Paddle boarding on the Sea of Cortez and Pufferfish photos

If you're reading this on a facebook note, please click here to go to my blog. The photos are larger and look much better against a dark background! Feel free to comment here if you wish though. :)

Today Bethany and I went stand up paddle-boarding (SUP) here in La Ventana Mexico before the afternoon winds picked up and kiteboarding started. SUP is so much fun, especially here in the Sea of Cortez! The water is so clear and calm in the morning... the feeling of silently and effortlessly gliding over coral reefs and thousands of fish is quite fulfilling. :)

This was Bethany's first time trying it out and she did great, loved it too.

I brought my snorkel stuff and underwater housing along... here are some of my pics-

Bethany getting used to the balancing act-

Beautiful clouds-

Bethany looking like a pro already-

I went for a snorkel and caught this absolutely amazing and adorable pufferfish called the "Guineafowl Puffer". They are really slow fish and catching them isn't very difficult. They look a little bit boxy and funny at first, then you bother them, and they'll instantly start rapidly sucking water through their mouth to entirely fill their rubbery body, then, hundreds of small quills come out of their skin. It's FASCINATING! As you can see, these things are freaking comical when in this mode... I love it.

Video would be even better because the action of their tiny little flippers trying to move about is hilarious. For a size comparison, this one is almost basketball size and weighs like 10 pounds with the water inside.

Onto the next puffer! This one is a Barred Porcupine Fish an is equally adorable... but what's crazy is that puffers are the earths most deadly fish, as the ovaries, liver and intestines contain a tetrodotoxin that is known to be at least 1,200 times more potent than cyanide!! A poison that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says can “produce rapid and violent death.” The spikes don't contain the toxin so it's ok to gently handle them, but if you eat one of these guys you'd be lucky to live for 24 hours. In Japan it's considered a delicacy and can be ordered at special high end restaurants for $100-$200 per serving, but people die every year from it being prepared incorrectly... thanks but I'll pass and have the tuna please.

Size comparison to my hand. Some were much larger but harder to catch the big guys!

Back to paddle-boarding-

Bethany is feeling great and looking beautiful at 24 weeks preggy! Our baby enjoyed the ride too. :)

On the way back the wind started to pick up, luckily it was at our back though.

Hoping to go again tomorrow!

Breaking Wave - La Pastora Playa, Todos Santos, Mexico

Lightning over Sea of Cortez, Mexico

I know I know.... totally slacking on blogging these days. Been keeping busy traveling, playing, and shooting a lot during our offseason. It's been nice to spend almost 2 full months in Mexico (first Isla Mujeres and now Baja California Sur) while it's super cold and rainy in Oregon right now!
Currently in La Ventana, Mexico learning how to kiteboard and taking lots of photos of course. Here is one I shot last night of an extremely rare winter lightning storm over Cerralvo Island in the Sea of Cortez. The island is also called Jacques Cousteau Island or Isla Cerralvo.

More blogging to come soon, hopefully!

2010 baby.... Happy New Year!

Yes I know this is hideous and makes no sense... but it's 4AM New Years day and I just felt like creating something before bed. :)

Pelican and Sunset... can you say cliche! :)

Pelicans and sunsets, two very cliche and commonly photographed things, but how can you not when it looks so beautiful! This was our last sunset in Isla Mujeres Mexico before we headed off to the snow and cold in the states. Our tans are disappearing as I type.... :(

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Bethany and I arrived to Michigan yesterday to spend Christmas and New Years with her family. It's been cold, windy, and wet but great times with family makes up for all of that. :)

Hard to believe we were just in sunny & warm Mexico yesterday! Here is a photo I shot a couple days ago at Isla Contoy Island National Park in Mexico. Bethany and I had a wonderful relaxing day there before we headed back to the cold weather in the states.....
Now we're already thinking about our next warm getaway. :)

Ever feel like you're being watched?

This is a 3 foot long stingray who buried his entire body under the sand when I spotted him today. Just left one eye popping out to see what was going on!

Sunset on Mt. Hood at Trillium Lake

A couple days ago I knew the sunset was going to be beautiful on Mt. Hood... of course I wanted to shoot it, but from a different perspective! I opted to head up the mountain to Trillium Lake. After a 2 mile hike (with some jogging, I was running late) in the snow the view really paid off. The mountain lit up vibrant pink because there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I also waited around for a bit to catch the moonrise which was beautiful, but not quite in the right spot to get the shot I was hoping for with the moon rising behind the mountain. Maybe next time. :)

Mt. Hood with frozen Trillium Lake in the foreground-

I'm not much into the color pink, but in this case, I can deal with pink!

