synthetic & natural
sounds, textures, colors, patterns…
suburban grounding…
Last Saturday was a perfect winter day with lots of sunshine. About ten to fifteen minutes on foot from my house is a nature park. I hiked along the West Ridge Trail which meanders through a wide-open meadow dotted with gnarly white oaks and a canyon completely covered with deep green ferns. Keep going straight down and into the canyon, or turn right and head up towards the summit. I chose the summit that day. It was quiet and peaceful, except for the steady hum of the nearby freeway. Hiking out of the park on the far side gave me a picture perfect view of Mount Hood, which is about 60 miles east of here. It looked so close that it felt like one could almost touch it!
Are you going to venture outside this weekend?
in cahoots with muddy boots 
Great photos, I especially like the ferns. Raining and miserable here in Virginia. Kim
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Thanks Kim! It’s pouring rain here today as well!
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You have some fun and interesting shots here. Even the bugs eating the tree inside. I get to see Mt. Hood everytime I turn into my park but never get a photo of it. I’ve been outside all weekend. In and out. We got pretty soaked yesterday but the fog and rain were pretty today.
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Thanks Marlene! I love the view of Mount Hood whenever I’ve come by your place. It magically appears right before my very eyes every time it’s not overcast. It’s been raining steadily over here all weekend too. I hope you guys accomplished what you needed to do! Hugs and stay warm and dry! 😘
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Perfect perspectives and angles in your photos Sabine! We woke to about 2-3 inches of wet, gloppy snow this morning. I’d hoped to sneak in a walk in between obligations which includes dog sitting for our kids and having 2 granddaughters spend the night, but…😉 Have a fabulous week!
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Wow snow! We’ve barely had a couple of real freezes! Enjoy your obligations. Kids and dogs are a fun combination! Enjoy! 😊
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Yes they are!
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Lovely lovely captures Sabine.
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Thank you Arlene!
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What beautiful pictures Sabine – I like that fisheye lens you are using and that looks like a very peaceful and scenic walk. Mount Hood in the distance was just breathtaking. It was sunny, so a good shadow day for you as well!
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Yes Linda, it was just what I needed! And sunshine during the grey season is always appreciated.
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It sure is Sabine – it was beautiful and sunny yesterday and I almost felt it was wasted since it was so bitter cold … we had wind chills in the -15 range for many hours of the day. I would have gone on a walk and just bundled up and taken a shorter route, but they said any cement would be treacherous as no salt would be effective, so sidewalks, streets might be icy … I trudged out to run the car and that was it and likely the same all week for me. Your beautiful walk made me very envious!
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Linda, it’s been raining here! The air is damp and cold, but nothing like where you are. Stay warm! ☃️
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whats the focal length of that wide lens (9mm)or is it a lens baby?
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Hey, that lens is actually an app I use on my iPhone. It’s called Fisheye Pro and has a number of cool settings. I paid $2.99 for it. I’ve looked into getting a lens baby, but heard that they don’t really have the same effect when used without a full-frame camera. Maybe I need to do some more research on that. Do you have a lens baby?
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No,a friend had one. It distorts the image. A fish eye lens can have vignetting. Thats what your pictures look like but there is no barrel distortion in the image so I was curious what was going on.
Keep experimenting.
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I’d love to try out a real lens baby. Maybe some day! In the meantime I’ll have fun with this app! Thanks for reading and commenting! 😊
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Beautiful photos for me to drool over and meditate on, Sabine. Thank you for
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Pressed send too soon. (Fat thumbs)… *meant Thanks for sharing a part if your world. Are you close to where Marlene lives? She leaves the most inspiring comments on my blog!
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Yes, I’m about ten miles away from Marlene and get together with her regularly. We do live in a beautiful part of the US, and I think the Pacific Northwest is my favorite place. It’s also fairly progressive!
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Wonderful. That is awesome that you guys can get together.
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