My Oregon Photography Blog

English Roses

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Sun, 19 May 2013 14:15:00 +0000

We have many flowers in our yard and one of the most vibrant are the English Roses. We purchased five different varieties, years ago in St. Paul, Oregon at a place called "Heirloom Roses".

That's all Heirloom grows and they have it down.

Our English Roses grow like mad and, they climb like mad. But, there is nothing like them. They come in numerous shapes, colors, miniature and full bloom sizes. There is a ton of varieties.

Books you should be reading. They are located at Amazon (Links): 1) The English Rose by David Austin 2) David Austin's English Roses I receive a small commission if you decide to purchase any of the books.

English Roses

English Rose

English Country Roses

The English Roses

English Roses

California Lilac

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:34:00 +0000

Not too long ago my wife and I purchased a "California Lilac" from a local nursery and planted it in our yard. It was just a little guy.

Today, that little guy has grown into a beautiful scrub and one of our favorites in the yard. It has many more blooms on it than the normal lilac tree.

To say the least, it is a magnetic for honey and bubble bees. They love it.

What to learn more? Here's some recommended reading (Links) from Amazon:

1) The California Wildlife Habitat Garden: How to Attract Bees, Butterflies, Birds

2) Trees and Shrubs of California

3) Lilacs: A Gardener's Encyclopedia

California Lilac

California Lilacs

California Lilac

Best Sellers in Digital SLR Cameras

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:32:00 +0000

CanonEOS Rebel T4i

It's very confusing if you are in the market for a Digital SLR camera. I hope to narrow the field down a tad by listing some of the best selling cameras on Amazon.

I am not going to overwhelm you with specs. It should be about how good the pictures come out with any camera you decide to purchase.

The cameras listed here are, for the most part all entry level DSLRs except the Canon 5d Mark lll. The competition is fierce at the entry level and, regardless of what camera you choose, you should get a quality and reliable product with either Canon or a Nikon.

Nothing is listed unless it has at least a 4 point rating out of 5. The ten cameras below have been in the top 100 in sales for an average of 561 days a piece.

I didn't list price because that can change rapidly. I didn't list megapixels either. Don't base your decision to buy a particular camera on that basis alone.

Cameras listed here come with or without lenses. You can get a good camera, with a good starter lens, at a good price, and decide later about adding other specialized lenses.

Clicking on the links below will take you to the appropriate Amazon product. I make a small commission if you decide to purchase a particular camera. It helps keep the blog going.

1) CanonEOS Rebel T3i

2) CanonEOS Rebel T4i

3) Nikon D3100

4) CanonEOS Rebel T3

5) NikonD7100

6) NikonD3200

7) NikonD5100

8) CanonEOS 60D

9) NikonD7000

10)CanonEOS 5D Mark III

Nikon D3100

The Best Point and Shoot Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:57:00 +0000

Canon PowerShot A2300

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200

The Point and Shoot cameras I'm posting here have no less than a 4 star rating out of 5. They have been in the top 100 for an average of 350 days in sales on Amazon.

Now days, the competition for producing the best point and shoot camera is extremely fierce. And, the cameras shown here are quality, cost effective and very good at taking photos.

In general, the more you pay for a camera the better it is supposed to be. So, do your homework here.

What are you really going to use it for. The price range here is from $93 to a high of $600.

A six hundred dollar camera will have more features than one for under $100. But, if you only take a few snapshots, here and there over a period of a year, a $600 camera may not be the answer.

And, don't go on pure megapixels alone unless you are going to blowup your photos into gigantic dimensions. If you are, then maybe think about a high end DSLR.

So check this cameras out and see if one of these will fit your needs.

1) Canon PowerShot A2300 IS

2) Canon PowerShot ELPH 110 HS

3) Canon PowerShot SX260 HS

4) Fujifilm FinePix S4200

5) Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX7K

6) Panasonic Lumix SZ7

7) Canon PowerShot SX150 IS

8) Canon PowerShot SX500 IS

9) Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200

10) Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX20

The Digital Photography Book

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:27:00 +0000

The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby

If you are a photographer and, are looking for photography books that will improve your skills here are a few top selling books: (The first book..."The Digital Photography Book" is a must, especially for a beginner. You'll get tips that you may not find elsewhere and will get you off to a fantastic start.
Even if you think you know it all, it's a book that will maybe change your mind about knowing it all)

1) The Digital Photography Book

2)  David Busch's Mastering Digital SLR Photography

3)  Art of Bird Photography

4) John Shaw's Landscape Photography

5)  Jump Start Your Photography 3 DVD Set

6) The Complete SLR Digital Photography Camera Course

7) Digital Photography Crash Course

8) Tony Sweet's Visual Literacy: Photography Workshop

9)  Digital Photography Unleashed

10) Lighting Crash Course

All Rights Reserved My Oregon Photography Blog, Thom Zehrfeld, Copyrighted 2013-2014. Also, please see bottom of page for Product Disclosure and Privacy Disclosure! Thank You!