Last minute of pink sunlight on the mountain-

All the direct sunlight is done and the colors dramatically change-

Long exposure, see the star trails? You can also see a light and the lifts from Timberline Lodge-

Moon rising over Trillium Lake and Mt. Hood-

Moon rising over Trillium Lake and Mt. Hood-

This mornings view from the office

Not too shabby of a view from the office this morning! From left to right, Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams. Love them Cascades!

Just one pic for now... more coming later!

Full moon rising over Hood River

Shot this from my deck about an hour ago. Beautiful full moon rising over the hills in Washington!

Canon 40D with Canon 100-400mm lens, zoomed into 400mm.


One more-

2AM fog from my deck!

Fog and an almost full moon made for some interesting photos off my deck last night.



Kinda sci-fi ish isn't it?

Colorful day in the Columbia Gorge!

Our busiest season (summer/fall) for Blaine and Bethany Photography is finally winding down after a crazy year! Still have a bit editing and albums to finish up but it's been nice to have some free time to get outside and shoot!

Here are a few photos I shot today, sunrise and sunset! The days are short this time of year so it's easy to have time for both.

Incredible un-enhanced colors at sunrise-

Mt. Hood, Oregon at sunrise-

Oak trees-

Mt. Adams, Washington at sunset, check out that color!

Mt Adams Washington-

Sunset colors-

Mt. Hood Oregon, with the White Salmon bridge in foreground-

Downtown Hood River!

Just a quick photo I shot last night of downtown Hood River, I love home. :)

Panorama photo of Hood River, Mount Hood, Columbia River, and Bingen Washington

I just got home from shooting a beautiful sunset this evening. Definitely had to take advantage of the clear blue skies because it's been gray and raining for weeks! I shot many photos tonight but couldn't wait to get home and stitch together these images I shot as a panorama. It's 18 frames shot vertically on a tripod with a 21 megapixel Canon 5D Mark II camera and stitched together. Printed out at full resolution, the print would be well over 100 inches wide, and that is even cropped in!

Who wants to buy the first edition fullsize print? :)

It'll look like crap below but click to see it larger. It may take another click to see it larger because browsers often scale down to fit the width of your screen...

gettin crazy at Point Reyes

I used to shoot these kind of photos all the time in my earlier days of photography... not so much anymore though. Guess I just got a little bored of it. Last month in San Francisco it was fun to do this shot and revisit that style! Got it right on my first try. :)

30 second exposure on tripod. After the exposure started I'd hop in the car and punch it... drive fast with only parking lights on while passing the camera, then click the headlights on a little ways away from the camera, to avoid overexposing the road and stuff.

More aerial photos of Mt. Hood, Hood River and the Columbia River Gorge!

I could never get tired of hopping in my friend Ken's plane and buzzing all around taking photos and enjoying the beautiful sights. It's such an incredible experience seeing the rugged mountains and landscape from perspectives that not many people ever get to experience! I hope the photos I take bring you close as possible to experiencing it yourself though! :)

The conditions weren't absolutely perfect for photography like our previous trip, so the photos aren't quite as good, but still spectacular nonetheless! The blanket of fresh snow on Mt. Hood was gorgeous!

I think those are "lenticular" clouds over Mt. Hood, which means super high winds! We didn't even get really close to Mt. Hood but still experienced 45 knot winds!

We buzzed away from the Mt. and cruised over the Columbia River for a bit. Here is a freight train heading east in Washington.

Every mountain bikers favorite spot... Syncline! See the trail zigzagging up?

The lighter blue house is ours! :)

Sharp turn before heading into to land!

My sister Lindsey got to come along and enjoyed it... although she later admitted she was on the verge of puking the whole time! Not at the fault of our pilot... just that the Frangers don't do so well with motion sickness. :)

2009 Starvation Ridge 24 (almost 25) hour race

Last weekend on Halloween day I headed out to the OTBG annual 24/25 hour race at Starvation Ridge track in Goldendale (or Centerville?), Washington. 2008 was my first year going out there, and it was definitely worth going back! Both years I helped out as a sweep rider, which basically means I have fun and ride the 26 mile track while looking out for anyone who has crashed or needs help in any way.
Of course I bring my camera along and shoot some fun photos. Last year I definitely went crazy shooting thousands of images. I loved the dust in 2008 and it looked really great in the photos. You can check those out here:
Part 1
Part 2

This year was a bit more wet and perfect dirt for motos, so I ended up riding a lot more than I shot photos! Actually, I didn't take any photos until it was dark out. I only took a handful of images, all long exposures with available light of the moon and moto lights. I really enjoy taking these night exposures... hope you like them!

