't do so well with motion sickness. :)