Flowering Trees

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:14:00 +0000

Believe me when I tell you that a Snowball Tree is a fast growing flowering tree (plant, shrub, whatever)...immensely fast growing. We planted one to hide part of a unsightly fence and it worked.

It started out as a little guy and before we knew it it grew into a huge bush. The blossoms are beautiful.

Ours is about fifteen feet tall. We keep trimming the lower branches to give it the tree-like-look.

I have changed up the photography here and introduced five different modes through Photoshop Elements and Lightroom. Don't want you to get bored of seeing five images of Snowball blooms.

Flowering Trees

Snowball Tree

Flowering Trees

Here's a couple of great books on flowering trees: Great Flowering Landscape Trees by Vincent Simeone. And, Continuous Color: A Month-by-Month Guide to Shrubs and Small Trees for the Continuous Bloom Garden by Pam Duthie

All Rights Reserved My Oregon Photography Blog, Thom Zehrfeld, Copyrighted 2013-2014. Also, please see bottom of page for Product Disclosure and Privacy Disclosure! Thank You!

Belmont District in Portland Two

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:37:00 +0000

Hey, just another post on the Belmont District in Portland, Oregon. In the first post I featured a few photos of the "The Belfry" and the "Cricket Cafe" .

In this post, how about random pictures of a house in the neighborhood, Stumptown Coffee, the Historic Belmont Firehouse, cool posters on a telephone poll and a "Blue Monk" sign.

Probably, "Stumptown Coffee" is the most popular. They have great coffee that known outside of the Portland Area.

Belmont District

Stumptown Coffee

Belmont Firehouse

Belmont District

The Blue Monk

Here are a couple of recommended books on Amazon: Portland City Walks and Insiders' Guide to Portland, Oregon.

All Rights Reserved My Oregon Photography Blog, Thom Zehrfeld, Copyrighted 2013-2014. Also, please see bottom of page for Product Disclosure and Privacy Disclosure! Thank You!

Belmont District in Portland

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:19:00 +0000

My wife and I like to see how the other half lives so, it's always neat to go out and visit neighborhoods we know very little about.

Such a place, the other day, was the Belmont District (Neighborhood) in Portland, Oregon. There are a lot of cool places to visit in Portland and this is one of them.

When we got into the Belmont area the thing we noticed the most is the number of restaurants. There are a ton of them.

Some are upscale type places, others are like cafes and pizza places. We kind of wondered around and read menus and ended up at the "Cricket Cafe". Glad we did!

My wife and I both ordered gourmet sandwiches which came with a fresh green salad. It was a large portion, extremely tasty and very well priced. The service was excellent. Highly, recommend you try the Cricket when in Portland.

Both before, and after we ate we walked the neighborhood and took in many neat Queen Annes and Old Portland Style homes.

Next door to the Cricket is "The Belfry". A Cool place to purchase a Bacchanalian mask for your upcoming ball. They have an outstanding collection of masks. Also here is a site to check them out....Masks.

The Belfry

Cricket Cafe

Here are a couple of recommended books on Amazon: Portland City Walks and Insiders' Guide to Portland, Oregon.

Village Green Gardens Three

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Sat, 11 May 2013 13:01:00 +0000

More photos from the Village Green Gardens in Cottage Grove, Oregon. If you ever get the chance, you have to visit.

Not only the gardens, but the whole surrounding area. It's about twenty, or so miles south of Eugene.

Cottage Grove has a cool downtown. Shops you won't see elsewhere. There are covered bridges in the area...very photogenic. But, one of the must places to visit is Dorena Lake.

It's the last photo here. It is huge and you can drive all around it. There is also a walking, biking path that goes for a long ways.

Village Green Gardens

Here are some cool garden design books: The Essential Garden Design Workbook by Rosemary Alexander. The Garden Planner by Robin Williams and even more below:

All Rights Reserved My Oregon Photography Blog, Thom Zehrfeld, Copyrighted 2013-2014. Also, please see bottom of page for Product Disclosure and Privacy Disclosure! Thank You!

Village Green Gardens Two

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:32:00 +0000

Here we go with the second edition of the Village Green Gardens.

The Village Green Gardens

Village Green Gardens

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:28:00 +0000

If there are more extensive flower and plant gardens in other resorts I don't know where they are. The Village Green in Cottage Grove, Oregon is right up there.

