“Alien”
This rock formation in the Alabama Hills stopped me dead in my tracks. I saw this alien head jutting out, looking straight at me. I could see his head, arms, shoulders, butt, and legs. Was I on a movie set or was it just my imagination.
Moloka’i High Cliffs from Mo’omomi
Waves peacefully swirl
Against protruding cliffs,
Inspire wonder inside me.
This is a long exposure perspective of Molokai’s high cliffs shown in my previous post. My workshop associates were all around me. I was totally engulfed in the moment and scene in front of me. I felt completely alone with Mother Molokai’s wonderful gift. I long to go back.
Palm Grove – Moloka’i
Warm, calm, relaxed
Eyes first close, then slowly open
A new perspective appears
I set up to photograph the sun setting over the horizon. I anxiously waited as the sun descended slowly. Every so often I would shoot a set of exposures for a HDR combination later. I started to relax and just enjoy the scene. Then the idea came to take a long exposure. This resultant image best depicts the peaceful feeling I had watching the sunset.
Color of Life
“The color of life —
Older under emerging,
as laughing lines play.”
One of the most insightful lessons I experienced during my retreat at Hui Ho’olani was an exercise of creativity. Groups of three were formed. We were told to create a “haiku-type” poem of what we were experiencing at the moment. A little twist was injected; member #1 would write down the first line, #2 would write down the second line, then #3 would finish with the third line. Each member would build on the other. It totally amazed me what beautiful and creative poems were composed in a short time of less than 15 minutes. It all goes to show that there is creative talent in each of us if we just let it flow freely out!
I tried a derivative of this process with a dear friend. I sent her the above photograph. She jotted down several short poems expressing her feelings. The above 3 lines are hers.
Thank you, my dear friend!
Walking around Hui Ho’olana
Old covers new
But not really
The glory of youth emerges through
After an hour of meditation a the Hui, my eyes and soul seemed open and aware. Beauty was everywhere. I stopped, looked, enjoyed and sometimes photographed what was given to me. I was usually late to breakfast.
Translucent Waves
Waves roll in one after another
Translucent green and mist of white
Crashing into the sandy beach
Sunrise – Heather Heights, Selah, WA
Moloka’i Waves
Gentle waves rolling in
Pink and aqua brighten the scene
Providing peace within
Polihale State Park – Kaua’i, Hawai’i
It was a beautiful day! The paved road ended. We saw a rough dirt road, drove a slow 5 miles and had this beach pretty much to ourselves. It was so very peaceful and relaxing. I felt enlightened just to stand, see, and hear the waves crashing on the beach.
I took this image with black and white post processing in mind. I liked the blue sky and the tan beach sand. I liked the increased tonalities and mood that B&W gave me. Time to experiment …. I added split toning into the B&W image, then blended it back into the original photo. I like the result.
Washington Arboretum, Seattle
I constantly look over my previous images to review how I have achieved a certain look so I can improve on it. Today I was reviewing my images for examples of pulling a viewer into the frame through the illusion of depth. Well, this image has nothing to do with that, but it still caught my eye.
The image is a double exposure of a couple of maples in their fall glory. They had strong dark branches with the leaves receiving side lighting. I was in a light playful mood, so I tried a double exposure. I like the way it came out.