Shimmer

I was just sitting here unloading some shots from one of my cameras and catching up on computer items. A lot of looking back through photos over the year, last year, etc and seeing what I can post out to my other site http://www.timehlers.com/.

So I come across this photo of my daughter playing in the rolling surf as the sun is going to set for another day. She is just having a the time of her life and enjoying things as they are, not worried about the job, family, basically very few cares. At this same time I was listening to a song by Shawn Mullins called "Shimmer" and it really struck a chord with me at that moment.

I find myself at times sitting and spending a little to much time fixated on the issues at hand and how to make it to the next hour or even day. Most of the times these are things that in the "big picture" don't really matter and yet the rise to top for few moments of thought. I am not one that really dwells on that to much and hope that I really don't, but this song kind of puts some perspective on just looking at life. I am a huge Shawn Mullins fan and really enjoy his music so when I saw this photo and heard the song, well, I thought I should share. There is to much to learn from looking at life through the eyes of our children, they can unlock so much from us it can be a wonderful gift you never have to buy.

A few more weeks until Christmas and to continually see it through a childs eyes always makes this time of year that much better. Have a great Christmas and New Year's and hope that you too find that joy this time of year brings.

Tim

Happy Thanksgiving & Birds of Prey

First of all, I wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to all! May your day be filled with joy and wonderful conversation as you celebrate with family and friends!

Now, last week on 11/19 I was at home for lunch and just finished up when a larger bird flew and landed on a bird feeder in the backyard. I figured it was a Blue Jay or a crow, but looked anyway and nope....it was a smaller Hawk, and after slowly moving across two windows then going to hands and knees I was able to grab a camera I keep on a table by the back picture window. Got it turned on, lens ready and leaned on some furniture without making big motions and got off about 20 shots. I have included one and sorry had to crop and manipulate a little so it doesn't take up so much room when I upload. I also had to shoot through the window which sometimes give me some extra distortion.

Anyway - First shot is a 'Sharp Shinned Hawk' part of the Accipiter family which is some of the smaller Hawks. It was in the hood as I have plenty of Junco's, Chickadee's and some lesser gold finches for it to prey upon. I have included a shot of a Cooper's Hawk so you can kind of see the differences. I used to get a Cooper's Hawk by our previous house looking for small bird or two for a meal. Enjoy!


Tim

The Rain is here making lazy dogs

Hello folks,

over the half way point for November and the rain has pretty much been a daily constant here in the Willamette valley. Somewhere there is rain falling in the valley on an almost daily basis. I haven't looked for the Salem totals to date but I think we are well ahead of last year and maybe close to normal since October first.

Kind of make days feel like lazy days and being like the dog and catching some snooze time on the couch. Yep our dog occasionally will decide that the couch is the place to be to take a nap for the day or what have you. Some how he can just lie there with no cares in the world while everyone else seems to be busy around him.

Thanksgiving is about a week away so will need to start to think about holiday decorating coming up. One thing I noticed the other day while walking in downtown Salem, is that Nordstroms has some posters saying they will get ready for Christmas holiday starting on November 27th. They said they like to celebrate one holiday at a time. It was a great change to see an anchor store in our downtown mall not having all the Christmas hype up and trying to get folks to hurry up and buy. My hat is off to them for taking their time and let the days and holidays come like they used to....what's the hurry? Nice job Nordstroms!

Not much else, thanks for reading.

Tim

Fall is holding a little warmth for us

November is here and will probably blow right past as the other ten previous months this year! I will try to embrace it and as months go this is probably my favorite month, with leaves changing, crisp air to breath and the fight of slight Indian summer trying to hang on a few more days. I really enjoy the cool temps in the morning and day and the ever changing colors. Only another week or so and most of the trees will have shed their coats of leaves.

We have had a break from the usual rain after a couple of weeks where we got rain off/on all day for about two weeks. Halloween was dry so that was great for the kids to be out and not get wet and it was relatively nice with the night temps in the low 50's during trick or treat time.