Here are some cool garden design books: The Essential Garden Design Workbook by Rosemary Alexander. The Garden Planner by Robin Williams

Flower Garden Pictures - Flowering Cherry

Flower Garden Pictures

Wall Murals

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:18:00 +0000

One morning we took the time to walk around downtown Cottage Grove, Oregon and photograph as many wall murals as we could find. A super nice collection to choose from to say the least.

Cottage Grove has a cool and quaint downtown...lots of variety in the type of stores, nice stores that are unusual and wouldn't expect to find in a small town.

When you are tooling down I5 around Eugene you might want to think about stopping in. You won't be sorry you did! Did I mention all the covered bridges they have in the area?

Here are some recommended books on Amazon "On the Wall: Four Decades of Community Murals in New York City" "Walls of Light: The Murals of Walter Anderson" "Walls: The Best of Decorative Treatments"

Wall Murals - Cottage Grove

Covered Bridges Two

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:19:00 +0000

Last post on the covered bridges in Cottage Grove, Oregon. The first one here, the Chambers Bridge is fairly close to downtown and is an old railway bridge.

The second bridge, the Centennial is right downtown and is a pedestrian bridge. I think of all the covered bridges that we saw in the Cottage Grove area, the Chambers is my favorite.

Chambers Covered Bridge

The Centennial Covered Bridge

Here is some suggested reading on covered bridges from Amazon: Covered Bridges: A Close Up Look - Alan Giagnocavo. New England's Covered Bridges: A Complete Guide by Benjamin Evans.

All Rights Reserved My Oregon Photography Blog, Thom Zehrfeld, Copyrighted 2013-2014. Also, please see bottom of page for Product Disclosure and Privacy Disclosure! Thank You!

Village Green Resort

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Sun, 05 May 2013 13:44:00 +0000

There are resorts and then there are resorts. A very nice place and, a surprise, was a stay at the "Village Green Resort" in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

The whole purpose to visit Cottage Grove was to photograph covered bridges, which we did. What I wasn't expecting was the fourteen acres of flower gardens at the Village Green.

Usually, when you stay overnight in a motel, or hotel somewhere, you usually expect somewhat mundane surroundings. This was not the case. We spent a lot of time in their very well maintained gardens enjoying beautiful flowers, plants and yard art.

I photographed in early morning, the afternoon and in early evening. You can expect to see more garden pics in future posts.

Here are some cool garden design books: The Essential Garden Design Workbook by Rosemary Alexander. The Garden Planner by Robin Williams

Flower Gardens

Village Green Resort

Flower Gardens-Peony

Village Green Resort

Flower Gardens- Rhodie

Farm Tours - Tollen Farm Two

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Sat, 04 May 2013 13:07:00 +0000

This is the second installment of the 8th Annual Spring Tour of "Favorite 5 Country Farms" featuring only the Tollen Farm in Wilsonville, Oregon. Here is post number one: Tollen Farm

This is a great event that takes place in Wilsonville, Tualatin and Sherwood, Oregon at various farms. The price of admission is a can of food that goes to the Food Bank.

Many of the photos here were converted to High Dynamic Range Photography (HDR) through special software: Lightroom 4 and Photomatix (both links to Amazon) .

The lamb pictured here cannot walk yet but they got her standing so she could pose for a photo.

Farm Tours

Covered Bridges

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Believe it or not there are a lot of covered bridges in Oregon. One would think that they are only prevalent on the East Coast, Midwest, or not to forget the great big ones in Texas or anyplace other than Oregon.

However, Oregon has its share and I am featuring the ones near Cottage Grove, which is down below Eugene.

The ones that are featured here are not very old, meaning: 1949-1930-1920-1883 (revamped in 1925) in that order. Hey, they are all painted white. Although, the Currin Bridge has red siding. All are closed to auto and truck traffic except the Mosby Creek one.

If you saw how many log trucks go tooling by the Dorena Bridge, on a newly constructed by pass bridge you would understand why.

Here is some suggested reading on covered bridges from Amazon: Covered Bridges: A Close Up Look - Alan Giagnocavo. New England's Covered Bridges: A Complete Guide by Benjamin Evans.

I did the High Dynamic Range Photography (HDR) thing. I took three different exposures of each bridge and combined them in Photomatix software and finished them in Lightroom 4.

Dorena Covered Bridge

Dorena Bridge Plaque

Stewart Covered Bridge

Mosby Creek Bridge

Currin Covered Bridge

Currin Bridge Plaque

Farm Tours - Tollen Farm

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:42:00 +0000

If you missed the 8th Annual Spring Tour of "Favorite 5 Country Farms" in Wilsonville, Tualatin and Sherwood, Oregon...well, you missed a lot of fun. The cost was a can of food for the Food Bank at each location...a very small admission price for a great cause.