5 minute exposure-


30 second exposure-


3 minute exposure, Mt. Adams-


2 minute exposure-


30 second exposure-

Gorgeous sunset over the Columbia River

Yesterday was a busy day running errands in Portland from 7AM till we got home at around 3PM. I was totally spent and needed to get a million things in the office but was feeling like I absolutely needed to get outside and shoot some photos. Even though it was hazy, cold, and pretty much ugly out I headed to one of my favorite spots and then hiked about a mile to get the best view. It wasn't looking like much when I got there but then the sky all the sudden opened up and I was blessed with the most incredible sunset ever! I brought two cameras and two tripods and was shooting like crazy. So much fun!
Here is just one shot to give you an idea. I unfortunately don't have time to work on all the others but here is a preview at least!

What you see in the photo is the Columbia River Gorge, city of Hood River Oregon on the left, Bingen Washington on the right, and the Hood River toll bridge connecting the two states.

Fall in Hood River - Photos from the past two days

It's Fall in Hood River and man it's been gorgeous!!! I haven't been able to get out shooting much due to our editing workload for Blaine and Bethany Photography but these past 2 days I chose to let it go for a bit and go outside to play and shoot. And of course as you know I'm big time slacking on keeping this blog updated! It's not dying I promise... it will be updated a lot more often when we finish up the wedding photography stuff soon!

Enjoy the pics.

This is the bluff of Mt. Underwood with fall color, shot from our deck! :)

This is also shot from our deck.

Bethany came out shooting with me for a bit and it was windy and cold... hence the face here. She's adorable though. :)

Light on a hill just near White Salmon, Washington. Columbia River in the foreground.

Heart shaped light!

Streak of light looking west down the Columbia River, from "the Hook".

This is shot from Mt. Underwood in Washington. Clouds were blocking most of the light on Mt. Hood except on the top. Of course a glowing red maple tree helps in the foreground too! And see the weird streaks on the left? That is a big flock of birds flying through the frame!

Snagged this sunrise shot of the Hood River toll bridge and a barge while driving home on Highway 14.

We did a hike to "Falls Creek Falls" in Washington... beautiful!

It was a 4.6 mile round trip hike with 2 huge waterfalls as the main attraction.

Fall color!

Loved the fall color reflecting off the creek water.

Slow shutter speed to blur the water. And I gotta admit... I placed those two leaves on that rock! Couldn't resist! :)

Sunset shot of Mt. Hood towering above the city of Hood River and the Columbia River. Love it here!

Mt Underwood and Rainbows... from our deck!

A couple photos I wanted to quickly post from these beautiful rainbows that have been happening right off the back of our deck... I can't stop shooting them! If you're not familiar with our area... this is looking North from the Westside of Hood River. The trees you see in the foreground are just behind our house (in Oregon) and the land behind is Mt. Underwood in Washington. The mighty Columbia River separates the two states, which is unfortunately just out of our sight... if it was visible, our house would be a lot more valuable with a river view!

A strange bug at my frontdoor

Anyone know what kind of bug this is? I've never seen anything like it, and it's fascinating! It was about 3 inches long including his legs.

Mt. Hood Timberline Trail - Day 3

Finally here are the photos from Day 3 of our Timberline Trail adventure! First are pro camera pics then the snapshot pics.

We woke in the morning and these amazing clouds were swirling around Mt. Hood's edge-

Our first view of Hood River Valley... home!

Coe Glacier viewed from Elk Cove-

Indian Paintbrush wildflower-

Western Pasque flower, aka "Old Man of the Mountains" or "Hippy on a stick"

One of the more difficult gnarley river crossings-

Lindsey didn't end up walking across those wet slippery logs. If she did, this would definitely be the last living photo of her-

I walked through it really slowly and hoped I didn't loose my footing-

Little side trip off the main trail led to this view of Hood and glacier melt-

It also led to this awesome huge chunk of glacier snow with a waterfall emptying into it, and water flowing in a cave underneath the snow.

