Christmas Candy Train and other Pictures

Christmas Train made out of graham crackers and some of my favorite candies.

Interesting icicle structure. The icicles dripped from the snow on the roof, but the snow started sliding off the roof and curled around.

I haven't posted a 3-D picture for a while. Here is a 3-D picture of the Christmas Train.

Panther Creek Falls, Washington State

I took a few days off work for our annual summer vacation attempt. This year we spent a few days camping in my Brother/Sister-in-law's backyard. We actually wereable to do a lot of stuff during those three days and three night.

Saturday morning, my brother-in-law, who is really into photography, took me to one his favorite waterfalls, Panther Creek Falls in Wind River valley, Washington, so we could practice taking pictures with our new cameras.

It is only 65 feet high, but one of the most picturesque water falls I've ever seen. Two creeks join at the falls which adds to it's features. Plus there are multiple levels forming a small chain of waterfalls. The water is crystal clear--so much so that the 'fizz' formed at the bottom of the falls and rapids is white mixed with bright baby blue. Just looking at it makes you want to dip in a glass and drink the best tasting, ice cold water you've ever had.

Here are some of the pictures I took from the falls (click the image for more detail):

Here is where the higher creek starts trickling down the 65 ft. drop. You can barely see the second creek dumping down the cliff on the bottom right corner. Note: To get that smooth 'lace drapery' look, I used a tripod and a slower shutter speed. A faster shutter speed would show rough droplets opposed to smooth lines.

Here is the full falls. Pictures don't do it justice, nor does the picture capture the size. Notice how the white water intertwines with the green vegetation.

A few hundred feet from the main falls is this smaller falls. You can see the baby blue in the water at the base of the falls. Almost every log and surface area was covered in a thick carpet of Moss.

Here you can see a mini-ledge in front of the lower falls in front of the large falls. It a little difficult to tell without the ability to decipher depth.

Can't forget the benefits of 3-D. Get your blue/red 3-D glasses!

Recent Photos

Ecola State Park (Oregon) during golden hour before the sun is dowsed by the Pacific Ocean.

And the plane jumped over the moon.

I like the silhouette with the blue-ish layers in the background.

Portland Oregon Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the reflecting pool.

Can't go without more 3-D pictures to add new depth to the incredible view at Ecola State Park.

A Few More 3-D Pics

Another view of the Lewis and Clark River near Ft. Clatsop.

A small sample of a wind-swept forest. Again the 3-D gives a significantly better perspective of the wind's capabilities.

I know most people looking at these pictures don't have a pair of 3-D glasses just laying around the house, but hopefully you will have a chance to see these pictures in three dimensions. It adds a depth and perspective. Its easier to imagine being there looking at it. Its well worth it. I'm still amazed at how neat the 3-D pictures turn out.

All I do is take a picture with one eye, then with the other eye and focus on the same point. (A tip: for objects far away, you may need to separate the two pictures by more than an "eye's length" away--see the Mt. St. Helens 3-D picture.) Then using picture-editing software, I take the red channel out of the right-eyed picture, take the green and blue channels out of the left-eyed picture, overlap them, and align both picture to a common point--voila! Stereo picture!

What's Your Highest "You've Got Your Hands Full" Rating?

I'm going to cheat on this post and refer you to a post I did on our Daily Dose of Mischief blog. On that blog, we document cute and mischievous things our boys do. (Mainly so we have proof that they deserve what they get from their kids -- I know your reading this, son.)

Anyway, I know judge our experiences going out in public as a family based on a "You've Got Your Hand's Full" rating. Read about it here.

Also, here are a few more 3-d pictures--hopefully you have 3-D glasses...its like your there:

Here is a picture across the Lewis and Clark River near Ft. Clatsop.

There is no way to really explain the destruction that occurred in the forests from last month's huge wind storm. Even pictures can't capture the massiveness of the impact as forest trees either snapped like toothpicks or pulled their roots out of the ground. 3-D helps bring out a taste of the awe-inspiring power of the wind. I'll try to get more 3-d picture samples like this.

Life in 3-D

I've been somewhat fascinated with 3-D pictures since middle school when I learned how to draw 3-D pictures using the right shade of red and blue pencils. Since learning how easy it is to to make 3-D pictures with Gimp (free, powerful picture editing software), I've been experimenting with 3-D pictures.

All you need is two pictures of the same thing from slightly different angles. Then you take the red channel out of the right eye view, take the blue and green channels out of the left eye view, then lay them on top of each other so they both show. You will need to align the pictures (easiest while wearing 3-D glasses) so the subjects are even vertically, but parallel horizontally. (That sounded kind of confusing).

Of course its most effective and enjoyable if you have red/blue 3-D glasses. You can make some for yourself, or you can take the easy route like we did and buy Shark Boy and Lava Girl 3-D and/or Spy Kids 3-D.

Here are a few fruits of my experimentation:

This is a scene on the sea side of the 'Fort to Sea Trail' where you can retrace the probable path that Lewis and Clark took to go from Ft. Clatsop (Astoria, OR) to Sunset Beach. Trees do a great job of showing depth.

This is a crawl tube made from a tree trunk consumed by lava from Mt. St. Helens. As the lava cooled, the downed tree trunk burned out leaving these tubes.

Here I attempted a 3-D person picture. Usually its nearly impossible to get kids to hold the same position and pose for two pictures from different angles. Fortunately we had a second camera. My wife took a picture with one camera and I took a picture with another camera. Unfortunately, the camera's were spaced too far apart, so although this looks very much 3-D, its not realistic 3-D.

If you were a little bug climbing on the thick, soft moss of the Oregon Coast, this is what you would see.

Nasa.gov has some great 3-D pictures from the Mars Rovers. If you want to see what its like to stand on Mars...this is where you go. Its quite amazing. They also have 3-D pictures of the sun (don't worry its not as bright as the sun.)

3-D Volcano

Pull out your red/blue 3-D glasses and see new depths of Mt. St. Helens.