Trains!

I love trains. I always have. Some day I hope to get a nice long ride in the engine of one of these monsters. But for now I'm happy just to photograph them. When I first saw this line of Union Pacific engines, it was actually longer but I didn't have time to stop and shoot. While it is shorter now, there are at least 40 engines sitting there, and still more that were behind a parked train.

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Sunset Glory

I went out to an apple orchard tonight, owned by friends. I got 107 pounds of delicious apples to eat, sauce and pie, plus I got a golden delicious sunset glory to photography on my way home. There isn't much more to say about this one. I'm not proud of the image at all, in fact I think it is poorly composed, but the light was just too pretty to not share.

Squaw Butte Shroud

Sometimes you don't need a reason to shoot a location a second time in as many days. When an early autumn storm blew through this week, I knew I had to get out and see what was worth shooting. I had second guessed the sunset time wrong, again, and so was not able to continue to the location I had in mind. Instead I turned of 10 miles early and headed to where I thought I might see something nice. I was right. The elevation difference between the valley and the heights of Squaw Butte made for and excellent aerial playground. The clouds shearing across the landscape were interrupted by the stalwart ridge and forced to give way, washing around it like the sea around coastal shipwreck.

Autumn Under the Old Train Bridge

I just love old things, which I think shows through clearly in my work. Maybe it has something to do with my revere for the wisdom of the aged. They are still, quiet but when they speak there is a lot to learn. If only this old train bridge could talk. Sitting under its wise gaze learning from the years that have passed over it, the many lives it has seen and the changes it has grown though would surely fill many enrapturing volumes.

For my part, I tried to drink in as much of it as I could, even with my lowly camera lens. Sitting under this beautiful functioning relic makes autumn even that much more magical. Thanks for the memories, old train bridge.


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Squaw Butte Sunset

I was watching a concert pianist on YouTube this morning and she said we could watch her practice all day long. She practices for 10 hours each day! I guess that is what it takes to become an expert at something. That really struck me hard because sometimes I think I can just pull out the camera and make an awesome shot, but that is rarely the case. It takes loads of time and practice to hone any craft of skill, not just the desire. It was with that same attitude that I got this nice Squaw Butte Sunset last night.

All day long I research and learn new techniques for improving my skills, if I'm not actually shooting. But what good is research if you never actually do anything with it? So I set out to go and find something to shoot, even if I didn't have a solid plan. It's a good thing I was committed before I left because as it turns out my initial target was no good. Then I remembered Squaw Butte and how nice it is up there. I wanted to get the sun while it was still up, but I was just about 5 minutes too late. As I was driving up the mountain I was watching the sun creep higher and higher, while growing softer and more faint. When I finally arrived at my destination, all was lost. Ok, not really. I just had to modify my plan and hang about for 2 hours while it got dark. I decided I could at least shoot some stars. In the mean time, there was plenty of sunset watching (and a little shooting) to do.

Plans had to change again as the clear sky turned to partly cloudy, which is no good for shooting stars. It's funny too because the initial reason I went out was because the sky had nice clouds, but by the time I got to my location they were all gone.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy looking at the Squaw Butte Sunset as much as I enjoyed being there. It was a cold fall treat, and I might just go do it again someday soon.

River of Color

Autumn bring such nice changes to the visual world. Clear skies, crisp air to look through, different colors to paint the landscape and more gentle midday sun. In this scene I was particularly impressed with the beauty of the river that most people never see, because you have to walk across a train bridge for access to the view. What is normally a drab and dreary part of the Payette River has now become a river of color thanks to the autumn change. Enjoy this little trip to a peaceful place in a busy life.


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Autumn Oasis

From time to time I drive past things (ok, every day) and I have such a strong urge to stop and photograph them, but there isn't time usually. Or there isn't a place to pull off. Or the weather is wrong. Or whatever. In the case of this autumn oasis I found near my home, I decided the stop was worth it. The clouds didn't seem to want to cooperate all that much as they were continually behind the tree, and never beside it. Odd that, but it was a fun scene to be a part of, watching the patches of shade and sun undulate over the hills, smelling the pungent sagebrush and basking in the autumn breeze.

This just happens to have been on the same day that I was out shooting the old train bridge, of which I'll share more in the future. For now I hope you'll enjoy this autumn oasis, and let me know what you think in the comments.


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Old Train Bridge

Living in small town doesn't afford that many opportunities for landscape photography, but it can provide an old bridge or two to shoot. Actually, in this instance, there are two bridges directly beside each other, but the one you don't see in the picture isn't very interesting. This old train bridge was built in 1912. It is cut into the steel at the top on both ends, so it seems pretty obviously accurate to me. I wonder if anyone had a celebration for it. I didn't see any festivities.

Well happy birthday old train bridge.


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Old Country Store

What is it about seeing an old country store that makes people want to stop and take pictures. Well, anything old for that matter? Every time I see something like this as I'm out and about I'm am just completely drawn toward it like a moth to a light. Perhaps it's just me that likes this sort of thing so much. I suspect part of it is my love of history and digging around in the past. The future is unknown and as yet unexplored, but the past is known and can be very much explored through the remnant of what once was.

This store in the central Idaho's Camas County has probably been photographed thousands of times. It is right beside a well traveled highway, en route to a very popular birding wetland. But whatever, the Grand Canyon has probably been photographed BILLIONS of times, but I don't see that stopping any new shooters giving it a go. Here's my take on the old country store.


