17-SEP-2008
Deschutes National Forest, Oregon, 2008
I made many images in this forest of ferns, but the only one that seemed special to me was this one, because of the way the light strikes the plants in the foreground and on the sides of the tree trunks in the background, leaving all else in shadow. The textures and colors of the autumnal ferns, varying from green to yellow to orange, speak of the ebb and flow of the seasons and the life cycles that parallel them. The pine trees that appear to continue indefinitely, remind us that here in Oregon, lumbering is a way of life, and Oregonians must continually walk the delicate line between protecting the natural environment and their own economic survival.
13-SEP-2008
Upper Falls, McCloud River, California, 2008
I built this image around the light falling on the plants on either side of the turbulent water. The sunlit plants are like pathfinders, illuminating the way for the onrushing waters. I used my spot-metering mode, exposing for the highlights and letting the shadowed portions of the image slide into darkness. I also stress the texture and frozen movement of the water, which required a fast shutter speed. Some photographers would have used a tripod, a neutral density filter, and a slow shutter speed to blur the water as a silky torrent. However I have long felt that such silky water can call attention to technique itself at the expense of the natural world, and when used repeatedly can become gimmicky. I feel that as a nature and landscape photographer, I am expressing my ideas as a witness, and my images should bear true witness to its wonders. For that reason I do not employ special photographic effects at either the moment of exposure or later in post processing in nature and landscape photography. I try to let the landscape speak for itself, and as far as I’m concerned, this landscape does.
24-AUG-2008
Wheeler Beach, Narragansett, Rhode Island, 2008
Using a 28mm lens, I fill two thirds of my vertical frame with the richly colored rocks that form the base of the jetty making the southern boundary of Narragansett’s Wheeler Beach. The upper third of the image features the beach itself, as well as the low flying line of clouds that hang over the scene. The early morning light bathes the scene in warm colors that define the age of the ancient boulders that anchor the image.
13-MAY-2008
Rainbow on Bridalveil, Yosemite National Park, California, 2008
Rainbows are created by sunlight passing through droplets of moisture at a particular angle. The mist of a great waterfall is an ideal setting for this optical phenomenon. The rainbow that forms at the base of Yosemite’s spectacular Bridalveil Fall creates a delightful mix of primary colors that can best be expressed when the image is underexposed. I made this photograph from the top of Yosemite’s Tunnel View lookout point, several miles away from Bridalveil Fall. We knew the rainbow would appear in Bridalveil’s mist – we just had to wait for it to happen. This image is one of my favorite landscapes. It is as if a giant liquid crack has opened in the earth, revealing a trace of fire in the thundering fissure.
15-MAY-2008
Scorched pines, Yosemite National Park, California, 2008
By spot metering on the brilliantly illuminated ferns on the forest floor, I cause the stand of pines to grow darker, emphasizing the scars left on them by a recent forest fire. The light reflected off the ferns adds a soft, indirect glow to the scorched bark. The image speaks of nature’s way – fire and timber are not only enemies - they are collaborators.
13-MAY-2008
El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California, 2008
I used spot metering to expose on a sliver of El Capitan’s sheer granite face, as the morning sun illuminated it. I set my telephoto zoom lens at its longest distance (420mm) and shot the image from off to one side, at a great distance away. I framed the vertical sliver within a horizontal frame, which creates tension and further abstracts the image. Finally, I screened the face of El Capitan with a foreground layer of pine branches, which helps give the great cliff its sense of place by implying a forest setting.
07-AUG-2007
Sunset, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 2007
The most expressive landscapes show less of the subject in order to say more about it. This is a good example of that concept. I watched and waited as the sun slowly dipped below the rim of the canyon, observing the changing pattern of light and shadow. Three of the five rock formations before me are barely seen abstractions, because of the dark shadows that engulf them. The formation closet to my vantage point is still reflecting the last rays of the setting sun along the top of its façade. It looks like an illuminated cake with one candle on it – formed by the sun splashed edge of the butte just behind it. We are celebrating the geological result of six million years of erosion here, and we do it by showing less in order to say more.
08-AUG-2007
Looking down, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 2007
By layering this image with a foreground of tangled bushes, I give the viewer a basis for appreciating the sheer height of our vantage point. I exposed for the one spot of bright light in this image – the rising sun illuminating just the crown of the huge rock formation at the left of this image. By using my spot meter in this way, I plunge the foreground vegetation into shadow, making it mysterious and seemingly ancient. The balance of the frame is filled with distant rock formations that vanish into shadow as well, leaving the eye to focus on the subject of this image – the towering, twisting, terraced vision at left.
08-AUG-2007
The tree in the chasm, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 2007
Ten minutes after making the preceding image (
http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/83716757 ), I made this one from almost the same spot. The rising sun now illuminates almost the entire rock formation that I had featured in that image. I used a 40mm focal length on that image. For this photograph, I am using a 28mm wideangle lens turned vertically, in order to embrace the ancient, well-worn rocks on the edge of the rim itself to add perspective to the landscape. I stress the dark chasm in the center of the image, in order to feature a small but glowing tree that seems to be hanging within it. The tree just catches the early morning sun, a spot of orange adrift in a sea of black. All of the massive formations in this image now become our context. That little tree, alive, and vulnerable, becomes the subject of this image.
07-AUG-2007
Growing in the glow, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 2007
The evening sun illuminates the top of a canyon ledge supporting but a single tree. I used my spot meter on the brightest part of the image – the slabs of rock that line that ledge – to create my exposure. The rest of the image darkens accordingly. I was struck by the way the rock façade below the tree holds its glow as the rest of the image darkens. It is reflected light, bouncing off the rim of the Grand Canyon itself, which creates that glow. The glow seems to nurture the solitary tree above it, urging it to flourish.
13-JUN-2007
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, California, 2007
A landscape of ancient boulders, trees and grasses greets the hikers and campers who visit this state park. I saw the boulders here as islands in a sea of grass. The tiny spikelets at the ends of the blades toss around and over the rocks as ocean spray. The light illuminates one of the boulders, while throwing the others into deep shadow. The rounded shapes of the boulders echo each other, creating a sense of movement from front to back and side to side. Three layers draw the eye into the scene – the foreground boulder as an anchor, the flow of green grass dividing the boulders down the middle, and the wall of boulders as background.
20-FEB-2007
Manley Beacon, Death Valley National Park, California, 2007
Most dawn landscapes stress the delicate early morning light as it falls on the primary subject. In this image, I go against that principle here – using the dawn light as context for a subject still very much in shadow. The distinctive arrowhead shape of Manley Beacon is still shrouded in darkness. As the most prominent feature of Death Valley’s famous Zabriskie Point overlook, it forms the base layer of my image. Its vast shadow is the secondary layer. The distant Amargosa Mountains, aflame in the dawn light, form the background layer of this landscape. The image is about the gradual arrival of the morning sun, tempting the imagination of the viewer to visualize what Manley Beacon will look like when it becomes ablaze with light.