by Jim Bellomo | Nov 16, 2025 | 365
And here they are. Getting closer to the end every day. Can’t believe the year is almost over, and I still haven’t missed a day. Came as close as I could to missing one this week, but remembered at the last minute. I think my favorite this week was the outdoor shot on the only beautiful day we had this week.
Here they are—the last leaves of the season. Red and yellow, almost ready to fall from the tree. If I had taken this exact photo a week ago, you wouldn’t have been able to see the sky in the background. Autumn is turning to winter, and the leaves are nearly gone.
I don’t think I’ve shared this particular spot on Redmond Ridge before. It’s on one of my six-mile routes, and I’d say I pass it once or twice a month. It offers a long view down some wetlands that probably stretch about three-quarters of a mile. When I first took a photo of this years ago, I sent it to my buddy in Canada, and he once asked me, “Where’s the moose?” I had to agree with him that the pond in the foreground looks like a perfect place for a moose to feed. Now, whenever I think of this spot, I always look for the moose. Still not there. But I did put a red poppy in the scene because it’s Remembrance Day in Canada and I want to remember my good friend who served his country.
I know. We have an Alexa. Actually, we have five Alexa devices. We use them to control a bunch of things, mostly to turn lights on and off, set timers for food, and find out how old someone famous is. Today, Amazon offered us an upgrade to Alexa+, their new AI-powered digital assistant. So far, the only change I’ve noticed is that she now has eight new voices — most of which I don’t like. Four masculine, four feminine, all young. I realize that we are over the hill, but we’re still pretty tech-savvy, so why not a voice that sounds older than 30? All this to say, tonight, here’s a photo of our bedroom Alexa. She speaks in a feminine voice.
Sorry about posting two small photos in two days, but the weather has been horrible. Lots of—no, tons of—rain. Build-an-ark kind of rain. Just constant for a couple of days. But we handle it well, so that’s okay. One of the few problems with this string of outdoor lights is that sometimes they leak, and water gets inside the glass. Then it trips the outdoor circuit that controls our plug, and these lights go out.
Another very rainy day. Keeley and I went out for a long walk when we thought it would be clear for a short time, and we got about a mile away before it started pouring. Needless to say, we returned soaking wet. But this afternoon, I did go out to Trilogy’s club to work out. We have a walking track on the second floor that I use when it’s raining. The view from the track looks down into our club’s swimming pool. Most days around 3:00 pm, we hold a two-hour family swim. Grandparents can bring their kids and grandkids to swim in a very warm and safe pool. The deepest point in the pool is 3 feet 6 inches. Mason and Maylee used to come and swim before they got too big to spend time with grandpa—too busy dating, playing in the band, and doing all the other things teenagers do. But family swim today was quite popular.
Long day today. Spent half of it in Urgent Care. Everything is fine, but they had to run a lot of tests to find out. Always an adventure. Tonight, Kathleen and I were watching TV when I suddenly remembered I hadn’t taken a photo yet. So, that became the weekly Keeley shot because she’s always available as a model. But this is a great photo because it shows one of her quirkiest traits—she can sleep with her eyes open. Seriously.
Thought I would show you the final dish.
Haven’t done a food shot in a while, so here’s what we had for dinner. It’s called Spiced Seared Eggplant with Pearl Couscous, and it’s one of my favorites. If you leave off the finishing yogurt, it’s vegan, so it’s rather healthy for you. Leaving it with the yogurt (which is damned good) still makes it vegetarian.
In photography, there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality. —Irving Penn
by Jim Bellomo | Nov 9, 2025 | 365
Here we are on Sunday again with our usual group of landscapes, close-ups and a weekly Keeley. I keep trying to come up with something new for you, and this week I at least got you a duck's butt. It's not my favorite, though, as that Trilogy Lake is one of my favorite things to shoot around here.
To learn more about the photo, simply click on it and you will be able to read the caption. Enjoy.
Drove through Kirkland tonight on my way home from Bellevue. Stopped by one of Kirkland’s three beachside parks. I shot about 30 photos, but this one was one of my top four. I couldn’t decide, so Kathleen helped me pick one, and we both think this shot is of either a penguin or a duck with its head underwater. You choose.
