Category Archives: Landscape Photography

In the Rainforest

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Hanging Moss – Hoh River Rainforest

It was mid morning on a bright sunny, hot, dry day.  The summer has been one of the driest in history.  It was not a typical rainforest day.  It was still a beautiful exhibition of nature.  I spent a lot of time looking around to find an area that had filtered light without glaring bright spots.  This is one that I found.

I processed the image to try to capture the feeling I had:  filtered rays of sunshine highlighting background trees, interesting moss shapes in the shadows speckled with sunlight, a soft feeling of the soft moss.

I must go back after a good drenching rain.

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“Beartooth”

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Beartooth Peak

The sharp peak is “Beartooth.”  It does look like a sharp tooth. I can imagine the size of the bear that would have this peak as a tooth!

As I observe the wonder of nature that surrounds me, I like to let my imagination run loose. Here, I tried to place myself in the footsteps of our Native Americans and the lore that they created to attempt to explain the life around them.  I could spend hours just sitting, seeing, and letting my mind explore.  When I do so, I tend to drive the people around me a little crazy.  Most of my creative work is done when I am by myself.

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Experimenting with Moods

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Pilot Peak

I am focusing on trying to create various moods with my black and white images.  This image of Pilot Peak was shot in midday light.  I added contrast along with dodging and burning to get this “late evening” mood.

The image below is processed with a B&W conversion with just a little contrast and brightness adjustment.  It captures more of the detail, but lacks feeling (my perspective).

What is your preference?

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Symmetry

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Beartooth Lake

One of the most beautiful scenic drives that I have been on is the Beartooth Highway from Cook City, Wyoming to Red Lodge, Montana. On the way up to the summit, I saw a small opening through the trees with a beautiful lake peeking between them.  I found a turnout and walked a short distance to see this beautiful scene.  The lake was smooth as glass, the sky was blue, and the snow beamed out its radiance.  Symmetry of the bluff reflecting in the lake was perfect.  It was mid-day, so the colors were muted.  But is was perfect for black and white.

Someday, I will be back for an early morning or late afternoon shot of the warm sun reflecting off the bluff into the lake.

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Mt. St. Helens, Life Renewal

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Mt. St. Helens – 27 years after

Nature is magical!  It renews itself.  Out of a devastated landscape, life emerges.  I wish I had taken photographs when Karen and I visited the devastated mountain twenty plus yeas ago.  Everything was grey and brown, mud and ash.  It reminded me of what I thought the moon’s landscape was like.

Now, life is emerging everywhere.  The reds, oranges, yellows, and purples of the wildflowers scattered about breathe life into the landscape.  The greens below are young trees that have sprouted from seeds that have been brought to the surface by the small ground animals that survived the blast underground and from returning birds dropping seeds from above.  Life is a miracle!  My spirits lifted as I looked down over the valley below.  My imagination looked forward to picture a natural forest that will return in the centuries to come.

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Renewal

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Wildflowers on Johnson Ridge (Mt. St. Helens)

This image was taken on Johnson Ridge with Mt. St. Helens at my back. It shows the path of the destruction caused by the hot gases from the eruption.  Trees were blasted down for miles.  The little toothpicks on the far ridges were once towering firs.  Wildflowers and grasses have rejuvenated life in the area.  The contrasts between devastation and renewed life are beautiful and uplifting to my spirit.

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Life Emerges from Devastation

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Lupine and Mt. St. Helens’ Crater from Johnson Ridge

Mt. St. Helens eruption blasted directly over Johnson Ridge where this photo was taken.  The landscape was devastated,  Nothing was left standing or living.  Now the hill sides are covered with wildflowers and small trees.  This lupine stands defiant in front of the mountain.

 

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