Typical isn’t it.  Yesterday it was lovely outside, sun shining, warm, I even saw some buds coming through on some bushes – I mean it was like “wow, spring is on its way”.  So I get all excited and think I’m going to get some good pictures this weekend.

Then Friday comes around, and the rain starts to fall.   I really wanted to get some blue skies and nice pictures and it’s cold and wet outside – again.

As a result I thought I’d post a picture from a sunny day.  This shot was taken in Kirkland by the marina.   It was a nice day and the water was really calm so there wasn’t too much boat movement on the water.  Mind you there were a lot of boats there – pretty crowded.

Carter wanted to go to the movies tonight but didn’t have any money, so he decided to liberate some money from Abi’s piggy bank – very naughty!

It’s been a while since I posted a plane, so tonight my picture of the day is the Stephens Akro. This is a cool little plane that’s made of wood and was designed and built for aerobatics. Not sure I’d want to loop the loop in a wooden plane but in the late 1960’s this was what all the pilots were after.

I took this shot as the plane is hanging on its side by a balcony overlooking the main exhibit area in the Museum of Flight. From the balcony you get a great shot of the Akro from the top. Anyway I think it’s a cool image.

Looks like we have some nice weather here right now so this weekend I’m heading out with my camera to get some pictures.

I had hoped that my new Nikon D4 would be here by now but they haven’t even shipped it yet, so I have no idea when it will arrive. In the interim I’ll just have to struggle through with my current gear. But when that camera arrives I will tell you all about it.

Lisa went out this evening so I had to provide dinner.   So we had pizza.   I turned my back for five minutes and Carter and Master Chief got in there.

I know I said I was getting bored of these images and was going to try something different tonight, but then I saw this pillow and thought WOW I love the quotation around the edge.  For us Brit’s this is SO true.

“Where there is tea there is hope” – I love that.  We use tea to solve all issues, if something good happens, a baby is born or we get a promotion – we have a cup of tea. If something bad happens, someone is hurt or World War III breaks out – we have a cup of tea.  It’s just like that, so when I saw this slogan I had to capture it.

So this was another light painting picture, just placed the pillow on the sofa, turned off the lights and away I went.  This was my first attempt and I think it caught the subject really well, you can even see the stitches in the material.

I think Carter and Master Chief were were a little thirsty and decided to have some wine.  I thought the way they tried to open the bottle was very interesting.

Continuing my quest for all things Union Jack’ish tonight I found a T-Shirt.  Unfortunately it didn’t fit me so Abi kindly agreed to model the item for a light painting picture.  Now the trouble with light painting is that you have to take a 30 second exposure, and it’s pretty hard to stay still for that length of time. (Go on, try it – no blinking, sniffing, moving – nothing).

Abi did pretty well, she sat there in the dark while I waved a flashlight all over her.  She got about 20 seconds in and started to laugh.  As a result this is definitely not the sharpest image I’ve ever taken, but I’m calling it deliberate soft focus.

Anyway I think she did great and now totally understand why you don’t take light painting pictures of people.

Incidentally I asked Lisa tonight how many things we have that have a Union Jack on them – there are LOADS.  However I’m definitely getting  board of this subject matter, and will possibly try something different tomorrow.

In case you didn’t know, Lisa is into card making and when I got home from work I found the Halo dudes busy at work!  Who knew they were so creative?

My philosophy in life is when I find something that works, keep doing it.  So after light painting a Union Jack guitar last night (and liking the results) I figured I’d keep going.  The goal for the rest of this week I think, is going to be find as many things in the house that have a Union Jack on them and light paint them.  (Actually I could keep this up for a month but I doubt people would keep coming back to the site – so one week it is).

Tonight the “lucky items” are a pair of Dr Martin boots that Lisa owns.  We found these in Nordstrom Rack a couple of years ago.  I think Lisa was feeling a little home sick (or nostalgic, I don’t know) and was super excited and brought them.  Anyway I think she has worn them maybe 10 times (she will tell you different but don’t listen to her).  I actually had to wipe dust of them tonight before I took the picture.

I popped them on a table, put the camera on a tripod and grabbed my flash light (that’s what she said).  I have to say I really like the results you get from light painting and it’s fun too.  However my flash light isn’t big enough (that’s what Lisa said) so I need to go shopping I think.  I wonder what I do tomorrow!

Lisa made some banana bread tonight, ‘nough said!