Over the last couple years, Salem bought this old railroad bridge for a $1 and have been working on its conversion to a pedestrian/bicycle bridge. This past spring they opened it and it has been a great hit, connecting the west side with east side from two separate parks. I use the bridge on my bike commutes home so always enjoy the crossing. It is even more cool in the evening with more darkness and the lights, etc. It sits a little lower then the two vehicle bridges and about a hundred yards to the North of the Marion Street bridge. All in all it is one of the better investments I have seen Salem make since we moved here in 2003.

I put in a couple of shots that kind of give you an idea of the bridge. One has my trusty steed leaning against the rail and the other is me taking a shot while riding across so it is a bit blurry but still pretty cool. Enjoy. BTW the bridge is going to close on 11/9/09 until March/April of 2010 for some more work so I will have to change my commute again.

Tim

October - The new Rain & Fog season

As we work our way through this month of October getting closer to the Halloween celebration it is a time where we start a new raining season (Oct.1). That is the official day of the new 12 month period, it is the same in Colorado where we moved from but there it starts the official "snow" season. This also marks the time of year where we have our most foggy months of October and November.

Anyway as the temperature starts to finally cool down more with highs in the low 60's the ground and water temperature are finally starting to give up the heat. With the Willamette river running right through Salem it provides some great fog in the morning! Also anywhere that there is still good day heating of the ground and the moisture in the air we get all kinds of pockets of ground fog. So far I have never seen it so thick you could barely see the front of your car, usually get a good 100 yards or better most of the time for visibility.

Well, with this all said I was commuting into work via the bicycle and always carry a little point-and-shoot camera just in case. So going across the Center street bridge I stopped to shoot a few shots of the fog on the bridge. This one included is a shot looking northerly towards the Marion street bridge which in distance is about 100 yards away! I was sitting directly over the Willamette river so the fog was even better. You can not even see the cars on the bridge going West....just the shadow of the bridge in the fog. Just thought I would share with you something many, but not all go through this time of year.

Stay safe and Happy Halloween!

Tim

What Stories they might Tell?

Back in the last week of July and into the first few days of August I took a usual pilgrimage back East to Wyoming/Colorado to hook up with brothers and friends and do some backpacking. Although I sometimes bitch about the lack of map reading skills on some folks part I still have the best time out there. You don't hear phones, TV's, Cars, worthless people taking up oxygen and the list goes on. You get to see country (hopefully) that very few will ever see because they can not or will not venture to such places, and all the better for the rest of us that do.

But what I am really getting at is while I drive on the interstate highways and the US highways and state highways I along with many others pass by buildings, structures of time gone by. Maybe they are houses, mills or stores but now they sit still as the world moves on. At one time they served a purpose as a home, or a place to buy goods and now they are the home to mice and other little critters. Who lived there? Who worked there? Are some of the things I wonder as I drive by or sit and take a picture of them. Why? when? How did this place become no longer needed by anyone? Will it continually waste away or will eventually somebody or something tear it down or destroy it?

We as a country are just over 230 years young and think about the progression and transformation of our surroundings. Just over a 100 years ago folks were going by wagon in long trains working their way out to Oregon where my family and I now live. Did any of them travel along the same lines that my vehicle takes me along when I travel? Did they think that someday all that great open land they saw would someday be split, divided, fenced and taken for personal wealth, gain or independence? The herds of animals they must have seen roaming around and facing the world and peoples unknown to them must have been a tremendous rush. There were no interchanges, or rest areas along the road. Every step was a scenic byway to them and not a posted scenic byway by the state or federal DOT.

I am starting a new gallery on my website area dedicated to these things. I have not got any photos in there yet, but keep checking it and it will grow. Think about those things as we live our day to day lives. Is there really a hurry to find the end? I think you need to veer from the road, path now and then to continue the adventure. Don't loose sight of where you are going but don't be blinded by having to get there in a hurry. In this post there is a shot of a house in far western Wyoming near the Utah border and the othe is in central Oregon somewhere between Burns and Bend.


