The World of Fundriving

2009-10-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

Hanford Nuclear Reservation Tour

2009-05-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

Robin and I toured Hanford Reservation. Great tour if you can get on it. This five hour tour takes you to the original reactor that made the nuclear material for the first bombs, some of the cleanup sites, and to some of the reactor disposal sites.

It was very interesting and really added some background to the size and scope of the cleanup project. Below is list of some of the highlights of the tour.

Visiting Reactor B... This was the first reactor built at Hanford and the first production reactor built. This wartime reactor made the material for the bombs dropped on Japan during WWII. You get to see the front of the reactor and walk thru the control room. Reactor B was recently declared a historic landmark.
Hanford had a coal-fire power station on it that is in the process of being torn down... This seems funny at first, but, the 6 reactors being built were for plutonium production, not electrical generation. That came later.
Some of the cleanup seemed excessive until they explained the tumbleweeds and other "condensers." Some animals and plants condense radiation in their body as they eat. Condensing low radiation soils into high radiation flesh or waste. This is turned into a huge problem and has caused a real need for cleaning up even the least contaminated soils. Tumbleweeds, for example, send a long root into the ground and easily soak up radiation. They then dry-up, and blow for mails. Every year they find tons of really "hot" tumbleweeds stuck to fences miles from the nearest radiation source. Birds build nests out of "hot" mud causing contamination of even brand-new buildings, and deer become irradiated from eating the grass.
Reactor Burial Grounds... When a sub's reactor is spent after 25 years, they actually cut that section of the sub or boat out like a piece of a sandwich, seal the ends and line them up for burial. There's about 25 sub and boat pieces lined up for burial. It's oddly cool.
The first 4-line highway in Washington was built in Hanford...Got to drive on it. It was built for the 40,000 people who worked at Hanford in the late 40's.

A new Tilt-Shift Image

2009-02-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

Milk Squirting Out of Your Nose Funny

2009-02-11T21:20:00.000-08:00

comicbatteriescamera.png (PNG Image, 720x220 pixels)

Spruce Goose Adventure

2009-02-07T17:06:00.000-08:00

Pictures from my trip to Lincoln City. Found the Spruce Goose in a museum on my way home. An incredible plane!

Room at Salishan

2009-02-05T13:03:00.000-08:00

My room at the conference. Sweet! porch flatscreen and hardline
Internet. Nice digs.

Gone to the Birds

2009-02-01T00:08:00.000-08:00

Sun finally came out and it was time to go shoot some pictures. This time of year I like to go follow the Geese in Skagit County. Caught the whole flock together in one place again this year. One of those sights you just have to experience first hand.

Tweaked Leaves

2009-01-25T16:19:00.000-08:00

Playing with some of my new filters and brushes in Photoshop. Had to replace a bunch that I lost when my computer crashed. Always playing with new styles and looks.

Some of my own picture favorites

2009-01-02T00:21:00.001-08:00

Enjoy some of my favorite pictures from 2008

Collection of favorite web images 2008

2009-01-01T23:47:00.001-08:00

Enjoy some of my favorite images I've collected off the web over the last year.

2008 Christmas Pictures

2008-12-25T14:43:00.000-08:00

December Snow 2008

2008-12-20T20:52:00.000-08:00

Patricks Birthday

2008-12-20T18:42:00.000-08:00

At our favorite Chinese restaurant celebrating Patricks 17th birthday.

San Francisco 2008 - Mashup

2008-11-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

Another great keynote

2008-11-17T09:39:00.000-08:00

This surgeon recommends games as a teaching tool. Great presentations.

Pictures from San Francisco

2008-11-16T17:36:00.000-08:00

At LERN Conference

2008-11-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

Opening keynote speaker with over 1000 in attendance. She is kind of
funny, which is good for 8:30am on a Sunday morning.

Patrick Singing the National Anthem

2008-11-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

This is awesome! Great video of Patrick singing of the National Anthem at school.

First car pic

2008-11-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well, he bought it. Here's patrick in his Honda minutes after purchase
waititing to get onto the ferry.

