Saturday, December 31, 2011
Trying out my new camera
I really love my Nikon D200 camera and the quality of photos that I get from it. I have half a dozen different lenses, a special flash unit that works with it and some other features that make it a wonderful system. BUT, it is large and heavy to carry around so I find it tends to sit at home on a shelf unless I know that I will specifically want it to take photos, so then take it along. Sometimes I'll even take an extra lens or the flash unit, too.
So, I saw an ad on TV for a new Nikon camera, the Nikon 1, that looked good, offers some of the features of the D200 (interchangeable lenses, view finder, etc) plus a lot of things that the D200 will not do. I looked into it and found that Nikon had sale prices on the lenses that go with it that would be in effect until the end of the year. I hadn't yet bought myself a Christmas present, so went ahead and ordered the basic camera that comes with a 10 to 30mm zoom lens ($50 off on the sale) and a 30 to 110mm lens ($100 off!) from Amazon.com. They came last Thursday- the UPS guy came with it about 11:00am. I put the battery on to charge and Pat & I went out to lunch, with the quick start direction sheet.
When we got home, the battery was fully charged so I put the unit together, found an empty SD memory card, took a picture of Pat & one of our cats, Peewee
and I headed off to my local Starbucks to read the owners book, drink a mocha and learn about my new toy.
I decided to start out with it just letting it handle its own settings so took a couple of photos of one of our barista's while sitting at my table drinking my mocha and reading
This photo is totally unchanged from when it came out of the camera except to reduce its pixel count to upload to Flickr and I think the camera did a very good job on setting the best white balance, exposure and focus.
By the time I headed home at almost 17:00 it was getting dark and the homes in our park had begun turning on their outside Christmas lights. I thought that would be a good test of the automatic settings, plus it was raining so there should be some pretty good reflections on the wet pavement. Here are a couple of those shots, again with very little correcting of the image after it came from the camera.
Yesterday we went to lunch with a good friend over to La Conner, Washington. La Conner is a quaint little village on a waterway that separates Fidalgo Island from the mainland and the restaurant we went to is right on that water way. I left Pat & Barbara to place my order with theirs and went outside onto the dock to take some photos. It was a crisp, windy but sunny winter day and although it was shortly after noon, the sun in the winter this far north is waaaaay to the south in the sky so even at noon we don't have that terrible directly overhead lighting that you tend to worry about while taking photos around noon. I am just including one photo that looks across the waterway toward the Indian Reservation but I think it shows what the little camera is capable of in delivering landscape photos.
My lovely bride and I have a habit of going out to breakfast together on Saturday mornings and I have been carrying this little toy along so of course used it to take a picture of Patti B as she sat across the table from me.
There has been no image changing here, other than a very slight darkening of the image so it is almost as it came from the camera. There is a fireplace to her left providing some lighting and the lighting in this part of the restaurant is what I'd call cozy comfortable (not real bright) but the camera seems to have handled it very well.
I like the Nikon 1. There are two models, the V1 with a viewfinder and a 3" monitor screen. When you put your eye to the viewfinder, the monitor turns off. The other model (L1) just has the monitor screen. In my experience, those monitors are harder to use especially in bright light, so I spent a little more money and got the one with the viewfinder. So far I've only played with the standard lens which goes from a slight wide angle view at 10mm to a slight telephoto view at 30mm. The aspect ratio to compare to a lens length on a standard 35mm camera is 2.7, so the "normal" image size would be with this at about 18.5mm. Shorter than that would be considered a wide angle view, longer a telephoto view. At the higher 30mm setting (81mm on a 35mm camera) it is about the perfect length for people portraits. Oh, and the camera will take HD level video with sound and even has a connector for an external microphone for the audio. Some day I will get brave and give that a try but for now, I am having a lot of fun learning how to use it to take still photos.
I hope everyone who reads this had a good Christmas and will follow with a Happy New Year. Pat & I don't like to go very far from home on New Year's Eve but will be going to a party here in our park with the Singles Group. We went to events with them before we were married and they keep telling us to please continue coming as they consider us to be alumni.
