Almost Mid-December

I'm still stuck on my Hawks that frequent the backyard for an attempt at a snack. I think I have a very consistent or should I say persistent Cooper's Hawk that comes around to check things out.

The problem with the Hawk this time is that if you sit on top of the feeders waiting for the finch's, juncos, etc., to show they never will with you being right there! Of course I have witnessed a Cooper's go flying into a shrub and come out with a bird in its talons. Pretty amazing!

I have also added in a shot of Mourning Dove taking in the late morning sun while sitting on tree just outside the kitchen window. They come in and eat up insects, etc and some of the food I put out. I haven't picked up their favorite food in a while so maybe before Christmas as a treat.

Speaking of that wonderful day....it is just around the corner and we have been watching some shows, of course classics like Charlie Brown, Rudolph and more recent movie types such as Elf, Fred Claus and just last night went back in time to catch Home Alone! Was a good time watching with the family.

Enjoy the shots, be safe and I will post hopefully before Christmas!

Tim

Busted!!!!

Wow - November is flying by as we go into Thanksgiving week! I am very thankful for my family that put up with me, that is my spouse and daughter. I am thankful for my family that I was born into and still have around albeit many different places around the United States. Plus I wish a very wonder Thanksgiving to all who may read this and a fantastic Holiday season!

So Busted?! - Well, as you may know I have a few various bird feeders in my backyard which attract a small assortment of small birds, such as Golden finches, Less golden finches, black capped chickadees some brown eyed juncos and a few others and some blue jays, Norther Flickers, etc.

But some of the most intriguing are the Cooper's Hawk and Sharp-Shinned Hawks that stop by now and then and try to drum a meal through their various ambush methods. In this shot I got a Cooper's Hawk that had just finished up a meal of one of the smaller birds and may have been looking at me, looking at him through the glass door through my lens. I had actually seen it while upstairs and made a quick dash to get my camera along with a longer lens on it as I only had a 28-75 and had to get my 70-200 at least. Well, he was eating so I had the time to get from upstairs and move to the main floor so I could get some shots and he stayed for a few.

He later came back and perched on another fence but not a single 'peep' could be heard from the small birds!

Thanks for stopping in and enjoy!

Tim

The First Big Snows are Happening....

Wow! It has been a long time since I touched this blog and probably have a lot to write about but am just busting through some thoughts for tonight. I am also having trouble typing and a having to backspace to correct my mistakes!

Anyway, it started this past weekend (10/23-24) with our weather. We basically started getting our first big storms pushing off the ocean over the coast range, across the valley and hitting up against the Cascades. Mt Hood is almost close to "3" feet of new snow at timberline lodge as of this Tuesday! Our favorite little ski area 'HooDoo' has over 25 inches in their parking lot from the past four days. Hope it keeps up and makes for some great days on the hill and doing the snowboard thing. My daughter is chomping at the bit to get back on a snowboard as she was just learning last year. I think she will put it all together this year.

All of that got me thinking of some snow shots and will start to look through my records (photo achieves) and see what I can find. Until I get some more I am posting one from a few years back looking back at Mt. Jefferson from near the Detroit Reservoir in the Eastern part of Marion County.

Enjoy, Tim

Going into Fall

This past Sunday (9/25) was spent wondering if the rain might stop so I could ride a bicycle for a few hours...It didn't until later in the day after my desire had went away.

So I ended up going out around 11 AM for a few hours in the car to some areas in Polk county where I may capture some animals with the camera. I usually go out to Basket Slough NWR area and the surrounding lands to the North of there as there are some Elk that I know of and have seen but not close enough to get shots.

Today I did happen upon an Egret and some Black Tail deer and have provided a shot of one of the does in a small group that was in a field near where I parked. This one I would say is probably between 1-2 years based on it's size from the obvious older ones and one that looked like it was probably born this past spring. Anyway, they were kind of enough to let me get some shots and just sit and watch them which was a great way to pass a little time! The Egret did't pose itself very well with me looking through some tall grass in a little drainage on the North side of the NWR. I may post it in another posting.

