Category Archives: The Sky

Tracking Clouds … A Great Way to Pass the Time

“Lone Trees & Clouds”
The Palouse, Washington

I have many wonderful memories of my childhood growing up at the “Ranch.” Many times I spent what seemed like hours, laying on the lawn, gazing up at the clouds, watching them move across the sky changing shapes. Some things never change. On my recent trip to the Palouse, I saw these two trees out in the middle of endless hills of green fields. The bright blue sky was filled with puffy white clouds. I stopped and watched the clouds move across the sky casting shadows on the green hills. An hour went by like a flash as I watched and waited for the shadow patterns in the background to frame the tree while not shading the tree itself or the area in front of it. What a great way to spend a peaceful early afternoon in a beautiful part of our state.

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Exploring the Back Roads

“Lonesome Road”
The Palouse, Washington

One of the things I enjoy the most is just driving around exploring the countryside. An old dirt road, rolling hills, puffy clouds puts my mind at peace. I stop in the middle of the seldom traveled road not worrying about another car or truck coming by. I pause and enjoy what I see around me and contemplate how this beautiful land has been used to support a long abandoned homestead and now as a section of a large mega-farm. Sometimes I create an image with my camera. Sometimes I just drive on with the image as a memory in my mind.

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Patience

“Sunlight on the Curves”
Palouse, Washington

Springtime in the Palouse is a wonderful time to practice my skills using infrared photography. The bright green winter wheat and the great clouds add to the experience. It was a cool windy day with rapidly moving clouds. Patches of sunlight rolled along the hills. I spent about an hour and created almost 100 images trying to catch different patches of sunlight crossing the two curvy hills at the same time. Patience paid off as I was able to catch the bright strips of sunlight on the two ridges.

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Clouds, Trees, and a Fence

Neighbor’s Pasture
Heatherwood Spring

The clouds make this infrared image of our neighbor’s pasture. We “borrow” this scene for our lower Heatherwood garden. We are surrounded on three sides (N,E, and W) by hills and look over a valley to the south. In the design of Heatherwood, we have opened up and framed vistas of the surrounding countryside. There is always something interesting to explore with our eyes and imagination.

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It Was a Sunny Afternoon …

“Overlooking Heatherwood and the Valley Below”
Heatherwood Spring

It was a sunny late afternoon. The lower yard was in bright sunlight and the valley below was covered with clouds. I had not photographed in infrared in over six months, so I decided to grab my IR camera and play with the light and shadows.

Spring is the time to work with infrared photography as all the green emerge from the deciduous trees and the spring grasses. I look forward to experimenting and improving my IR skills as the hills turn green around us.

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Another Spring First

“First Hellebore Bloom”
Heatherwood Spring

Our first hellebores just couldn’t wait for spring. I placed my iPhone on the ground and shot upward to the sky to get this image. There is no possible way to get my regular camera in this position. Every day, I take a stroll around the garden to see what is emerging. Something new is happening every day!

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Keeping My Mind and Eyes Open

“Winter Sunset”
Heatherwood View

One of my favorite places to sit, relax, and read is in our family room by the window. I frequently look up and gaze over the our garden and the ridges in the distance. Most times I see something that catches my attention and causes me to pause and contemplatively think about what I am seeing. The more that my mind is open, the more that I see. The more that I see, the more I appreciate the wonderful world we live in.

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There Is Brightness Ahead!

“Heatherwood Sunrise”

Today started with a bright sunrise as a harbinger of the start of a new chapter. Biden’s Inaugural speech on “Unity” was a bright way to start the path for the new Administration. Patience, persistence, honesty, compassion, compromise, and a lot of hard work will be required by all of us.

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