Your weekly Keeley shows you that our adorable puppy is a little thief. As you can see here, she has stolen her mommy’s chair. This is one of the few places she usually sits. This is Kathleen’s chair, and Keeley often sits there, but almost always in Kathleen’s lap. Right now, she’s doing it again because Kathleen is out getting a pedicure. So, missing her, Keeley is sitting next to me in Kathleen’s chair.
Took Keeley for a long walk yesterday, and we ended up on the far side of Trilogy along the Sunrise Loop Trail. There’s a walkway and bridge you cross over, and this is the scene from that bridge. I’ve taken other photos there in different seasons, and it’s one of my favorite places in Trilogy. It’s not really a lake, more like a bog with plenty of water. Still, it’s a place I love to walk.
Tonight was our monthly Trilogy Travel Club meeting for November, and we introduced a trip to India for March 2027. We had a bunch of people, and I used my time pre-meeting to shoot some crowd shots of people conversing. The gentleman on the right is one of my favorite people in Trilogy, Kit Mohan, and he and his bride, Shoba, are the ones who brought us this wonderful trip. They wanted to share a little of their home country with their friends and neighbors. We even had our tour company owner speaking to us via Zoom from India. It was awesome.
Working out today, I saw this scene. The thing about it is that, rarely when I am there, are all the treadmills full. At least, all of them in a row. There are four or five others just to the right of these in the Center for Well Being here at Trilogy. I felt OK taking the photo because no one should be recognizable from this angle.
One of the most remarkable things about living on Redmond Ridge is the abundance of trails, many of which pass through wetlands. When those wetlands are quite large, water is almost everywhere. Fortunately, the county parks department does nice things like building this footbridge that spans a wide area of bog. The truly amazing part is that less than a quarter mile from where I took this photo, there’s a large shopping center, and I am only about 2.5 miles from our house. Keeley and I try to go for a walk every day when it’s not raining. We call it dodging the drops.
With bad weather and nothing I really wanted to shoot, I decided to do some product photography today. I intentionally used a macro lens so that only the final product was in focus, while the rest of the box was slightly out of focus.
Photography is the story I fail to put into words. —Destin Sparks
by Jim Bellomo | Nov 3, 2025 | 365
Yes, it’s kind of true that this whole 365 thing has become a chore. But with only two months left, I will finish it. Some days I forget to post the photo, but so far I have taken one every day this year. I think part of my problem is that I don’t go anywhere unless we are traveling. Now that we’re done until next April, I feel aimless. My fellow photographers around the world on this 365 trip are doing great work because they’re going out and finding things to shoot. I, on the other hand, am just not into spending every day driving around doing that. It makes me realize how little I go anywhere since I retired. But that’s okay because I love my life, so this project mostly consists of Keeley shots punctuated by bouts of travel.
But here are my shots for this last week. And there is NO DOUBT that the one I took on Thursday afternoon at the kid’s place in Olympia of the setting sun is not only my favorite but the best.
Another walk shot because, honestly, I pretty much spent the day cooking. I know I should be practicing my food photography, but I get so busy cooking that I forget to grab the camera. This was an iPhone pano from my walk with Keeley yesterday. Since it had rained pretty much nonstop for about 36 hours, everyone was out walking their dogs. On a usual three-mile walk, Keeley and I might see three or four dogs, but yesterday we ran into 15. She did great, though, and only pulled my arm off once.
I try to walk almost every day, usually more than 3 miles. When I walk, I typically take a single photo with my iPhone. I don’t often post that photo because I prefer to share pictures from my Nikon. The main reason I take that photo is to send it to my buddy Bob. I text it to him with a simple message: “Walk Today.” Since it was pouring rain today, I walked indoors at the Trilogy gym. We have a great second-floor oval track I walk around—21 laps equal a mile. It takes me just over an hour to walk four miles. Since I was walking indoors, I sent Bob this photo, which I now share with you.