So, I saw an ad on TV for a new Nikon camera, the Nikon 1, that looked good, offers some of the features of the D200 (interchangeable lenses, view finder, etc) plus a lot of things that the D200 will not do. I looked into it and found that Nikon had sale prices on the lenses that go with it that would be in effect until the end of the year. I hadn't yet bought myself a Christmas present, so went ahead and ordered the basic camera that comes with a 10 to 30mm zoom lens ($50 off on the sale) and a 30 to 110mm lens ($100 off!) from Amazon.com. They came last Thursday- the UPS guy came with it about 11:00am. I put the battery on to charge and Pat & I went out to lunch, with the quick start direction sheet.
When we got home, the battery was fully charged so I put the unit together, found an empty SD memory card, took a picture of Pat & one of our cats, Peewee
and I headed off to my local Starbucks to read the owners book, drink a mocha and learn about my new toy.
I decided to start out with it just letting it handle its own settings so took a couple of photos of one of our barista's while sitting at my table drinking my mocha and reading
This photo is totally unchanged from when it came out of the camera except to reduce its pixel count to upload to Flickr and I think the camera did a very good job on setting the best white balance, exposure and focus.
By the time I headed home at almost 17:00 it was getting dark and the homes in our park had begun turning on their outside Christmas lights. I thought that would be a good test of the automatic settings, plus it was raining so there should be some pretty good reflections on the wet pavement. Here are a couple of those shots, again with very little correcting of the image after it came from the camera.
Yesterday we went to lunch with a good friend over to La Conner, Washington. La Conner is a quaint little village on a waterway that separates Fidalgo Island from the mainland and the restaurant we went to is right on that water way. I left Pat & Barbara to place my order with theirs and went outside onto the dock to take some photos. It was a crisp, windy but sunny winter day and although it was shortly after noon, the sun in the winter this far north is waaaaay to the south in the sky so even at noon we don't have that terrible directly overhead lighting that you tend to worry about while taking photos around noon. I am just including one photo that looks across the waterway toward the Indian Reservation but I think it shows what the little camera is capable of in delivering landscape photos.
My lovely bride and I have a habit of going out to breakfast together on Saturday mornings and I have been carrying this little toy along so of course used it to take a picture of Patti B as she sat across the table from me.
There has been no image changing here, other than a very slight darkening of the image so it is almost as it came from the camera. There is a fireplace to her left providing some lighting and the lighting in this part of the restaurant is what I'd call cozy comfortable (not real bright) but the camera seems to have handled it very well.
I like the Nikon 1. There are two models, the V1 with a viewfinder and a 3" monitor screen. When you put your eye to the viewfinder, the monitor turns off. The other model (L1) just has the monitor screen. In my experience, those monitors are harder to use especially in bright light, so I spent a little more money and got the one with the viewfinder. So far I've only played with the standard lens which goes from a slight wide angle view at 10mm to a slight telephoto view at 30mm. The aspect ratio to compare to a lens length on a standard 35mm camera is 2.7, so the "normal" image size would be with this at about 18.5mm. Shorter than that would be considered a wide angle view, longer a telephoto view. At the higher 30mm setting (81mm on a 35mm camera) it is about the perfect length for people portraits. Oh, and the camera will take HD level video with sound and even has a connector for an external microphone for the audio. Some day I will get brave and give that a try but for now, I am having a lot of fun learning how to use it to take still photos.
I hope everyone who reads this had a good Christmas and will follow with a Happy New Year. Pat & I don't like to go very far from home on New Year's Eve but will be going to a party here in our park with the Singles Group. We went to events with them before we were married and they keep telling us to please continue coming as they consider us to be alumni.
Labels: Christmas, Events, Holidays, Landscapes, Our cats, Pat and I, Photo gear, Photos
Monday, January 24, 2011
Hi Blog World!
