MY YEAR IN PHOTOS 2012 :)

Hi All :)

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying life :)

For the past couple of years now I have been keeping score of how many photos I take, each year, with my Nikon camera and also sharing with you some of the photos that I really hadn't got around to sharing as the year flashed by so quickly :)

For the record I only took close to 10,000 photos in 2012 compared to the previous years, I feel a bit of a slacker, LOL!!!! :)

You can see the previous posts and photos here; 2011 and 2010 :)

Note to Self; you do tend to write a lot about being sick at the beginning of every year, stop partying so  much over the Holidays, LOL :)

So, here is my 2012 in Photos :)
(it was really hard to keep it to just 2 photos for each month but you didn't want to be here for a whole month looking at them, LOL!!! :)

                               I Hope you enjoy them :)

                                       JANUARY

                                             click on photos to see larger images :)

This Rose was from a lovely bouquet and as it started to fall apart, I realised it was pretty symbolic of how each of my New Years' do begin.

A winter walk at the local park. A glimpse of a blue sky, clouds and trees reflecting in the Tualatin River :)

FEBRUARY

A lovely Hellebore at the Rose Garden, P.Town, Oregon :)

This would not be Portland, Oregon without a "BIKE" sign or shop :)

MARCH

Sunset shimmering on the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, California :)

Came home to "SNOW" and one of the worst rainy March's on record :(

APRIL

I love to decorate for Easter; Alabaster Eggs with a soft blue Fenton Glass Basket, I love the reflection in the window :)

Blossoms in my Garden, could not resist doing this in Black and White :)

MAY

I think by now you all know I have a "thing" for Poppies, here are a couple from my Garden :)

The "Rose" arbour in our back Garden has been taken over by the beautiful Wisteria (well, I let it on purpose, much to the horror of my Hubby)

JUNE

A day trip to the coast with my Son :)

On the way I saw this decaying tree stump and love the textural qualities that were happening, then when I looked thru the lens and saw the vibrant greenery in the background it was the perfect combo of "Old and New" :)

JULY

Beach Grass shot thru the window of the Ocean front rental house we stayed in :)

Haystack Rock, Pacific City, Oregon as the sun sets, gorgeous :)

AUGUST

An "old" Fire Hydrant in N.W. Portland, Oregon, looks like it is growing out of the tree root, this was a fun shot :)

On one of the Hottest days of the year, I went to take photos at the Rose Test Garden in Portland Oregon; I wanted to see how the Roses were fairing in the heat.

SEPTEMBER

Scarecrows at the local "Allotments" or community gardens, so fun :)

The Beautiful "Multnomah Falls" Columbia Gorge, Oregon, 

OCTOBER

Couldn't resist taking this shot, what a colourful face and expression :)

One of the fun bars to hang out in "en" Portland :)

NOVEMBER 

Red Chairs and Tables stacked for the Night, P.Town, Oregon :)

A frozen "Dead" leaf at a local park, Lake Oswego, Oregon. I LOVE everything about this image, the lighting, the textural quality of the leaf, the shapes and the movement, even as its season ends it is beautiful :)

DECEMBER 

Beautiful Fire in great room, Skamania Lodge, Columbia Gorge, Washington.

Xmas Lights and Red Bows on the tree lined streets of Hood River, Columbia Gorge, Oregon :)

So this past year, I have been working again with multi layering photography, as well as challenging myself to continue my quest to produce beautiful imagery with SOOC (Straight out of camera) photos.

There are a few candidates in this post that I think I will add layers to, so when that happens, I will do another post with before and after images and you can tell me which you prefer. :)

So, I hope you enjoyed my 2012 Year in Photos :)

Have a lovely Wednesday :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

My Year in Photos :)

Good Morning Everyone! :)

I hope you are all well :)

In 2011, I took over 12,000 photos with my Nikon D90 camera! I uploaded them and then didn't have time to go thru and look at all of them. Over the past few weeks I have been looking at them and found so many that I wanted to share with you. Last year I shared 2 previously unpublished photos for each month of the year on my blog and I thought it would be fun to do that again this year! :)  It was really hard to keep it to just 2 photos for every month of the year, but here is my 2011 year in photos.