Your weekly Keeley is…Keeley the protector. On Halloween night, we are very thankful we live in Trilogy. You see, when you live in a 55+ community, you get a certain number of trick-or-treaters. You get ZERO! Not a one. This means no one knocks on our door, and that means no major barking. I can’t imagine Halloween in a regular neighborhood with this wonderful but reactive dog.
We are in Olympia tonight for our granddaughter’s fall band concert. It was great seeing her play, and I really wanted to post a photo of her, but she plays the clarinet and the flutist sitting in front of her was blocking my shot from the bleacher seats. I managed ten shots of parts of her head peeking out from behind the flutist. But that’s OK because before we went to the concert, this amazing sunset happened right in front of their place. They live in a pretty rural area with barns and fences, which really made the shot for me.
Last week, I took a photo similar to this of a trail here in Trilogy. If you go back and look at that one, most of the color was in the green trees. Today, when Keeley and I went walking, we found this beautiful carpet of yellow and green leaves left after the big storms.
Anyone who knows me well knows that Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday. In fact (I have to say this quietly because I promised Kathleen I would be “positive”), I FREAKIN’ HATE HALLOWEEN. The biggest thing I dislike about it is that it takes over everything. Restaurants serve “scary” food. TV shows have Halloween episodes. Movies and trailers are all about horror films. It just floods our lives for the entire month. But we do have one piece of Halloween decoration—Edna. She’s a wonderful addition to our family, showing up once a year to delight us with her lights and diodes. We named her after one of our (now gone) entertainers, Dame Edna.
Last week, it was leaves and color. This week, it’s skies. Today, the skies were magnificent—truly superb. Here are four photos to prove it.
I believe photographers should shoot what they want, not shoot what they get. – Roberto Valenzuela
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 22, 2025 | 365
I lost track of the days and forgot to post last week’s photos. Too busy finishing up the last post on our Columbia River Trip. So here they are. Better late than never. Don’t forget: if you click the first shot, you can scroll through using your arrow keys or by swiping.
This week, I don’t think I know which one I like. I am SURE what photo I love. It’s the panorama of the river behind our ship.
We visited Pendleton, Oregon today, a very Western town. Our tour guide was excellent, and she told us a lot about the city before we even arrived, especially the character of the people we would meet. While walking around after lunch, I saw an older gentleman whom everyone seemed to know, as they spoke to him when passing on the street. He simply called me ‘old cowboy.’ What a great face.
Woke up this morning moored on the Snake River. Opened our curtains and saw something that looked like this canyon. I grabbed my Nikon, ran to the sliding door, and went to shoot the photo, but my viewfinder said, “Shutter is locked. Please recharge your battery.” So I grabbed a battery, but by the time I put in the new one, the canyon was gone. Then, just like that, another came along about 10 seconds later. And then another, and another, and another. Just canyon after canyon, and they all looked like this. The Snake (at least that part of it) is not the most varied or interesting river.
And one of my best panoramic ever. I LOVE this shot. Make sure and click on it to enlarge it so you can see what I mean.
Thought this shot I took from the deck of American Cruise Line’s Harmony was worthy of shot of the day. We are sailing on the Columbia River between The Dalles and Hood River, Oregon. In the morning light, Mt. Hood poked its top out, and I just liked the amount I got to see. I had a bunch of others where you could see more of the mountain, but this one did it for me.
In Astoria, Oregon today, I took a photo walk along the waterfront and through their downtown. There are a lot of great old buildings downtown, but I especially loved this old movie house, which is now an arts center with live performances, some movies, and other arts events.
There was no photo taken at 6:30 pm, and I was feeling down. We were supposed to be with our good friends, my brother, and his wife at a restaurant in Walla Walla. We had to cut our vacation short due to illness and a recent injury flaring up. So, since I was feeling down, I decided to take a close-up photo of something blue.
It’s been two weeks since Keeley’s last shot because we have been out of town for almost that long. When we had to cut our trip short due to a medical emergency, the only bright spot was coming home to this amazing girl. Nothing could be a better welcome home than the one she gave us when we walked through the front door. She went absolutely wild, even though Kathleen’s daughter Michelle did a great job of taking care of our girl, she was still so happy to see us. But this is her “I’m ticked at you for leaving me,” look.
