Drive in Drive thu Drive on...

Family photo shot without the people

2011-12-22T16:22:00.000-08:00

When mt sister was in town it was delegated to me to take the family photo. There were 9 kids aging from 2-12. plus 8 adults. We were able to get some decent shots and i managed to take a few none people shots while i was testing light. The first one is where the family is going to be placed. The second shot is the coin slot for the 7-up machine that is on my parents veranda. Enjoy.

Thistle

2011-08-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

Todays picture comes from my most recent trip into the woods. Enjoy

Wenatchee

2011-08-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

On my most recent trip to Wenatchee, WA I was able to go check out the downtown area. It did not disappoint. There are a ton of small business's there and allot of old signage. I ate at a local sandwich shop called Lemolos and it was Delicious

Wally's Tavern- Wenatchee, Wa 2011

Abandoned downtown store- Wenatchee, Wa 2011

Wenatchee Plumbing sign- Wenatchee, Wa 2011

Sav-Mart - Wenatchee, Wa 2011

Camp fife 2011

2011-08-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

In July I went to Camp Fife as an adult and as always i was able to take some time and photograph. i also went up to camp in June to photograph. the ranger knows about my project and trusts me enough to go around camp by myself. One day i will put together my Camp project and put it in a book.

Foxfire Area- camp Fife 2011

White House Interior- Camp Fife, Wa

New Dining Hall with spring Run off- Camp Fife 2011

Rusty Can- Camp Fife, 2011

Tent in campsite- Camp Fife, WA

35mm in Yakima

2011-08-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

So on the fourth of july i had a bunch of my camera equipment stolen. It sucked. My dad found on craigslist a camera very close to the one i lost. I decided to run a roll of film through the camera to make sure it worked properly and didn't have anything wrong with it. I forget how much i love black and white film and really need to make an effort to use it more often.

The Lariat Yakima, Wa 2011

The Bali Hai Motel, Yakima Wa 2011

Summer camps out of season -Camp Roganunda

2010-09-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

I've been kicking around the idea for a project about summer camps when there are no campers there. These places are like ghost towns most of the year. I have several boy scout camps in Washington that I have shot out of season, but this is the first one that is not a boy scout camp. It is a Camp Fire USA camp (or was)

Camp Roganunda has been in operation since 1923. It is now for sale and empty. 2009 was the last year of this camp. Here is a clip about Roganuda's closing. http://www.playdateyakima.com/2010/05/04/camp-fire-goes-out-after-nearly-100-years/

I do truly wish that I could have gotten into the buildings. All of the cabin names have been removed and most have been boarded up. Here is a few shot I have processes so far. There are more to come, hopefully.

Teapots and Dinosaurs

2010-07-31T15:26:00.000-07:00

So I was in the lower valley for some business on friday and took advantage of some local oddities. First i stopped by zillah and photographed the old teapot dome gas station. it is not in use but cool.

then i went on to granger, Wa where it is infested by dinosaurs.

there were some at a church

there were some at a playground

at a store

and even at advertising a yard sale.

it has been a while but im back

2010-07-21T18:10:00.000-07:00

I looked at my blog the other day and realized that i have not posted since march. It happens, i still have been photographing and selling some of my cards on the side as well as shooting a wedding for some family friends. anywho... the pictures above are just a sampleing of what i have shot over the last few months. the first one was shot during a cooking competition that i won, i know there is no hint of the cooking competition in the photograph but im the one who has the camera and get to decide what i want to shoot. the next two are apart of my camp fife project, the first one was shot in april/may and the second on was shot in july when i was at camp as an adult leader. The last one was shot a few days agor during the cowiche fire. this one was at 1 in the morning from my grandparents driveway atop of my grandfather truck. The fire was close but did not get my grandparents house. Ash was falling from the sky like snow and it was surreal. I hope to start posting more often as life permits.

Signs are everywhere...if only you know how to read them

2010-03-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

Todays Blog post is all about signs or atleast all about where signs used to be and the evidence left behind. The store may close and be abandoned but i love how its reminence lives on. Yakima hasn't had a JC Penney in almost 10 years but if you drive by its former location it still says JC Penney just by lack of sign. Would that be concidered irony?

Batteries Yakima, Wa 2010\

ex JC penney Yakima, Wa 2010

Payless Drug Yakima, Wa 2010

ex Yakima Mall Yakima, Wa 2010

A day at Camp Fife

2010-03-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

Today I needed a day of serenity. There are two things that can easily make that. 1. is photographing (I find it therapeutic, constructive, fun, and helps clear the mind) 2. Is the Cascade mountains of Washington. The air is crisp the sun is normally abundant and today it was quite enough to hear the snow melt. I traveled to one of my favorite spots in the world -Goose Prairie. It did not disappoint. With four cameras in hand (and on back/slung over shoulder) and my trusty tripod I struck out to photograph. Camp Fife is the main reason for my picked destination and after arriving i soon discover that the ranger is not Home/In Camp/ whatever. There in no one there except me and my photographic equipment. I wasn't able to get access to any of the building (Sad) but the sun was out and the light was bright and... well serenity. I shot 147 shots from 3 of my four cameras, I had 22 shots that are above par and will be entered into my Camp Fife project. Overall A nice day. (now if only i could get into some more buildings)

Well since you read all of that you get a reward...Here are some of the pictures that turned out.

