We went on a rafting trip on the Methow River this weekend. The river was a bit too rough for me to drag the camera out regularly, but I was playing around with night scenes and exposure length.
Winthrop and the Methow Valley
Tag: 365 in 2018
Seattle
It feels like I only go into the city when we have visitors, but we did, and I did. Of course we had to go to Pike Market and Seattle Center (on the monorail! – it’s the best way!)
Final shot. I have a thing for amusing signs and this guy looks like there’s just been some sort of Urgent Diaper Emergency.
Whidbey Island
Whenever we have guests from out of town and I’m looking for a day trip, this is one of my favorites. We start by driving up to Deception Pass and walk out over the bridge to Pass Island.
The current through the narrow channel can reach 8 knots at peak flow. I’ve been kayaking near there before but never through the pass itself. This time there was a series of standing waves west of the bridge and high winds, which made crossing a white-knuckle experience. I was afraid to look through the viewfinder, so this picture was taking by just pointing the camera in a direction and hoping it caught something good.
From the bridge we headed downhill into the park for a walk along the beach and a look at the ancient (800+ year old) douglas fir. We’ve heard this called the “Monkey Tree” but I have no idea where that name comes from (we did fill it with our own little monkeys).
Then it was on to the hike itself.
Then our final stop was Fort Casey where we flew kites and let the kids run around in the tunnels. For some reason I always forget to take photos at Fort Casey, but here’s my dog looking alert in front of the old battery.
From there we headed south to the ferry for a short hop back to the mainland.
The only thing that would make this trip better is if it could be done in reverse so you wound up by Snow Goose Produce for gigantic ice cream cones on the way home.
Round bars and solid lotion
I intended to make two soaps today but I wound up not having the time. Instead I’ve been working on packaging and tried making a few solid lotion bars as a test. First, the new label pattern.
This may be a little dark, but I wanted something “citrus” themed for the label background for the “Tropical Citrus” soap. I like the almost glass-like look of the cut fruit. (My printer only does black and white).
Then I moved on to wrapping and labeling the round shampoo bars. These are my first label mockups. I learned that I have to put the label on the flat side (the top is bumpier than the bottom). Below that are my 4 tiny solid lotion bars to test out. They are made with shea butter, beeswax, coconut oil and sweet almond oil.
Arboretum
I managed to come down with the 3-week crud that has been plaguing everyone, but late last week I finally felt up to moving around and we went down to Seattle to catch the cherry trees before the blooms faded. I didn’t wind up with too many great photos of cherry blossoms, but there was quite a bit to impress.
What I learned: I need to think about the composition of my shots more and I find that difficult when I’m still tired. It’s hard to nail the focus on macro shots, especially when I don’t have a tripod. I’m still learning how to take photos in aperture priority mode and it’s not always a success.
Soap pot this week
Last night I made a new solid shampoo bar since the trial worked out great (and I was starting to run out). These are scented with lemon & rosemary. I’ve never used this combination before but some friends were suggesting that in addition to the sweet-dessert scents (coffee, chocolate, honey, vanilla) I needed some savory scents as well. You still shouldn’t eat the soap.
The scent didn’t carry through as well as I would have liked so the next batch I will increase the amount of essential oils. They look fantastic though.
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And here is the annatto-infused oil that I plan to use for my next batch which is also going to be a citrus-scent: Bergamot and Litsea.
I think these count toward my 365, but I don’t know what number I’m up to.
Sunday Soaping
Three new batches of soap today.
The first was a special request for unscented ‘hotel bars’ and then I decided that I wanted to experiment with two more unscented recipes.
Here’s the first, a nice white coconut soap with coconut milk at ‘trace’. This is what the soap looks like when it’s ready to pour. It’s fully emulsified and has started to thicken up.
I can’t take photos of the pour because I’m working by myself but here it is again all nice and tucked into the mold.
The next two are a coffee-scrub recipe and a honey-oatmeal recipe. Both contain some vanillin powder which will darken the soap over time and I’m hoping that a bit of the scent comes through into the finished product.
Here they are right after the pour. Over time I expect the colors on the oatmeal honey to reverse. The swirls that are lighter colored on the right contain vanillin and the darker areas do not so as it dries the light areas should turn darker than the rest.
A few hours later, as the chemical reaction progressed, the soap started to heat up and go through the ‘gel phase’
The coffee soap has gelled all the way to the edge, while the oatmeal is a little behind and only the center has darkened. Once gel starts I keep it insulated so that it will gel all the way through.
Blue Sun Art
I’m going to need a business card and a label template for 1oz soap samples, which means it’s time to play with logos.
This is fun, although I’m glad I don’t have to try to please anyone else with my designs. I am going for an Art Deco look.
#33-34/365
Lavender Aloe Soap
My most recent soap that I just got around to photographing. This one is designed to be especially mild but still lather well and I used aloe juice in place of water as something of an experiment. Even though it has a high percentage of olive oil, I took a bit of a risk and tried to get a purple swirl in it. (Purple is a challenge because the olive oil is a bit greenish, which can make purple turn gray.)
I think it came out quite well. This one will be ready for sale in another two weeks. I think I would like to re-do the outline of the text on the label.
#32/365 Creative somethings.
More snow photos
These are the rest of the images from our hike that I think are not-bad. They at least capture the setting well.
Looking across the Pond
I had high hopes for this one but the depth is just not there.
If the light isn’t good, the photo isn’t going to be that great.
#28-31/365
