On the downside, graduate school through May, subsequent trouble finding work, and some physical issues (now resolved, thankfully) constrained the number of trips that I could take, as well as the amount of risk-taking and experimentation I could afford to do.
Before I begin, the obligatory plug for my other Web and social media presences:
- My Zhibit, which functions as an online portfolio for the images I've edited/processed.
- My Facebook page! Give it a "like" if you haven't! In addition to re-posting blog posts here, I sometimes post individual images with discussions of the subject, location, or composition, in more depth than is typical on this blog. Additionally, this would be the place to see any announcements about upcoming showings or events.
- My Flickr! This is new this year. The nice thing about Flickr is that you can enlarge the images, so it may be the best way to see my work online. Plus, I have my albums organized primarily by region, rather than my usual chronological organization.
Last Year's Resolutions
1) New Modes of Travel - Last year, I had hoped to experiment with some photographic trips by bicycle or backpacking. Sadly, I dropped the ball on this one. My physical issues in the mid/late summer, which would have been the zenith of backpacking possibilities, didn't help. Mostly, though, my shortage of income made me plan my few trips more conservatively. Instead of the experimentation and risk-taking that backpacking or bike trips would have involved, I focused on much more familiar forms of travel such as car camping and day hiking. This enabled me to use my limited time in the field more effectively in the short term.
2) New Locations - this is one that I did manage to accomplish, making my fewer trips count by breaking some new ground. In all cases, I'd like to go back as soon as possible!
Blue Mountains: This region has intrigued me from afar for some time, due to its interesting terrain and fantastic wildflower possibilities. I was able to finally make it there for a short but sweet visit to the Misery Spring Campground and environs in the Umatilla National Forest. Someday, when I have a vehicle better suited to unpaved roads, I will return for a more extensive trip. Even so, I got some nice landscapes from viewpoints near the campground and the main access road, and I timed the wildflowers well.
Olympic National Park: In late spring, I spent two nights at the Hoh campground, poking around the trails there (the first two compositions here) as well as making a stop at Sol Duc Falls (the third composition). Despite dodging rain showers in the rainforest, and swarms of middle school students at Sol Duc Falls, I had some pretty solid forest photography conditions (cloudy with light winds) and thus got some good shots. This little foray barely scratched the surface of the Peninsula, and I can't wait to return!
Stuart Lake: This trail, on the east slopes of the Cascades near Leavenworth, is one I've known about for a long time. Doing a proper photography visit required an overnight camp nearby, which I finally had the time to do this summer. While there are stretches of the trail that aren't terribly photogenic (though certainly pleasant enough in person, with wildflowers to boot), there are enough show-stopping spots to make it worthwhile. The first image is from a meadow roughly four miles in. The second is from the lake itself, at the end of the trail.
3) Skies and Meteorology - Somewhat. I can't say that I've made a lot more progress on this front as compared to last year, but I've at least continued pursuing some similar ideas at different times and locations. The first is a view from Fields Spring State Park, looking roughly west. The second is from Kamiak Butte on a showery day. In both cases, I used a graduated neutral density filter to darken the sky and thus expose properly for both the sky and the foreground.
Other Highlights
1) Better Job at Fields Spring
In May, I visited Fields Spring State Park for the fourth time. I did better this time than I ever have at the park. Part of this was the fact that this spring was wetter and maybe cooler than the spring of 2015, leading to greener grass and better wildflower displays at the same time of year. Moreover, knowing the park well, I was better able to use lighting and do advance planning to shoot particular locations within the park. While I was there, I had walking routes between destinations within the park timed to the minute. Below are my four favorite compositions from the visit. In the third, the mountains visible in the distance are the Wallowas in Oregon.
Hopefully, I can visit Fields Spring again soon, perhaps even in 2017. Now that I know it well, I might be able to continue coming up with creative ways to frame the views from Puffer Butte. One possibility would be to visit slightly earlier or later in the spring than I usually do, thus finding a different suite of wildflowers and some different moods. There are also a bunch of old roads through the woods that I've hardly even explored. More than that, though, it's just one of my favorite places to do photography - nice and quiet with great flowers, great views, a clean and pleasant campground, and the songs of insects and coyotes. What more could a photographer want?
2) Fall
Another nice circumstance this year was that I actually got to go on some real trips this fall, not just quick ones squeezed out of reading or thesis writing days. In fact, this fall might have brought my best fall-themed images to date. Autumn is tricky because the colorful leaves are rather distracting; that is to say, it can be tempting to focus my attention on a patch of red leaves or other obvious element and neglect good composition and lighting. This is especially true when working in wooded environments, as I often am during the fall. In forest photography, it can be difficult to isolate and highlight specific aspects of the scene, leading to images that are unfocused and busy. I had my share of images that fell prey to this trap, but I had some compositional successes as well.
Here's one from the Baker River trail in North Cascades National Park, in September. I wasn't expecting much in the way of photogenic fall scenery that day, but it paid to keep my eyes open!
