During a recent trip to Bend, my wife and I did a little exploring around the area. We took a drive to Tumalo Falls during the middle of the day. The mid-day sun did not do this beautiful waterfall justice. To capture the bright greens without washing the bright water out, I blended two exposures together; one taken for the water and the other for the green trees.
Standing in line in New York City’s Times Square waiting to purchase theater tickets, I looked up and saw this HUGE eye looking down on me. What an eerie feeling!!! Look close and you can see the billboard’s display segments.
I always find something interesting when I walk down the streets of NYC! I constantly looking up, down, side to side, and back and forward.
This is my first attempt at capturing Orchas in Puget Sound. We joined a couple of friends up in the San Juan Islands a few weeks ago to relax, enjoy each other’s company and watch some Orchas. Capturing whales is definitely a skill that has to be developed. They are either too far away or too close. They continuously pop up where you don’t expect them. However, the biggest skill is to keep a steady hand when you are so excited seeing such amazing creatures.
I can imagine what a problem Mercer had with finding places to put his collection. Can’t find a place? Just put a net on your ceiling and stuff it full of interesting things. Here, Henry could lay on his sofa below, look up and view his Etruscan pottery collection.
For some reason this collection captures my attention each time I enter Mercer’s study. Not necessarily for the photographic interest but by my awe of Mercer and his ambition and drive to collect such a variety of artifacts from around the world. His fascination of pottery led him to develop and create his fantastic tiles.
The image below shows the perspective that Mercer could have viewed his collection from. I am sure there were a lot of good naps taken here in the comfort of his study.
Henry Mercer kept impeccable notes on his research, work and collections. Many are kept on display throughout Fonthill. Every time I walk through his rooms, I find new details that I have overlooked or have not seen before.
Mercer’s fourth desk is my least favorite. This is my only image of this desk from my multiple visits here. My eye has always focused on the large windows and the chest.
Mercer’s study is an intimate and very warm feeling room. I imagine that if Henry got a little bored in his study, he could always go down to his more formal large library on the main floor of the castle. The Library will be a future set of posts sometime in the future.
This third desk is nestled into a small alcove in the back part of Mercer’s study. I have not seen light reach this part of the study. Note the strange looking object hanging from the ceiling. It is an Arabic oil lantern. Mercer’s collection of ancient implements and artifacts around the world is amazing. There are very few walls in the castle that are not covered by art or artifacts.
Welcome Summer! This Spring has been very interesting … periods of heat, cold, wet, and dry conditions, all mixed together. Right now we are between periods of rain and warm days. It is hard to tell which is growing faster, our flowers or the weeds. One thing for sure, our knees are getting their workout separating the two.
This image is a multiple exposure created by simultaneously rotating and zooming around the center flower. Karen’s garden creates an abundance of photographic opportunities.
More of the Fonthill Study coming …
This desk with late morning sun shining across it is located on an adjacent wall from the desk shown on my last post. Depending on his mood and light, Mercer would pick where he wanted to work in his study.
The image below is taken looking down the desk from the end. At the end tucked away in a corner is a leather lounge sofa. I imagine it was a good place for that “afternoon nap”. Above the sofa is his collection of ancient and Early American pottery.
Henry Mercer’s Study is my favorite room at Fonthill. Mercer has 4 working desks situated strategically around the room to capitalize on the light as it progresses throughout the day. This image is one of the “standard” photographs taken of the room. I attempted to give it a little different perspective by converting to B&W and focusing the light on the typewriter.