Wave watching at Whale Cove, Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint, Oregon
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This River’s Place mural is inside one of our many food truck pods here in Bend, Oregon. This beautiful mural was created by Morganic in 2026. I especially like the juniper tree on the left side of the painting.
I previously shared a post showing one of the outside murals at River’s Place in the past. That one features paintings of succulent plants.
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Shapes I’ve seen in a museum include
Soft spheres, bold arches and angles,
And delicate triangles of lace from around the world
I’ve seen distinctive patterns woven into baskets
And created and painted by nature
Shapes I’ve seen in a museum include
Soaring wings from the past
And hopeful visions of the future
Lens Artists Photo Challenge – Exploring Geometry in Nature, Architecture, and Daily Life
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I had a delicious meal recently at Rosemary and Fox in downtown Bend, Oregon. This location was previously the Jackalope Grill restaurant. Chef Josh Podwils worked at Jackalope, and when there was an opportunity to take over the restaurant, he took on the challenge and renamed it.
The first thing we ordered was the Bread and Butter. The Big Ed’s focaccia crunchy, light texture blended well with whipped butter topped with pickled onion, capers, roasted garlic, garden herbs, and flaked sea salt.
I ordered the Smoked Salmon. Smoked salmon can tend to be dry, but this dish was moist and perfectly cooked. The large piece of Applewood smoked salmon rested on top of butternut squash, leek, and garlic risotto. Spears of sautéed asparagus were garnished with toasted hazelnuts and apple cider-dill beurre blanc.
My dining companion ordered the Pendleton New York. This 10-ounce lean cut lay on top of charred broccolini. A dab of Foie Gras and cognac butter garnished the dish. The roasted-rosemary Yukon fingerling potatoes rested in a red wine-shallot Demi glace. This dish had great flavor.
Since it was a special occasion, we ordered two desserts. The Brown Butter Pecan Tart was my favorite. It included bourbon caramel sauce, bits of roasted apple, vanilla bean ice cream, atop the pecan praline tart.
We also ordered the Dark Chocolate Brownie. The dark chocolate brownie was topped with salted caramel ice cream, candied hazelnuts, and a criss cross of blackberry coulis. I LOVE chocolate, but I think I liked the pecan tart better on this visit.
To celebrate the special occasion, the restaurant gave us a complimentary serving of Roasted Berry and Pinot Noir Sorbet. A roasted mix of berries topped the tart sorbet. It was good, but it had a strong contrast with the sweetness of the other two desserts.
Rosemary and Fox is at 750 NW Lava Rd #139, Bend, Oregon 97703. They are open from 4:00 to 9:00 pm on Tuesdays through Saturdays, and closed on Sundays and Mondays.
Rosemary and Fox serves modern French-American cuisine. Their first course includes items such as scallops, bone marrow, and tempura beans. The second course includes salad and soup options. The third course offers salmon, beef, venison, lamb, pork, duck, and wild mushroom options. Dessert options included tarts, cheesecake, brownies, crème brûlée, and sorbet. The Happy Hour menu includes fries, steak bites, a burger, the tempura green beans, and a happy salad.
This fine dining restaurant has higher than average prices. Check online for the most current menu.
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Here’s the High Desert Voices November 2026 newsletter for your reading pleasure. Lots of nice photos as well! This newsletter is published by and for volunteers at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon. I’ve been working there as a volunteer since 2013.
Articles this month include one about the North American Porcupine Project. There’s another article about my recent visit to Lava River Cave and the final article is about The Secret Life of a Pinecone. A calendar of upcoming events and exhibitions is on the last page.
Please enjoy the High Desert Voices November 2026 issue!
To view previous issues, visit the HDV newsletter tag.
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I think I can train at Columbia Gorge Museum, Stevenson, Washington
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This morning, while out walking my dogs, I saw this Hairy Woodpecker, Leuconotopicus villosus. These birds look very similar to Downy Woodpeckers, Dryobates pubescens. It can be difficult to ID them.
How can you tell them apart? The first thing I noticed was the size. Hairy Woodpeckers are robin-sized and Downy Woodpeckers are closer to a sparrow in size. What else can you look for? The outer white tail feathers are all white in Hairys and have black spots on the Downys. I couldn’t see that detail in my photos, but I could clearly see another characteristic. The bill length.
The Audubon website describes the differences in their bills like this…
The Downy’s bill is dainty and about one-third the length of the bird’s head. The Hairy’s bill is a railroad spike in comparison, and almost as long as its head.
