Jim Larson Photography

Some dear friends of ours took us sailing on their Catalina 22. Their boat is very well equipped, including a sail called a “spinnaker” which is a very large sail generally used for going down wind very fast. It was a perfect day for flying this sail and we did just that.

I made my way up on the bow of the boat with my camera which was equipped with a wide angle lens. I laid on the deck so I could get a good shot at the sail with the nice blue summer sky in the background.

During the summer we notice quite a few Osprey at our local lake flying around looking for lunch.  This lucky Osprey gets to eat lunch, but the unlucky fish gets to be lunch.

When cropping the image on the computer, I made sure that the bird had room to “fly” in the general direction he was moving (left to right).  Generally, it is better to have a moving object moving toward the center of the frame than away from it.  But, there are always exceptions.

Alle’s August 2009 calendar shot.  She loves to go sailing!

If kite sailing isn’t your thing, you can always take a causal run across the lake in your car.  Your amphibious car, that is.  This nicely restored amphibian was spotted on Lake Coeur d’Alene in northern Idaho.

Heads sure turn when a car is driving down a boat ramp and doesn’t stop before splashing in the water.  It looks like fun!

What is CdA as shown in the title? Well, that is the abbreviation for Coeur d’Alene which is the name of a town and lake in northern Idaho.

While at the wooden boat show we got to see this magnificent sailboat owned by a very rich individual who lives in the area. It is 60 feet in length and the hull is all wood.

I like this shot because it is framed between the two pilings and the rope railing.  The sun reflection off of the sails gives a nice contrast between the sail and the mountain behind.

While walking back to my car after shooting a marathon I spotted these interesting looking mushrooms.  Nothing really special about them, other than I don’t remember seeing any with their edges turned up like this before in Boise.

Sometimes when we wake up after sleeping on our boat we are treated to a very still morning. This was the case earlier this summer. There were very few people around and the only traffic on this part of the lake was this kayaker.

I like this particular image as this woman cuts through the still water of the morning, leaving a v of ripples in her wake.  Her bright colors contrast nicely against the reflection of the dark cliffs.

Here is Alle’s calendar shot for August 2008.  What a spoiled dog.

A few weeks ago I was shooting photos of all the participants of a local triathlon.  The first leg of the event was an open water swim of about 1.5 miles.  It’s fun to watch these guys and gals go through the water like fish.

I enjoy shooting the swimming leg of the event because the splashing of the water gives additional interest to the image.

Here is a shot of a swimmer making some very power strokes through the water.  I used a 200mm lens and shot it at a fairly large aperture (f4) to slightly blur the life guards in the kayaks which helped to keep the viewers eyes going to the main subject.  I also placed myself close to the surface of the water to give a sense of really being there.

When most people think of contrast in photography, they think of the variance between the light and the dark part of the image.  Here is an example of another form of contrast, that being between the water of the pool and the water of the river.  Same subject (water), but presented in two totally different ways.

I spotted this example while walking along the river in Portland.  Since the air was very calm and no one was hanging around the pool the surface of the water was just like glass.  I positioned myself to get the pool in the foreground and the river in the background.

It would have been nice had the pool been in the sun, like the rest of the picture, but sometimes you take what you can get.