Enjoy and thanks for stopping in. Tim -

On the Ride - Looking at Me!

What a beautiful day for a ride on the bicycle! Got in just over two hours today and used the Alloy/Carbon Diamondback bicycle for the road today. A little overcast but the clouds started to break up before I got home, with temps in the upper 50's to lower 60's.

Fun thing about this time of year is the various levels of harvesting that are taking place. Most of the grass seed fields, wheat and other grains have been brought in. Beans are getting close to being done and Corn is still growing but also getting close to coming in and processed! But Ah! The vineyards are still a month or so out from the start of harvest. The vines are getting heavy with the different varietals that will be cut, smashed and carefully crafted into another fine vintage of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay maybe some Cabernet out there also. The eola hills in which we live in are great hills for growing the Pinot grapes and there is some really great wine that is produced just miles from my doorstep!

All that being said I could not pass up taking a shot of me in this convex mirror that is opposite a driveway. They use it as the driveway has to contend with a slight curve on a gradual sloping road (Hopewell Road, I believe) and this I am sure helps them from doing some dangerous pull outs. I thought it was just fun to take the shot!

Have a great week and thanks for stopping in. Tim -

Poppies and Bikes

Back at the beginning of August I went out in Marion County as I was told of some Poppy fields that might make some nice shots. It was a Sunday overcast morning for the most part and just as told to me this one nice sized field was there before me.

I took a number of shots looking over the field, some close ups and wide angle shots but I decided to post this one with some bikes floating behind the poppies and in front of some trees from another farm.

I had passed the cyclists earlier while getting out of Salem, but didn't expect them to come by the very place I was at! The field was beautiful and I am glad I took the time to go out there that Sunday morning! Will post more of these on my regular photo website and maybe some further along in this blog.

August is winding down! Thanks for stopping by for a few minutes. Tim -

Art Show - Independence, OR

Hi folks -

I have two pieces of photographic art being exhibited in an art show in a little town about 12 miles from my home. The gallery is 'River Gallery' and is located at 184 Main Street in Independence, OR. It is a nice little gallery and is owned/operated by (I believe) 15 local area artists. They also have associate levels and what I am doing at the 'visitor' level for the show.

Anyway the show is called Fur, Fins and Feathers so you guessed it! It deals with animals that have any of the three mentioned items. There should be some really great stuff to see so try and make it if you can and all items from all artists are for sale! Oh yeah, about forgot to say that it started on August 3rd and runs through August 29th with a public reception and jury awards announced on August 7th (Saturday). I believe they might have some wine and small snack items there, but there are also some really good restaurants on the same street! We could all make an evening of it.

Well, I included one of my two pieces and it is of three Big Horn Sheep Rams. The other shot is of a Bison just outside of Yellowstone Park that I got a few winters ago. Both are matted and framed and look absolutely wonderful in my biased opinion.

Thanks for checking in and if you get a chance to make it to the gallery great or even spread the news. Tim

July Harvest in the Valley

Well as we wind our way down to the end of July there is a whole lot of harvesting going on in the Willamette Valley. Of course the various grass seed is being brought in which really helps with the allergies! Then the wheat is just starting to be brought in and I think they are a few weeks behind but we had such a cool and damp May into June that it didn't really get growing as normally as it would. Blueberries are also at various stages with most still on the bushes as they haven't quite turned yet.

Why would I know or share this? Just because I can for one and the other day while on a bike ride I was riding though Polk and Yamhill counties and saw the different levels of harvest coming in. Of course the many vineyards of Pinot, some Chardonnay and other varietal grapes are just growing strong now waiting for the fall harvest and produced into some wonderful wines.

I didn't have my 'point & shoot' on me on Sunday so ended up going back in the evening to shoot a few pics along my ride from the AM. I've included one that has the evening sun lighting up the wheat field with some trees in the background and in the far part of the shoot in Mt. Hood. We get lots of dirt rising from the agriculture here so it kind of gives a haze in the distance most evenings.