Me at the Curtis Gilbert building

Old Dinning Hall- Camp Fife 2010

General Sherman Tree-Camp Fife, 2010

Front Door of old Ranger House-Camp Fife 2010

Totem Pole- Camp Fife 2010

Fun with Telephoto/Macro

2010-02-22T17:28:00.000-08:00

This last weekend we traveled over to seattle to visit some friends and go to a patch trade o ree. Both were good times. One of Our friends neighbors had some cameras from her grandmother and wanted them to go to someone who would use them. There was an old film minolta and a canon EOS 650(basically the grand daddy of Canon's current SLR. With the canon was a 70-210 Telephoto/macro lens. With a little research i found out that the lens should work with both of my rebels. This got me excited and wanting to try it out.
The sun was shining and the sky was blue and i headed out. Here are the results from an empty old resturant and a defunct Oil Company. Enjoy

four ten resturant parking lot

The old four ten fisherman sign

Tiger oil compant gas booth

18th Street & nob hill Ave

Inside shot

Posted on the wall of Tiger Oil

Ex Air Pump. Tiger Oil Yakima

This one is for my sister

2010-02-16T18:10:00.000-08:00

Ande,
I know that you read my blog. saw this sign on Teiton Ave and thought you might enjoy. If you do not enjoy it too bad.

polaroid fun!

2010-02-08T12:47:00.000-08:00

My grandfather gave me his old polaroid camera the other day, it is one from the 80s but he knew i collect old cameras, so i thanked him and filed it away in my room. Then while cleaning out some boxes of stuff i found a unexposed package of polaroid film that would work for the camera. It was refreshing to have only one shot at a photograph. you could not shoot 187 shots and hope one would turn out or even expose a whole roll and hope that a shot would turn out. plus you cant hardly find this film anymore so it felt to me like an old 4x5 large format camera. i took a couple of shots to see what this baby could do and have three shots remaining in the camera to play with.

street sign

Bird feeder

Yellow table

Robyn and Baden

Abandoned warehouse

2010-02-01T15:37:00.000-08:00

This weeks adventure takes us to the depths of Cowiche Washington. Here i saw a few abandoned apple warehouses. One of them also held an A.A. meeting spot and one of the warehouses had a sign printed stating that there was no ammonia on site, you are on camera and please leave now. So i went to the other site next door and poked around the old fruit washer and by some apple bins and through the orchard a little bit. enjoy.

Picture 1. Apple fruit warehouse office Cowiche, WA

Picture 2. apple sign Cowiche, WA

Picture 3. Tumbleweed in Ice Cowiche, WA

Picture 4. Fruit Washer Cowiche, WA

Picture 5. Apple Orchard Cowiche, WA

Photographing with my assisstant

2010-01-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

This week I went out photographing and took Irish with me for a little daddy daughter time. Irish has a little old digital camera of her own and so we ventured out to one of my favorite spots to start out at, the old Yakima Mall. Then we snaked around the downtown area and checked out the Larson building wnet down to first street and eventually made it back to the car on Naches Ave. Irish has quite the eye and enjoyed going with me.

At one point she said "dad, some of the pictures you take I find boring. So I'm going to take my own instead."

Her are some of mine and some of her shots. Enjoy

My Assisstant

Naches Ave

Empty store front

Yakima

Larson Building

These are Irish's

this on is on the Car ride home. Self portrait.

Hops

2010-01-17T17:28:00.000-08:00

Its time for the weekly post. These shots were taken in Toppenish Washington by Heritage University. I Started school last week to go back and get my teaching certification for washington state. This week (if i get time) i am thinking on trying some panorama 180 shots. I think it might be interesting to do some mondane type of places like a basement, or something. Thoughts?

Night Photography

2010-01-10T18:19:00.000-08:00

I normally don't do resolutions but i thought i'd try something this year. I plan on going out and photographing at least once a week this year and posting the results here. Thats right a post a week (at least) for the entire year. So since i have one in from last week here is this weeks post

Night Photography in Yakima

All of these photographs were taken at night in the almost dark. I would have taken more but i started hearing gunshots so i decided to call it a night after this.

The Super Bingo is what it says it is. the coolest part of it is A. the signage and B. The fact that it used to be a grocery store with the same signage.

Road runner deli mart nothing more to say.

A house on 3rd and mead just right next to the Super bingo.

winter weather and photography

2010-01-03T11:44:00.000-08:00

this december is the first time in 5 years that we have had to worry about winter weather and shoveling snow and such. in port angeles if it snowed the town shut down and it was gone the next day. so here are som pictures of the kids in the snow. irish and cole are "sledding" in the dent part of our yard and Cole was helping shovel the driveway.

These are shots of winter in yakima. our fence new years day, and a shot looking down towards a train yard in yakima.

Hanging christmas lights

2009-11-28T09:44:00.000-08:00

My Brother in law Brian is Hanging christmas lights this year for people. We did a Dentists house yesterday and my main job was to listen for him Screaming in case he fell off the 2 story roof. Luckily that didn't happen. last night we went back and took some photographs of his handywork.

Then since I had my camera and well those of you who look at my blog know what type of pictures i take i shot this.

Burger Ranch

2009-11-11T15:26:00.000-08:00

One of the Local Burger places in Eastern Washington, (well the Yakima area al least) is Burger Ranch. The inside and outsides of their building have not been updated since the late 70's by the looks of things but their food is tasty and has that local feel that youdont get at Mcdonalds. Their old commercials are great especially since they replay the same ones every year. i cannot seem to find them on the internet though. too bad.