Buying a car

2008-11-02T13:02:00.000-08:00

The crew and I went to Kingston to look at a used Honda for patrick
today. Hopefully the car was worth the trip.

The World of Fundriving: New Appearances on TV!

2008-10-23T17:25:00.000-07:00

The World of Fundriving: New Appearances on TV!

New Appearances on TV!

2008-10-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

I am doing some guest appearances on Experience NW discussing social media. This video contains my first interview. It's starts about 2.5 minutes into the clip.

Social Media Conference in Bellingham from ENW with Deb Slater on Vimeo.

Flowers of Summer 2008: A Slide Show

2008-10-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

Time to Write Some Emails

2008-09-23T19:26:00.001-07:00

700 Billion Dollars. That's $2300 for every man, woman, and child in the United States. 700 Billion is what the mortgage bailout that certain government officials are planning.

The current plan as it's stands is very scary. It gives a lot of power over the financial markets to just a couple people, it lets banks and others that caused the problems off the hook with no penalties. It also doesn't have any protection or cures for those that are troubled with mortgages they cannot pay.

Congress is not happy, in fact, both sides of the aisle have serious concerns with this bailout. We need to take this opportunity and support our congressmen as they bailout is shaped and eventually passed. Email your congressmen and ask for the following be included in the bailout:

Equity stakes in banks that are are bailed out. If we buy the bad mortgages, we should take an equity stake in those banks. This ensures the country gets paid back for the bailout and punishes the players for the mess in our financial markets. This happened in Sweden, they were out of it and paid back in less than five years.
Over-site. Lots of oversight. This bailout should not be overseen by one person. there should be over-site every step of the way. Good reporting, clear guidelines, and over-site from people not tied to the mess.
Relief for individuals who own mortgages. If we are going to help wall-street, we need to help main-street. We should bailout the situation from top to bottom.
???? Anything that you believe strongly in.

I urge you to use the link below and write a quick email to your congressmen now. If we act now, we may be able to stand with congress and make the right choices for are country at this critical juncture.

This link will take you to a list of of congressmen for all fifty states. http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm

Pass this email and suggestion on to other people you know. Remember, This is our chance to make a change.

Thanks for listening

Greg Marshall

Gotta Love Sunsets

2008-09-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

I love sun on the water. This was a picture that I took this summer from the top of the Deception pass bridge.

Yes, I am at a Concert

2008-09-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

Most of you don't know that I like classical music. Live classical is
a special treat I don't get to enjoy very often.

One of the world-class Finnish orchestras is performing tonight and
the promoters wife is a friend. Sooo....off to the concert!

Daytrip to Winthrop

2008-08-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

Drove up to Winthrop with Patrick and my dad to shoot some pictures and hang out. Enjoyed a great afternoon of both driving and picture taking.

Anacortes and the Happy Donkey

2008-08-03T18:24:00.000-07:00

A couple great pictures from a trip to Anacortes.

2008-07-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

Finally getting some nice flower pictures. These are pictures from the flower gardens in Everett. Click on the slide show for bigger images.

Cops Bust Street Racers

2008-07-26T22:34:00.000-07:00

Checkout this video of the Kent cops rounding up street racers and spectators. Its like a scene from a movie, with cars going everywhere trying to escape. Cops win this one!

http://www.kirotv.com/video/17001345/

Northwest Trek

2008-07-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

Finally finished my Northwest Trek photos...for the moment. Enjoy! Remember to click on the slideshow to see the individual pictures.

Fourth of July Pictures

2008-07-11T23:34:00.000-07:00

Finally got my pictures done from the fourth. It's always hard to shoot these images. It's completely dark so I am shooting at a high "ISO" rate. It's also hard for the camera to auto-focus when it can't see anything.

When the pictures do come out right the fireworks look really cool.

First HDR Picture Attempt

2008-07-06T16:01:00.001-07:00

This is my first HDR picture attempt. HDR, or High Dynamic Range is a slightly different way to take a picture. Basically you take 3-7 pictures at different exposures and use Photoshop to merge the images together. Because of the multiple exposures, you have a lot more detail in the picture making for more realism. You can then take and tweak the picture in different ways even creating a "hyper-realism" level.

