desktop photos

Here are some 1280×854 photos of mine, mostly landscapes and textures, which you can use for desktop backgrounds. They’re free for your personal use: just scroll down and help yourself.

These photos are sharp: everything in focus is completely crisp. Most of them were downsampled by about 7:1 pixels and are abundantly inside the practical acuity of the lens/sensor system. The only visible artifacts – other than semi-real effects like bokê and motion blur – are chromatic aberration and sharpening grain. Without an original for comparison, the compression is below my perception on my monitor.

Besides being sharp, the photos are accurate. The colors, if any, are as I remember them. No bugs were erased; no flowers shifted. I did some combination of cropping, leveling, color balancing, de-noising, sharpening, and scaling. For some photos I masked sharpening with luminance (so there wouldn’t be too much grain in the sky), but otherwise all changes were to the image as a whole.

Why the paranoia? Because these are backgrounds. A desktop that distracted me with compression artifacts or editing flaws, or even the knowledge that I could find either if I looked hard enough, would be intolerably distracting. Fuhfuhfuh.

Except as mentioned, these were taken with a Canon 350D and a Canon 28–135mm f/3.5–5.6 or 50mm f/1.8 II lens.

Again, these are free for your personal use. For other licensing, get in touch.

– Charlie Loyd, 2006-09-10.


California poppy after rain, North Portland, late spring 2007.


Roadside dogwood flowers, Northeast Portland, spring 2007. On Fuji Superia 400 film with a Nikon FE through a 50mm f/1.8 series E lens.


Out of focus sunset, Olympic Peninsula, fall 2006.


Cormorants and gulls on pilings, Port Townsend, fall 2006.


California poppies and a ladybug, Port Townsend, summer 2006.


Painted cement, Fort Worden, summer 2006. Very narrow focus; I like how the rough surface catches the bokê a little.


Painted door, Fort Worden, summer 2006.


Motion-blurred charcoal on a burnt ceiling, Fort Worden, summer 2006.


Driftwood, Olympic Peninsula, summer 2006. I wish the field were deeper.


A sparkler on the beach, San Juan Islands, summer 2006.


Driftwood and tule grass. San Juan Islands, summer 2006.


Mt Baker from the west (over Lummi island) at sunset. Yes, it really was this color. San Juan Islands, summer 2006.


A gnarly sandstone point. San Juan Islands, summer 2006.


The sawn face of some old driftwood. San Juan Islands, summer 2006.


San Juan Islands, near dusk on summer solstice eve 2006.


A choppy day, San Juan Islands, summer 2006.


The Big Dipper – a 435-second exposure. San Juan Islands, summer 2006.


San Juan Islands, summer 2006.


Portland, OR, spring 2006. Nice pollen flecks.


Mt Hood from the north, fall 2005. I think this is from near Dry Run Bridge on Lost Lake Road, south of Hood River, but I’m not sure.


Mt Hood from the west over St Johns, Portland, spring 2006. Taken standing on the St Johns Bridge. Some chromatic aberration.


Mt St Helens from the southwest over North Portland, spring 2006. From the St Johns Bridge.


A defaced sign on the fence around Sabin Community Garden, Portland, summer 2005.


San Juan Islands, winter 2005–06. I use this one a lot.


Röyksopp at Berbati’s Pan, Portland, fall 2005.


St Johns Bridge, Portland, spring 2006.


St Johns Bridge, Portland, winter 2005–06. Echos of the right light.


Portland, spring 2006.


San Juan Islands, winter 2005–06.


San Juan Islands, summer 2005. On Kodak 400 UC film. I don’t know the species.


Alberta St, Portland, spring 2006.


The west end of Steel Bridge, Portland, fall 2005. Not as sharp as I’d like.


Hedge maple at Hoyt Arboretum, Portland, spring 2006.


Lichen and hexagonal bokeh, San Juan Islands, winter 2005–06.


Moss and pebbles on a boulder. San Juan Islands, winter 2005–06.


Lake and railroad in Northern California, summer 2005. Sky spots from gunk on the train window.


Crops in Central California, summer 2005.


The Wina loading grain. Portland, summer 2005.


Portland, Easter 2006.


Portland, Easter 2006. Too Hallmarky?


Tidal rocks, San Juan Islands, winter 2005–06. Time-fuzzed water. I was a fool not to bring a tripod.


Submerging rocks, San Juan Islands, winter 2005–06. Time-fuzzed water.