Where was I?? and what is that

2009-09-09T21:32:00.000-07:00

ok so i went to go out photographing this afternoon and the lighting sucked big time. i was already headed to my parents house to go watch top chef so i started poking around. These photographs were taken on their property. (no it is not their house)

out and about

2009-08-05T11:59:00.001-07:00

on monday night i went out photographing with a old friends of mina danielle and we meandered around the old yakima mall. I do so wish that i could get in and photograph the empty stores and such. The first is a door handle, the second shot is a painted door in an ally and the third is the ramp into the underground mall entrance.

its been a while but I'm back

2009-07-01T22:11:00.001-07:00

So time has flown by and it has been almost 3 months since I last posted. However i am still here and still out photographing. There have been many life changing events in the last few months but i will not get into to those at this time. below are some shots of Camp Fife for my scout camp out of season project. ( it may be a Camp Fife project for it is very heavily shot at one camp)

Curtis Gilbert-Camp fife june
Scout tent 2009

Kitchen GRill camp Fife may 2009

Rifle range camp fife may 2009

Camp Parsons and sunny weather

2009-04-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry i have not blogged in a while but i have been extremely busy with work and such. Luckily I had to go to camp parsons for work the other day and took advantage of the nice weather to shoot a little. We had a streak of 3 days of sunshine here and all took advantage and hung out outside. Irish came with me to photograph and kept on asking "why are you taking a picture of that dad?" or "lets take my picture."

Survey on our Dad.

2009-03-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

My sister in-law Trin did this survey on her blog, and I thought it would be fun to do it also. By the way this is Robyn, not Ben.
These answers are exactly how our kids said them.
First, Cole age 3
1. What is something dad always says to you? Cole.
2. What makes dad happy? I don't know, when I kiss him.
3. What makes dad sad? The floor.
4. How does your dad make you laugh? Laugh on the ball.
5. What was your dad like as a child? He had medicine.
6. How old is your dad? A number.
7. How tall is your dad? Bigger.
8. What is his favorite thing to do? Daddy give me a present.
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? Grows bigger.
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? For cars being presents.
11. What is your dad really good at? Opening presents.
12. What is your dad not very good at? Watching T.V.
13. What does your dad do for his job? In the car and house.
14. What's your dad's favorite food? Eating pepsi.
15. What makes you proud of your dad? Daddy give me a present for free.
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? Chip and Dale.
17. What do you and your dad do together? Play around.
18. How are you and your dad the same? Me and daddy like cars, two McQueens.
19. How are you and your dad different? Noses.
20. How do you know your dad loves you? He loves me in the house.
21. Where is your dad's favorite place to go? To right here.

Next, Irish age 6
1. What is something dad always says to you? I don't know, he always says Roo.
2. What makes dad happy? I don't know.Because of Me and Cole.
3. What makes dad sad? When I gone to Maaka's.
4. How does your dad make you laugh? By jokes.
5. What was your dad like as a child? Me and Cole.
6. How old is your dad? 16.
7. How tall is your dad? 16.
8. What is his favorite thing to do? Help you and go to Boy Scouts.
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? He watches T.V.
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? For working for Boy Scouts.
11. What is your dad really good at? He is good at Boy Scouts.
12. What is your dad not very good at? Of Girls Scouts.
13. What does your dad do for his job? Work for Boy Scouts.
14. What's your dad's favorite food? Everything that we make.
15. What makes you proud of your dad? Because he loves me.
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? He would be a Jesus or something.
17. What do you and your dad do together? We do one of my puzzles.
18. How are you and your dad the same? Because we walk our feet on the same step.
19. How are you and your dad different? Because my dad is a boy, and I am a girl.
20. How do you know your dad loves you? Because he likes me.
21. Where is your dad's favorite place to go? To Forks resturaunts.

I hope you enjoy our quirky kids answers.

mountian trip

2009-02-22T10:04:00.000-08:00

Over presidents day weekend the family and went to yakima over presidents day weekend. We had alot of fun playing wii, hanging with the fam, and such. On monday I made a Pilgrimage to Camp Fife so i could add to my project. I was there for about an hour and took over 100 pictures and there were about 18-20 were good enough to add to the project and another 14 were turned into a panorama. (which won't load for some reason)

walk on the water

2009-01-26T17:33:00.000-08:00

The other day we took a walk on the waterfront trail here in port angeles. It was a sunny day wich is very rare here in the fall/winter/spring time. while the kids were playing on a statue of a seal i went to inspect the waters edge. i found some rocks with etches and hole in them, my guess is man made. anywho I took some shots and then a few out along the strait of Juan de Fuca.

Guitar heros

2009-01-14T19:41:00.001-08:00

after christmas visit

2009-01-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

After christmas the kids and i went to eastern washington for to visit the family. and in the tru spirit of eastern washington we all got to go sledding...behind a tractor...thru my parents yard. Yes we had alot of fun using a tow strape and a sled. I was even able to drive the tractor for a while. Below is a shot of my father trying to "wakeboard" behind the tractor. he broke his watch when he fell.

waling in a winter wonderland

2008-12-16T16:52:00.001-08:00

As most should know we have had a cold snap here in the pac north west. The highs are in the teens ans twentys across the area and eastern washington is in the single to negitive temperatures. Here in port angeles we had about 5 inches of snow come down saturday night then it hasn't gotten warm enough to melt since. we are supposed to get more snow tonight 3 to six inches. This is unheard of for port angeles. on the plus side we have had sunshine, and to me it feels like growing up cold and sunny so i'm not really bummed about it.

here are some shots i have taken the last few days.

The Tree is up!

2008-12-13T17:53:00.000-08:00

Our family decided that we have to wait until after irish's birthday to decorate fot christmas. We traveled to our favorite local store swains and they had trees for $20. These wern't charlie Brown trees but full nice looking trees.

The Woman has gone crazy

2008-12-05T11:55:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow "we" are hosting a birthday party for Irish. Robyn has decided that she is going to make a special cake for the event. This cake takes an hour or more to back upside down and 8 hours to cool then another 4 hours to decorate. That is 13 plus hours on a cake! On top of that Robyn has to be at work tomorrow at 6:30 am and get off in enough time to have people "small chatty girls" arrive. I will be standing guard upstairs keeping the television entertained during the party.