You don't take a volume of these suckers! Besides having to take 3-7 pictures with a tripod, it takes at least twenty minutes to process the final image.

Berthusen Park

2008-06-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

Needed to get out and shoot some pictures today. Went to Berthusen Park to shoot some tractor and steam engine parts. Still a month or so away from flowers at any of our normal picture taking places. It's sure a strange start to summer.

Sturgeon Fishing: Slideshow

2008-06-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

Fishing falls

2008-06-14T15:39:00.001-07:00

We were fishing just below these falls.

Oh yeah

2008-06-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

What a day. The sun came out, its getting warm and we caught our fish.
What a way to spend a Saturday.

Hotel Sturgeon

2008-06-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

Finally made it to our hotel. This is the view from our room. We leave
at 5am tomorrow morning. I guess those fishies don't sleep in on the
weekend!

Wishing for Summer

2008-06-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

Visited some flower gardens in Everett. Boy, I wish summer would hit. flowers are still rare and the flowers that are blooming just don't have the full "flowery" look for pictures.

Decided to do a little Photoshop magic on this picture. Didn't have much else to show for the trip.

Another Groovy Car

2008-05-05T00:42:00.000-07:00

Another groovy car picture to go with the purple Studebaker I posted awhile back. Still expiermenting with groovy backgrounds and and graffiti look.

New Orleans

2008-05-03T11:02:00.000-07:00

In New Orleans for a meeting. Unfortunatly, its a down and back. This
is the only tourist picture I am going to get!

The Kids Singing

2008-04-04T19:39:00.001-07:00

Sehome Choir performing the national anthem

Sonic Game on Friday

2008-04-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

Went to a Sonics game Friday. Sehome High choir was singing and
Patrick is part of that action. Yao Ming the 7.5 foot basketball
player is playing for the rockets tonight.

My Buddy and I Went Drive'n

2008-03-23T01:04:00.000-07:00

Patrick and I took both Subaru's out for a drive. What a blast! Went and did some of our favorite roads. Communicated with cell phones and wireless headsets. With gas prices as high as they are, we won't be doing this very often, but it sure was fun!

Coos Bay Jaunt

2008-03-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

The End

2008-03-01T21:55:00.001-08:00

Its 9:50 and we are home, showered, and in bed. 700+ miles in this
adventure with only marginal success. Time for bed. Will work on
pictures tomorrow.

From the road on my phone. greg@fundriving.com

Found Wood

2008-03-01T15:29:00.000-08:00

Found the wood... or what's left of it. The beach has been scavenge
clean and the sand is already filling back in. The tide was also
partway in and covering other interests. The only wood left was in the
sandstone.

Its noon

2008-03-01T13:04:00.001-08:00

Noon, and were up to Tillamook. Another two hours until the forest.
Hope we make it.

From the road on my phone. greg@fundriving.com

Ms's diner

2008-03-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

Ate breakfast at ma's diner. Pretty good food and your only choice at
six am in North Bend Oregon.

Conquilla River lighthouse

2008-03-01T08:33:00.000-08:00

No boat wreck, but, a nice lighthouse I haven't seen before.

Doom and gloom

2008-03-01T06:50:00.000-08:00

Seems the ship we were after is only four-by accessible or a EIght
mile hike. The one mile is at the end of the four wheel track.
Amazing the details you don't get from the paper or the Internet.
Going after a different ship a local told us about. Its new but didn't
hit the paper.

Finally Portland

2008-02-29T21:24:00.001-08:00

Finally in Oregon only an hour behind schedule because of traffic.
Going to be a long night.

diet coke... Geek fuel

2008-02-29T18:58:00.000-08:00

Body fuel

2008-02-29T18:45:00.000-08:00

2.5 hours on the road and only 116 miles...sigh. I hate Seattle traffic.

Only to Seattle

2008-02-29T17:44:00.000-08:00

Rocket chocolate

2008-02-29T16:28:00.001-08:00

On the road.