A good photograph is knowing where to stand. – Ansel Adams
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 18, 2025 | Uncategorized
If that headline isn’t enough to grab your attention, nothing else will ?. But it seems like that’s what Thursday was all about. We woke up at the dock in Richland, Washington, where we were to board our “luxury motor coach” for a full-day tour in Pendleton, Oregon, the home of the Pendleton Round-Up, one of the biggest rodeos and wild west shows in the USA, and the home of plenty of cowboys and cowboy culture. When we got to the “luxury motor coach,” we met our guide, Rosemary, who would stay with us for the rest of the day. She turned out to be one of the best guides we’ve ever had the pleasure of traveling with. Born and raised here in the Washington Tri-Cities area, she was a treasure trove of knowledge about both Richland, Hanford, and Pendleton.
On our way down, she entertained us with stories about legendary cowboys, the underground tour we would take upon arriving in Pendleton, and a lot of local history. She even sang to us—quite well, I might add. She showed us a great video about Duff Severe (at right), one of America’s top saddle makers. You might not find that topic interesting, but I found it fascinating. Duff was a legend in the area and had been featured in National Geographic, other magazines, and TV shows. Rosemary suggested that if we wanted to learn more about Duff, we should look him up on YouTube. I plan to do that as soon as we get home.
When we arrived in Pendleton, we passed the enormous Pendleton Round-Up grounds on our way to our first stop, the Pendleton Underground Tour. We had an outstanding tour guide, Sue Ellen, and you could tell she loves her volunteer job. She walked us through an entire block of underground rooms that had been restored and turned into a museum (in their heyday, there had been more than 16 blocks of underground). Here’s some of what we saw.
Sue Ellen starts the tour.
Gambling
Drinking
Sleeping…it all went on underground.
The Underground Tour also had a really nice museum where we could see the work of Duff Severe. As he got older, his arthritic hands kept him from continuing to make full-size saddles, so he started creating miniature saddles as works of art. We got a chance to see his four most famous pieces (created for a casino owner, who passed away before they were finished). Each one represents a suit of cards. They were so beautiful and intricate, I shot photos of them both full-size and in close-up.
Hearts
Spades
Spades. Full saddle
After our tour and viewing the exhibits, it was off to lunch at a nearby restaurant. A nice salad, a sandwich and a cookie. Nothing special, but good. Then we had free time to explore. For many, that meant shopping, but of course, for me, that meant photography and a nice photo walk around the downtown core. Here are the shots I got.
The entire groups hears Rosemary talk about a statue of a madam.
Other bronze sculptures lined the downtown streets. So well done with amazing faces.
Pioneers…
A famous Black cowboy…
And the aforementioned Madam.
Even a local football legend.
This black beauty caught my eye.
And the old time signage I have seen on this trip has been awesome.
See what I mean.
Autumn was in full swing. It was sunny but chilly.
A door I really liked.
The Umatilla River flows just north of downtown.
This older gentlemen cowboy was a great subject.
And of course, it’s almost Halloween.
They did some inventive stuff.
Looking through downtown from the river.
There is a story to this sign but it’s too long to explain.
A typical downtown scene.
After our free time, it was back on the bus for a visit to the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. I know that sounds a bit boring, but it was truly an amazing museum and cultural center all about the local Native American tribes. Both the good and the bad were covered in detail. If you are ever in Pendleton, this is worth a trip.
All of that and not a word about nuclear bombs? Well, on the way back to the ship, Rosemary told us more about the Tri-City area, including the Hanford Nuclear site, where the plutonium was developed that went into the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, to help end World War II. She even had a very interesting video that she let us watch on the way back that showed the role that Hanford had and continues to have in our nuclear research.
That about covers our day in Pendleton. I had two other photos I took that I really loved, but they are kind of artsy and didn’t fit anywhere else. Here they are for your enjoyment…or not ?.
The Columbia at dawn.
Rosemary (our guide) had these awesome boots.
On to Clarkston, Washington and the Snake River. More later.
May your belly never grumble, may your heart never ache, may your horse never stumble, may your cinch never break. –The Cowboy Blessing