If this cake works out i know that Irish will love it, and expect it every year.

polaroid fun

2008-11-21T09:38:00.001-08:00

On wednesday i found a poloroid kit at a thrift shop. it had a camera, some trays a book on poloriod emultion transfers, and a Daylab 35 (this takes slides and make poloroids out of them) I have no idea how old the film is in the camera or in the day lab but i am having fun learning a new method in photography and no two prints are the same. hopefully i can still find some film to work the bugs out. here are some test shots.

35mm film strip

2008-11-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

So i found a bag of film for sale at a thrift store the other day and in it was a bunch of slides of japanese people in the 1950's and their tour of america. along with it was a story on slides and some 8mm film. in the bag as well was a 35mm film strip on the 1957 cadillac. in the following pictures you will see there were slides about animals and pictures of the car. on frame even showed how big the car was compared to the compeditors. Enjoy.

2008-10-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

Todays picture came from an event that i attended with an american theme. at the end of the event everybody cleane dup and i saw this and took a shot. it is funny in a sad sort of way with the american flags in the trash can.
Anyway I have decided to do this one time blog tagging thing and respond.

six quirks about me
1. I cannot stand wind chimes. they bug me.
2. If i am standing in an isle at the store/anywhere and somebody walk behind me and just stands where i can't see them but i know they are there i will leave the isle.
3. I search the internet/antique sores/thrift stores looking for information and memorbilia about the scout camp i grew up at.
4. I have the gag reflex of a little girl. dentists and cold medicine hate me for it. Robyn doesn't like cleaning up after it as well.
5. I buy shirts at thrift stores or on clearance. if i think they are cool or funny i will buy it, even if i know it may not fit me. i have probably 75 shirts or more.
6. I cannot sleep with socks on. they attack my feet while i sleep.

ok now that i feel like a freak for doing this i hope you enjoy it. you are a freak too if you think about it.

pumpkin

2008-10-20T22:26:00.000-07:00

We carved pumpkins.

fairview elm

2008-10-16T09:56:00.000-07:00

While finishing up a sales call yesterday a school caught my eye. In port angeles the school district had to close several schools due to a decrease in total avalible youth. I always wondered where the schools were at and yesterday i found fairview elm. I wasn't able to get inside but was able to poke around the school yard and peep into the windows. It kinda reminded me of the movie children of man (or men) when they meet at an abandoned elmentary school.

Me at the handball wall
the playground

lost dog

oklahoma

olympic penninsula

2008-10-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

Today took all over jefferson county for work and along the way I was able to stop and take some photographs. My best find was an abandoned gas station with s sign stating jesus is lord.

despair.com

2008-10-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

I found this website where you can create your own motivational/demotivational posters. it has a do it your self part.

Hurricane ridge

2008-09-29T09:22:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the national parks held a free admission admission day. So since our closest national park as about 5 miles away we decided to go on an adventure after church. We drove up to Hurricane Ridge, checked out the visitor center, saw the Asian people with camcorders, listened to the Europeans, and out hiked the old people. It really is amazing that few were one of the only few people there with children or our age.
We hiked to the view point and looked down upon Port Angeles and you could even see Victoria Canada. The trail continued on and so did we up to another steep ridge and to the top of the "hill" there were only about 6 other people up there. We had to keep a hold of Cole because if he fell it was a very steep slope he would have fallen down like the princess bride.

All in all it was a beautiful day to go for a hike.

arnt they close

irish wanting to go back to the car

on the top

Kodak

2008-09-16T20:17:00.001-07:00

Why yes in case you are wondering, I do own a vintage Kodak Light sign complete with fiber-optics. I was shopping for Robyns birthday presents and came across this jem and it was even 20% off. i'm so happy that it works and all i need now is to find a place to hang it. did i mention it changes color. Don't worry i got robyns gifts first then came back for this.

what it looks like in the daytime (its cooler at night)

Port Angeles

2008-09-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

We had stake conferance this weekend freeing up my sunday to take pictures and other general no good. so i took to the mean streets of port angeles to see what i could. enjoy.

things ben found

2008-09-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

http://thingsbenfound.blogspot.com/

i just added some new things. check it out

Camp Pigott

2008-09-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

A few days ago we had a staff retreat at camp pigott. It was a kick off to our fall business so to speak. while others were on the high ropes course i opted to stay aground and work on my scout camps out of season project. i was extremly happy with the result i got out of the camp. here is a tasting of what i shot. This is the fourth Scout camp I have been able to capture "out of season" and i want to include at least seven more camps in the project to round it out. i smell roadtrip.

went to a funeral and took some pictures

2008-09-04T16:18:00.001-07:00

Earlier this week I took a trek across washington to attend the graveside services of my great grandmother. While in Sunnyside i toook advantage of the nice weather and "historical" sinage around town. Here is a very brief glimpse of what I shot.

Camp Parsons

2008-08-21T17:13:00.000-07:00

I made a trip to camp parsons this week to visit a few troops up there. i was able to snap some shots from the trip as well. The mugs are from inside the trading post. the second is the buddy board. and the third is a scout bathroom.

camping

2008-08-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went camping as a family. everybody in the family was there execpt my one sister stuck in california. Let me tell you it was hot and muggy. Cole recieved 8 mesquito bites on his face plus another 18 across other parts of his body. We also learned that three legged dogs can swim.

Spiderweb
moss

leaf

Clallam county fair (as i saw it)

2008-08-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

Today was kids day at the clallam county fair. this meant they were free and rides were half price. so we went. i had a good time and so did rob and the kids. cole was a bit upset about not being able to ride most of the rides especially the car looking ones. i'll post some more of them at the fair tonight but for now here is what struck me interesting at the fair.

