Trash Dragon

The kids at a local art center provided the found-objects dragon sculpture; nature provided the dramatic sky that made for a perfect nightmarish image. At least, it's not a creature I'd like to meet unexpectedly...

Budd Bay

Thick, moody fog is relatively rare in south Puget Sound. So this eerie morning was a perfect time to capture some of the pilings left from bygone shipping enterprises -- and the birds and plants that now find refuge atop their rotting remains.

Hornblower

One of the formidable guards at the cemetery of Saint Martin's University, Lacey, Washington, USA

Golden Sunset

Sound, Washington State

Olympia Mud Race

One of the stranger photo-ops of the year, the annual Olympia Mud Race pits all clothing-optional comers in a dramatic, sloppy low-tide slog across Mud Bay's mudflats. The race is traditionally held just before The Evergreen State College's graduation. And the winner gets, well, the same thing as everyone else...muddy! See a slideshow here.

Oud Woman

From the 20 May 2009 concert by Eliyahu Sills & Qadim Ensemble at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, USA.

First fruits of spring

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), one of the first fruits of spring. Captured in the wild at dawn.

What Flowers Do at Night

Abandonment Issues

Abandoned -- or at least very neglected -- building in Tacoma, Washington.

Call to Prayer

Sidi Goma are black Indians from Gujarat. Their roots are in Africa, their spirituality is in Islam, and they were in Tacoma last week for a performance at the Giant Magnet festival. They opened with a traditional call to prayer, and ended with some feisty dancing that seemed far more African than Indian. They can seriously dance their spirituality!

Damp Days

So far, spring has been cold and wet. So cold and wet as to discourage photography outdoors. But it doesn't stop me from bringing the outdoors indoors, for some fun with my little macro studio. And those rain droplets on the tiny leaves of this flower stem remind that there's pure beauty in all that precipitation!

There Was a Crooked Barn...

Sometimes the subject does the work for the photographer. I was fascinated by this old barn, which seems to be collapsing in slow (very slow) motion.

Oympia's Procession of the Species (slideshow)

Red Huckleberry

a small sign of spring...

Spring Snow, Customer Service

Once in a while -- even in these tough economic times -- I am pleasantly surprised by some act of great customer service from a company. This was the case recently with Pentax. I had a Pentax Optio WP camera that had started including unwanted vertical lines in every photo. Very fine lines, but still annoyingly obvious. So I wrote to Pentax explaining the problem and also mentioning that I did not have the receipt for the camera and thus no proof of warranty.

Randall Schumacher at Pentax replied and suggested I send the camera in "for examination." He said they would assess the problem and that they would fix it if the camera was still under warranty or give me a free repair estimate if it was not. So I boxed it up and sent it off.

About a month later, the camera came back. Fixed. And it is taking photos like the recent one above (of Indian Plum blossoms under a March 15 snowfall). It probably was a small fix for the Pentax techs, but it returned to my use a perfectly good camera (and my only waterproof one!). My hat is off to Mr. Schumacher and his pals at Pentax for performing customer service beyond their legal requirement. That's the way to inspire customer loyalty!