Of course I couldn't just settle for seeing the outside, so I found an opening to crawl though and go inside. Super sweet!!! I brought my tripod so I could do some longer exposures. This one is looking out of the cave-

And looking into the cave, bottom of the waterfall is at that opening-

Cloud Cap Inn-

Dinnertime and campfire-

Colin concentrating on his "sticky fire" on the top so his calzone cooked on both sides-

This is Mt. Saint Helens about an hour after sunset. The sky was basically dark and this is ISO 100, f/4 @ 5 minutes to get enough exposure! Love the whispy clouds and vibrant twilight colors! One of my favorite photos of the trip.

Another long exposure of stars and clouds. Mt Saint Helens and Mt. Adams are visible-

20 minute exposure of Mt. Hood and stars-

Now for the snapshots from day 3-
Kristin and Lindsey, perfect timing for awkward looks on their faces-

Getting into that brushing action-

Kristin got stuck in this position and had to get help to move, haha

Lunch!

This part of the trail had recently been hit with a windstorm so big I can't even imagine! Just about every tree was laid down in the same direction on this whole ridge-

This is the Eliot Creek Crossing which normally has a bridge, but it was washed out in 2006 by flooding. The trail (see it on the other side?) is closed and totally impassable, so you have to take a detour and hike up the mountain a way, then slide down the steep canyon. Pics coming from that on day 4.

Look very closely and there is 2 people and a dog traversing up this steep slope (we got to look forward to that the next day)-

Colin and Kristin about to devour their perfectly cooked calzones-

Colin mid-action eating pic-

Some kind of pizza thing he was excited about-

I call this my cheesy chunky-

Day 4 images are great too... they'll be posted when I get some time! :)

Mt. Hood Timberline Trail - Day 2

I've finally found a few moments on this beautiful Saturday morning to post some more Timberline Trail pics... Day 2! If I remember correctly we did a LOT of hiking this day (set up camp in the dark) so I did more shooting with the snapshot camera than my pro camera.
Anyway onto the photos!

Beautiful Indian Paintbrush wildflowers with Mt. Hood in the background-

A gorgeous spring fed stream in the morning hours, Mt. Hood in the background of course-

Mt. Hood-

Mt. Hood and wildflowers-

Can't remember the name of this canyon, but it was huge!

Some nice waterfalls down there too-

Ramona Falls-

Ramona Falls-

Glacier melt off Mt. Hood-

Glacier melt off Mt. Hood-

A different angle view of Hood that I had never seen, doesn't even look like the same mountain!

This was a gorgeous viewpoint after a very steep climb up from the canyon-

Colin and Kristin-

Last light on Mt. Hood, there was two deer in the field in front of me... such a beautiful sight!

Another gorgeous sunset-

Stars-

Long exposure of the stars-

OK.... Lindsey and I are both so confused about what this is... because we saw the thing moving quite rapidly before I took this photo. It could have been our eyes playing tricks on us... but still. It's sooo bright and I've never seen a star or planet that bright. It's not a plane either. UFO???

Here are the snapshots from the day.
Waking up in the morning, Lindsey and I shared a tent-

Linz waking up... morning face-

We randomly ran into a good friend of ours Holly, I had no idea she was out there hiking too!

She hid behind a rock and jumped out to scare Colin and Lindsey-

Colin snapping some pics-

Lunch break-

Lindsey.... ummm... not sure what she's doing here?

One of my favorite things was wild berries everywhere!!! They are sooo good! These are huckleberries (they look like blueberries in the photo)-

Huckleberries, so good and healthy!

Wild raspberry-

Salmonberry-

Thimbleberry, one of the best tasting berries I've ever had!

Kristin, Colin and Lindsey-

This is what it looks like when you take a photo inside fire (not recommended)-

Lindsey cookin up some curry for dinner!

Lindsey gets cold very easily, so this is what she looks like every night in bed-

Thats it for day 2.... day 3 has the best photos from the trip so stay tuned!

Mt. Hood Timberline Trail - Day 1

*First of all, those of you reading this on a Facebook note, please scroll to the bottom of this note and click on "View Original Post" and it will take you to my blog, the photos are much bigger and better! Feel free to love a comment here or there too. :)

I had the opportunity to join my brother Colin, Kristin (bro's girlfriend), and sister Lindsey on a little 3 night 4 day backpacking trip on the Timberline Trail, which is a trail that goes all the way around the perimeter of Mt. Hood. It's about 40 miles, but with all my little sidetrips for photos and a few wrong turns, it was probably closer to 50 miles in the end.
Not sure how to describe the whole experience with words, so good thing I brought 3 cameras along. :)

I was trying to do one giant post with photos from the entire time but I quickly realized that it was too much, so I'm splitting it up into single days!