I got a new calculator

2008-08-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

Now before you get too excited for me just know that i have been on the look out for a calculator that matches my personality. Today my friends I have found that calculator. this baby even comes with a leather case for portability. no fancy algebra functions on this find. I can't wait to pull this out at my next staff meeting when we are asked if anybody can add the numbers on a calculator. I know that you are jealous but it is not for sale.

port angeles to seattle to yakima to seattle to pheonix to nashville to vegas to seattle to yakima to port angeles

2008-08-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

Well i thought it was funny

As you can tell from the long title we are now back from our whirlwind trip to a national Boy Scout professional leadership conferance. first we left port angeles and delivered some lavendre that we had sold in seattle and then traveled to yakima to drop off the kids and the dog at my parents house. my work got robyn and i a room at the seattle mariott and we had a nice date and movie. (olive garden and the Dark Knight)

notes on the trip:

we were up at 4 am to fly to pheonix and run to catch the flight out to nashville.
We stayed at the gaylord opryland hotel.
There are over 2500 rooms at the hotel
plus shopping and like 15 resturants (all of them were expensive)
there were about 4900 people in attendance at the conferance (including spouses)
Nashville is freakin humid
Saw josh Turner in concert
Robyn tried a fried pickle
ran into 6 people from the BYU program.
had to buy new shoes
did i mention how humid it is there. (i had to apply deoderant three or four times a day)
went to two fancy dinners
got free stuff
it cost 9.25 to get a drink poolside.
had a good time
delayed in vegas due to weather
17. got into seattle about 1 am
drove to yakima and picked up kids
drove straight to work meeting thursday night
kingsize beds are bigger than my queen.

We go to Forks and beyond

2008-07-25T12:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the other side of the world. ok we just went to forks for a day camp check up. I took the Fam and we made a day of it. First we stopped at sully burgers and robyn tried the "twilight"inspired Bella Burger. WE watched teen people come in and ask for directions to certian "twilight" places, and even saw one ask for an autograph from the burger joint.

After that we walked around town and then decided to head to lapush and the beach there. (we didn't know that day camp started at four and we got there around noon) the kids played on the beach for a while then we headed back and cruised around a bit more.

at the beach la push

water pit panning for gold at day camp

burnt down house forks, wa

part of bowling alley forks, wa

lavender

2008-07-21T10:03:00.001-07:00

As most of the 5 people who read this blog would know. This last weekend was lavender fest and i worked at a farm to raise money for the boy scouts. Alot of the lavender had not quite bloomed yet but we did have enough ready to get us by. I took these shots in case i need them in the future for this event. The one in the middle is a black and white "toned" as if by a selinium toner. I put toned in quotations because is was a tecnique i am trying out in photoshop to reproduce toning effects. let me know what you think.

self imposed pictures

2008-07-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

Ok so when ever i go our photgraphing someplace interesting or i get the idea to. I try to take some self portraits. this is for two reasons. 1. i am alone and nobody else can take the shot. 2. normally i am behind the camera and there is not much in the way of me shots (so i make my own)

Here is a sampling of my shots.

Moms house

2008-07-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from my parents house. I didn't really have a chance last weekend to go explore yakima like i usually do. So i just walked around my parents house and let the photographs find me. This is a bit different than normal where i have a list in my head of areas/buildings I want to check out and photograph. The question is (if you go to my parents house) where are these items at?

july 4th thru the 7th

2008-07-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

Ok so on the fourth we had our friends Steve and Robyn come over for a BBq then we went out and blew up some fireworks. The kids had a blast playing and the sparklers as well as the pop-its. I think we got home around 12:30 and then it was up and out the door to drive to Birch Bay by Blaine washington for w weekend with Casey and melissa. they have a timeshare thingie. We played in the pool and went to this gocart track. Irish was able to ride shotgun but cole being only 2 did not meet the 3 year requirment. It broke his poor little car loving heart. Then we ate steak. on sunday we hopped into the car and traveled to the State of Canada. There i was able to pick up some wunderbars and ketchup flavored potatoe chips. (if you go to canada get me some) more pool time when we got back. on monday we left the florens to their own devices hung out at the beach and went into bellingham saw WALL-E and drove to mt vernon to have dinner with some old college friends amy and joel. We got to talking and realized that it was 9:30 pm and we still had a three hour drive ahead of us. we got home about midnight.

We were all very tired by the end of the trip.

camp fife trip

2008-07-05T08:34:00.001-07:00

On wednesday i went to camp fife to go see my dad who was up there for the week with some scouts. i also went to just be at camp and see how it was doing. most of the usual was happeing the cook had already quit and other personall issues were happining. i was going to buy a patch but they didnt have them yet. i wasa going to get a shirt but they didn't have them yet. i was going to buy any camp schwag they had but they didnt have any yet. so i bought a pepsi. now i am off to blaine washington to hanf out with casey and melissa and maybe get to canada for some ketchup flavored chips and wunderbars.

Sunset

2008-06-30T00:20:00.001-07:00

Ok so today was is or could be called warm...for port angeles i hear the high was somewhere between 78-81 degrees. what a dramatic change from a week or so ago when we were happy about it getting to 50 degrees. anywho i was putting the dog outside and i looked over and it was a great looking sunset. so i shot it. with my camera. thus the picture.

Quotes from this morning

2008-06-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

these are things that i heard around the house this morning.

Robyn "Cole no throwing pooh at mommie"

i was happy to find out it was a stuffed pooh bear.

Cole "i urt my boob"

we didn't know he knew the word boob.

Things Ben Found

2008-06-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

a subsidiary blog on the crap that i find and buy.

http://thingsbenfound.blogspot.com/

tell your friends.

oh so many events

2008-06-22T16:10:00.000-07:00

June is normally a busy month for me at work and this year has been no exception. Luckily one way or another the end of the month is here and the summer calm period begins. I have gone to meetings, courts of honor, recognition dinners, mariner games, auctions, pack meeting, family visits, ect.
I have also traveled once again to the magical land of Forks, Washington. The people there are friendly and the local drive in is pretty good to eat at. I had a spartan burger. try it you'll like it.
My sister and her family came up to seattle and we all went to a mariners game. The mariners won almost.