I am still around although I haven't posted anything for some time. I think this last December is the first month I've not put up something since I started this blog in Dec 2005. I don't have much to add here but will do a little updating.
Christmas came and went. My Navy son enjoyed a month long leave between his assignments and is now getting used to a new job in a new location. He had never been with Navy Air before so decided to try it this time. He likes the job and the people he works with but they hope to keep their house in another town that is too far away for a daily commute so are trying to resolve that issue. He may end up renting a small apartment in the new town for $500 - 600 a month just to have a place to stay during the week, then go home on the weekends. An unforeseen expense as he thought he would be able to get BOQ type housing during the week.
I started back to work. Sort of. I have been on the Citizen's Advisory Council for our local transit agency (SKAT) for a year and a half. It seemed to be a natural fit for a volunteer opportunity for me, what with my background in transit. Last month I was asked if I would be a passenger count surveyor over the year 2011. It is a paid position although just barely. I told them that I would as long as it was not enough of a job to make me fail retirement. I was assured it would be no more than ten hours or so a month, so I said I'd do it. I went on a test ride early this month and since then have done three on my own and it seems to be going pretty well. I will sure learn the local system this way!
Pat and I both bought Internet Tablets last month. We are not Apple people so bought two that run on the Android operating system. It has been interesting learning how they work. Pat asked the other day what they will do that our desktop and netbook PCs won't do and I said nothing. But they are easy to carry and fun to play with. Mine is a 10.1" by View Sonic, hers is a 7" by Archos. She thought the 7" would work better for her as it will fit in her purse. We don't have smart (Android) cell phones but that may end up finding its way to our house before too long. But again the question, Why?
I am ready for summer. We were told in the summer that this was to be a La Nina weather pattern year and it was supposed to be worse than the last one two years ago. That one brought us about two feet of snow around Christmas time and we usually don't have any snow. So far we have had the stuff three times but a lot less than 2' and none of them have lasted as long as it did then. Right now we are having way tooooooooo much rain and that has caused some river flooding as well as hillsides sliding down in places. Our Skagit River went about three feet over flood stage last week which caused minor flooding but it looks like cooler temps in the mountains (less snow melt) and less rain now have them receding. By Wednesday we are supposed to have sunshine and 50 degree temps although with the clear skies that temp will drop a little below freezing overnight. Sounds good to me. And when we look at what is happening weather wise in other parts of the world, we sure can't complain.
Christmas came and went. My Navy son enjoyed a month long leave between his assignments and is now getting used to a new job in a new location. He had never been with Navy Air before so decided to try it this time. He likes the job and the people he works with but they hope to keep their house in another town that is too far away for a daily commute so are trying to resolve that issue. He may end up renting a small apartment in the new town for $500 - 600 a month just to have a place to stay during the week, then go home on the weekends. An unforeseen expense as he thought he would be able to get BOQ type housing during the week.
I started back to work. Sort of. I have been on the Citizen's Advisory Council for our local transit agency (SKAT) for a year and a half. It seemed to be a natural fit for a volunteer opportunity for me, what with my background in transit. Last month I was asked if I would be a passenger count surveyor over the year 2011. It is a paid position although just barely. I told them that I would as long as it was not enough of a job to make me fail retirement. I was assured it would be no more than ten hours or so a month, so I said I'd do it. I went on a test ride early this month and since then have done three on my own and it seems to be going pretty well. I will sure learn the local system this way!
Pat and I both bought Internet Tablets last month. We are not Apple people so bought two that run on the Android operating system. It has been interesting learning how they work. Pat asked the other day what they will do that our desktop and netbook PCs won't do and I said nothing. But they are easy to carry and fun to play with. Mine is a 10.1" by View Sonic, hers is a 7" by Archos. She thought the 7" would work better for her as it will fit in her purse. We don't have smart (Android) cell phones but that may end up finding its way to our house before too long. But again the question, Why?
