Not your everyday instrument

This is a Kora, a type of harp of West African origin. The musician played it during the Port Townsend Saturday Farmer’s Market. It sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard, but I kept coming back for more.

This is the 20th year for the Market. That’s hard to believe. K was on the original steering committee that started the market.

Click photo for larger view.

Scoping out the shot

Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk happened on Sunday October 1st this year in Port Townsend. I decided to photograph other photographers for the day and ignore the Kinetic Skulpture Race, which I’ve shot several times before.

Here’s a Flickr slideshow of more photos from that day.

Vintage speedboat photo.

This beautifully restored and maintained speedboat sat near the north end of the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival display area in Port Hudson. That’s a 1958 Mercury outboard, that apparently still pushes the boat fast. I imagine that the boat’s owner had to stay around to wipe drool off the beautiful old boat. It’s a good thing I got the photo early in the morning. By 11 the boat had drawn a crowd. Now that’s a classic!

Click photo for larger view.

Bronze Otters

This statue of sea otters sits behind the Pacific Northwest Maritime Center. Yet another gray Port Townsend morning offered a soft backdrop for yet another fog photo.

Girls riding dressage

I always enjoy the equestrian events at the Jefferson County Fair. This photo shows junior female riders in a dressage event. The girls rode their horses around the arena demonstrating different gaits and turns. Older riders had to perform more difficult maneuvers.

The official bicycle of the Sequim Lavender Festival

About 15 years ago some people moved into the Sequim, Wa area and started growing lavender. For growing purposes the North Olympic Peninsula has some similarities to Provence, so it was a good idea. The growers started an annual lavender festival, showing their farms and selling products made from lavender.

The festival grew and now the weekend of the Sequim Lavender Festival brings the worst traffic of the year to highway 101 along the North Olympic Peninsula. We braved the trip anyway. As you can see, the weather was less than ideal. We ended up leaving Friday afternoon in the rain. It was wet on and off until Sunday lunch time. I went to shoot photos of the lavender fields, which didn’t happen. Not only was the light heavy and flat, much of the blooms hadn’t reached full color yet, as the summer has been so cold.

This bicycle was placed by the entrance to the Lavender Festival merchant booths in downtown Sequim. There was another group of food and vendor booths at Carrie Blake Park. That belonged to the Sequim Lavender Faire, which is apparently a separate event that happens the same weekend. There are a lot of politics involved, which I don’t understand. We had a good time anyway.

Hanging the Photo Club show at the Bishop Victorian Hotel

Thursday morning, members of the Port Townsend Photo Club brought their photos in to the Bishop Victorian Hotel to hang for a two month gig. The owners of the hotel have let us exhibit our pictures for several years now. It’s great exposure for those of us who aren’t part of a gallery or otherwise have a public place to show our pictures. The exhibit officially opens Saturday evening March 5th for the monthly Port Townsend Gallery Walk.

The Gallery Walk happens on the first Saturday of each month when local art galleries and businesses open their doors from 5:30-8:00 pm. The gallery walk is opening night for most local exhibits and a terrific good time.

The guy in the blue shirt is Bob Gray, president of the Photo Club.