Seattle, wa from the 10:40 ferry

our view at safecothe fam at the game
Sulleys drive in forks, Washington

Cleaning the Closet

2008-06-10T14:44:00.001-07:00

SO after a long while of robyn telling me to clean out my side of the closet and it being so crammed full we went thru it today and i tried on all of my shirts to see if they fit/shrank/too dingy to wear/never worn. All in all i ended up cutting about 45 shirts from the herd leaving me with only 68 shirts in the closet (and one i just bought) plus sweaters. oh there is also a bin of shirts downstairs that i couldn't part with.

Closet after the cleansing
pile of clothes that didn't make the cut

cole

2008-06-08T15:27:00.001-07:00

We were outside and cole and irish had a disagreement about something (like riding a bike or car) well cole lost and started crying. So i took a picture of it.

shop around the clock

2008-06-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

This is a convient store just down the road from our house. it closed one day and never opened. Play lotto here and other cigarettes i thought made an interesting sentence. the door has a sign on it that states something came up and the store had to close early.

New Website

2008-05-23T11:43:00.001-07:00

www.websterimagery.net

Check it out

drive in

2008-05-22T15:04:00.001-07:00

A little bit ago i traveled to the shelton area and completely forget to post these pictures of the skyline drive in.

Sunshine and the trampoline

2008-05-20T15:32:00.000-07:00

After spendin much of last week on the couch or in bed or with my head in a trashcan i got better and that was good timing because we had some great weather here inport angeles for a few days. On saturday i decided that i had been inside for too long and needed some outside time so i grabbed my camera and headed off to photograph and see if i could find some yard sales. i did and i did. first i hit this huge park with basebal fields and trails and such (see photos below) i like the one that is a pole with a warning that "beyond this point " it was dangerous to be due to the strength of the trasmitter right next to a little league dugout. Then i found me some yard sales and one of them had a sign "free trampoline u-haul" long sotry short we did. Apparently it was used one summer than givin to some friends who never set it up and four years later just wanted it out of their garage. So we have a new 14 foot trampoline. How mormon are we!

Sick Kids

2008-05-13T10:18:00.001-07:00

yesterday cole slept in until 10 30 am and when we checked on him his room stank apparently he had trown up in the night and didn't wake up enough to tell us. So we bathed him and gave him breakfast and 20 minutes later the trew up again. so we just gave him water and some saltine crackers. Irish and rob went to the park and i had cole take a nap on me. Guess what he fell asleep then about 30 minutes later woke up looked at me and puked all over the couch. Last night he woke up again about 12 because he had throw up so we had him in our bed trying to get him to sleep (next to a trash can) again his stomach didn't like him. Rob spent all night up with him in the living room onour rocker chair because sitting up seemed to work better.

Irish woke up this morning walked into our room looked at me and said she wasn't feeling good them proceded to mimic her borther in the amount of Liquids coming out of her mouth. luckily she knows the drill and ran for the bathroom. Now they are both on couch with their own respective trash cans.

more pictures

2008-05-07T10:20:00.001-07:00

Ok the first two are from Wapato and the third picture is the sign for skateland fun center in Union Gap. I took over 100 pictures last weekend and am still working thru them. For the first time in six months i was accually warm on sunday. notice the blue sky and the sunshine.

Yakima Weekend

2008-05-06T14:46:00.001-07:00

This last weekend i traveled to yakia for my dads birthday. On sunday morning i woke up and decided that the day was too nice to not go out and photograph. I had marked some spots in my head that i had always wanted to go to in the morning light so out i traveled. First i went down fruitvale Blvd. and stoped to photograph some old motels and the stop and go drive in. Then i ended up in the wharehouse district on 1st ave and took some shots of the apple bins and cold storage buildings. eventually i made my way south towards the union gap area with a little detour to the Super D Bingo.(it used to be a Super D Grocery store) after all that i still had time and i forgot to turn so i went to the cities of Wapato and Parker. All and All i made some great additions to my yakima project.

Apple bins- Yakima, WA 2008

Super D Bingo-Yakima, WA 2008

Stop and Go -Yakima, WA 2008

First Babtist church, Union Gap, WA 2008

Post Cards

2008-04-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

yesterday i had a meeting in sequim so i decided to visit my favorite junk store. They had postcards for .15 most of them were not used. So i picked up a couple that i thought were funny. then i found some on the internet of the town that i grew up in. Ebay was selling them for up to $12 for a vintage postcard. Thats absurd. Well here are some yakima postcard scans.

Yakima Motel (now an olive garden)

Chinook Hotel

Red Apple Motel

Down town shot

Motel 97

Discovery Bay to Clallam Bay to Neah Bay and back

2008-04-22T14:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday i had the oppertunity to travel to Neah Bay for a meeting. it is about as far as you can get west and north in the state of washington and about 2 hours from port angeles. I traveled thru several small communities on my trip and was glad i got to photograph them (it made the trip less tedious) if you notice in the first picture there is snow on the ground. this is very uncommon for the area and unheard of in the month of april. I did end up driving thru an ice storm white out and almost had to stop because i couldn't see the road or the car in from of me.Luckily this lasted for only about 3 miles before it disappeared. If i wanted snow in april i would have stayed in Idaho.

