Volume 1 Issue 1

Welcome to the first posting of the Strange Images Blog 

The purpose of starting this blog is two-fold:
1.  To share our photographic images, techniques and hopefully some new ideas with other photographers, friends and family.  Our styles encompass traditional, expressionistic, abstract and the unusually creative, hence the name, Strange Images.
2.  To announce the joint grand openings of our website and blog.  We planned to start the website some time ago but just hadn't gotten all the bugs worked out for it to be up and running until now.  It currently has an initial sampling of our images showing new techniques and styles.  Although the website currently doesn't contain all the images which have been shown publicly in the past, it will be expanded on a regular basis and those images will soon be added.  Please check it out at:  http://strangeimages.strange-domain.com
Be sure to save this in your Favorites Listing for quick and easy access. 

And now for a plug or 2:

While visiting our website enjoy the wonderful sounds of Steinway & Sons composer and pianist, Gary Jess.  His music is featured in several of the gallery slide shows and a link to his website is posted there as well.  We would like to also take this opportunity to thank Gary and his wife Jill for allowing us to showcase his music on our website.

We would also like to thank Seattle-based photographer Gretchen Thompson for her invaluable assistance in answering question regarding our web presence.  Tapping into her vast knowledge as an experienced web user, photographer and former educator made our technical web hiccups seem easier to resolve.  We might also mention that along with her two photographic-minded sidekicks (Chris Diepenbrock and Al Koskie) Gretchen has recently co-created a delightful photo book entitled, "Last Stop".  Check it out, it's great.  See the book and more of her works on her website at:   http://gthomps.zenfolio.com
Also, check out her informational blog at:  http://gretchenthompson.blogspot.com

As many of you may know, over the past three years Lydia & I have been associated with workshops presented by the "Canon Explorer of Light Photographer" Darrell Gulin www.gulinphoto.com  and his invaluable assistant, Jean Carter.  We have really enjoyed presenting digital training sessions as a part of each of the workshops and look forward to continuing those fun times.

We just returned from Cannon Beach and the Oregon Coast.  Here are a couple of photographs recently processed from that trip:

Haystack Rock Impression by Ken
This is an artistically blended and composited image also using TOPAZ filters.

Violet & Purple by Ken
A panned TOPAZ Adjust 4 processed composited image

On a more traditional note, we offer the following two from the same trip:

Caspian Terns#2 by Lydia
Single image cropped into a panorama

Cannon Beach Dawn #2 by Lydia
This is a NIK HDR EFEX PRO processed image

Mid-May found us in Montana where we collected these images:


Arrowhead Balsam Root by Ken
Processed using NIK HDR EFEX PRO 

Mission Mountains by Ken
Processed using NIK HDR EFEX PRO.

Panorama near Ninepipe by Lydia
Processed with the NIK HDR EFEX PRO-realistic default setting.

National Bison Refuge Switchback by Lydia
HDR image processed in Photomatix Pro

Oh by the way if you're out laying on the ground in the National Bison Range be aware that the TICKS are out, 6 of them found us.

While you are here, check out the TIPS tab for helpful ideas and techniques.

Thank you for coming to visit, we hope you will become avid followers and will continue to track our progress in the photographic world and if you like, provide a comment.