It's fun dusting off the old albums, albeit digital ones, and uncovering long forgotten photos. In this scene some buddies of mine had rented mopeds in Seaside, OR and were causing a bit of a ruckus about the town. I heard them coming as I was strolling around so I got my little Canon point-and-shoot ready and when they stopped at the intersection I snapped a quick shot. The sun's rays were shining down on them as if they were in the spotlight when they stopped - which they, of course, thought they were in - and that with the black-and-white adds a nice touch to this street scene snapshot.  To add some additional vibrance and character, I post-processed to enhance the contrast, tones, and added a lomo effect with a vignette.

Going a ways back for this one. This shot was taken on a Saturday morning way back in 2007 when I was just starting to take photography seriously and was shooting with my first SLR, a Canon Rebel XTi. It's proof positive that sometimes all you need to do to get a nice shot is get out. I knew even less than the little I know now about taking pictures, but I did know that it was a beautiful morning and I certainly wouldn't capture it by sitting at home. I hadn't gone far when I come across this scene of the sunrise over the mountains in the background of this horse pasture. I'd already burnt up a good chunk of my memory card just capturing the sunrise when this curious horse came strolling across to see what the fuss was about and stopped in perfect position. It was quite a lucky opportunity and I couldn't have dialed it up any better.

So why is it titled The Pretty Way? Because this view is off an alternate route of oft-driven Highway 9 and on pretty days my wife asks me if we should take "the pretty way." Although the picture was taken before we were married, I think it sums up my thoughts about the picture quite well.