I’m also including a short video of the Hairy Woodpecker on a ponderosa pine at Pine Nursery Park in Bend, Oregon. The fencing you see behind the bird encloses several of this park’s 24 pickleball courts.
I took more photos of the woodpecker, but they turned out blurry. Walking one dog that moves like a tortoise while walking another that moves like a hare can make taking clear pictures a challenge. 😉
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Every year at harvest time,
trees wait patiently,
standing in line
Leaves fluttering in the breeze
reveal ripening fruit,
dark in color and intensely sweet
Sturdy branches reach for the sky
burdened with fruit
until the leaves wither and die
Every year at harvest time,
trees drop their fruit
in irregular designs
Lens-Artist Photo Challenge (LAPC) – Wabi-sabi (Imperfect, Impermanent, Incomplete)
Pictures in this post were taken at Mt. View Orchards in Parkdale, Oregon. This 51-acre orchard offers 125 varieties of pears and apples. They also offer many other types of fruit, vegetables, and ornamental flowers. This page lists what you can get by the month of the year.
You can pick what you want or buy things in their store. I last visited the orchards in October 2026, during harvest time.
But wait… there’s more! They have a tasting room on site where you can taste their wines, ciders, and microbrew beers.
Mt. View Orchards has great views of nearby Mt. Hood. It’s available to rent as a wedding or special occasion venue.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Wabi-sabi
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Brother Jon’s is one of my go-to restaurants in Bend, Oregon. If we have friends and family visiting from out of town and they ask where to eat, I often suggest this restaurant.
There are lots of things to choose from on their menu. One of my favorites, is the Turkey Rachel sandwich. It includes thin sliced turkey, melted Swiss cheese, and coleslaw piled onto two pieces of toasted Big Ed’s Marbled Rye bread spread with thousand island dressing. It’s kind of messy, but delicious. I paid a little more to get a salad for my side dish. It looks good, right?
Last time we ate at Brother Jon’s, I ordered a BLT sandwich. It includes thick slices of bacon, leafy green lettuce, and slices of tomato. It’s tucked between two slices of toasted Big Ed’s wheat bread with mayo. This sandwich so thick, it’s hard to get into your mouth. The bacon was especially good. Though I usually order a salad, I decided to get the French onion soup. I was getting over a cold, and it hit the spot.
My dining companion ordered the French Dip. The toasted hoagie roll from Sparrow Bakery, is filled with house roast beef and melted Swiss cheese,and garnished with grilled mushrooms and onions. It includes a cup of au jus. If you order chips as a side, they give you a lot. The roast beef has great flavor in this sandwich.
We often order the Artichoke Jalapeno Spinach Dip. It’s served hot and comes with a bowl of tortilla chips. The artichoke, jalapeno, and spinach dip is topped with melted Parmesan cheese, diced tomatoes, and sliced green onions.
There are two locations here in Bend. Brother Jon’s Public House is at 1227 NW Galveston Ave on the west side of Bend. It’s open from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm on Sundays-Thursdays and from11:00 am to 10:00 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Brother Jon’s Alehouse is at 1051 NW Bond St in the downtown area. It’s open daily from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm. Their menus vary slightly but include appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, entrees, dinner plates, desserts, and offerings for kids. They also serve cocktails, beer, cider, and soft drinks.
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Picture Rock Pass petroglyphs, Oregon, processed with Rock Art Enhancer app
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I saw this young Kiger mustang on Steens Mountain in south central Oregon. I took a guided tour to find them in late June, and we saw over 80 Kiger horses that day.
Kiger horses are a unique breed that only lives in Oregon.
Awww Mondays
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Wonder in the skies
Swooping up
Zooming down
Spiraling
In corkscrews
Twisting and turning
Blending with the clouds
Moving in opposite directions
And upside down
Wonder in the skies
All photographs were taken in 2006 at the Arlington Fly-In in Arlington, Wahington.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge (LAPC) – Memories
Weekend Sky (WS)
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Ballard Locks fish ladder, Seattle, Washington
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I took this picture of a Chinook Pass view in September. Chinook Pass is east of Mount Rainier on Highway 410 in Washington State. It was a beautiful, sunny weekend day. The parking lot was full, and there were many cars parked beside the main road.
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The Remains Wall mural is a large scale mural in downtown Hood River, Oregon. This mural was created by Nik Vik and the late Nate Chavez in 2017. It’s dedicated to the memory of Forest Andrews, a local artist who passed away here at the age of 18.
