Return of the Dragon

 Last year I took pictures of the fire breathing dragon that my friend Phil sets up in his front yard every year for his favorite holiday, Halloween.  However, there was a technical glitch and I was unable to get any shots of the beast breathing flame.  For this year, design enhancements made the dragon perform flawlessly, much to the delight of trick or treating children and their parents.  Meanwhile, the rest of the window dressing that transforms Phil's front yard into a castle was give fresh artistic painting and loads of seasonal detail.  Phil as The Count greeted his guests and as always, there was a damsel in distress chained to a rock but very willing to give chocolate coins from the dragon's hoard to the passing trick or treaters. 

Retirement Party

 I was asked to photograph the retirement reception for the head archivist for the library at Boise State University.  It was a bit of a challenge since I wanted to be unobtrusive and shoot in available light.  There's only so much flashing people can take before it gets annoying.  However it was a bit of a challenge in that the walls are papered in dark gray and the windows are large but distantly spaced with many of them high up towards the ceiling.  There was lots of light but the walls soaked it up and there was very little reflected light.   Still, I think I managed to capture the mood of the festive event.  As a true archivist, he was great at telling stories and in making his final remarks he had everyone in the room breathless with laughter.

Rain

 Sometimes it's fun to shoot pictures in the rain.  The light is diffused and everything is dark and shiny.  It's also very handy to have a large umbrella and someone to hold it for you.  It works even better when you start shooting just after the rain stops but while the clouds are still in place and everything is still wet.  Under these conditions you can captures some fascinating colors and textures.  There's something to take a picture of almost everywhere you look.  In this batch I did a mixture of techniques such as HDR images and long exposures.  I hope you enjoy the results.