A Weekend in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

Last weekend my wife and I spent a four day weekend in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. Yes, I said 50th….blows our mind. We got married in college and waited to start a family until our late 20’s. We both talked about remembering when my grandparents had their 50th and how old we thought they were. Doesn’t seem that long ago…….

Anyway, our girls and us have talked about what to do for our 50th. A lot of ideas surfaced and international travel destinations were discussed. We have traveled quite a bit through our life together both internationally and domestically. One of the things that kept popping up was how much fun the two of us have on road trips where we get in the car and drive to areas we haven’t been to before. Since moving up to the Pacific Northwest, we keep talking about checking out the beauty of Coeur d’Alene Lake (and the town) in Idaho. Idaho is one of only 4 states we haven’t traveled to. The girls thought it would be a great romantic getaway for us. It was and as you would expect I took a number of pictures of the natural beauty of the area. I’m sharing six of them to give you a feel of the beauty of the lake and surrounding forest.

Coeur d’Alene 1

We stayed in a time share right on the shores

Rocky Shoreline

I took this shot on a trail that led out from a park into the forested shoreline by the town. (telephoto lens)

The Beauty Of The Lake

This capture was along the same trail, but a bit further along it. You can tell that the shoreline goes in and out of the lake creating a variety of perspectives.

Coeur d’Alene 4

This is the Coeur d’Alene Resort which is in the downtown area of the town. They have an awesome upscale restaurant “Beverlys”, which is located on the 7th floor (which is the dark band of floor to ceiling tinted windows about half way up). The view was incredible looking out over the lake with the large covered boat docks sitting at our feet.

Coeur d’Alene 5

On another hike I did, I came across this capture. At first I thought the shape on top of the rock was just more rock, but then it turned and I saw the head of a deer. Kind of a fun thing to see and it was looking out at the trail around the bend from where I was standing.

Coeur d’Alene 6

Right after the original deer shot, I was turning around to get back to the trail, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement in the underbrush. It took me a few minutes and the telephoto lens to realize the movement was another deer.

Just wanted to share some of my captures from a beautiful location and a great weekend.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions. 

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Urban Fall Foliage in Seattle Metro Area

Ten years ago my wife and I were in the Seattle area during the fall. The Pacific Northwest is famous for the fir trees that dominate the landscape naturally. The mountains and foothills are always green. Having said that, we were blown away by the fall colors in the Seattle metropolitan area. In thinking about it, that makes sense. As the city was being built and fir trees were removed to make room for the expansive population, it’s only natural that the back-fill landscaping included fir trees along with deciduous trees. The climate is perfect for those types of trees as there is four seasons (although milder winters than we had in the midwest and Colorado). I did a photo shoot back then in Issaquah, Washington which is an eastern suburb of Seattle up against the foothills. Now that we live up here permanently and the fall colors have erupted, I thought it would be fun to revisit that area and share this years fall colors. OK, it looks the same, which is the point. The colors are so vibrant all across the metropolitan area, but I have added more fall foliage from Issaquah, Washington.

Issaquah Fall Colors 1

Issaquah Fall Colors 2

Issaquah Fall Colors 3

Issaquah Fall Colors 4

Issaquah Fall Colors 5

Issaquah Fall Colors 6

Issaquah Fall Colors 7

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions. 

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Lake 22 Trail

With the fall weather comes cloudy days and rain. This hike was on a day where it was very dreary as you can tell from the lighting in this capture. None the less, the forest is beautiful regardless of the weather. This capture on the Lake 22 trail is located near Granite Falls, Washington and has an elevation gain of about 1500 feet that brings you up to a lake. I thought that this scene was a change of pace with the water flow and dreary skies.

Lake 22 Trail

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions. 

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Fill Your Heart With Love And Gratitude

Seek His Peace: Pacific Ocean

The background is the Pacific Ocean along the coast of San Diego and felt like a perfect capture to share these words.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions. 

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Summer Floral Blooms

As we find ourselves halfway through August, I thought it would be a good time to share a number of floral blooms as they are at their peak this time of year.