I’m including several closer views of this bright, colorful mural.
Monday Mural
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I often walk through this “Tunnel of Joy” by the Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon. I call it that because the bright artwork is so joyful. I’ve previously featured one side of the bridge and the other but never the inside of the tunnel.
The abstract painting lining the tunnel is by artist, Tom Cramer. He works in a variety of media and is one of the most successful artists currently working in Portland, Oregon. His best-known mural was “Machine”, painted in 1989.
At first this mural appears to just be random shapes, but if you look closer you may notice shapes you recognize. I see faces, hearts, snakes, and wings. You can use your imagination to find objects in an abstract work of art.
Continue readingSteps lead you from one level to another. In MoPOP, the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, Washington, every stairway leads you to another level in extraordinary ways.
The first image leads visitors forward on a cool blue stairway lined with pipes. This stairway is near the Central Galleries.
The second image shows curving golden walls surrounding the stairway. These stairs are near the east entrance.
The next image shows a view looking down into the gift shop. A futuristic police car hangs from the rafters.
The steps in the next image take you down to the Science Fiction section of the museum. Shooting stars fall on a silhouette of an alien landscape.
Outside the museum, steps lead you to the Space Needle. This iconic building was built for the 1962 World’s Fair.
In this post, I shared photographs of architectural details at MoPOP. The building’s unique sculptural architecture has been both praised and criticized. MoPOP made it onto several ugliest building lists.
Architect Frank Gehry created the building. Some call the building “The Blob.” It also resembles a smashed guitar. Gehry acknowledged that he collected pictures of guitars and incorporated those shapes into his design.
In this archival aerial photo, does MoPOP look more like a smashed guitar or a blob to you?
Aerial view of EMP|SFM 19 October 2008 – EMP|SFM Archive, CC BY-SA 3.0
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge (LAPC) – Where does it lead?
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This year, we had a bumper crop of prickly pear fruit on the cactus growing in our yard. We had a mild winter and maybe that contributed to them growing well. I’m showing a few pictures of them up close and a little farther away.
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Clouds over Pilot Butte in Bend, Oregon
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Last February, on a trip to Portland, Oregon, I had a meal at Southpark Seafood. I ordered the Northwest Cioppino. This dish included mussels, clams, shrimp, cod, tomato-fennel broth, bonito, and grilled ciabatta. It can be a challenge to cook seafood well, but they did a good job. The broth tasted predominantly of tomatoes. I think I prefer my cioppino recipe. The broth includes seven spices, red wine, and clam juice.
My dining companion ordered the King Salmon. This dish included salmon with corona beans, pancetta, herbed crostini, and frisee. The salmon was well-cooked and flavorful. The herbed crostini was less appetizing. Who thought it was a good idea to smear a moss green concoction onto a piece of bread? I had a Pepto Bismol pink smear served alongside another dish I ordered on this trip. Yuk!
We had Garlic Bread with our meal. It was one of the best bread accompaniments I’ve ever had. The flavorful bread had a light texture. Delicious!
This downtown restaurant has a unique feature on the outside of the building.
A salmon crashes through the corner of the building. It was very creative.
This restaurant is at 901 Southwest Salmon Street, Portland, Oregon 97205. It’s open from 11:30 am to 8:30 pm on Mondays through Thursdays, 11:30 am to 9:45 pm on Fridays, 3:00 pm to 9:45 pm on Saturdays, and 3:00 pm to 8:30 pm on Sundays. Happy hour goes from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm daily.
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A Painted Hills morning in John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon
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This beautiful collection of Kwakwaka’wakw art is at the Seattle Art Museum in Washington state. The display includes masks, a bowl, and two totem poles. Kwakwaka’wakw people live in British Columbia in western Canada. Their distinctive art may appear to be simplistic, but it often includes independent figures and motifs. The images tell stories and sometimes include funny elements.
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Today, I’m sharing a marmot drawing, painting, and photos. I took several photos of this Yellow-bellied Marmot, Marmota flaviventris, I saw in eastern Oregon. These large rodents don’t fear people as much as other critters you might encounter.
I wanted to draw it, but I couldn’t decide how to color the picture. First, I did a pencil drawing and used colored pencils to add a little color.
Then I drew over it with a dip pen and black ink. I added color with acrylic paint. To add more texture to the volcanic rock the marmot was sitting on, I dabbed on paint with a sea sponge.
This picture shows the things I used to create the second version. I used black ink and dip pens with two nibs, five colors of acrylic paint applied with six brushes, and a small piece of sea sponge. It was a limited palette of colors compared to the Wood Duck painting I featured in another post.
I took several pictures of the marmot as it ambled across a lawn. They are entertaining to watch.
Is a marmot the same thing as a groundhog or woodchuck? Groundhogs and woodchucks are the same animal. Their scientific name is Marmota monax. Marmots are a larger group. This means, “every groundhog is a marmot, but not every marmot is a groundhog.” There are 15 kinds of marmots worldwide. Groundhogs often live in lower elevation habitats, while marmots are more common in mountains and foothills.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.
First Friday Art
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I saw this unique red bench at the Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington. I don’t know the history of this bench, but it looks very old. The Market opened in 1907 and this piece looks like it could have been made in the early 1900s.
The red bench fit in perfectly with the 500+ small businesses located at this historic market.
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Base Camp is the newest food truck pod in Bend, Oregon. There is no shortage of food trucks in and around Bend. A recent article stated there are 153 food trucks within the city limits and a total of 290 in Deschutes County. Yes, that is a lot!
The pods usually have a handful of trucks parked around a small building that offers beer and other beverages. The trucks rent permanent spaces that provide electricity and water.
Base Camp is in a 7,000-square-foot two-story building with a spacious covered outdoor area. There are ten food trucks at this pod. Food served at the current trucks includes seafood, vegetarian, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Italian, Southern, Hawaiian, and Mexican.
On the main floor, there’s a long bar featuring 36 beer taps, low tables, and high tables. You can view various sports on screens scattered around the seating area. There are also a couple of small shops serving sweets, sandwiches, and sushi.
Upstairs, there’s more seating and a gigantic TV screen.
The outside area offers even more seating. Bend is known for being a dog-friendly city and we saw several happy dogs while there.
On our recent visit, I had Vietnamese food at Nguyen’s Kitchen. I ordered the Grilled Pork and Shrimp over soft noodles with fresh veggies. It also included an egg roll. I thought this meal was fine, but it tasted much better the next day served cold.
My dining companion had a Nashville Chicken Sandwich from Southern Accent Bend. It was good except the piece of chicken was so thick, it was hard to eat with a bun. I have really liked the Po Boy and other foods I’ve had at this truck in the past.
Base Camp is located on the west side of Bend, and parking is limited. Their address is 311 SW Century Dr, Bend, OR 97702. Base Camp’s hours are Sunday through Thursday 11:00 am to 9:00 pm and Friday and Saturday from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm. The upstairs area opens at 5:00 pm daily for customers 21 and older.
Hours vary for each food truck. You can check hours and menus for the trucks on the website. Be aware that food trucks sometimes move, switch to a brick-and-mortar location, or, sadly, go out of business.
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Winter branches at Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon
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a chill approaches
kaleidoscopes of color
the grandeur of fall
enlightened in the darkness
by a brilliant harvest moon
Tanka Tuesday (TT) – Celebrating the first day of Autumn and the harvest moon
Ragtag Daily Prompt (RDP) – Seasons
The Flower Hour (TFH) – A peak into Autumn colors
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I recently took a picture of a recreated old classroom at the Deschutes Historical Museum in Bend, Oregon.
I used Corel PaintShopPro 2021 for different photo processing effects on this picture of the classroom. In the original image I increased the contrast and fill light and cropped the edges. Use the slider to view each effect compared to the original.
The first picture of the classroom shows a Time Machine effect. For this image processing I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Time Machine>Albumen settings. This effect makes the picture look much older. I think I liked this effect the best for this photograph.
The second picture of shows an Art Media effect. For this image processing I went to Effects>Art Media Effects>Pencil>Default settings. This effect shows dark outline colors with muted color in other parts of the photo. I liked how the touch of color gave this picture more of a presence.
The last picture shows an Artistic effect. For this image processing I went to Effects>Artistic Effects>Topography>Blocks Detailed settings. This effect makes the picture seem almost three dimensional. I associate contours with landscapes, but this effect gives every day objects topographical lines.
One-to-Three Challenge – September 2026
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Norris Geyser Basin panorama in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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Provide passage over barriers
on elevated paths and roads.
Built of metal, wood, and stone
on sturdy foundations.
Create connections
with intention,
endurance,
beauty,
hope
All of these bridges are in Oregon. I took these photos at Lan Su Chinese Garden, Bend Whitewater Park, Yaquina Bay, Petersen Rock Garden & Museum, Cove Palisades State Park, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, and near Cascadia.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Bridges
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In June 2025, we had an excellent meal at the Brickhouse in downtown Bend, Oregon.
I started with the Beet Salad. This salad includes pickled beets, endive, arugula, radicchio, and candied pumpkin seeds topped with Rogue Blue cheese crumbles and citrus vinaigrette. I especially liked the tartness of the beets and the sweetness of the pumpkin seeds.
By the way, the Rogue cheese sprinkled on the salad won the World’s Best Cheese award in 2019 and won a Super Gold Award in 2022 at the World Cheese Awards.
Next, I had the Seafood Pasta. This dish includes wild prawns, sea scallops, and fresh fish topped with Parmigiano Reggiano cream sauce and fresh herbs. This was delicious and so rich, the leftovers lasted for two more meals.
My dining companion had the Rib Eye Steak. This 18-oz piece of heavily marbled USDA Prime meat was perfectly prepared and served with bone marrow butter (for an additional cost).
We celebrated a special occasion with the Marionberry Cobbler. The cobbler was full of flavorful berries and topped with vanilla ice cream and a mint leaf. The crumble topping on this dessert was very good.
Service at the restaurant was prompt and polite. Since we ordered a salad, dessert, and drinks in addition to the entrees, this was a pricey meal. However, I appreciated the well-prepared meal, good service, and the fact you can carry on a conversation. As I’ve mentioned before, restaurants where I have to shout to be heard, lose points with me. I will definitely return to the Brickhouse and recommend it to others.
I visited Brickhouse again in early September 2026. On this visit, I started out with a cocktail.
The Mai Tai was very good. It seemed to have a higher alcohol content than comparable drinks I’ve had lately. Next, we ordered an appetizer.
The Bacon Wrapped Scallops were nicely presented. However, the large scallops were a bit undercooked. A good scallop has a hint of sweetness, but these were not as flavorful as other scallops I’ve eaten.
Next, I ordered halibut, the fresh seafood offering of the day.
Again, this dish was beautifully presented. A slice of halibut rested on a bed of creamy mashed sweet potatoes. The garnish included crunchy vegetable slivers, two stalks of asparagus, and a sprig of fennel. Though the fish was good, it was a little overcooked and dry.
Since it was a special occasion, we ordered a dessert.
We ordered the Hula Pie. Chocolate and caramel sauce tops this ice cream pie. Garnishments include whipped cream, crushed nuts, and a sprig of mint. This was definitely the best dish of the night. I loved the chocolate sauce!
The food overall was good, but there were a couple of disappointments. Every restaurant can have an off night, so I plan to visit there again.
The Brickhouse is located at 5 NW Minnesota Ave, Bend, Oregon 97703. It’s open seven days a week from 4:00 to 9:30 pm. Brickhouse offers First Hour Specials at discounted prices from 4:00 to 5:00 pm.
One Word Sunday (OWS) – Looking down
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A pleasant paddle at Prineville Reservoir, Oregon
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When we visited Cape Meares on the northern Oregon coast, we didn’t get much of a view. It was clear inland on that early August day, but the coast was blanketed with layers of fog.
When you enter the parking area at Cape Meares Scenic Viewpoint, you’re greeted by this beautiful sign. Colorful images of local wildlife sit atop rusted metal silhouettes of the landscape.
And then there’s the lighthouse. Can a lighthouse be cute? This one is shorter and squatter than the average lighthouse. It was active from 1890 to 1963. When it was put into service, its lens was “one of the most powerful and largest of its day.”
The lighthouse and a small gift shop are open from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm daily. There are guided tours of the lighthouse through September 30.
The map pictured below shows the nine lighthouses found along the Oregon coast. All of them were built in the late 1800s.
Though we didn’t see much wildlife on that foggy day, I appreciated the signage along the trail. It was well laid out, colorful, and didn’t have too much text.
I hope to visit this viewpoint again on a clearer day to catch glimpses of some of this area’s marine mammals and seabirds.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Places shaped by water
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Be Kind sign on bridge in the Old Mill district of Bend, Oregon
Weekend Sky
Today I’m sharing a picture of a tiger lily painting I recently created with acrylics. I love seeing these showy flowers!
I painted my picture from this photo I took in a public garden. With all those spots, I wonder why they don’t call a tiger lily a leopard lily. Hmm. 🤔
Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.
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Yellowstone Lake storms, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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Can you guess what I’ve shown in my pictures this week? The answers are at the end of the post.
1. A few days ago, I saw a carnivore and an herbivore next to each other on my kitchen window screen. Can you guess what I saw?
2. While visiting a Japanese garden in the fall, I noticed these wrappings around several of the trees. What do you think they are?
3. This dark, globular sculpture looked like it was creeping towards me. Can you guess what it’s made from?
4. I saw a bird perched on a telephone pole and stopped to take a quick picture. It flew away in a blur of motion. What kind of bird was it?
5. I’ve ordered this cocktail a couple of times. Can you guess what makes it so green?
6. The interior structure of this building is almost like an umbrella. Does its name reflect the shape of the building and is this place historically important?
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – What is it?
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I visited Pink Bee Thai Food restaurant on a recent trip to Seattle, Washington. We began our meal with Fresh Rolls. The rolls include red leaf lettuce, spinach, Thai basil, mint, shredded carrots, and vermicelli rice. You can include veggies, tofu, or shrimp in the rolls. This dish includes homemade peanut sauce and green Thai chili sauce. This is one of my favorite foods and they were delicious.
I ordered the Panang Curry & Rice with chicken. This dish includes chicken, beef, or tofu in a broth of coconut milk and Panang curry. The assorted vegetables are topped with a garnish of Thai basil and a carrot floret. The spice level I ordered was medium and it didn’t overwhelm the dish. This dish tasted pretty good and was not overly rich, as some curries with coconut milk can be.
We also ordered the Pad Thai. The stir-fried rice noodles were perfectly cooked with eggs, Chinese chives, preserved radish, red onions, and Tamarind sauce. You can choose to include chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, fried tofu, soft tofu, braised pork, or veggies. The dish was garnished with fresh bean sprouts, green onion, chopped peanuts, a slice of lime, and a carrot rosette. This dish was also very good. I’ve learned from experience that these noodles don’t reheat well so we ate the entire serving.
You can read lots of reviews and look at star ratings when looking for places to eat, but there are other ways to find restaurants worth visiting. There was a continuous line of customers at the Pink Bee. Some were there to pick up an order while others dined there. If you see lots of customers waiting to get in, it gives a good indication of how good their food is.
This family-owned restaurant serves appetizers, salads, soups, noodles, stir-fry, curry, meats & rice, sandwiches, several side dishes, and desserts. Beverages served include Thai ice teas, juice, soda, San Pellegrino, and hot tea.
Pink Bee Thai Food is at 2010 NW 56th St, Seattle, Washington. They are open daily from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm and again from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
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A twisted love between two carrots
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Today I’m sharing edits of MoPOP displays I saw in Seattle, Washington. The Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The displays feature music, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and more.
My first image shows a still from a video playing on a dragonfly’s eyes. The sculpture itself is beautiful, and seeing a screen on its eyes was unexpected.
For this edit, I cropped out the people at the bottom and used a warming filter to enhance the color.
The next picture is of a Borg costume. These part humanoid, part robot beings are first introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation. They are known for their tagline, “Resistance is futile.”
For this edit of MoPOP displays, I cropped the photo, eliminated reflections, changed it to black and white, and added a dark vignette effect. I didn’t like the dark frame over the head, so I lightened it.
The next image is of the reluctant guard and the cowardly lion costumes from The Wizard of Oz.
The first thing I did in the edit was a perspective correction. It makes the edges you select turn into a square. I cropped the picture and eliminated most of the reflections. This one had a LOT of reflections so I used a scratch remover, cloning tool, and a paintbrush tool. I used a light vignette tool on this image.
I took the next picture in the horror section of MoPOP. The Chucky doll from Child’s Play is in the upper right of the picture. I imagined him waiting patiently for the visitors nearby to get close to him.
For this edit, I cropped the picture, eliminated reflections, and added a red filter. Then I lightened Chucky’s face just a little to highlight his gruesome grin.
The last picture is of the massive IF VI WAS IX sculpture. When I decided to feature edits of MoPOP displays, I knew I’d have to include this iconic piece. The museum first opened in 2000, and it was called the Experience Music Project. This sculpture was its centerpiece. Exhibit designer Neal Potter conceived IF VI WAS IX, and sound sculptor Trimpin brought it to life. It includes 500 musical instruments and 30 computers.
I straightened and cropped the photo. Then I eliminated some of the lights and a big sign and dulled the brightness of several spotlights. I decided to leave a couple of visitors in the finished image to show the scale.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – #154/410 – One Photo Edited
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