2008-02-29T16:11:00.000-08:00

Groov'n Rods #1

2008-02-24T16:33:00.001-08:00

First modified car image in my continuous quest to expand my PhotoShop skills. Still playing with various brushes and layers. Still not happy with what to do with "ground" in my pictures.

Enjoy!

Chasing Flock'n birds across Skagit County

2008-02-17T21:41:00.000-08:00

It was a great day Saturday to chase birds. Was looking to get a few more great pictures of the large flocks before they breakup for the season. The large flocks were already gone and we just got pictures of individual birds. Still a entertaining day.

The Big City

2008-01-24T22:36:00.000-08:00

I have been experimenting with composite pictures and other techniques other than my normal photography so that I can expand my skills and creativity.

"The Big City" is a collection of buildings shot in down-town Seattle combined into one image. I was going for a bold, hand-painted look.

Enjoy!

Birds, Birds, and More Birds

2008-01-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

Tons of birds around today. Went out onto the Chuckanut flats and over to LaConner. Found the main flock of Snow Geese as well as a stray duck and Heron.

Eagles on the Skagit

2008-01-12T22:52:00.000-08:00

Went up Highway 20 past Concrete looking for Eagles to shoot. Slim pickings today as the weather was really bad. Clouds obscured most of the ground and the tops of trees. Reports said their were over 200 Eagles nesting along that stretch. I saw maybe 20. Like me, the birds were wet and miserable.

Besides the birds, cars were everywhere and boats were zipping up and down the river. Counted as many boats as birds. The noise from the boats were probably keeping most of the birds farther up river.

These were the best two shots I got. Not a very good day for such a long drive.

First Pictures of Greg's New Toy

2008-01-01T18:40:00.000-08:00

Well, we did it. Finally got a new car like Alana and I have been talking about. Surprisingly we didn't go with one of the expensive cars we had been looking at. (Cadillac CTS, BMW 328xi) Decided to get a Subaru WRX.

I like Subies and I wanted all wheel drive and a stick shift. I also wanted a easy payment. What will shock most people is we traded the Mini Cooper in for it! Wanted a better traveling car. This new car is no performance slouch and is much faster than the Mini with a inter-cooled turbo-charged generating 256 horsepower! Couple that with all-wheel drive, traction control, anti-lock breaks, and a six speed manual shift and you have a real performance car.

Anyway, there be some performance pictures as the weather allows. Enjoy your new years.

My First Modded Picture

2007-12-24T21:51:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to create a hybrid picture that includes nature and mechanical items. This is my first attempt. Not my best work, but, its a start. I assume these will be getting better as I work with the techniques.

Happy Holidays!

Tweaked picture from turkey travel

2007-12-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

Took this picture on Black Friday after Thanksgiving. This old building was out on the Polouse Prairie along the border with Idaho. It made a great old picture.

2007 Turkey Day Escape

2007-11-22T20:57:00.000-08:00

Patrick and I decided to escape the normal Thanksgiving routine and head towards Montana. Take pictures, drive, and enjoy the peace of the road. Patrick and I need that once in awhile.

Seaside "Family Trip" 2007

2007-11-22T20:55:00.000-08:00

Hovander Park - Studabakers & Flowers

2007-09-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

Went to Hovander Park to shoot pictures. The Dahlia's are at their peak right now. Some of the Dahlias were ten inches across. We got lucky and timed our visit with a Studebaker car show. Not my favorite car in the world, a classic is a classic and presents some good photo opportunities. Not a bad way to spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.

Guy Trip 2007

2007-08-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

The annual guy trip was a lot of fun. This years trip was the Oregon Coast. To see larger versions of the pictures, click on the slide show. don't forget to checkout the new map button that maps where the pictures were taken.

The guppy

2007-08-22T16:57:00.000-07:00

Russian cargo plane at air museum in tillamook.

Newport Bridge

2007-08-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite bridges in Oregon.

Oregon Coast

2007-08-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

The southern part of the coast is my

Dune fun

2007-08-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

Patrick and Grampa to a ride on a buggy in the dunes. The problem
with dunes is there made of sand... Which gets into crevices you never
knew you had.