Thanks for reading.


Tim

September - Fall is coming!

Hi folks,

Just thought about the blog and decided it would be a good time to get something out there if nothing else then maybe another photo! I just ordered some supplies from "documounts" out of Portland, Oregon so will be getting some more mattes, backboards and clear bags as this fall I need to push the photos......

The shot here is from last September when the family and I spent the weekend at a rental in Lincoln City, OR. Had a pretty good cliff drop from the back of the property but made for kind of an interesting photo on a Saturday evening. We are headed back to the coast again this coming weekend to stay in Pacific City which is just North of Lincoln City off of Hwy 101. Hopefully we will get a chance to eat at "Grateful Bread" an absolute awesome bakery/eatery! Will also try the Pelican Brewery while there as they have some pretty good brews!

Enjoy the shot and you can buy this out at my other site where I sell photos.........

Thanks for checking in! Tim -

Young Deer

Almost mid-September and not much has been done. The continual, I'll get to it tomorrow night is my standard slogan. I am posting a shot of a couple of yearling black tail deer that I got some photos of while up in Sisters, OR.

I had been out on the McKenzie Hwy to try and scout out some other animals and gave up after driving and sitting in areas then just as I got ready to head back into town, these two and their Mother came wandering into range. So I had about one minute and a half to move around just a little and get a few shots. Their mother was far more leery and never really presented herself in a good position for the camera. I basically couldn't move much either as the usual snap of a twig and they are off.

Still working on other photos from Sisters and beyond and will get some posted out to my other site for purchase and viewing! Thanks for checking in!

Tim

Last Day in Augusto!

Wow! Eight months down and four to go as we just cruise through the year of 2009. I am still at a loss for how fast this has gone by and what little I think I have accomplished. Anyway....

My Honey and I spent the last weekend of August up in Sisters, Oregon and I say up as we live in Salem so physically it is at a higher elevation. We did this for the celebration of our ten year anniversary and just hung out, shopped a little, ate a little and relaxed a lot!

The shot included is of some geese just about to go behind the trees and you have Mt. Washington in the background ( a bit out of focus, my intent was the geese). I was trying to track them on the fly while my camera was locked into the tripod so was not the easiest thing going but got them anyway and the Mt. in the background was not even noticed until after I looked at my shots. I had actualy tracked them for about three shots prior and this was my last shot of the geese in siloutte.

I am working on some other photos from that early morning rise (5:50 AM, 38 degrees) and most are concentrated on the three sisters mountains and I got lucky and stumbled across some deer off McKenzie highway that didn't flee from me while I shot at a distance. I will post them another time soon and on my website for photo purchase. Just follow the links on the right-> ->

Thanks for reading

Tim

August and Now Everything

I went out to check the blog and realized it has been a month since my last visit here. The title said it all as I was just getting ready to head to Colorado for some backpacking. Well, I did go and had a great time with my two older brothers, one sister-in-law, a nephew and a couple of friends from Summit County, CO.

The shots I have included are from the area as we did our trip in the 'Rawah Wilderness' in North/Central mountains just below the Wyoming border. Beautiful area, but unfortunately we did not get much wildlife coming around. Maybe two many folks or the dogs but that didn't hurt the scenery.

The shots included are a long shot of the area we were headed to up in the "High" country stayed over 9,000 plus the whole time. The other is just that, a trail as it passed a high country lake on the right. The lake was actually on the left but since I was shooting looking back it became on the right.

Another thing I tried with this trip was using a compact Point and Shoot camera. To be exact it is a Panasonic DMC-FS25, with 12.1 megapixels, but choose it for the digital stability when shaking (does okay) and the wider angle lens this shoots with. I am in the process of working some of the photos to see how large I can go before there is any pixelization.

Anyway, it was a great trip and will have more of these kind of photos on my Smugmug account for anyone to purchase.

