Approaching Homer, Alaska

I was looking forward to visiting Homer since our last visit to Alaska via a cruise a couple of years ago, and was so excited to be approaching it from land.  I was especially excited that we’d be camping right out on the Homer Spit!  The next series of blog updates will be covering some of the great sights from this very cool little town –

 

The 2 images, above and below, are of a couple of mountains on the road to Homer.  The above image is of Mt. Redoubt.  It has erupted in the past, in January of 1966 and more recently in December, 1989.  The image below is of Mt Iliamna.  This mountain has not yet erupted.  Both are considered within the Rim of Fire encircling the Pacific Ocean.  They are part of the Alaska Peninsula-Aleutian Mountain Range, and are both very beautiful!

 

 

Here’s an image of the Homer Spit, set in the Kachemak Bay.  I love the mountains in the background and the low clouds.  It really sort of encompasses the town and the spit.  I thought it was a very cool welcoming sight to one of my favorite places in Alaska!

Enjoy!

Eagle Sighting on the Homer Spit

Jeff and his sister have told me about an older woman who used to feed the eagles out on Homer Spit.  Apparently, when she used to do this, the eagles were plentiful out on the spit.  Well, I don’t think she does that any longer, because I only saw this one eagle over the few days we spent on the spit.

 

I was lucky enough to capture this guy as he sat on the light post in the campground where we were staying.  I love this profile shot of him.  I feel like I now know where the term “eagle eye” came from – look at the intensity in his eye as he’s surveying his domain!

 

Eventually, he decided to take wing.  Look at the wing span on this guy!  I just loved watching him – he looked so graceful when he flew.  Even when he beat his wings, he did it in what appeared to be a slow, graceful way.

 

And here he is, just soaring above it all.  The mountains in the background add just the perfect touch.

Enjoy!

Kachemak Bay

One of the great things about camping on the Spit, is just sitting in our camp chairs and enjoying the view of Kachemak Bay.  Come take a look –

 

This view seemed to be a typical morning view, with the boats going out for the day.  Shades of blue in the water, grey of the mountains in the background, and the clouds that added character in the morning and tended to burn off during the day.

 

We walked along the shore further down the Spit, and came across the ferry that goes from Homer to Kodiak Island, among other places.  The Trusty Tusty, which is one of the names she’s known by, is based in Kodiak, as you can see by checking out her stern.

 

One of the other cool things to watch from our campsite is the seagulls as they dart throughout the sky!  This image is one that captures their playful side!

Enjoy!

Boat Junkyard - Always Cool!

The thing I love best next to old deserted cabins are……old deserted boats!!  And, on the Homer Spit, there is a boat junkyard.  There were so many cool images I was lucky enough to capture, it was hard to decide what to share.  Here are my favorites –

 

Meet the Donna Rae!  I loved the worn blue color of her hull.  Add a little rust, some portholes, the pilot cabin and you have a great boat image!

 

This little boat has definitely seen her better days, and her colors were worn.  I really liked the vibrant colors of the buoys behind her.  I’m not sure how such colorful things ended up in the yard, as they looked fairly new……at least when compared to the boats!!

 

I thought this image was cool from a couple of different viewpoints.  I love the boat against the mountains, of course, but then there’s this old bus off to the side.  I actually didn’t notice it when I took the shot, and was pleasantly surprised when I saw it when I processed the image!

 

What would old boats in a fishing town be without old fishing floats nearby?  I loved the worn, peeling and yet colorful look to these!  And, in case you are wondering, fishing floats are used to mark areas in deeper water where a fisherman could have crab pots, fishing nets, or even hooks just hanging down.  Even tho I don’t fish, I enjoy them for their character and color!

Enjoy!!

On the Shore - Photo Paintings Series!

As I sat by our campsite and watched the shore, I was struck by the idea that various little scenes I saw would make great paintings.  However, I’m not a painter……but…..my photo processing software and filter software can make me look like I am!!  I’ve decided to call these photo paintings.  Hope you like them….

 

 

These 2 little children actually put the idea for this series in my head.  I watched them playing along the shore and knew if I could make it a cool painting, I could make the kids unrecognizable, which was my intent, since I didn’t want to invade anyone’s privacy.  I love the simplicity of childhood that this evokes.

 

And, as if they knew what I was thinking of doing, 2 kayakers in very colorful kayaks decided to go out for a “paddle”, which allowed me to capture yet another “painting”!  I love the casual, free flow to this image/painting – the essence of summer.

 

Here’s a painting of my sweetie, Jeff, and our puppy, Miki, enjoying the shore!  She did love her beach walks or runs in her case.  Jeff enjoyed being by the water, and I got to enjoy taking this image and making it into a painting!  A win all the way around!

 

When I walked along the shore one morning, I saw this little sandpiper darting in and out of the waves.  I got a good image of him, and, of course, it, too, became a painting.

Enjoy!

Rock and Shell Natural Collections

I know folks always tell people to keep their heads up to see everything there is to see, but, there are treasures to be seen by looking down, too!

 

As I walked along the pebble beach, especially when the tide is out, I saw a number of natural collections of rocks.  The colors of these rocks were very interesting on their own – I just enhanced them!

 

For this image, I chose a very summery, sunshiny type effect, to just mirror the playfulness of being on the beach, searching for both rocks and shells.  It’s not realistic, but it’s a fun image!

 

There were lots of cool mussel shells on the beach.  I thought the color of the shells was so pretty; I wanted to highlight a single shell in an intimate nature portrait, as it appeared on the beach.

 

Quite a few of the rocks had barnacles on them, which I thought added a cool point of interest to the otherwise water smoothed texture of the rocks.

Enjoy!

Shoreline Views

There were quite a few wonderful views of the shore and shops along the Spit.  In all, this is an incredibly relaxing place to spend a few days.  And, we were so lucky – the weather was perfect the entire time we were there!

 

We were camping on what I think was the nicer side of the Spit.  It wasn’t as windy and the waves gently washed the shore, instead of crashing against it.  The effect of the tide wasn’t that dramatic on this side, too.  Or, that’s the way it seemed to me!

 

Here’s another view of the pebble beach and some beach grass of sorts.  Add the boat heading out into the bay, and you have perfection!

 

Just down from our campsite was a collection of seashells.  I imagine some little kid walking the beach, picking up these treasures, stacking them outside their camping area…..and then, as kids tend to be, forget about them. 

 

Homer Spit has several boardwalks of shops, restaurants and pubs.  Here’s one image of one of the quaint boardwalks near our campground.  I created a painting of it because that effect just seems to add to the charm of it.

Enjoy!