Thanks for stopping by and will be posting more to my website soon, see the links on the right!

Tim

Corvallis - going Greyhound!

Was down in Corvallis, OR back in mid June and walked around while having my car worked on / looked at by a local dealership. So took a camera with me and just took a few shots but plan on making a gallery of Corvallis on my website where I sell work from.

Yes, that is 'Sell' from so I can make money! Well, it is nice to sell some shots now and then and you can get them in Print or Digital Download, the choice is yours. Anyway when I get things posted there I will put out a notice of that.

I will be headed back there on Wednesday of this week to have the dealership finish up the work that needed done from June's visit. This time I will be solo and will not have to try and entertain my daughter for 5 plus hours which wasn't bad. Sometimes a nine year old doesn't have the patience to sit and wait as some of older folks!

Hope your having a great summer and I will keep posting. Thanks for stopping by!

Tim

The Year Half Over and Upcoming Show

I for one can not believe that this year has just gone past the half way point. We had a very mild almost chilly fourth of July here in Salem and we were wearing fleece jackets as we light the fireworks!

I haven't gotten out to shot anything in over a month but while riding my bike have spotted some good areas, but need to hurry before they harvest some fields and make the shot probably less impressive. Again, making the time instead of whining about finding the time.

I have submitted some work for possible selection and jury for an August show in Independence, Oregon. The gallery is called the River Gallery of Independence and will post a link if I make the selection. The theme is called 'Fur, feathers and Fins' or something to that affect. I am only submitting two photos one of a bison outside of Yellowstone park I took a few years back and another of three Big Horn Rams. This is kind of a current favorite of mine and hope that it will get selected. I have included the Rams shot in this posting so hope you will enjoy it also.

Not much else as we get ready for some 90+ degree weather here in Salem for the next several days. Thanks for stopping in and checking things out!

Tim

Bear must pay the ulitmate price....

Via Facebook, my brother that lives in Cody, Wyoming has provided articles from the Billings Gazette about a recent 'Grizzly Bear' Mauling that took place about 30 miles East of Cody and about 10 miles or so outside the East gate of Yellowstone Park.

Apparently wildlife officials had trapped this bear a day earlier to take blood samples, etc and fit it with a radio collar for tracking movements. Kind of the on-going research to study these great animals. This particular drainage had been posted to stay out of for the research stuff but apparently a 70 year old retired college professor didn't see the warnings and ended up dying from a mauling attack. This fella had recently published a book that did extensive documenting of the fauna in/around the Yellowstone area so he knew his research and knew of Bears, etc.

By Saturday, the Feds had tracked the bear down via the collar and terminated it then magically have been able to get quick results of the DNA samples of the bear and some DNA left on the man that match this bear. Does CSI work this fast or is it just on TV?

Anyway, probably to save a major lawsuit they killed the bear. They will probably get sued anyway as that is the American way so the widow will live in better comfort than she may already be. Sorry, I don't feel much sympathy for the man. Yes his family has lost a wonderful member of their family, but when you are out there (I have been several times) you watch what you do and know the price you may have to pay if you are careless. This man was careless and in the wrong place at the wrong time.

RIP Mr. Grizzly!

Tim

The photo is from summer 2008 of a grizzly in Yellowstone Park.

Telephone Man

I was browsing through some older shots from earlier this year and came upon this photo of a phone booth in Mill City, Oregon. We pass through this little hamlet when going to HooDoo or to the Cascades, Bend, etc.

I think my family was inside what is known as a convenience store up there but nothing like the 7-Eleven's of the world, still has the basics.

I was out stretching my legs after snowboarding and skiing that day and was across the highway when I was just struck by this phone booth sitting there in a vacant lot. I don't even know if there is a phone inside of it and if so does it work? With just about everyone having a cell phone or knowing someone who does it seemed kind of a "throwback" to days gone by. I think the last time I used one they cost about 35 cents to start the local call.