My wife and I planned on attending at least four out of the five places on the tour. We never made it passed the Tollen Farm (link to their site) in Wilsonville. I believe we spent about two hours there and decided not to go anywhere else. It was that cool.

Of course, there were the animals... miniature donkeys, lambs, horses and so on. But, the big draw for us was the gift shop(s) and all the cool yard items sitting around all over the place...in a very, very nice setting.

We would highly recommend if you live in Oregon, or just visiting, like a lady from Mississippi we ran into was, get yourself there. And, you don't need a can of food to visit since they are usually open during the year.

Naturally, I had my Pentax camera with me and who could resist taking as many photos as possible throughout this super neat place.

Most of the shots here were converted to High Dynamic Range Photography (HDR) through special software, Lightroom 4 and Photomatix.

More photos to come!

Farm Tours

Tollen Farm

Here are some recommended gifts for the yard that are featured on Amazon:

All Rights Reserved My Oregon Photography Blog, Thom Zehrfeld, Copyrighted 2013-2014. Also, please see bottom of page for Product Disclosure and Privacy Disclosure! Thank You!

Sara Hite Memorial Rose Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:18:00 +0000

The best rose garden I know off without going to the Rose Gardens in Portland is the Sara Hite Memorial Rose Garden in Milwaukie, Oregon...specifically located in North Clackamas Park.

Included are just a few photos I took in 2012 when the roses were in bloom. Please enjoy!

Sara Hite Memorial Rose Garden

Yellow Roses

Red Roses

Yellow Roses

Red Roses

OK! Here is some recommended reading on roses:

All Rights Reserved My Oregon Photography Blog, Thom Zehrfeld, Copyrighted 2013-2014. Also, please see bottom of page for Product Disclosure and Privacy Disclosure! Thank You!

Beautiful Flower Gardens Two

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:55:00 +0000

More photos of beautiful flower gardens. The goal is to photograph flowers wherever and, whenever I can.

Since flowers in Oregon are very seasonal this is very hard to do. But, when they are in bloom, off I go.

Please enjoy!

Flower Garden Pictures

Cool Amazon books on gardening, let your mouse do the walking!

Chinese Gardens Four

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:46:00 +0000

More photos from the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland's Chinatown. But, actually, the first photo here is taken at an outside wall from a restaurant in Chinatown.

The Lan Su Garden is gorgeous! It is fairly small. It is smack dab in the middle of prime property.

It is very well done! That is also an understatement. A must place to visit in Oregon!

Portland's Chinatown

Chinese Gardens

If you are a avid gardener here are all kinds of books, that maybe you could be reading, about cool gardens from Amazon!

Beautiful Flower Gardens

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 13:21:00 +0000

Flowers are coming into fruition in Oregon. It hails one minute...rains one minute...sun shines for one minute and then, back to the beginning.

My wife and I ventured out to Sherwood, Oregon. Kind of a cool place to visit.

Naturally, I had my trusty Canon Point and Shoot with me and couldn't help but to photograph some flowers along the way.

Beautiful Flower Gardens

Tulip Pictures Five

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 13:28:00 +0000

This post will conclude the series of photos taken at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn, Oregon.

Actually, my wife and I spent two days out there. The first day I shot film with my Nikon. The second day I took photos with a Pentax DSLR and a Canon Point and Shoot...mainly down on my knees with the Pentax.

Tulip Pictures

Trucks In HDR

They have some Daffodils, too!

Daffodil

Chinese Gardens Portland Three

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:11:00 +0000

More pics of the Lan Su Chinese Garden (Chinese Garden) in Portland's Chinatown.

For my wife and I, visiting during the spring time leads to more flowers and plants being in bloom. We really enjoyed our visit.

Chinese Gardens (Lan Su Chinese Garden) Portland

Portland, Oregon's Chinatown Art

Chinese Gardens Portland Two

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:33:00 +0000

More on the Chinese Gardens (Lan Su Chinese Garden) in Portland. Well, not everything, like the entrance to Chinatown is not in the Gardens in the second photo.

For whatever reason, there are not too many folks in the "Gate" shot. That is unusual!

Chinese Gardens Portland

Portland Chinatown Gate

Chinese Gardens Portland

noreply@blogger.com (Thom Zehrfeld) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:04:00 +0000

One of the must things to do in Portland, Oregon is to visit the Chinese Garden (Lan Su Chinese Garden). It's located downtown at 127 N.W. 3rd Avenue in Chinatown.

This was my wife's and, my second time there. The last visit was about ten years ago.

The plants, trees, scrubs were not developed then like they are now...everything is absolutely gorgeous...especially when they are in bloom, like now.

Outside of China, I would bet that this is one of the most authentic complexes you'll experience.

Chinese Gardens Portland

The Chinese Garden

Chinese Art

Here is some recommended reading on Chinese gardens: