Outdoor Sculptures

Fire pits alight at WinterFest: LAPC

/ SoyBend / 9 Comments

Last weekend we visited the Oregon WinterFest event in Bend. I always look forward to seeing the fire pits and there were over 20 entries this year.

The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge (LAPC) this week is Treasure Hunt. I thought the fire pits fit perfectly under the suggested topic of “something hot.” Here are a few of the sculptures I saw at the WinterFest event.

A scaly tree holding a suspended ball of fire

Fire pits at WinterFest in Bend, Oregon 14February2020

This one looked like kindling hovering over a fire

Outdoor sculpture at WinterFest in Bend, Oregon 14February2020

Tall and graceful, reaching for the sky

Outdoor sculpture at WinterFest in Bend, Oregon 14February2020

This triangular one had flames that pulsed to the music

Outdoor sculpture at WinterFest in Bend, Oregon 14February2020

A salmon leaping above the flames

Fire pits at WinterFest in Bend, Oregon 14February2020

Cattails swaying in the breeze

Outdoor sculpture at WinterFest in Bend, Oregon 14February2020

A cyclone of spinning metal

Outdoor sculpture at WinterFest in Bend, Oregon 14February2020

The reflective discs spun with the slightest breeze so this one was always in motion

Outdoor sculpture at WinterFest in Bend, Oregon 14February2020

This one reminds me of the space needle in Seattle

Outdoor sculpture at WinterFest in Bend, Oregon 14February2020

Mountains and their wildlife in a lovely panoramic display

Fire pits at WinterFest in Bend, Oregon 14February2020

See my recent That’s some Pig! post for one more of these amazing fire pit sculptures.

I’m impressed by the artists that create these works. The sculptures have to look great and be fully functional as a fire pit. Not an easy task!

Dolphins in Flight: Monochrome Monday

/ SoyBend / 3 Comments

This sculpture by Robert Dow Reid is called Rhapsody. It’s located in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The artist captured their playful spirit perfectly.

Dolphins in flight, Kelowna, B.C., Canada July 1998

Monochrome Monday

Candids of Critters: LAPC

/ SoyBend / 10 Comments

Sometimes you get lucky when you’re taking candids of critters. This little burrowing owl gave me a knowing wink right when I took its picture.

Candids of critters. Burrowing owl blinking. Oregon

We visited the Caswell Sculpture Garden in Troutdale, Oregon a couple days ago. This sculpture of two great blue herons is right by the entrance.

Great blue heron sculpture by Rip Caswell, Troutdale, Oregon

I noticed a movement near the willows right behind this sculpture. I spied a real great blue heron!

Great blue heron, Troutdale, Oregon

This ground squirrel didn’t want me to know where it was hiding its cache. It had so much in its cheek pouches it could barely walk.

Candids of critters. Ground squirrel, Bend, Oregon

These spotted pigs look content in this shot, but one of the piglets had just escaped its enclosure. I scooped it up and returned it to its family.

Pig and piglets. Hood River, Oregon

There are lots of opportunities to take candids of critters right on our property. This morning I was out walking my dogs and I noticed this orange tabby cat. He blended in so well with the plants around him that my dogs didn’t even notice him.

Orange tabby hiding in the weeds Bend, Oregon

I took this candid shot of my dog, Shelby, relaxing on the window seat. See her ball right next to her head? She is dreaming of when she can play fetch again. 😀

Candids of critters Dog sleeping with ball

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Candid

Crane Creek Ranch Sculpture

/ SoyBend / 7 Comments

I saw this metal sculpture of a stagecoach on a recent trip and wanted to experiment with how to present it. I chose to use a digital version of the autochrome process.

Stagecoach sculpture at Crane Creek Ranch near Lakeview, Oregon Autochrome 1November2017

When this process was first presented at the Paris Photo Club by the Lumiére brothers in 1907, it was a turning point in color photography. Other methods existed but this process used a novel ingredient – potato starch. Glass plates were covered with grains of potato starch dyed red, green, and blue. Carbon black and a thin emulsion layer were added and the plate was flipped and exposed to light. The image could be developed into a transparency.  To see some of the dreamlike photos created with this process, click here.

The sculpture is on Highway 140, northeast of Lakeview, Oregon. The artwork is near a locked gate with “Crane Creek Ranch” over the entrance.

Here’s what my original image looked like:

Stagecoach sculpture at Crane Creek Ranch near Lakeview, Oregon 1November2017

Weekly Photo Challenge – Experimental