I had heard horror stories as a kid about the size of slugs in Oregon. The climate is just right up there for them. I’d seen slugs of the thumb-sized variety before. But I had never seen a six inch long monstrosity until Multnomah Falls.
By the way, I speak invertebrate, and here he is saying, “IF I WERE 1000% BIGGER, I WOULD DEVOUR YOUR WORLD AND EVERYTHING IN IT!”
Slugs are all talk, though. Nothing to worry about.
I imagine these aren’t the same things as what I posted yesterday, but they look pretty similar to me. This was photographed at the Chinese Gardens in downtown Portland.
These two guardians watch over the Japanese Gardens in Portland. What do they protect it from, I wonder? What kind of creature would wish to do harm to the neat, orderly grounds? It would be a creature that abhors order and artifice, something that desires nature’s freedom. Perhaps there is a story seed within that.
Street photography fascinates me. I’m not usually a very outgoing person, but taking other people’s photos in public means you have to develop a friendly demeanor pretty quick. You also learn to just be quick and stealthy. Last week in Portland, I set up on the fountain at the Saturday Market and just started shooting anyone who walked by who looked interesting. This kid just looked great. The shot’s not in perfect focus, but if anything, I think it helps here.
Now these jellies turned out to be a little bit easier to photograph, primarily because they moved much slower than the others. Their tentacles look remarkably delicate. They remind me of microscopic hydra, almost. The transparency and the blurry ones in the background just add to the sensation that I’ve captured this through a microscope. In reality, they’re a little smaller than the palm of my hand.
These aquarium jellyfish are surprisingly difficult to photograph. The lighting conditions are very poor, and they move just quickly enough that a slow shutter speed fails to freeze the action. Even with a tripod, there’s motion blur in places. Out of a dozen shots, this is the one I was most happy with, although I got a couple of okay shots of another jelly species as well I will probably share with you tomorrow!
Well, the slideshow I embedded last night stinks, so here’s one of the photos I was trying to show off as a group. I have a whole set of these up on Flickr right now. HDR is great with grungy, industrial stuff. Unfortunately, I had to make these with single RAW files probably more due to my ignorance than anything else. But I mostly adjusted for noise and such and they look alright to me. I really liked this boat in particular, but click through to Flickr and you’ll see more.
Harbor Seals are just hilarious looking to me. This is an aquarium shot, because there was no way for me to get close enough for a pic like this without a boat in the wild. The next time we come out here, I hope to have the financial security to be able to take a whale/seal watching boat out. I bet I could get some really great photos. Still, even though this is kinda “cheating” I think it turned out great.
Which do you prefer?
Or this one?
No wait. Puffins are cool, but I am pretty sure in the Handbook of 12 Year Old Biology Enthusiasts clearly states that the sea otter trumps every other animal.
My story “Groob’s Stupid Grubs,” a story of a goblin’s hopes for his idiot children, is available in Black Gate 15.
I recently finished the first draft of a YA novel called Takedown Notice set in the net-mage universe of my stories “Captain Blood’s B00ty” and “One Click Banishment.” What happens when the Magical Association of Atlantis finally gets the upper hand against the net mages in the spell program copyfight?