I am ready for summer. We were told in the summer that this was to be a La Nina weather pattern year and it was supposed to be worse than the last one two years ago. That one brought us about two feet of snow around Christmas time and we usually don't have any snow. So far we have had the stuff three times but a lot less than 2' and none of them have lasted as long as it did then. Right now we are having way tooooooooo much rain and that has caused some river flooding as well as hillsides sliding down in places. Our Skagit River went about three feet over flood stage last week which caused minor flooding but it looks like cooler temps in the mountains (less snow melt) and less rain now have them receding. By Wednesday we are supposed to have sunshine and 50 degree temps although with the clear skies that temp will drop a little below freezing overnight. Sounds good to me. And when we look at what is happening weather wise in other parts of the world, we sure can't complain.
Labels: Christmas, Computers, Family, Pat and I, Weather
Thursday, December 17, 2009
My Christmas shopping is finished!
I think that I am finished with my Christmas shopping. I'm not going to talk here about what I bought as I know some of those I buy for do at least occasionally read my blog, but I think it was a fairly easy year for me. Annie used to do most of the picking out of gifts for the grand kids especially and I'll be the first to admit that I have little idea what a 9 year old (or those a bit older) want for gifts. There are some safe things, like video games or Webkinz that sound good but which ones to buy? What do they already have? I am not a fan of buying the kids gift certificates but I almost think they make more sense than striking out blind trying to find things they will like but don't already have. I didn't have to resort to this. More on this later (after Christmas.)
We have already had our Christmas party here in the park where we live. It was last Tuesday night and it was good. The ladies who put it together outdid themselves. Here is a photo showing how the Mirror Room was arraigned:
There were eight tables of eight, with a host or hostess for each table. Pat was the hostess for Table 6 which is the one in the foreground of the photo. The host/hostess did their own table settings and table decorating. Everyone paid $4 each and the park owners contributed $50 toward food, so ham and scalloped potatoes were provided, along with sparkling cider, coffee, etc. Everyone also brought a side dish so there was plenty of food for all. Like most parties in our senior park, it wrapped up fairly early but was fun for all who attended.
Speaking of our park and Christmas, this year many here seem to be really going out to decorate and light their houses. I plan to take some night photos of the area and will try to post some here later. I think the new LED lights have helped a lot- they are inexpensive to buy and operate and are long lasting. We don't have the snow that we had last year but as far as I'm concerned, snow isn't necessary to enjoy the holiday displays. We like to use real Christmas trees and they can't be up inside for too long so ours won't go up until Saturday. I love the smell of those real trees.
We have already had our Christmas party here in the park where we live. It was last Tuesday night and it was good. The ladies who put it together outdid themselves. Here is a photo showing how the Mirror Room was arraigned:
There were eight tables of eight, with a host or hostess for each table. Pat was the hostess for Table 6 which is the one in the foreground of the photo. The host/hostess did their own table settings and table decorating. Everyone paid $4 each and the park owners contributed $50 toward food, so ham and scalloped potatoes were provided, along with sparkling cider, coffee, etc. Everyone also brought a side dish so there was plenty of food for all. Like most parties in our senior park, it wrapped up fairly early but was fun for all who attended.
Speaking of our park and Christmas, this year many here seem to be really going out to decorate and light their houses. I plan to take some night photos of the area and will try to post some here later. I think the new LED lights have helped a lot- they are inexpensive to buy and operate and are long lasting. We don't have the snow that we had last year but as far as I'm concerned, snow isn't necessary to enjoy the holiday displays. We like to use real Christmas trees and they can't be up inside for too long so ours won't go up until Saturday. I love the smell of those real trees.
Labels: Christmas, Events, Pat and I, Photos
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Thanksgiving, Black Friday and all
Wow, we are already a week into the month of December! That doesn't seem possible. Although since I am not fond of winter I'll be glad when the weather improves and we start getting more daylight hours. But right now, we are in for some cold times. Tonight in Mt. Vernon it is predicted to get down to 27 degrees and tomorrow's high only 30. Those brutal temperatures are things that we are not used to.
