Gary Gionet

On our return day from Oregon, we traveled from Highway 101 to Grants Pass, Oregon via Highway 199 (Redwood Highway). We explored around Lake Sumack and found the hills alive with fall colors. The closer we got to Grants Pass the more color filled the moutains.

With only one lone boat on the lake it was obvious that we were witnessing the peace of this place in it's off-season.

Magestic colors filled the landscape! The neatest thing happened today. We originally planned to take the same route back home, following Highway 101 to Highway 12 and then cut over to Interstate-5 in Stockton. At the last minute we made the decision to take a different route. Reaching Interstate-5 via Grants Pass meant about an additional hour travel time, but we really wanted to take in this scenic drive. We were about 30 miles west of Grants Pass in the town of Cave Junction, when I suddenly decided to stop for gas in this small town. Being in Oregon the gas is pumped for you by the station employees. This very nice man came over and pumped our gas and washed our windshield. I have to tell you, I got spoiled in Oregon. Full service is not dead! Anyway, back to my awesome day. As I stood there waiting for a full tank of gasoline, the attendant, Pat and I had a very good visit. Talk about God bringing two people together at the right time. Here I am in this small town, on a route I ha...

The reason we traveled to Oregon - Congratulations Ray & Sylvia!

This week, Kelly and I spent a few days on the Southern Oregon Coast where we photographed a friends wedding, but also spent a little bit of time taking in the beauty of the coastal region around Brookings, Oregon. We stayed at this small Bed & Breakfast. The service was outstanding and the owners very personable. This was so much better than a local motel.

Here we have part of the view from the balcony chair of the Bed & Breakfast.

Spectacular views from the rocky beaches north of Brookings, Oregon.

The rough surf and foggy marine layer made this scene a little bit chilling!

*For Sale* slightly weathered used fishing boat, real cheap! Needs some TLC (and lots of duct tape).

I was trying to sneak up on an Egret when I scared the heck out of this duck! He never did take to the air, instead he just ran on top of the water.

We ended each day with an awesome sunset like this one. CLICK HERE to see all of the images in the web album.

The white pelicans have returned to the San Joaquin Wildlife Preserve in Irvine. The pelican count currently for October is at 65, but that number usually grows to about 300 in the next few weeks. SJWP is of course one of my favorite local places to visit.

It's not all pelicans at SJWP, there are plenty of other species to photograph too.

Robert & Amber brought their new baby boy to the studio for some family shots. In an earlier post I mentioned that their new baby was awaiting a name. Well, it is official, this cute little guy has an awesome name - Elijah! Pictured here with Elijah are his brothers Christian, Michael and Damien.

One of a few fun shots! "What happened to our brother?"

What a wonderful thing it is to ponder upon God's creation!

A few weeks ago I had the privilege to photograph a Multi-Casualty Incident drill conducted by the Garden Grove Fire Department. I was impressed with the precision that these well trained firefighters handled this scenario.

This was a well integrated drill with participants from Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), CERT volunteers, CARE Ambulance and of course the Garden Grove Fire Department.

The scenario was a car struck by a bus, with multiple victims in both the car and the bus. The drill was designed to test a system in place used to coordinate and manage large casualty incident of this nature. It went well.