To Plan Worldwide Wanderings

To Plan Worldwide Wanderings
WASH10D-26_pan

August 10, 2010

Taking a break from the nature photography today, to highlight one of my favorite stores ever.  No, this is not REI (though good guess to those who know me, REI is up amid the top of the list).  This is Metsker Maps of Seattle.  This store, which is among a dwindling population of map stores, has such a diversity and abundance of travel-oriented products that you can't help but be impressed.  Travel guides?  Yup.  Map pins?  You betcha.  Topo maps for the Pacific NW?  Why not.  Flags, globes, rare and antique maps, journals, essays... you name it, this place has it.  While this post might seem like a Yelp-ish endorsement, I love the photo, for it shows off the jumbled, dense allocation of things in the store.  The panorama, i discovered this morning, is slightly mis-aligned, and will fix that soon.  But until then, dream of further wanderings, and enjoy.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Nikon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6

Focal length:  18 mm

Exposure: 1/13 @ f/3.5   ISO 400

Post-processing: Minor tone adjusted with PS 4 and LR 1.4.

Marine Still Life

Marine Still Life

WASH07D-17

December 25, 2007

Sticking with Washington today, this time a silly little still-life from the coast.  While out hiking near on the Dungeness Spit, Washington, there was this riot of kelp along the sand.  Masses of algal tubes and fronds were intertwined on the shore, and there was this single blue stone, obviously having spent some time in the ocean with its toupee of seaweed still clinging to the top.  But I thought the contrast in color made a great little still-life of the sea, and so here it is for you to admire and think of the vast Pacific ocean.  Enjoy.

 

Technical notes:

Camera: NIkon D80

Lens: Nikon 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6

Focal length: 85 mm

Exposure: 1/60   f/5.6  ISO 800 

Post-processing: Slight texture,toning and curves adjustment in PS4

Temperate Lush Forest

Temperate Lush Forest

WASH07D-57

December 26, 2007

Man I wish that spring would arrive.  We're having a balmy winter, which is plain no fun.  If you're going to be winter, and lose all your leaves and turn the landscape into stick-ville, then give us some cold and snow so we can have fun and play in the white powder.  So, today's image is pining for some greenery out there.  This comes from one of the very few temperate rainforests (left) in the world, the lush forests of the Olympic peninsula and of Olympic National Park in Washington.  This was taken in December, right after Christmas, and you can see all the greenery that is still on the ground and in the trees.

This area is beautiful, and was the focus of my first interest in backpacking years ago as a young teenager on a family camping trip (a dream that went unfulfilled at the time).  It was the first time I thought about taking multiple days to hike across a landscape, carrying everything on our backs.  I still remember the tentative route I had sketched out on the park map, figuring we'd need 2 weeks to go down and back right through the center of the forest.  But even though it was not meant to be, it laid the foundation for many of my wanderings to come, up to this day.  Enjoy.

 

Technical notes:

Camera: NIkon D80

Lens: Nikon 18-135 f/3.5-5.6

Focal length: 18 mm

Exposure: 1/20   f/5.6 ISO 800

Post-processing: Slight texture,toning and curves adjustment in PS4