Perfect Kitsap Fall Photo

I love this picture but mostly because is was a beautiful day, one more in a long summer of beautiful days that have stretched into Fall. We need rain, I'm ready for rain, and it is predicted to arrive tomorrow.

The Olympic Mountains are almost completely without snow and Hood Canal was like glass.

The Northwest doesn't get the spectacular Fall colors that some areas do, but that one touch of orange stands out perfectly. Looking closely you can see people on the beach enjoying the day as much as I was.

This was taken from Kitsap Memorial State Park, west of Poulsbo and south of Port Gamble on the Kitsap Peninsula. They offer camping, day use and have several larger buildings and shelters where they host many weddings and events. They have recently added small camper cabins that sleep 5 and have a microwave, refrigerator, baseboard heat, outdoor firepit and picnic table. There is water at each of the 4 cabins and the bathrooms are close. They are tiny log cabins and very reasonably priced for anyone wanting to spend time in the area.

Perspective from the water

We went on our neighbors boat for dinner last night to Wiskey Creek Steakhouse in Keyport, WA.

It's about a 45 minute slow cruise to the Keyport dock and the Whiskey Creek Steakhouse is one block from the dock, which offers free moorage for dinner guests.

It was late afternoon on the way over, and almost dark as we started home. The water was calm and the weather a perfect 70 degrees or so. I snapped pictures the whole time; the lighting was amazing and people were out on the water enjoying kayaking, fishing, cruising and sighseeing. We passed several classic yachts as they were leaving their annual 3-day event in Poulsbo.

The night pictue is the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Keyport, Washington. The lights and reflections were beautiful and we had glassy water all the way back to the boat launch in Miller Bay.

There are several pictures of the trip on KitsapImages.com in the Poulsbo, Indianola, Bainbridge Island, Suquamish and Keyport galleries.

It's a whole new perspective being on the water and viewing the world from a slightly different angle.

Windows of the Walker-Ames House

I took a series of pictures of the windows of the Walker-Ames house in Port Gamble, WA.

The house was was the Superintendent's home in this company owned town that was once the longest operating lumber mill in the country before it shut down in 1995. It is still a company owned town and at this time the Walker-Ames house is empty and used for a variety of events, although it is available for lease and I am sure it will find new occupants soon. Go to the Port Gamble website for more on the town and the history.

I took all the pictures from inside the house on a slightly overcast day so there is no bright glare but the light came through the windows evenly. There are a variety of windows, from the beautiful stained glass windows here, to the attic windows covered with spider webs allowing light to flow onto the dust covered floor.

View the Port Gamble gallery on KitsapImages.com for all the windows.

Kitsap Images launches new website

Kitsap Images has launched a new enhanced, flash website.

Kitsap Images can be found at KitsapImages.com and is a webpage specializing in stock & assignment photography of the Puget Sound region of Washington state as well as generic stock photos.

The new site offers easy search features, galleries by community and subject, a light box to collect and sort images, and online sales of cards, prints and digital images for web and print use.

The site is easy and fun to navigate with features like rollover enlargement of photos which can then be clicked for a still larger photos and more details and keywords that lead to other similar photos across the entire site of over 1,000 photos and growing.

The site recently added a blog with discussion on specific photos, good locations to take photos and other local photo topics. It offers a RSS feed to keep those interested up to date on the discussions.

While most photos are sorted by community it is easy to use the search feature and find appropriate images across all galleries. A search for "kayak" will bring up photos of kayaks in a variety of communities including many that are generic and can be used as generic stock photos making the site of value beyond the local Puget Sound region.

Kitsap Images is a project of Jean and Jim Boyle that combines their combined talents and backgrounds in a creative endeavor.

McDonald's in Sepia

I thought I would play around with a family picture (my sister's family) from last summer. I printed it several times and played with the color but with healthy faces that had been in the sun and three of the people wearing red I just couldn't get it to look natural and tone down the red.

So, I tried it in sepia tone and I like the results. For an informal family portrait it has a nice feel.

Rent an electric boat to view & photograph wildlife

This is a nice pictue of Poulsbo, Washington from the water but I'm posting it because of the boat in the front. It's one of the new electric boats you can rent on the Poulsbo waterfront. This is an amazing way for those who don't have a boat, don't want to rent a kayak (or don't want to take their camera equipment out in a kayak) to get out on the water and get up close to wildlife. The boats are amost silent, making them great to see the harbor seals without bothering them.

In Poulsbo you can rent these boats from Northwest Electric Boat Rentals right on the waterfront in the historic downtown district. You can drive the boats yourself (see their website for all the amenities and prices), or arrange in advance for a captain. (Captain Andrew in the picture)

Within minutes you can get up close to nature; harbor seals, blue herons, eagles and a variety of other animals. You'll also get those great "from the water" photos and views of Mount Rainier plus a wide variety of boat traffic.

Poulsbo makes a great photo outing any time of the year.

Kitsap Images Greeting Cards

OK, I'm making cards. I said I would never do it - too crafty for me; just not my thing BUT . . . I'm having a great time!

With a new printer (Canon PIXMA MP950), and photos I wanted to share, I decided to give it a try. It's adictive; I did a few cards and then wanted to try different photos on different paper stock and then perhaps a series of animals, flowers, or . . .

I've made quite a few now and have given away some and I'm selling them on KitsapImages.com and at the Kitsap Peninsula Visitor & Convention Bureau in Port Gamble, Washington - stop by if you're in the area and check out the selection!

That middle card is Jim, and I'm not making those for sale, but it was fun making a card with his happy retired face. The other pictures; eagles in our fir tree, the Point No Point lighthouse in Hansville (see blog entry below), a harbor seal in Poulsbo, Washington, and a Washington State ferry crossing between Bainbridge Island and Seattle.

Point No Point Lighthouse

This is a favorite photo. Point No Point lighthouse is at the far north end of the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State.

This was taken on a Fall day, late in the afternoon. The lighting was amazing and everything was glowing. The partial cloud cover added drama to this spectacular location.

We walk at Point No Point County Park on a regular basis and there are many photos of the area in the Hansville gallery on KitsapImages.com.

Abby the "stick" dog

This beautiful girl is "Surefire Abaigh of Sunrise" : Abby.

I love this picture because she looks so calm and noble when she is actually a total "nut case" when it comes to "sticks".

Any size stick will do, she loves to carry them, chase them, chew them. I patiently waited for her to settle down when she was two. Then I waited until three, and now her fourth birthday is approaching in January. Perhaps some dogs just don't settle down.

Sticks are her fist passion, but "greetings" are the other. Abby must greet people when she meets them - every time. She greets new people, old friends and us. I can get out of the car to get gas, and when I get back in a greeting is required for Abby to settle down.

See KitsapImages.com for more pictures of Abby and her big "sister" LC.

Little Red Fox

Early in the summer this little red fox started visiting our yard on a regular basis. She was definitely wild, but didn't seem to mind our barking dog as long as she was on the other side of a 4 foot wire fence.

As the summer went by we heard that neighbors had a fox with 4 kits living in their culvert. We all figured out that "their fox" was "our fox" and eventually we got brief glimpses of other foxes - the kits - making visits to our yard as well.

We have also seen a different fox, definitely a male, on the road. It's September now and we see the little female less often but hope that this new family stays in the area. I'll keep working to get the perfect fox picture and perhaps one with more of the family.