Quietude

While hiking in Washington state’s Dalles Mountain Ranch, I found a huge field of flowers. When getting down low it felt like you were lying in a bed of yellow that went on forever. To convey that feeling, I brought the camera down low so it, too, was lying among the flowers.

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Early in the morning, as the sun came up in Florida’s Curry Hammock State Park, all was still and quiet. Nothing moved, not even the wind. It was a moment for meditation and introspection. I wanted to capture that feeling in a photograph.

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As I headed out to make photographs, the skies opened up with pouring rain just as I arrived at my destination. Not wanting to be deterred, I decided to 'wait it out'. I drove around looking for the type of scene I had in mind, which was to make photographs of the soft appearing, pastel colored buds that were emerging on the trees. And I wanted red ones! After a bit of driving, I found exactly what I was after.

Once it was down to a drizzle, I made my photograph. I wanted it to depict not just how the trees looked, but also how it felt to be at that location in the drizzling rain. It was light and airy there, as there was a gentle breeze, with the sun just starting to peek through the clouds. The rain made all the colors appear very saturated. I had an image in my head of the whole scene being very soft focus, like looking through the drizzling rain. That's how it felt, and that is what I wanted the image to convey.

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Q: What’s better than a pear orchard in full bloom making you feel like you are floating in a sea of white?

A: A pear orchard in full bloom with Mount Hood covered in white snow in the background at sunrise.

With a bit of trepidation we knocked on the farmer’s door to ask if we could walk into his orchard to photograph it. To our delight he was was delighted that we would want to photograph his trees!

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Jennings Environmental Area is the only place in Western Pennsylvania where the Blazing Star flowers bloom. This occurs in July, and many people, therefore, limit their visits to this one month. While making this photograph, I was thinking of how much they miss by limiting themselves to just late July. On the other hand, having the location deserted makes for a very peaceful morning.

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Walking down this gently winding pathway leading to Miner’s Falls in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, I couldn’t help but feel like it was a mystical and enchanted trail. While processing this image, I tried to convey that feeling to the viewer. I hope you can feel it too.

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The annual azalea display at Callaway Gardens in Georgia is truly a site to behold. Walking among the plethora of blooms can be a dreamlike experience. That dreamy or trance-like sensation is what I hoped to convey with this image.

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While in the Palouse, an agricultural region in Washington and Idaho, I was on the lookout for blooming canola fields and was not finding any. Suddenly, upon rounding a bend, there it was. And what’s more there was a beautiful blue sky with two white clouds that looked as if they were posing for the photograph. The field was so large that it truly felt as if you were engulfed by the color yellow.

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The light danced beautifully on pink blooms and the tree branches looked like gracefully swooping dancers. Add in the reflection, and it seemed like the scene was begging to be made into a piece of artwork.

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I had been trying for quite some time to make an image of light coming through the opening of Elephant Rock in Bandon, Oregon, but on most evenings the light just didn’t seem quite right. Until this particular evening, that is, when the light appeared just like I had imagined it. Can you hear the constant sound of the waves coming through the rock?

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This red tree seemed to invite passersby to have a seat and leave their troubles behind, if just for a minute or two. After making the photograph, I took the opportunity to have a seat myself. The air was warm despite it being autumn. I tried to make the image transmit that feeling of peacefulness, with just a touch of loneliness added in.

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The red covered bridge in McConnell’s Mill State Park is well known to anyone who has visited the area. The formations in the water are seen because I purposefully utilized a very slow shutter speed to make visible what we are unable to see with our human eyes. That ability is one of the things that I love about photography!

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On most days, this view from a boat launch in Western Pennsylvania’s Moraine State Park is quite bland. But on some days magic just happens. It can take many trips to find that one day, but if you get there at just the right time it all becomes worth it!

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People travel to many “iconic” places to view fall color, but Western Pennsylvania isn’t typically one of them. It should be!

It’s hard to describe the feeling of being surrounded by every possible shade of yellow, orange, and red while listening to the sound of a rushing creek. There are a multitude of sites like this to be enjoyed in this area of the country.

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