Day 1 (super late start so it was less than a half day):

First glimpse of wildflowers (lupine)-

I took a few self portraits on top of this sweet ridge, I was happy to be outside finally!

Not sure what this plant is, but it's everywhere!

Hiking with a view! The remainder of these photos are taken in the "Paradise Park" area and it turned out to be my favorite area of the entire trip... just 5 miles in from Timberline Lodge.

Look at those WILDFLOWERS!

Last light on Mt. Hood

Mt. Jefferson, looking south

Amazing colors at sunset

Check out all those stars!!! Has to be millions upon millions.... fascinating.

Longer exposure of the stars-

That completes some favorites from my pro camera, now here are a few from my snapshot camera.

The start (I didn't sleep a single second the night before and had been up for about 48 hours, I was basically a walking zombie... Then hiked 6 miles on no sleep... eeek.

Linz strikin a pose!

One of the best things about the trip is endless supplies of huckleberries, everywhere! Sooo good, and they give you a purple tongue. :)

A couple snaps after sunset-

I love my siblings :)

That's it for Day 1... more coming soon so stay tuned!

Timberline Trail, a little preview

I finally got a chance last night to work on some photos from my recent hike on the Timberline Trail, around Mt. Hood! I don't have time to post them now, but hopefully soon. Here is a little preview of what's to come.

Mt. Hood at sunset-

Tidewater barge on the Columbia River

Hood River and Mt. Hood in the background.

First photos from my deck!

Last night was so beautiful! Amazing clouds, moon, stars, warmth and even a couple shooting stars! I was up late until 4AM editing photos in the office but I set up my camera on the deck to take a few star shots with Mt. Underwood. A couple pics-

I went to bed at 4AM and was awaken at 6AM with this bright pink glow coming though the blinds, and I had to get up and check it out! Strolled out to the deck, took a few photos in my boxers while mostly asleep, then stumbled back into bed and slept till 9:30AM. :)

Land Rover

Looks like an ad for Land Rover, but I shot this in a matter of a minute last night while camping up in the hills with friends. They have this sweet Land Rover Discovery with lights galore on it! Chad was kicking up dust for me in the background while the wind ripped up a hill behind us. Worked out perfectly! :)

A "Pet Peeve" from Blaine Franger

I just posted this note to my Facebook account, thought I would post it on my blog too.

I've been thinking lately about a new pet peeve of mine. When folks say "Wow the photos turned out great!" or even worse "Wow your camera takes great photos!"
I always wanna respond the following (but usually just grin and say thanks)
"Actually, it's the photographer who takes the photo, and not the camera.... and the photos didn't just happen to "turn out" great, but rather, they are great because of dozens (maybe even hundreds) of small and large decisions I made before, during, and after the shutter was clicked."

A few examples- moving the subjects in shade rather than sun, or the opposite, moving them into the sun rather than shade - adjusting the angle of the face for the lighting - choosing the ideal combo of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO for every single image - choosing whether to shoot in Manual, Aperture priority, Shutter Priority - white balance - selecting interesting & non distracting backgrounds - choosing auto focus or manual focus mode, and if autofocus, what mode depending on movement of subjects, and what focus point in the frame to use - lens choice, wide angle? normal? telephoto? - zoom lens with 2.8 aperture or prime lens with 1.2 aperture? - over expose? normal expose? under expose? bracket expose? - low angle? normal angle? high angle? - interacting with and engaging the subjects for genuine and fun expressions - lens cap on or off? (that was a joke, haha, ha...... ha... ok lame joke).....

Those are just a few of the things that run through a photographers mind before & during the image making process, and don't even get me started on POST PRODUCTION!!!! So, next time you see wonderful images and want to compliment the photographer, remember they don't just go POOF and turn out well.... and the camera did not take the photos, the photographer did, so say something like "Wow, I can't imagine all the things going through your mind while making those images, you really know how to do it well, I applaud your image making abilities! Now that would be music to every photographers ears.... haha!! Anyone who said that to me I think I'd give them a 75% discount on the fee! Not really, but it would make my day. :)

Another pet peeve of mine- is the term Pet Peeve. How stupid is that term! It sounds so lame. We need to invent another name for it.

Ok enough said.... comments welcome from all, especially from the fellow photographers. :)

Blaine Franger
http://www.blainefranger.com/blog/
http://www.blaineandbethany.com/

California Street and Bay Bridge - San Francisco, California

Serious talent!

I snapped this in Maryland a few weeks ago... thats what I call some serious talent!!!