Beaver Washington
Rosie the fish Seiku Washington

local grafitti Highway 112 washington

RV Park Clallam Bay washington

Discovery Bay Washington

my firend kate

2008-04-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Kate who is one of my old college friends (how wierd to say that) found some photos of me at ricks college. they are quite interesting. check them out here http://dizzychicken.blogspot.com/

Olympic Skate

2008-04-13T18:18:00.000-07:00

SO this morning I woke up and did not feal to great. I was waiting for this to happen because it happens every time i stress myself out. and last week i was stressed out, but robyn still made me go to church and then i was able to take a short nap. After i was woken up by some little people banging on my door i decided to relax by photographic therapy. I remembered that the little local skate rink was open on the weekends, only on the weekends and i had wanted to stop in and photograpgh it. After chatting with the owner and explaining what i was doing and why she was more than glad to let me take pictures. She said that at least somebody cares. Here are some of my reasults. they turned out good enough that i am thinking of working more on my roadside america stuff.

Vintage American pop culture

2008-04-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

To anyone who has seen my photographs know there are certian themes in them. one of them is the Boy Scouts. For more reasons than one the program has made me what i am today. More focused towards boy scout camps where i spent much of my youth and early adulthood. Another theme to me is tied into Americas Past. Abandoned Buildings, drive in movie theaters, small high way towns, ma and pa stores ect. Alot of these things i photograph are endnagered of leaving and never coming back. How many people would rather go to starbucks then to the shop ran by a local who is working to make the best product she can and suppor t her two kids. Local burgers are always better than McDonalds (but then again so is most food) and i try to photograph the less know or local secrets if they are open or show how something once grand is now forgotten.

Old Advertising and signage intrigues me. At one time it was state of the art and a new "wow" idea then someone else came along and made a new idea of the same thing. Do this for about 20 to 50 years and then look at the original ad. I just recently saw a poster for the Full Meal Deal at Dairy Queen. I remember that it was before america couldn't read and the only way to order was point at the pretty picture and say #13. It was the original combo meal and it came with dessert. I know i am ranting but if you read my blog that doesn't happen much.

I have always liked the past i never knew and i know what has remained is not what happened but i ask myself how cool is that or why would you make that. Around my house are several of those artifacts. I think i blame my parents for this, My dad ownes his own 7up pop machine from the 50's and a phone booth from the old yakima hotel. My parents house is filled with treasure from the 30's-50's and i find i like the 50's thru the 80's.
Here are some of my treasures in my house.

Little Sprout salt and pepper shakers

RCA Victor reel to reel w/recording option

My new bedside clock the numbers rotate

I own about 8 metal lunchboxes this is my newest one

if you look closely you will find that the hotdog is in a wrapper

no picture today

2008-04-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

I just got done with a big project at work and it didn't turn out as planned. haven't had time to even think photo's for a while. maybe sometime this week if the weather turns right.

clouds

2008-04-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

we had such anice day yesterday it wasarm an when i got off work i put shorts on. then the clouds came in. i shot this right as they were coming over the mountians.

Old film developed

2008-03-29T20:32:00.001-07:00

In the last post i said that i had found some old film and was going to develop it. i did and there was nothing on the film. or nothing i could make out as a photo at least. but i did remember that had found some old rolls of film from college that looked exposed but not developed. I decided to make sure that it was the old film and not me that screwed up so i developed my negitives by hand for the first time since 2004. and luckily i am still pretty good at loading and developing.

these shots are from Camp Fife circa 2002. alot of changes have happened to the camp since then but enjoy.

flag/mt bauldy
pioneering logs

friday cookout

the prairie and dining hall

bell tower

snow in late march

2008-03-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon it snowed here in port angeles elevation of sea level to 400 feet. This is a very rare event in late march. Our fair city only sees snow about 2 times a year in December and Early January.
So i grabbed my camera to show proof. i pointed the lens up to the sky and shot this shot.
It turned out looking like dirt or fall out from the sky so i put it against a background.

They were very big flakes as you can see. On my way back inside i looked over at my new salt and pepper skakers and the light on them was photo worthy so i snapped a shot off.

On a side note i have aquirred supplies for a darkroom. including projector timer chemicals, trays, lights, bulk film loaders,lighttight black bag and paper. There was also some old camera in the box and one of them had verichrome film that was still in the camera. The film had an expiration date of 1955. I Downloaded the development instructions from Kodak and will see if this film has anything on it. The next post may show the results of that expiriment.

Yakima for the weekend

2008-03-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

We went down to Yakima for a quick visit and spend easter with the family. It was alot of fun and my sister came up from california as well. I did not get a chance to run off and photograph like i usually do but i did make some stops on the way home from easter dinner at my aunts house. these are the ones that turned out.

Barn Yakima 2008
last years tomatoe plant yakima 2008

air at tiger gas company Yakima 2008

Tiger gas stand yakima 2008

Camp Thunderbird

2008-03-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

This last weekend i had the privilage of attending National Day Camp School for accreditation of camp administration. After camp was completed I grabbed my camera to go out and work on my scout camp project. here are the results.

Pictures of the kids

2008-03-12T17:05:00.001-07:00

If you have seen my blog you will have noticed that i do not put up many pictures of my kids. personally i don't think i am very good at people shots. but i thought these were funny. Irish needed some goggles for her swimming lessons and they had a two pack at the store so each kid got one. they have been wearing them ever since but not at swimming ironically enough.

Cole age 2
irish age 5

lets try this again

2008-03-12T17:02:00.001-07:00

lake cresent

2008-03-05T08:18:00.001-08:00

So the family went for a drive to a very large lake the other day. it is about 15 road miles to drive to the other side of it. there are very few places to stop. on the trees of those few places are madrone trees filled with tree graffiti.

graffiti tree lake cresent wa 2008
heart graffiti tree lake cresent wa 2008

water lake cresent wa 2008

comments are more than welcome

2008-02-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

if and whoever reads this please feel free to comment/Critique on my photographs. Its how one learns.