Tim

July - Colorado Ho!

Next to last week in July and we are on the downhill slide for the year! Getting ready to head East to Colorado for some back county with at least one of my brothers, maybe a nephew and some other friends from Colorado. Well, actually everyone was born, raised and went to school in Nebraska but enjoy the Rocky Mountain High!

Will be hitting the Rawah Wilderness area for about 5 days and then hang out in CO for a few extra days, visiting the old community where we lived and seeing some friends, etc. Look out Frisco, CO!

Here is a shot of a Northern Flicker which was taking advantage of some suet on one of my feeders. If you make it larger you will see some noise in the background, etc. I was shooting through a double pane window on the side of the house so that didn't help my issue there. Still a good shot, less the distractions. I am hoping to bring home some excellent shots from the trip and will be working with a Panasonic P & S, camera in the back country. Doing this as it saves weight and time, etc.

Have a great rest of July!

Tim

Half the Year - Gone!

Welcome to July! Can not believe the pace at which the year is going by and not getting much done it seems like. Actually things probably get done, just do not realize how much is as compared to how much is not.

Back in late March we took spring break down in Reno, NV. My family and two other families and also spent a day around the Lake Tahoe area. But the travels to and from Reno I think were the best as we went through what I would call "The forgotten California". The landscapes to me were awesome! Some were open wide expanses and others in tall forest land. The forest there was not like the forest in Oregon where it is dense and thick. These forests were more open and seemed spacious. This whole area is in the N/NE portion of California by the way, using highways 139, 299, 395, 44, 89 and even parts of I-5!

The shot is from a state park we stopped at to use the facilities at as the park itself was not quite fully open for the season yet. It is located at McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial SP along Hwy 89 south of the Mt. Shasta area.

It was a really beautiful area and would like to go back and spend some time camping and shooting photos. Have a great day!

Tim

A Full Circle?

If you haven't figured out some things about me is that I like feeding the little birds that hang out near the house. We get a variety of Finches, sparrows, dark eye junco's, some chickadees and of course a crow or two, some western scrub jays, Northern Flickers, etc. They feed off the bird seed I put in the containers and the suet, and of course bugs and such on the ground, that is kind of nice.

And though I feed them and enjoy their songs and flying around they pretty much don't have much to worry about as long as we keep the neighbor cats at bay. They have even accepted our dog when he is out laying on the back steps.

This evening though the circle came closed more/less. I was working on one of the water heads in the backyard and while I was correcting the spray a bird flew threw the yard but out of the corner of my eye I noticed something different, especially the tail feathers. It landed on the fence across the yard and I could only watch it looking for birds, the cameras were inside and if I moved it would be gone that quick. What was it? I am pretty sure it was a Sharp Shinned Hawk as it was much smaller then the Cooper's Hawks I have seen around here. It had missed a bird in flight so was searching for another. It was quite awesome to sit there and watch it looking around, and being a predator with some great skills.

I know it sounds horrible that I basically am inviting potential food chain activity in my backyard, but the Hawk has more misses then hits and it is part of the circle. I expected this much sooner but now will probably have to wait along time before it happens again. Of course it will take place when I don't have a camera handy!

Sorry no shots this time, but will post out some if a Hawk comes around and I have a camera.

Thanks for reading!

Tim -

Early June - Birds

Well here we are working our way to the summer solstice and I thought I would post out a shot of some of my friends that come around for free breakfast, lunch and dinner most of the time. They only provide me and others with the enjoyment of watching them fly around, occasionally chirp some songs and of course poop on the feeders so I can clean them now and then.

This shot was taken in the backyard of our previous house back in February of 2008. I believe I have some 'Golden Finches' and some of the 'Lesser Golden Finch' taking part in the feast. I actually managed to catch one coming in looking for space. I must have gotten lucky on that one.

I am also trying to work out a system of photo management so I know what I have and where it is stored. Sure there is software out there to help me, but might as well try on my own first!