The next two flowers are from our Los Angeles daughter’s flower garden. I start off with a capture of an Agapanthus bloom (commonly called Lilly of the Nile).

The Blue Bloom

This second one I stumbled across while getting up close and personal with the first one.

Orange Brilliance Peeking Out Between The Leaves

The pyramid of orange orchid blooms was part of a test I was doing with a lighting box for still life art captures. The blooms were just a few I picked from the number of them on the original plant.

Orchid Pyramid

From there I move onto a capture of a Dahlia Bloom courtesy of a public garden in Issaquah, Washington.

Dahlia Bloom

The next rose bloom was from a public garden in Portland Oregon.

White Rose Bloom

I then finish up with a capture of a Candy Cane Rose bloom we had in our San Diego home.

Candy Cane Rose

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions. 

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Never Give Up

This week I have attached two prints from my Inspiration Gallery. They both stood out to me after having a number of discussions the last few weeks with friends and family. The common element was frustration with situations they were facing. Both of these prints came to mind. They both speak for themselves with a verbal and visual message. Both images are captures of dramatic and beautiful aspects of the natural world we are blessed with.

The first one is for sheer inspiration to “Think Big” and never give give up!! The view is of the Grand Canyon.

Don’t Limit Yourself – Think Big

The second one is a visual reminder of what sheer determination looks like. At first glance you just see red rocks without realizing the sheer magnitude of their size. That is accomplished when you realize the “bright red spot” on the lower right quadrant is a rock climber making their way up the face of these cliffs. The setting is Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area just outside of Las Vegas.

With Faith

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions. 

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Rome & Florence Paintings and Sculptures

This week concludes my posts from my trip with our youngest daughter to Italy. As I have blogged over the last few weeks, I took a ton of pictures and have been posting just a select few to give you a flavor of the beauty both cities hold. My last post will have a representation of the art that the region is renowned for. Both the paintings and sculptures are so extensive in both cities, I’m sharing just a flavor. For the paintings I chose to share what one finds in the many cathedrals as a prime example of the lushness and vibrancy of the artwork. The “painting” captures are all from Rome whereas the sculpture captures are from both cities.

Starting with the paintings, you do see a vast quantity of individual pieces in the museums located in both cities, but I felt like the interior of any of the cathedrals represents the intensity and detail of the art work the region is famous for.

Rome Painting

The detail and intricacy is mind blowing to me. The time and effort that was put forth with all of these makes one stop in awe with the visual impact.

Rome Painting

When you look straight up into the domes that are almost everywhere, the detail, workmanship and sheer beauty leaves you breathless. Really focus in on all of the detail and you get the picture.

Rome Painting

The sheer number of individual art pieces that comprise this ceiling tells the story. This work was years in the making. Which takes me to the Sistene Chapel at the Vatican. You’re not allowed to take photos and I respected that, but wish I could have to study the intricacy of each panel Michelangelo created. The years he spent painting that ceiling tells the story.

Rome Painting

Rome Painting

This captures the intricacy of the paintings with the sculptures which leads me into the next segment and that is sculptures. Again, you see the extreme attention to detail that boggles the mind when you think about the time and tools it took creating them.

Staying in Rome, the next two sculptures

Rome Sculpture

Rome Sculpture

Moving to Florence, I was excited to see Michelangelo’s David in person along with a lot of his other work. Not having the time or space to display everything, I chose some captures that represent a variety of work and not just his.

Florence – Sculpture

A number of the stories told by these sculptures do depict violence and warfare, but I stayed focused on the sheer beauty that was created in great detail.

Florence Sculpture

Florence Sculpture

This is just a sample of two statues in a long line of them in one of the museums.

I just wanted to give you a flavor of what we experienced as there is truly so much to take in from both cities. Thanks for letting me share some of the tidbits from my eight days with my daughter. I love art and history, which both cities are filled with!

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions. 

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Italy – Rome and Florence: Water

This week my Italy captures are focused on “water”. Both cities have a river flowing through them and of course Rome itself is full of water fountains in the plazas. So, I’m starting with Florence and the Arno River.

This is a capture of the Arno River as it flows through the middle of Florence.

