Gorgeous Subject

Christmas morning I had to stop making breakfast and step out on our front porch to capture this.

 My approach to photography has not yet moved far past the point-and-shoot stage (despite years of interest and avidly taking photographs). I LOVE taking photographs but have never taken the time to learn the tools to improve their quality. Fortunately, camera technology has improved as I have wanted to take better photos - and I lean heavily on auto-functions. Also fortunately, I live in the Pacific Northwest, which is like rooming with a runway model. You just turn around and there is something stunning.

I keep my eyes open and sometimes have to pull the car over and take five minutes to take photographs before continuing on errands. I take my cell phone on walks, just in case. The past few weeks have been abnormally gorgeous and I just had to share.

Exhibit 1: Christmas Eve
Toe and I were delivering gifts in south county when we noticed how high the water was in the river. We happened to be experiencing some "king tides." We parked near the river and took a few photos, and then decided to go to the local playground (also on the river) so Toe could play and I could take more photographs.

Station 1 - Toe's comment, "Mom! Look! That's grass under the water!" We talked about high tide and how it floods past its normal channels during extra high tides.

Station 2 - The grass in the foreground is not usually under water.

In the background, the dock is higher than the ramp...

I love the pop of blue in the middle.

 On our way home, we had to stop on the bay to catch the sunset.

Christmas Eve

Exhibit 2: Christmas Morning
The light was so amazing, I couldn't begin to capture it. It changed in seconds from moody to absolutely inspiring. If you turned 180 degrees, the light had turned everything a warm golden color.

Exhibit 3: Christmas Day
Once the fog burned off, Christmas day was bright and spectacular. We hiked through the woods to catch a view of the bay from above.

Exhibit 4: Boxing Day
The next day as we drove to my mom's, we got caught in a crazy rainstorm on the bridge. It was raining so hard, you could barely see the road. On our right, there were blue skies. On our left, the clouds were so black, it looked like a winter storm.

Ten miles down the road, the sky was clear, as if there had never been a chance of rain.

Exhibit 5: The woods
The advantage of gray days is that you can capture some great forest scenery. This is one of our favorite short hikes.

Exhibit 6: New Year's Eve
We chased this sunset across the mighty Columbia and were rewarded with amazing hues. What a way to close 2018!

Facing west (on Young's Bay)

Facing South (on the Columbia)

I plan to take more landscape photos this year and am looking at the best way to share them...  How could I not, with this subject?