Any suggestions on storage, bird shooting (non-lethal), etc. please shoot me an e-mail!

Tim

Maybe a thought in May

Well I see that I am well over a month since a post has occurred! I will apologize for that as I just do not make the time to do this blog, but will get better. I have been busy with family, work, facebook, etc. Going into this memorial day weekend it appears that our whole weekend is not booked with activities! Sleep in time?

I am going to post a photo of the capital in Salem that I took in haste back in December when it was cold out! The snow had been pretty messed up by the time I got down there but it was still pretty neat to see. Over in the upper right behind the capital you an see the outlines (in lights) of the 'Star Trees' on the Willamette University campus. They light them up every year and it is very nice during the holidays. Oh yeah, the snow! We do not get that much in this valley but this past December of 2008 we got around 30 inches at our house and we only live at 500 feet of elevation.

I am going to try to update this more often and I have said this a few times before but I mean it this time!

Thanks for checking in.

Tim

Squirreling Around

Thought I better post something out before I go a whole month without. I might do a few this week depends on how I feel. At the moment pretty burned out from being outside most all the weekend. Yes the Willamette Valley was enjoying 60 and 70 degree temps all this past weekend 4/18-19. Truly great weather, and maybe to be in the 80's on Monday so that will start the locals bitching about the heat.

Got in a really good ride today out on the East side of Salem working my out and cruising along Howell Prairie rd along with many others to get there and back home. Going by this one field and I had a familiar scent waft by me and that was the smell of Onions! Yes Onions! Damn they smelled good growing in the ground and all I could think about was a nice juicy burger with some onion, tomato, pickles and blue cheese dressing on it! But all I had were some chewy shot blocks so they had to do.

Not much else going on and as the title says here is a shot of a squirrel from the Capital grounds here in Salem. These critters have to brave some traffic as they cross streets to other locals to get the acorns in the fall them bring them back and store them in various caches. It is kind of squirrel gauntlet, but if you stop and sit at a bench they will come by you thinking you might have a little something for them. They are sort of conditioned I guess.

Well, Let's hope for more continued good weather and maybe a shower or two so I don't have to water my lawn.

Til the next time - Tim

Back From Reno!

March is almost over and recently completed the family 'Spring Break' trip down to Reno, NV! Along with two other families we traveled over the cascades and through the forgotten lands of California (NE Part) down to Reno.

Will be working on some posts out to my other site www.timehlers.com and share some photos there and maybe some more here. Did one day trip over to Tahoe to see why they want to keep Tahoe Blue and it is very beautiful....keep up the good work. Kind of strange though on the Southern side there is like this mini-city of about 20,000 and tall resort buildings. I was under the impression that there might have been some small towns but nothing like that. It was okay, just not what I expected.

Reno is not quite jumping as it once may have been, but was still pretty clean and decent to spend a few days in. Some of the casino action seems to have dwindled, but I think they get bigger weekend traffic then mid-week in late march people like us. Should have brought the snowboard as there is at least one little ski are just outside of town in the Sierra's and looked good for some turns, but no gear and not wanting to rent, then no riding!


Well, the end of this and the end of March are here. Hope your first quarter of the year has been kickin'. Thanks for reading - Tim

Any News? Updates?

Again, here we are on a Sunday afternoon! The rain has stopped for a bit the sun is out and the winds are gusting into the 30's. I was going to ride the bike out on the road but didn't want to fight the winds or possible rain earlier so I locked it into the stationary trainer and spun for almost 50 minutes. Watched a little 'Paris-nice' on Versus and of course CBS to see who is in for the 'Big Dance'.

Saturday saw me take the trusty Pentax K10D and trade it in for a new Pentax K20D. Get a few more megapixels and some upgraded features and little bigger screen in the back. Overall a good swap and the folks at Focal Point Photography always take care of me. So now I need to browse through the manual and see how things function compared to the model that is no longer in the house!