The next two are from the Cascade Pass area, also in North Cascades National Park. The first is from the pass itself and the second is from the trailhead.
A view of the Chewuch River, north of Winthrop:
From the Big Valley trail in the Methow Wildlife Area, between Mazama and Winthrop:
The image below, also from the Big Valley trail, is particularly exciting. A couple years ago, I might not have been able to make an image like this work. I've since gained experience with using my polarizing filter to darken skies, lens hood (and hand) to block sun glare, and brain to judge a scene and whether my camera will be able to handle it.
From the Sun Mountain area near Winthrop. The sun ray/star effect comes from using a narrow aperture and using leaves/branches to make the sun as much of a point source of light as possible:
3) The Wild Palouse Continues - Last year, I wrote about how I spent more time looking for pastoral or wild spaces in the Palouse than the conventional views of wheat fields, canola fields, barns, etc. Part of that is personal preference, obviously, but there's also a lesson for environmental protection in the Palouse and how art can help. Look at my Facebook posts here and here for more discussion about these ideas.
This first one is from Rose Creek Nature Preserve, tucked away in the countryside north of Pullman, with balsamroot in the foreground:
The next two are from the Colfax Trail. This gem of a trail, maintained by the Whitman County parks department, runs along the Palouse River outside the town of Colfax. Figuring out where the trailhead is took some doing, and the access road is one to visit on a dry day (learned that the hard way), but it's worth the effort and planning. The basalt canyon walls, woods, and lush greenery give this trail a surprisingly wild feel.
Lastly, some paintbrush (genus Castilleja) from Kamiak Butte.
6) Sun and Moon at Larrabee - In August, I camped at Larrabee State Park for a night to take advantage of the western views. I had some trouble with image quality this trip - specifically, high noise levels. The compositions are obviously still compelling, but the image quality issues could limit display size if ever I print/frame these. I love Larrabee due to the interesting rocks and the views out to islands; it's more visually interesting, in my opinion, than a sandy beach and a straight horizon.
5) New and Better Wildflowers - Below are some of my best flower closeups of 2016. Many of these are new to me, and others are ones that I've photographed before but not nearly as well. Without further ado:
Showy Jacob's ladder (Polemonium pulcherrimum) along the Stuart Lake Trail:
Yellow columbine (Aquilegia flavescens) along the Stuart Lake trail:
Rosy twistedstalk (Streptopus roseus) along the Gold Creek Trail:
Broad-leaved starflower or pacific starflower (Trientalis latifolia) in Deception Pass State Park:
Nuttall's larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum), Kamiak Butte County Park:
Lemonweed (Lithospermum ruderale), Rose Creek Nature Preserve:
Ballhead waterleaf (Hydrophyllum capitatum), Kamiak Butte County Park:
Flowers of mallow ninebark (Physocarpus malvaceus) in Kamiak Butte County Park:
New Year's Resolutions for 2017
I'm not making as many resolutions as I have other years, simply due to uncertainty about 2017 - where I'll be, what I'll be doing for work. I might have a lot of time to do camping trips in the area. Or, I might have less time for that but more resources to promote my photography - look for events, contests, galleries, etc. I may be able to invest in some outdoor gear (e.g. snowshoes) that I haven't gotten the courage to buy yet. Who knows? My main hope is to continue photography and find at least one way in which do do it to a more serious and involved degree in 2017. Nevertheless, here are some ideas:
1) Black and White - I certainly don't intend to make black and white photography my primary style, but I think it'd be fun to experiment along these lines. It might enhance my compositional skills in a way that benefits my work in color, particularly when it comes to thinking critically about light and shape. And I might get some good images to boot. With the DSLR and all the powers of Lightroom, I actually have a lot of latitude over how the grayscale gets rendered, even without having to purchase extra filters and things. If I ever get serious about B&W, I may buy filters and other physical equipment, but the properties of RAW will work for now.
2) New Modes of Transportation (again) or Mobility of other sorts - Like last year, I am intrigued by the possibility of backpacking or bicycle trips opening up more locations. But enhanced mobility could come in other forms, like trading in my sedan and getting a vehicle more suited to mountain roads. Whatever the case, I hope I have more ability to experiment and risk a few trips gone bust in pursuit of new locations and ways of reaching them.
3) Skies, Meteorology, Moon, etc. - I always write about this, but it's always a good idea. Doing sky photography, moon photography, looking for mist or frost, etc., requires a lot of planning and risk-taking, but hopefully I will be able to make this happen.
4) Continue learning - Since the end of graduate school, I've been reading some nonfiction off and on about the region - with special emphasis on how humans have interacted with the environment, as well as purer natural history; I've begun to write about some of my discoveries on my Facebook page I hope to keep up at this over 2017. This will enable me to tell better stories about places, both through the images themselves and through my words about them. Perhaps this will be the largest and most labor-intensive goal of all - through study and thought, to attain more awareness of and control over the stories I am telling through images.