We used them quite a bit back in the military to make collect calls back to home and things like that but overall a relic of the past. Speaking of that, there is quite a bit of relics of the past in the Mill City area. It once was probably pretty thriving with lumber milling but not so much anymore.

So if you are ever passing through and need the phone, hope this one will work for you!

Tim

Big Horn - Ewes

I seem to be stuck on animals or big landscape type shots but tend to lead toward animals. I keep a camera in my living room so when birds are at the feeders I have, I can snap off a few shots. I haven't posted many of my backyard moochers which are mostly finches, sparrows year round and chickadees (usually in the winter/early spring) then they are gone. Other birds come in also, and occasionally a hawk to try and feed on the birds.

Well, back to larger animals! Still a shot from this past March when my daughter and I were visiting grandma/pa in Cody, Wyoming. We traveled up towards the East gate of Yellowstone Park and just off the road in the hillsides were small groups of Bighorn Sheep.

I caught a small group of Ewes about 150-200 yards away from the road and hung out in the sagebrush and scrub and took a few shots. This one was kind of interesting and didn't even notice the one animal behind the one I was concentrating on. Could probably play with it in Photoshop and make it look like a sheep with two sets of horns!

Well, just posting you know. It is a quiet Memorial Day Monday and thanks to the Veterans (including me) we get to be away from our places of work. More days like this would be welcome I think.

Tim -

Wyoming Wind

Back in the mid 90's I lived in Casper for almost two years. It was pretty good times and really had nothing going on but work and close to the mountains. But when the wind blew there it was just amazing how fierce it could be! When it snowed in the winter we would often have a few days of calm while the snow piled up then afterward would just blow and move the snow away. It always amazed me!

Well, with that thought in mind and wind energy sprouting up all over the place I come back to Wyoming. Yes the wind still blows there and probably as fierce as ever. But this past summer of 2009 as I traveled back on I-80 to a backpacking trip I ran across some turbine fields out in the middle of the High Basin plains of Wyoming. It was odd as they were not there just over six years ago on my travels out to Oregon, but progress shall not be stopped. Not even in Coal country!

I took this shot, not a great one, but one of several as I sat along side the interstate seeing these huge turbines sitting on this ridge line in the middle of this dry plains. Not really even close to any of the communities along this vehicle pipeline. It makes me hope that they do the best research to make sure environmental impacts are minimized as much as possible to those animals that roam the ground and fly the skies in this area. Yes it is cleaner power, but hope we do not sacrifice many wonderful things just so I can run my PC.

Well, enjoy the shot and please visit my website at www.timehlers.com, for other photos of wildlife, landscapes, and much more.

Tim

My Hawks Will Not sit Still!

Wow, the start of May already and where is this year going? Looks like some rain moving in to start our first week of May. At least it stays away most of the weekend hours!

Well has many may know I have a few bird feeders in the back yard and enjoy seeing the many Finches, Chickadees, a few Towhees?, sparrows, etc come around for their free lunches, dinners and so on. Of course this provides for some other birds of different feather to come around and I get the occasional visit from both Sharp Shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks.

This shot was taken back in December of 2009 in the mid morning and the Cooper's Hawk would not turn around for me to get a shot of it, bashful I guess? Anyway, it was just taking off from the fence after not collecting any of the smaller birds for its brunch!

Another thing is I took this shot with my Pentax istDS camera which is now in the hands of a friend of mine who purchased it for a reasonable price. I have purchased a new Pentax K-X to use as my back up camera to my Pentax K20D. I am studying the manual on the new camera so I can use some of the different features such as HD movie capture. Since all my cameras take SD or SDHC I can also play them on our large TV in the living room in its SD slot. Pretty cool to see some of the shots on the 'Big Screen'!

