Come See Turkey, Day 3: Hagia Sophia
In the middle of the third day of my Come See Turkey trip, we explored the magnificent Hagia Sophia, aka the Ayasofya. What was once the Romans' first Christian cathedral and then a mosque under the Ottomans, it is now a very popular museum (and deservedly so). And though it stands as an astonishing testament to Roman architecture, it would not be standing at all if not for Ottoman architects maintaining it...
Come See Turkey, Day 2: Istanbul
The trip kicked into high gear here on day two. We started off the day with a press conference with reporters from across the area. Many of us were interviewed individually after the conference. (Additionally a crew from Turkish television accompanied us on nearly the whole trip.)
Come See Turkey, Day 1: Istanbul
The first day of the trip was stretched out to over 36 hours with traveling across the globe from my house in Oregon to Istanbul. On arrival, I was driven to the Karaköy district to the Hotel Gradiva (now I believe named the Purl) to catch my breath. As the sun set, we then had an orientation meeting at Mustafa's studio a short walk away...
Mari Stenger, Expired Film
I found some expired 400 film from the 1990s and shot model Mari Stenger with my trusty Canon AE-1. We were in the Willamette Mission State Park near Salem, Oregon, and attempting a Lana Del Rey vibe...
Mari Stenger, Willamette Mission State Park, Oregon
Model Mari Stenger and I worked together at Willamette Mission State Park to do a portrait session based around a Lana Del Rey vibe. Mari totally nailed it, as she has that same classic Hollywood look about her, and is a real natural at modeling. A joy to shoot together...
Hotel Murano, Tacoma, June 2017
My home away from home whenever I find myself in Tacoma, Washington, on business seems to be the Hotel Murano; my June 2017 stay is the fifth or sixth time I've been there. It's a really nice place and right in the heart of Tacoma's great little downtown...
W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory, June 2017
In Wright Park in Tacoma, Washington, sits a fabulous little glass building called the WW Seymour Botanical Conservatory. They pack the space to the gills with exotic plants of all shapes and sizes. These images are from a visit in June 2017...
LeMay: America's Car Museum, Tacoma
Two of the most recognizable roofs in the entire Tacoma, Washington, area sit side by side right off the I-5 freeway: the massive concrete hemisphere of the Tacoma Dome (the world's largest wooden dome) and the shining silver semicylinder of the LeMay: America's Car Museum or ACM. I toured the ACM in June 2017 with Travel Tacoma. The beautiful space holds about 300 cars and trucks in 165,000 square feet...
Northwest Trek Wildlife Park
In June 2017 Travel Tacoma took me to Northwest Trek Wildlife Park outside of Eatonville, Washington. Northwest Trek is a different kind of zoo than I normally see, one that focuses on the Pacific Northwest and one where the animals have a good amount of room to roam, particularly in the 400+ acres of open area on the north side of the park...
Mt Rainier, Washington
In June 2017 I briefly visited gorgeous Tahoma, aka Mount Rainier, on a day of adventuring with Travel Tacoma.