Plus i am thinking of starting my own Greeting card company and would like to know what phots of mine people would like to see on a card.
just don't suggest babies or kittens for my cards.

lincoln Park

2008-02-26T09:32:00.000-08:00

On thewest side of Town is the Clallam County Fair Grounds. Really it is a giant park with a stadium and ball fields. There also is several picinic cabins and a cabin owned by the Rotary and used by the local scout troop.I came to find the cabin for work and took advantage of the park. I am really working on up close shots and i think i am getting better.

Hand Rail- Port Angeles, wa 2008
Slide-Port Angeles, WA 2008

Picinic Cabin-Port Angeles, WA 2008

more scout camp

2008-02-19T10:47:00.001-08:00

winter cabin trip

2008-02-18T11:05:00.000-08:00

We took the family camping or cabining this last weekend. Thru work we can stay at our councils scout camps during the off season and we stayed at the medical lodge. My parents and one of my sisters (and her family) came with us and we had a very enjoyable weekend. i was also happy i got to work on my "scout camps out of season" photo project while I was there. here are some shots I took. i'll put up some of the more campy shots soon.

found rolls of film

2008-02-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

during the move last summer i misplaced some film i had exposed. I found it and developed it and here are the results of pictures i didn't remember i took.

New Camera Test

2008-02-09T10:42:00.000-08:00

Ok so i got a new camera on tuesday and this thing called a job and weather has yet to let me play with my camera. this morning we had a few rays of light and not rain blowing in at 50 miles an hour so i got some shots off. no reason or ryme to the shots just lighting tests.

Ugly house for Sale

2008-02-03T10:59:00.001-08:00

Down the Block from our place there is a very ugly house with a flat roof and a southwestern theme. it stands out amid the craftsman style and bungelow houses in the area. The house is for sale and they had an open house. so i grabbed the camera and talked to the realator about taking some pictures of the place she agreed and here we go. It is interesting to see how people lived and decorated it feels a little like invading of privacy to me.

Bedroom Socket, Port Angeles 2008
Kitchen/dining room, Port Angeles 2008

wallpaper, Port Angeles 2008

Closet Port Angeles 2008

Spice Cuboard Port Angeles 2008

SNOW

2008-01-30T19:04:00.000-08:00

On monday or tuesday it snowed here in port angeles. it never snows here. sure we only got three or four inches but school was cancelled, business's were closed, and anchary almost took over the city. not really but you get the point.

Bowling with family

2008-01-28T17:12:00.001-08:00

We took the kids to the bowling alley across the street from the back of our house. They had a promo for pizza and bowling for the fam for $20. it was a fun day out, and the kids really enjoyed them selves.

Webster Park

2008-01-26T10:34:00.001-08:00

In Port Angeles there is a Park called Webster Park. it is right in the middle of town with a thick grove of trees and some benches. The local camp fire council is located at the edge and in the park. I havn't really done too much with parks but it was fun to think differently.

just out for a drive

2008-01-17T11:59:00.000-08:00

I went out for a drive to the west end of port angeles. I was on a road that i had been on before then thought to myself lets go straight until i can't go straight no more. then i happened apon a church that looked like an old school then possibly abandoned (or just really dirty) i then realized that i am out in the middle of no-where taking pictures and walking around on land that isn't mine. "i hope i don't get shot" ran thru my head. isn't photography fun.

parsons black and white

2008-01-11T22:45:00.001-08:00

camp parsons

2008-01-10T13:37:00.001-08:00

We had a staff retreat at camp Parson this week it is right on the hood canal. it is a very beautiful camp and i am planning on heading back to photograph sometime soon.

Forks Washington

2008-01-05T11:54:00.001-08:00

Part of the area that i oversee is on the northern washington coast. Recently I went to the Town of Forks Washington. They get some of the most rainfall in the country. (over 100 inches) It was raining as i went to Forks and Raining as i left forks but for about 20 minutes of my trip it wasn't raining so i was able to grab some photos of the town.

Mold-Olympic Theatre, Forks Wa 2007
Forks, Wa 2007

Forks, Wa 2007

i can't find a good photo lab

2008-01-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

So moving into the area, i have been searching for a good/decent photo lab that i can use when i am working on my projects. So far i have found no black and white labs and only two color labs. So i tried the color lab yesterday and revieved the sale of all there photos are matched for density and color corrected, not just ran thru the machine. So i turned in a roll i had shot on my yakima project. as i was picking up my pictures i was being rung up and the total was $14 that is alot for a roll of color. as i get in my car i look at the photos and they are flat and grey and ugly and not quality. was my camera not working right...no i just changed the batteries and it has never done this before. So i take the negitives and scan them in my computer open up photoshop and ajust the levels on them. (no it is not manipulation) They now look 100 times better the color is right . let me show you the difference.

Fixed

Striaght from the lab

yakima trip

2007-12-31T18:35:00.001-08:00

So we went to Yakima for Christmas and as I try to do every time I go out to photograph. so i left Robyn and the kids at my parents house and drove around the city i grew up in. The lighting wasn't the best but a project is a project and if I waited around for perfect conditions I would get out of practice real fast. The First shot if an old parking lot near the old Yakima mall. The second shot is off of front street across from the jail.(this area is being renivated) The third is in Union Gap on the main drag. And finally is a sign by 36th and Summitview between the abandoned/closed DairyQueen and a Pappa Johns.

Yakima ,Wa 2007
North Yakima, Wa 2007

Union Gap, Wa 2007

Yakima, Wa 2007

car explosion

2007-12-18T15:20:00.000-08:00

So the other night we woke up to a load bang along with all of the windows and doors rattle in the house. we then heard sirens and that got us up. at the end of our block there was a fire, we found out that it was a car that exploded. it even melted the mailbox it was parked by.