Monday, May 26, 2008

What A Rush!


Just off the right side of the image is a 90 foot drop, the Middle Falls of Elk Creek Falls Recreation Area. See yesterday’s post for a view of the falls. I used a slow shutter speed (1/30th sec) to blur the water, and catch the feel of the motion.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Elk Creek Falls!

If you’re ever in the Pullman WA / Moscow ID area, a side trip to Elk Creek Falls is well worth the time. About 1.5 hours from Pullman, but a really nice drive. And a super place. Their sign says it all:



One of the things I often do with digital is take photos of signs. It helps me remember where I’ve been. And in this case, it actually gave me a handy (if not detailed) map during my wanderings. Granted, the display on the back of my camera isn’t quite huge, but I did refer to it a few times….


Elk Creek is a very cool spot. Complete with deep woods , grand vistas, and impressive waterfalls. Expect to see more images as I plug through the stack.



I didn't see another person during the couple of hours I spent tromping around (which suits me fine!). I did hear some people shouting when I was headed for the car, sounded like your typical noisy teenagers (I know, I was one once)... I also saw 2 cars arriving when I was leaving. Ah, the importance of getting up and moving in the mornings!

A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away

I was chatting about the experience of attending movies with a friend the other day, and Star Wars came up. Star Wars was certainly a phenomenon, a cultural landmark for folks around my age. It was early summer, between Jr. and Sr. years of high school, not long before my 17th birthday... I think was the first movie I saw at a mulitplex theater (4 theaters, IIRC!), a good 1/2 hour drive from home (out near the Monroeville Mall, later made famous in "Dawn Of The Dead"). I'm sure it was the first movie I waiting in line for, probably 30-45 minutes.

I bring it up, because I just saw that today is the 31st anniversary of the original release. And May 25th, 1977 seems like a long time ago in a (figurative) galaxy far far away.....

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Old Barn on the Palouse


It has been probably 8 years since I made my first trip to SE Washington state, and I’ve made it to this area occasionally over the past few years. And every time, I end up driving past the funky old barn. And it looks worse and worse each time. Not sure hoe much longer it’ll be around.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Edge


My ftp site is working again!! I never figured out why it wasn’t working (via several different computers), but decided to check it today, and it loaded right up!! Maybe I can get posting a bit more…. This is from the top of Kamiak Butte, looking north across the Palouse region of SE Washington State. Just playing aound with depth-of-field.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Another "almost"

It seems like my hard drive is overflowing with images that are almost good. That almost captured my vision. That don't quite make it. This is one of those images, from a few Mays ago, taken at Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio. I really like this scene; the 2 big rocks in the stream contrasting the 3 trees on the far shore... the dense trees on the top left and the sunlight coming in from the top right. But the bright mid-afternoon sun on those wonderful rocks has them completely blown out. Way overexposed. Sigh....

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Pink Roller


Walking through the Minneapolis airport (MSP), following a young lady with a bright pink rolling suitcase. I snapped this with my cell-phone camera, while hurrying along one of the moving walkways.... I added just a little bit of effects, to boost the abstract feel.

80 / 20

Still no ftp a access, thus no new photos. Sorry... I might have to find another ftp method, some other drastic tactic...

Anyway, here’s a diversion, a little review of my microstock experience. After almost 15 months at Shutterstock (my top performing site), here's a chart of the distribution of sales. First off, 78% of the images have at least 1 sale. That’s a number that has been remarkably consistant over the months, usually between 75% and 80%.

And while the bulk of my sales come from a small percentage of my portfolio, it’s a bit broader than the proverbial 80/20 rule. 80% of my earnings come from 31.5% of my portfolio. On the other hand, the top 5% of my portfolio does account for over 30% of my earnings, so it’s still pretty “top heavy”.


Still having fun, and those quarters do add up. Everybody ought to give it a try!

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

FTP .... GRRRRRRR!

Can't seem to get my ftp site to work the past several days. Not sure what the issue is, but I don't really prefer uploading images to sites where I can't delete them later (like blogger)...

Maybe tomorrow.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Wildflower

I have no idea what kind of flower this is, but it was growing wild on top of Kamiak Butte….. I had to lay down to get low enough.