Florence – 1

The river is lined with the beautiful architecture of these buildings on one side of the river and…..

Florence – 2

these beautiful buildings lining the other side of the river.

Florence – 3

As you look further down the river you have this unique bridge connecting the two sides. The bridge is filled with shops and cafes. Needless to say, a very busy spot spanning the river.

Florence – 4

Heading to Rome, we have the Tiber River winding its way through the city. This capture was taken as we walked from the place we were staying to cross the river heading to the Vatican. The dome in this shot is part of the Vatican.

Rome – 1

And of course if you are going to talk about water, you must include some of the fountains that grace the many plazas scattered throughout.

Rome – 2

Rome – 3

Rome – 4

Rome – 5

The intricacies of the sculptures are incredible.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions. 

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Italy – Rome & Florence: Street Scenes

I have a fascination with the narrow cobblestone streets that you find throughout these two cities. I understand the history of them and get why they are narrow as this was all built long before large forms of transportation became common to individual dwellings. The first five captures are from Rome with the final two Florence.

I’m starting with a capture I came across as we were walking one morning to the train depot to catch our train to Florence. It speaks to the look of the streets, clean and pedestrian friendly. Now this isn’t to say that cars don’t drive down these streets as they do. It clearly becomes a parting of the pedestrians to the sidewalks as the car drives very slowly and everyone makes it possible to have the traffic safely and slowly go by.

Rome 1

The next one I included is the street we stayed on. I took this capture just as I left the front door to the apartment building our unit was in. It had been raining that morning, thus the wet cobblestone. The umbrellas were small bistros and cafe’s lining the street. We ended up trying all of them through our stay and found each very good and very friendly. One of cafes we stopped at ended up with the owner talking to us and asking how our stay was and where in the United States did we come from (our accent was obvious even with Italian being spoken by my daughter). That was the type of experience we had with these small cafes versus the larger ones in the tourist areas.

Rome 2

This next one does show some car activity and how it just seems to work as part of the norm.

Rome 3

This is one of my favorite captures due to the beauty of all of the vines and greenery. This particular street takes a right turn at the end and continues on looking just as charming as this particular shot.

Rome 4

This capture highlights one of the larger outdoor cafes at the entry to another narrow street. Notice the detail trim painting on these buildings along with the common external color. I would assume ownership is consistent between these buildings. We did walk this street on our way to where we were going and the beauty and charm carried throughout.

Rome 5

In Florence this setting caught my eye with the fountain in a open plaza as the foreground looking down this street and seeing people and activity as far as the eye can see.

Florence 6

Last, but not least is this shot in Florence of looking across the river at this street that turns into steps leading up a hill.

Florence 7

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions. 

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Rome and Florence Italy Arial Views

In my last blog post, I mentioned that I would not be posting for a few weeks as I was going to Italy on a trip with our youngest daughter. Earlier this year her and her husband announced to my wife and I that they wanted to take one on one trips with each of the parents over the next four years. This year was father/daughter trip to Italy (Rome and Florence as I love history and art). Next year it will be my wife and our daughter to London, Wales and Ireland. The third year will see our son-in-law taking his mom to a resort of her choice and the fourth year he will take his dad to Scotland on a golfing excursion. The two of them met in college and started dating after they graduated. They spent most of their 20’s traveling around the world before they started a family. They now have a one year old and wanted to share their traveling experience with each of us parents to places that they know interests each of us.

So, I will be sharing pictures from my trip over the next few weeks. I’m starting this week with captures from Florence and Rome that give a sense of the topography each city is located in. I’m starting with shots from Florence. The first picture is what I call a watch tower which is part of The Duomo (a large cathedral ) that has an exterior finish from the Renaissance. I’m starting with this shot as it was from the top of this structure the following captures were taken. The climb was a definite workout, but well worth it.

Image 1

From the top I took the following pictures , the first one includes the dome from the same cathedral (if you look close, you can see people at the top of the dome).

The next group comes from Rome starting with the Spanish Steps.

The last one is in Rome from the top of one of the famous hillsides where the Forum is located.

Rome

Next week more to come from Rome and Florence.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions. 

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