Thanksgiving this year was good for us. We enjoyed two separate dinners, one on the Monday before and the other actually on Thanksgiving Day. The first was at the home of my youngest son and held that day due to the fact that he had to work on the actual holiday. The other was at Pat's youngest daughter's home. Both were good.
The day after Thanksgiving Day has been known for some years now as "Black Friday" because it is supposedly the day in the year when retail business' turn a good profit (a day definitely with the books "in the black") and start the run to Christmas which for some is the busiest season of the year. A couple of times in the past I participated in those early morning (middle of the night?) sale starts but this year I slept in. I drug myself out of bed about the usual time and arrived at Best Buy at the crack of 08:15. Pat did even better, arriving at Fred Meyer about 10:30. But, we both got what we were after at those special prices for the day.
Since then I have bought some more gift things online but didn't participate in the so called Cyber-Monday sales as I didn't see anything that really struck me as needing enough to turn loose my credit card number. I have been able to buy things far enough ahead of Christmas to take advantage of free shipping on most items. That is the big bugaboo for me with online buying. I hate to pay shipping charges and on small things the shipping can be as much or more than the cost of the item you have bought. That is especially a problem with eBay purchases.
I have been kind of holding back on purchases for myself. I keep hearing from She Who Should Be Obeyed that I do that too often, thus making it hard for others to buy gifts for me. So, I am still holding out in my torn, holey gloves, even in these brutally cold temperatures, as some of us walk for exercise three times a week to the hospital for coffee in the cafeteria, then back home. Now only three weeks to go.
Thanksgiving this year was good for us. We enjoyed two separate dinners, one on the Monday before and the other actually on Thanksgiving Day. The first was at the home of my youngest son and held that day due to the fact that he had to work on the actual holiday. The other was at Pat's youngest daughter's home. Both were good.
The day after Thanksgiving Day has been known for some years now as "Black Friday" because it is supposedly the day in the year when retail business' turn a good profit (a day definitely with the books "in the black") and start the run to Christmas which for some is the busiest season of the year. A couple of times in the past I participated in those early morning (middle of the night?) sale starts but this year I slept in. I drug myself out of bed about the usual time and arrived at Best Buy at the crack of 08:15. Pat did even better, arriving at Fred Meyer about 10:30. But, we both got what we were after at those special prices for the day.
Since then I have bought some more gift things online but didn't participate in the so called Cyber-Monday sales as I didn't see anything that really struck me as needing enough to turn loose my credit card number. I have been able to buy things far enough ahead of Christmas to take advantage of free shipping on most items. That is the big bugaboo for me with online buying. I hate to pay shipping charges and on small things the shipping can be as much or more than the cost of the item you have bought. That is especially a problem with eBay purchases.
I have been kind of holding back on purchases for myself. I keep hearing from She Who Should Be Obeyed that I do that too often, thus making it hard for others to buy gifts for me. So, I am still holding out in my torn, holey gloves, even in these brutally cold temperatures, as some of us walk for exercise three times a week to the hospital for coffee in the cafeteria, then back home. Now only three weeks to go.
Labels: Christmas, Family, Holidays, Weather
Friday, November 13, 2009
Skagit Valley Gardens Christmas Open House #2
I'll go ahead and add the second seven photos from a week ago at the Christmas Open House at Skagit Valley Gardens (see the link in the last post.)
This photo shows Pat signing up for a drawing for something but it also has one of the largest toads I've ever seen in the foreground. Pat is a collector of toads and things toady but I'd not be sure where we could find enough space for this one.
These two were working the Cashier counter at the time we were by. I took two photos because we knew one had blinked in this first one but I really like the expressions and feeling of this one better, even with the blink. They look like they were having fun and I think they were.
In addition to the dinner that was available through the Garden Cafe, Skagit Gardens also provided a table with cookies and coffee (I think it was coffee- as it was just after dinner for us I didn't have any.) I was good and only had one cookie and I called that my desert with dinner.