I hope you enjoy them :)

JANUARY

Click on photos to see larger images :)

Sunset over Willamette Falls New Year's Day 2011 (SOOC)

Sunset ove the Willamette River New Year's Day 2011 (I love how the light just catches parts of the railway tracks) (SOOC)

FEBRUARY

Coastal Range approx. 100 miles away (shot taken thru the window in my Dining Rm.) (SOOC)

The glow of a Wintry Southern Evening Sky shot thru my office window (SOOC)

MARCH

Magnolia's at the Crystal Springs "Rhoddie Gardens" Portland Oregon. (SOOC)

Goose on a Mission (SOOC)

APRIL

Magnolia in my Garden :)

Easter Bonnets in the window of John Helmer Haberdasher, Portland Oregon.

MAY

Red Tulips in my Garden

Beautiful Rose, taken as I was driving around a neighbourhood

JUNE

Lovely Peach Iris in my garden :)

One of my "Babies" I really am crazy in love with my Poppies :) (SOOC)

JULY

Stars and Stripes on the 4th of July to honour at a local Cemetery.

It isn't everyday you see Vultures on the roof of a suburban neighbours house, well, not the feathered variety anyway (He! He!) (SOOC)

AUGUST

Flowers in pots in my front garden :)

Surfers on the Oregon Coast, the one and only day I went to the Oregon coast last year, but it was a great time, I went with my son before he went back to college and we sat and watched these guys for nearly 2 hours :) (SOOC)

SEPTEMBER

Rows of Grape Vines in Napa Valley, in the California Sunshine :) (SOOC)

Grapes on the Vines in Napa Valley, great reminder of our lovely vacation :) (SOOC)

OCTOBER

Then the leaves start to change colours, so prettily :)

Fall Leaves, Lake Oswego, Oregon :)

NOVEMBER

Fall Leaves, Portland Oregon

Fall Leaves West Linn, Oregon

DECEMBER

This sign was originally "the White Stag" sign, then the "Made in Oregon" sign and now it is proudly displaying the University of Oregon colours as they have a campus in that building. It is a huge part of the Portland historical landscape and every year over the Holiday Season the Stag's nose is lit in RED :) (SOOC)

Light display in a restaurant we went to over the holidays to celebrate with our whole family together :)

I tried to do more SOOC (straight out of camera) shots this year and it is an interesting challenge when you are taking the photo to know that you are not going to be colour enhancing or adding bits or taking away anything. It is a fun aspect to photography for me. After spending 2010 learning how to alter photos, it felt more like using a film camera, what you take is what you get kind of thing.

I really am enjoying my photographic journey and I truly appreciate you coming along for the ride, cheers, T. :)

 Don't forget to enter my Blog Giveaway to win this lovely

11 x 14 Photo of The Golden Gate Bridge :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Day! :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Thankful Thursday :)

Good Afternoon all :)



I LOVE the idea that we, at least for one day a week, stop and think consciously about what we are Thankful for :)

click on photos to see larger images

Roses at the International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Oregon

I am truly Thankful that we have this beautiful world renowned facility here in P.Town. Even when we were there on Sunday in the pouring rain, the Roses were lovely; brightening our afternoon as the low light and raindrops steadily fell. What is more amazing is that it is free and so is the parking!!! Anytime of the year it is gorgeous and you will always hear many a foreign accent there (apart from mine :)

There are also beautiful views of Downtown and Mountains in the Cascade range, mainly our beloved Mt. Hood.

Twilight over Mt. Hood :)

What are you Grateful for Today???

Hope you all have a wonderful Evening! :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.