Until later, have a great day, week or month! Tim

Still in Wyoming -

Still out in the West of Wyoming but actually East from my home base in Oregon. A second day we went out to find animals to photograph and not much luck out the South Fork Road from Cody.

There often is plenty out there but was not our day and we were giving up hope. Then some Pronghorn came into view and got Grandma to pull the van over to a safe place. I was along a fence line about 200 yards plus from the animals. Viewing from about 100 plus feet higher then they were and the wind was blowing about 20 mph. I held the camera to the top of an old fence post to steady the shot and it worked okay.

I have cropped in some on this so the animals are really not very crisp but they were not spooked with me being so far away, and not even sure they knew we were there! I will continue to seek those Pronghorn out and get some good shots.

Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!

Tim

Visit to Wyoming

Well back in March, not so long ago my daughter and I headed back East to Wyoming to visit my folks or her grandparents depending on who's interpretation. It was over our local school districts spring break and back there the temps were starting rise and the snow inching its way back up the mountain sides.

This can bring us some good photo opportunities near Yellowstone Park as some animals are still down lower to the rivers and creeks during the daytime and head back in the hills during the evening and night. We had hopes of catching some Elk, Bison and possibly Grizzly Bear as it had been reported some had broken their hibernation.

We didn't have luck on those but did run into some small groupings of Big Horn Sheep near the N. Shoshone river (I think that is the name of it). Also have numerous shots of Mule Deer and some Pronghorn and will add those to the regular website when I make the time.

Here I have two shots, one being out the airplane window as we fly over the cascades out SeaTac Airport and the other is a pretty solid Ram. They have lighter coats as the winter wears on into spring then will start getting their darker brown coats later in Summer to fall.

Thanks for checking things out! Tim

January - Blind Boys of Alabama

Back in January the family and I took in an evening at Willamette University which was sponsoring a musical show featuring "The Blind Boys of Alabama". I have been listening to them for several years after being introduced to their music via my LMT.

My Honey had gotten me a ticket for the show for Christmas and she had two freebies to get her and our daughter in. If you haven't ever listened to them, I would suggest that you give them a try! They are a mix of gospel, New Orleans blues, a little bit of jazz mixed in there and will cover some classics in their own wonderful way.

It was a great night to see them and feel particularly proud as that stop was their only one in the State of Oregon this time around. I put in a photo as we were allowed to shoot during their first three songs, but no flash. I used my little P/S Panasonic with no flash, it does have anti-shake built in but also shooting from a dark area to light presents it's own problems. Anyway, enjoy and go listen to some of their music!

Tim

Back In Frisco....CO

Well, nope we were not back in our stomping grounds anytime short in the past. We (Family and I) did make it there, back in early August 2009 and here are a couple shots. One is a shot looking W/NW down main street, some of the older buildings are gone but the feel of a small mountain town is still pretty intact. The Mountain behind it is Mt. Royal which was always a good climb and could leave out our front door and be at the trail in 10 minutes never having to use the car!

The other is a close up of my all time favorite place to get bagels in Frisco or anywhere for that matter...so far! Pika Bagels! The "everything" with plain cream cheese is a basic foundation for a good breakfast.


Spent almost 7 years in Summit County and about 5 of that in Frisco after I met my lovely wife there. She is a Colorado native and her family had owned property in Frisco for many years so she had seen many changes in that little town.

Someday, we will again set our path to cross Frisco, but until then. Thanks for reading!

Tim

Sunday Ride

Went out yesterday, Sunday 3/7/2010 to catch a few miles on my bicycle. Pretty good day for riding with temps around 50 degrees at 10:30 AM and some light winds from the South/Southwest. Partly cloudy, partly sunny depending how you want to look at it.

Did a 28 mile loop which took me out towards Rickreall, then on the parallel roads to 99W into Monmouth and out South of there to Stapleton Road then worked my way back Easterly towards Independence where my patience paid off and was rewarded with a nice tail wind home for the last seven miles or so.