Also got signed up on facebook so will use that as another way to get my photo work out. Hopefully will not spend to much time doing updates on that sight and answering other folks posts. Heck, I had one of my friends from back in Nebraska already go out and look at my smugmug stuff. That is a positive sign!

Well - I think I'm gonna end this one for now. Have a great week ahead and hope it is a positive one!

Tim

Some Changes and another Year older....

Another year has passed in continuum of my life. I have no complaints, well maybe none I need to talk about here or that I should bring up. But, it was another wonderful year and I look forward to another and many more!

Changes - not just my age but some things on the small business side. In order to cut some expenses I will no longer be having a generic site that gave information about me, had some photos, links, etc. Spending $200 a year for a static site didn't seem to be in the best interest at this point for my business.

I have several domains and will have them pointing to my Smugmug site which can also be accessed at http://www.timehlers.com/ for those who want to check out more photos and possibly purchase a few. This will be my focus to start up-loading photos to this site so there will be a lot more to look at. I will also be focusing on maintaining this blog a little more consistently to provide updates on things and something to while away some of my free time.

I will also be working on how to advertise services that I could provide to those that might be looking for a photographer. At the moment I am open to working with groups to shoot their event, etc. The basic cost is $60 for showing up and includes the first hour then $45/hour after that which would include shooting time and PC time if needed. I would place a cap on the amount of my charges and would work with those who have hired me. This is just a small thought on that, so if you know someone looking for a photographer, I would be happy to sit down and discuss matters with them! thanks!

Anyway, I guess I will go for now. We have changed into daylight savings time overnight so this week will be another adjustment working with a few extra daylight moments. Included in this posting is a Long Shot of a Blue Heron from a few weeks ago. I was resting my lens on a fence post in the country side and trying not have the Heron get spooked. I was probably about 100 - 125 yards on this shot so I still need to get a bigger lens. This was only a 70-200mm lens.

Have a great week! Tim

February - Got to make the time

Well - let's see what we have been up to shall we? Not much blogging, a little bit of uploading to smugmug account and basically going to work and not making the time for the PC or much photography.

Well, that actually has been changing as I have been going out to the country side on one day per weekend. A friend told me of some Elk hanging near his farmland just West of Salem and North of the Baskett Slough Wildlife Refuge. I have spotted them but unfortunately they are usually to far away for me to work with even my longest lens. Also, it is all private land out there so will need to get permission to do some "early morning" arrival and do the sit and wait! But they are out there and in kind of unusual area I think, but hopefully they are finding some peace and joy.

While driving out and about on these country roads was able to catch some other animals, mainly the bird life. I have included one of just a small patch of Canada Geese, we have thousands cruising up & down the valley. Also a Hawk, maybe a red tail but they never let me get to close before they up and fly. This one is just not going to stay long enough for me to get a good frontal shot so you get a backside in flight shot!

Weather has been good so have been getting miles on my bicycle and working on some projects around the house when I/we find the time. Thanks for stopping in and taking a read!

Tim

January - Just coming & going

Here we are over half way through the first month of 2009 and I finally sit down to write something or at least let anyone who might check this know that I/we are alive!

End of the year was pretty uneventful but we ended up with some good snow amounts and enough that made the local school district shut down a week early for the holiday break.

Overall it has been a rather chilly December into January but we have stay pretty dry other than the snow in December and some rain early in January for a few days. I think it rained all day on New Year's Day so that was pretty special.

Been working a little on some photo work and trying to sort though photos to get ready to upload to smugmug for further viewing or purchase. Here is a shot I took of the Capitol in Oregon just before Christmas. you can see the 'Star Trees' of Willamette University in the background cropping over the top of the capital building. It was a rather cold evening so my shooting was not the best as trying to keep my fingers warm and adjust the whole time was making the shoot rather interesting.

Well, I hope you all have a great New Year and I hope you will check out my smugmug area and find something you might like to purchase!

Tim