"A Hunger for Desolate Places"

I generally avoid humans and their creations in my photographs. When buildings, and other human-made items appear, however, they often rusty, dilapidated, deteriorating or overgrown. Such as this house upon which I stumbled once outside of Spokane, WA. I don't know who owns the property or what, but this house has been there for as long as I can remember. Looking at this picture reminds me of severe foot pain - it seems that every time I walk down this road, (often in sandals due to the summer heat), the bottoms of my feet get ripped to shreds. It's not as though that always happens when I take long walks in my sandals, so perhaps the road is cursed. Or maybe gravel gets in my sandals.

Interestingly, getting back to the point, this picture is part of a pattern, I just realized. My man-made picture subjects tend to be run-down, overgrown, or otherwise lonely and abandoned-looking (this next one from my grandparents' house in central WA):

Or even this - the natural growth is very lush, but something about the staircase seems abandoned. Not forlorn per se, but consumed by the forest. This one was from Carkeek Park in Seattle, on one of the rare days last June when it didn't rain:

And that's just a few of them. What's going on?? Not all of my pictures of human-made subjects look like this, but many of them do, perhaps even a majority. Certainly a majority of the ones I would consider "good."

I went through trying to see if I had any similar trends in my strictly nature photos. I could not find very good examples; my subject matter in that case is much more seasonally determined, with a preference for alive-looking subjects during the growing season. Most of my dead-looking pictures are either from dry parts of the summer (e.g. dormant grass) or from the winter, and I've been taking less dead-looking pictures lately. Some of my pictures convey a sense of solitude/loneliness, although the theme isn't as strong as it is with human-made objects.

I think this pattern is common to a lot of photographers, taking pictures of rusty, abandoned, and decrepit human creations. Do photographers, especially nature-oriented photographers, take a subliminally pessimistic view of man-made items, focusing on decay?

This doesn't have to be entirely morbid and pessimistic, though. This seems more likely to me: the old and run-down can be intriguing, because it is shrouded in mystery. For instance, what is that old house doing there in that field? What was it in its heyday, why was it abandoned, and why is it still there? In its ambiguity, it stimulates the imagination and stirs insatiable curiosity.

Weeds Are Beautiful, Ep. 2: Flowers at Dawn

I took this early one morning last summer in Magnuson Park with my macro lens. I think I was also on my belly. I've found through experience that being at or below the level of a flower can really make a picture of it more interesting.

 Some photography self-help books that I've read recommend doing most plant close-ups under overcast lighting. I disagree. To an extent, sunshine can add body and contour to a plant. Moreover, blue sky opens up more compositional possibilities, especially from lower angles. (You can't really do much with an ordinary overcast sky - it just looks bland and washed out in most cases. Imagine this picture with a bland whitish sky.). Finally, the greater amount of light enables a faster shutter speed, so it renders slight breezes less of a problem.

Shooting under sunlight has its pitfalls, to be sure. The higher contrast can get a bit stark, and downward sunlight can create awkward shadows. Shooting closer to dawn or dusk helps avoid these problems, though. (Personally, I prefer morning for this purpose, mainly due to the lighter winds).

As with any good artistic rule, there are plenty of exceptions to my preference for direct-sunlight close-up shooting. Sometimes overcast light can create a more intimate mood in a plant close-up (the next post will be an example of this).

Perhaps it is a good time to give a cursory explanation of my philosophy regarding weeds, since it will recur throughout my posts. I have an odd fascination with weeds, the unsung heroes of the natural world. They produce such a variety of beautiful flowers, seeds, and shapes. God must love weeds, because He made so many different kinds, and they grow everywhere. I know, I know, weeds can choke out garden flowers, and nonnative weeds are destructive to ecosystems...but I still think they're cool!

Weeds Are Beautiful, Episode 1

In other news, I can't wait until fireweed season. They don't call it fireweed for no reason - it often colonizes burn areas, and also logging areas. Before and after it blooms, it looks a bit ratty, but it's so cool when it's in season, usually late June and early July. It has such a striking purple color, and generally grows in stands, which can be quite impressive. This particular shot is from Discovery Park this past July. It was a good evening, despite the many mishaps (for example, crawling around through the tall grass looking for my sunglasses!)

Confession: I also wanted to see how a vertical picture looked on this blog. Apparently it works!

Welcome!

Well...hello there! This is the first post of my photo blog! Here, I will occasionally post especially neat pictures from my Picasa (and the amusing stories behind them, when applicable). Later this year, probably, there will also be information about a website where I will be selling some photographs, as well as updates on any arts festivals or outdoor markets at which I plan on selling. Cheers!

This picture is from just outside of Spokane, WA, on a characteristically hazy summer evening. I used a graduated ND filter to help equalize the sky and the foreground.