This little still life photo has had the light color corrected. Yellowish angel hair just didn't look right, nor did the yellow casts on the crystal figures. This was on a small shelf and I just liked it. It is simple with only three components but to me it is beautiful.
This scene has been setup for quite awhile and it is one of the most interesting. The bear on the left, hiding behind a fir tree, has a fishing pole and has snagged himself a very large fish which is on the top of the tree to the right. I doubt a person would ever have enough space in a home to setup something like this but it is cute and works well here. Maybe outside in one's yard?
Pat is checking out an interesting Christmas tree with Santa behind her. This photo was hand held as I had put the tripod away after the photo of the bear so it isn't quite as sharp as it ideally should be but I like it because of the subject.
I guess you almost have to include Barbie in Christmas. This is one of the largest Barbie dolls I've ever seen but it does make a very nice display. My younger granddaughter may still be young enough to like these but her favorites are something called Webkinz where she logs onto a web site to register her menagerie of them. It is more involved than just registering them but I don't try to follow it.
This annual event is fun every year and this place sure goes all out to decorate for the Christmas season. The place looks good all of the time and they do a good job with whatever season it might be. Last spring we were there with hundreds of others for an Easter egg hunt all over the 20 or so acre place. Everyone was a winner of something and it was far enough into the spring planting season that there were a lot of plants to choose from. If you live near enough to Mount Vernon, stop in and see this place. It is right alongside the I-5 freeway just a couple of miles south of town. It is fun. And don't forget to eat at the Garden Cafe.
This photo shows Pat signing up for a drawing for something but it also has one of the largest toads I've ever seen in the foreground. Pat is a collector of toads and things toady but I'd not be sure where we could find enough space for this one.
These two were working the Cashier counter at the time we were by. I took two photos because we knew one had blinked in this first one but I really like the expressions and feeling of this one better, even with the blink. They look like they were having fun and I think they were.
In addition to the dinner that was available through the Garden Cafe, Skagit Gardens also provided a table with cookies and coffee (I think it was coffee- as it was just after dinner for us I didn't have any.) I was good and only had one cookie and I called that my desert with dinner.
This little still life photo has had the light color corrected. Yellowish angel hair just didn't look right, nor did the yellow casts on the crystal figures. This was on a small shelf and I just liked it. It is simple with only three components but to me it is beautiful.
This scene has been setup for quite awhile and it is one of the most interesting. The bear on the left, hiding behind a fir tree, has a fishing pole and has snagged himself a very large fish which is on the top of the tree to the right. I doubt a person would ever have enough space in a home to setup something like this but it is cute and works well here. Maybe outside in one's yard?
Pat is checking out an interesting Christmas tree with Santa behind her. This photo was hand held as I had put the tripod away after the photo of the bear so it isn't quite as sharp as it ideally should be but I like it because of the subject.
I guess you almost have to include Barbie in Christmas. This is one of the largest Barbie dolls I've ever seen but it does make a very nice display. My younger granddaughter may still be young enough to like these but her favorites are something called Webkinz where she logs onto a web site to register her menagerie of them. It is more involved than just registering them but I don't try to follow it.
This annual event is fun every year and this place sure goes all out to decorate for the Christmas season. The place looks good all of the time and they do a good job with whatever season it might be. Last spring we were there with hundreds of others for an Easter egg hunt all over the 20 or so acre place. Everyone was a winner of something and it was far enough into the spring planting season that there were a lot of plants to choose from. If you live near enough to Mount Vernon, stop in and see this place. It is right alongside the I-5 freeway just a couple of miles south of town. It is fun. And don't forget to eat at the Garden Cafe.