Bridge to redwoods

2007-08-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

Drove over this bridge on the way to the Stokes Redwood forest in
California.

Patrick & Grampa

2007-08-20T22:03:00.001-07:00

The crew coming out of the cave.

Oregon Cave

2007-08-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

Entrance to the Oregon caves. Great cave tour.

Patrick driving

2007-08-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

Here's patrick driving to the caves. He is getting excited as he is
only twenty miles from the rollercoaster road.

iPhone blog

2007-08-12T18:38:00.001-07:00

Western in Summer

2007-08-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

Took some pictures last weekend at Western. A little disappointed at how bad the rose garden looked, but, found lots of other things to take pictures of.

Downtown Seattle Images

2007-08-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

Alana and I enjoyed a trip to Seattle. Got some picture taking in.

Hovander Pictures

2007-07-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

Spent an early morning at Hovander Park. I enjoy the early mornings at the park. The light is long, the animals are active and not scared of people yet and I have most of the park to myself. I shoot their a half dozen times a year.

Patrick and Ava

2007-06-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

Drove to Laconner to enjoy the evening. Grabbed these pictures while we were in the park.

Multimedia message

2007-05-26T19:56:00.001-07:00

Multimedia message

2007-05-26T17:28:00.001-07:00

Nephews birthday

Multimedia message

2007-05-26T17:04:00.001-07:00

My buddy behind the wheel!

Multimedia message

2007-05-25T18:53:00.001-07:00

Geese

2007-05-25T17:32:00.001-07:00

They go where they want to.

Kites on the Beach

2007-05-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a little wind off the water to bring out the big kites. Took a few quick shots the other day while grabbing the wedding pictures. Finally got time to work with them.

Pre-Wedding Pictures

2007-05-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

Spent Saturday shooting some pre-wedding pictures for a friends daughter. We were at the harbor with lots of glaring lights and wind. Besides many of the normal wedding shots, I did get a few creative shots that I liked. I wished we would have had more time to pose the bride for images.

In Times of Crisis Think of a Simpler Life

2007-04-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

With all the news about the shooting at Virginia Tec, I am glad I can escape into my world. With camera and car I can roam around and forget the stresses of everyday life. For a few days, I can ignore the news and focus on enhancing the beauty that I see through the lens.

The Clouds Parted and the Sun Blazed a Path...

2007-03-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

Patrick and I played hooky from work and school a few weeks back and went to Mount Baker. What started off as a gray and gloomy day ended up a sunny blue sky afternoon... the kind you hope for when you are skipping!

Took this picture from the lower lodge parking lot of the snow blowing off the mountain.

Dantes Buried Treasure

2007-02-19T16:48:00.000-08:00

Dante managed to sneak a toy out of the house without getting seen. Unfortunately for Dante, his chain does not allow for many burial options! This is how we found his beloved buried toy. Didn't have the heart to dig it it up... he was keeping a close eye on me through the window. I think he was worried I would see it.

Still Playing With Larrabee Rocks

2007-02-19T16:43:00.000-08:00

The low tide rocks at Larrabee State Park are proving a lot of fun to work with in PhotoShop. The color has been excellent to work with and respond well to the saturation tools. With just a little work, a wealth of color is pulled from the rocks.

A Sunny Day in Winter

2007-01-28T21:34:00.000-08:00

It was a great day for a drive and some pictures!

Hasn't been very nice lately. Hit low tide at Larrabee State Park. The undeside of the rocks have some great color.

This truck was in an old garage on on the Chuckanut flats. It peeked out at me as I was driving by. Had to turn around and take a picture. Might of snuck in a little Photoshop magic on this one.

This Eagle was up in a tree beside the road out by Bayside. Watched it for thirty minutes or so as it would go get a fish and come back to this perch. Really an amazing site.

Thanksgiving 2006 Snow

2007-01-23T20:30:00.000-08:00

The holiday season in Bellingham brought lots of snow. The snow continued into the new year. Here's some of the pictures I took of the Thanksgiving snow and the fun Patrick had.