Took along my Panasonic point/shoot camera for light weight and easy storage so took a few shots but nothing to exciting. Thought I would add one in of myself and one shooting from the front of the bike looking down the road.

Started going though old photos again so will be trying to post more to my regular site at www.timehlers.com. That's it, March is moving fast so better get on the bus and go for the ride.
Tim

Back in September and the Coast

Let's talk about things that happened sometime back shall we? Every year the family, to include Grandma and the dog head to the coast to celebrate my spouse's Birthday. We have been doing Lincoln City for quite a few years via Hotel or renting a house. Did one year in Newport also but a lot of stairs to get down to the beach from the Hotel.

This past year we opted for Pacific City and rented a house for a Friday thru Sunday. We had about a 1/3 of mile walk through the neighborhood to get to the beach and walk down the big Sand Dune/Wall. Various ways to get there but one was an asphalt path that led to a nice switchback boarded walkway up to the top. There they had a little platform and you go head out the beach from there or just sit and enjoy.

Saturday evening my daughter and I headed up there for 'Sundown' and see if we could get some shots. I have included one here and have posted some more with intent to post more out to my purchase site soon. Anyway this was fun to shoot and stay out of the way of others doing the same thing. I kind of wedged into the sand on the edge of some of the tall grass there and supported my camera with a monopod. Could have done away having the Grass and some other shots I have no grass as I moved my position. My daughter shot with a little Point and Shoot and man were things fuzzy! Anyway, hope you enjoy the shot and thanks for stopping by!

Tim

Things are Blooming - Is this really February?

Well it is almost the end of February but here in the Mid-Valley things are blooming, budding and thinking it is spring! Early daffodils are up along with other bulb type flowers but it varies from place to place. Even in West Salem a few hundred feet of elevation and the relative position to the sun makes some already blooming and others like at our house are still busting through the soil!

Trees are starting to bud quite nicely and most of the red maples are getting ready to start having leaf production. Is this to early? We have been so mild the last several weeks that I think it has the plants confused and maybe some of us humans.

So that got me looking through some shots in the storage bank and came across some from April 2009. I was walking around near the capital on the 'capital mall' and took a few shots of the cherry blossom's and how the falling petals make it kind of look like snow in the grass. Also one of the fountains was doing its thing at the South end just across from the capital. This was April of last year and by the date on my shots this same time frame is only 6 weeks away!

Enjoy the photos and I truly am going to try and blog a little more as a source questioned why I am not doing much here! Told them I was a bit lazy, but will start to step it up.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Keizer Art Association - Photography exhibit

Folks,
Over at the Keizer Art Association they are having an Art Exhibit that is focused on Photography. Yes I have two pieces over there and have yet to make it to take some supplies to them and also check out the other peoples work.

If you live in the Willamette valley and might be near Salem/Keizer go check out this exhibit it will be worth your time. You can find out information about the Keizer Art Assoc. on the links over on the right. They have limited "open" hours so make sure you check out their times they are open. Also you can see what types of classes they offer to those who might want to try their hand at some creativeness.

That's all I have for the moment. Will get back to posting some shots on this site along with where, what, who and all that. I might get to this more full time depending on what that Facebook thing does, because if they start charging then I will be outta their circles.

Have a great Day, Week, Month or Year!

Tim

Art Sale!!!

Hey folks,
If you live in the mid-Willamette valley and want to attend a little Art Show/Sale and celebration then head to Keizer Community Center this Friday and Saturday 1/29-1/30. There will be various art for sale, some at auction and you can check out the new building that the City of Keizer calls its home base.

There are activities on both Friday Evening and then through Saturday AM until about 5 PM.

Why am I saying anything? Because I have three pieces in the Art Sale and if sold it not only helps me but also the Keizer Art Association of which I am a member.

I will also be showing at the Keizer Art Association in February as they have a month long perspective of 'Through the Lens". This will be a bit smaller scale and everything I and other artists have will be for Sale!

Check out the link over on the right for KAA to get more info. Thanks for Reading!
Tim