Labels: Christmas, Events, Holidays, Pat and I, Photos
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Skagit Gardens Christmas Open House
Friday November 6th we went to dinner at the Garden Cafe and I've already posted a few photos from there in my last post. Garden Cafe is located inside a large greenhouse that is the retail outlet for Skagit Valley Gardens. Skagit Valley Gardens does a fantastic job of decorating for the Christmas holidays and this open house is a perfect time to come see the displays which look even better after dark. I took many photos and had a hard time trying to limit how many I was going to post here. I think that I will actually split the post into two. I'll do one now and another in a couple of days with the rest of the photos. They let me take my tripod and most of the photos are in available light, so it is generally pretty "warm" toned light as opposed to a colder, more bluish daylight that we are more used to. I decided to not make a color shift on most of the photos but instead just leave them as the camera saw them, with some cropping, exposure and contrast corrections. You will also notice that I am posting them in a little larger format. I checked it on my system and this size is fine with it, although I do have a wide screen monitor. Please let me know it it doesn't work well on yours. Anyway, here we go:
This is a general inside scene with their cashier station and a Welcome sign.
This old truck is one of a few that are around the area. During the warmer weather there are outdoor gardens to explore and in September the local dahlia society, that grows their display garden here on the property, holds their annual viewing and it is spectacular. In addition to this greenhouse there is a large building that is heated and comfortable that contains many gift items.
The shutter speeds on these photos are not real slow but you can still see some motion showing up in many of the people who are moving. I like the juxtaposition of the tree ornaments in this photo, both those in the distance that are in sharp focus and the nearby ones that are fuzzy. There were a lot of people here and it was very hard to get photos without including some of them.
There are many already decorated Christmas trees with various themes. They can be bought already decorated or one can pick decorations off the trees to buy individually. This is a closer view of a part of the Peacock tree.
This tree in the foreground would be perfect for an apartment or other fairly small place. It is tall and skinny. And, the trunk is lighted AND it changes colors! There is a more normal Christmas tree in the background.
This display was hanging from above so I lowered the camera and turned it upward for this photo. You can actually see the glazing that makes up the roof of the greenhouse in the background here.
Musician Marcia Kester provided live entertainment during the evening. We have heard her before and she is good, kind of a country western/pop artist. Notice the tall skinny Christmas tree from the previous photo to her right in this photo. This is a flash photo so the lighting is more like what we are used to seeing.
This gets me about half way through the photos I've got ready to post so in order to keep the post from getting too large I'll close it here. Look for the second half of the photos in a couple of days. In the meantime, go check out the Skagit Valley Gardens web site as listed at the beginning of this post.
This is a general inside scene with their cashier station and a Welcome sign.
This old truck is one of a few that are around the area. During the warmer weather there are outdoor gardens to explore and in September the local dahlia society, that grows their display garden here on the property, holds their annual viewing and it is spectacular. In addition to this greenhouse there is a large building that is heated and comfortable that contains many gift items.
The shutter speeds on these photos are not real slow but you can still see some motion showing up in many of the people who are moving. I like the juxtaposition of the tree ornaments in this photo, both those in the distance that are in sharp focus and the nearby ones that are fuzzy. There were a lot of people here and it was very hard to get photos without including some of them.
There are many already decorated Christmas trees with various themes. They can be bought already decorated or one can pick decorations off the trees to buy individually. This is a closer view of a part of the Peacock tree.
This tree in the foreground would be perfect for an apartment or other fairly small place. It is tall and skinny. And, the trunk is lighted AND it changes colors! There is a more normal Christmas tree in the background.
This display was hanging from above so I lowered the camera and turned it upward for this photo. You can actually see the glazing that makes up the roof of the greenhouse in the background here.
Musician Marcia Kester provided live entertainment during the evening. We have heard her before and she is good, kind of a country western/pop artist. Notice the tall skinny Christmas tree from the previous photo to her right in this photo. This is a flash photo so the lighting is more like what we are used to seeing.
This gets me about half way through the photos I've got ready to post so in order to keep the post from getting too large I'll close it here. Look for the second half of the photos in a couple of days. In the meantime, go check out the Skagit Valley Gardens web site as listed at the beginning of this post.
Labels: Christmas, Entertainment, Events, Holidays, Photos