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Idaho State Capitol

A few weeks ago I decided to do a photo walk in downtown Boise. I was all by myself, but I had a good time anyway. I did get a few decent shots, but nothing to write home about. However, because I am practicing HDR photography. I decided to share a couple of my images here just for the fun of it. Isn't fun what it's all about anyway? I did get a neat shot of the moon and a concrete plant on the way home, but that is beside the point. Enjoy the Idaho State Capitol photographs and be sure to let me know what you think it the comments.

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Tree of Life

Since I am just beginning to explore the realm of HDR photography, I continually find myself trying to push the limits of what it can and cannot do. What that tends to mean is that I shoot into the sun a lot. Since we've been having a record dry summer here in Idaho, that means there aren't any clouds to photograph. What then? Well, I just make the most of it. On this occasion I saw this cool tree gracing the hillside and knew that I had to at least try and make a photograph. Facing away from the sun meant a rather flat and boring scene, but facing into the sun brought those nice long shadows and also gave me something to use for framing and reducing the glowing sun. And so we have something that looks like an oxymoron, a dried up and dying tree of life.


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Skyway

I'm beginning to play with HDR. My goal is not to create images that LOOK like they are HDR, but that have a nice range of tone that is visible to the human eye. Because current camera technology is limited, the only way to do this is to combine several images into one. This can produce some very crazy results. This image looks closer to normal than it started out. Surprisingly, it takes a lot more work to get a natural looking image using HDR processes, rather than a crazy psychedelic scene. This little view is just outside my driveway here in Idaho. It is one of my first attempts at capturing and processing HDR and I hope it is a pleasing skyway view.


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Concrete Moon

Yesterday I went into town to do a little architecture shooting. I did a few things and came away with a shot or two that I like, but nothing stellar. However, on my way out of the city the moon was setting in this gorgeous soft hued sky and I was dying to find a place to shoot it. Being in the residential part of the city there really wasn't anything striking to shoot with this fantastic sky. As I was just on the outskirts of town I decided that it would be best if I just hurried along up into the mountains and grabbed a landscape from there, though I didn't have a clue where that would be. Suddenly I came upon this giant concrete plant and I instantly knew that this was the shot for me. I had to double back a take a couple mile circuit to return to where I saw the scene, but I was able to get there in time. The biggest challenge of capturing this scene was that I had to shoot across a very busy highway, so timing was difficult. I was shooting with HDR as my end goal using 3 exposures. This meant that I had to time each shot precisely so that no cars were passing in front of me. Add to that the extended wait time between shots for long exposure noise reduction and I had quite a task to accomplish. But, I did finally manage to get it done. And here is the end result of shooting a concrete moon.

Fish Cloud Swimming in the Deep Blue Sky

This part of Idaho is dry in the summer. VERY dry. Like, we haven't had rain for 65 days kind of dry. So I was a little surprised to see this odd fish cloud lounging above town a few weeks ago. That was the only one. Not a single other cloud could be seen. It struck me as strange, unique and interesting all at once. I wanted to capture the 'above town' part of it, but that part of town just wasn't deserving of being in a photograph. It wasn't until I started to work on the image that the shape of a fish stuck it's head out at me. What do you think: fishy or not?

Senj Sky

On the day I was visiting friends in Senj, there were two storms that started to pound on us at almost the same time. This is just a little shot I got when Irma stopped on the side of the road for Jonny and I take a few snaps. It was pretty dark, very windy and I had no tripod. I did my best. I hope you enjoy the Senj Sky as much as I enjoyed seeing it in person along the Adriatic coast of Croatia.

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

You never quite know what you'll find when you venture out for a photo walk... One quite evening I decided it was time to go looking in various nooks & crannies to find out what was in my neighborhood. As I boldly crossed the frontier line of my driveway and started down the adjoining one, I immediately was surprised to find this fancy little truck tucked down below the grade of the road. As I started to choose an angle to shoot from I got my second surprise; the cat on a hot tin roof of the truck. It's my neighbors cat Lucy and she is a very good mouse hunter. What fun! What wasn't quite as much fun was that this was really the only angle to shoot this from as the others were surrounded by busy/noisy things in the background.

I hope you enjoy this image as much as I enjoyed being surprised by it. If I try hard enough, I can even see this from my own bedroom window.

Two Stones Flow

I've taken a new approach to photography recently: I always take my camera with me. For a while I was quite burned out on using camera's for much of anything but I'm starting to get the joy back. And with better and better image processing options I have the ability to make shots I'm proud of without spending all day in Photoshop. This image didn't even see Photoshop once. I only used Lightroom 2 and Topaz Adjust 5.

This is my very first image processed using a fantastic little plugin called Topaz Adjust. I'm just on the 30 free trial right now, but I'm LOVING it so far.

This is along the Payette River between Banks and Crouch, Idaho. It's a tough place to shoot because the road is on the north side of the river and the hill opposite is VERY steep and facing north, so it almost never gets good light on it. Plus, it has a strongly lit sky behind. But that all makes for a good photography challenge. These two stones seemed to go nicely with each other even though I'm clearly breaking some rules of composition. I don't care. Sometimes you just have to shoot be it good or bad.

South Mineral Creek Sunrise

While on my latest vacation with my family, I decided to stop being so lazy and actually take some pictures in the morning when the light was optimal. The next thing I did was shoot straight into the sun. Ugh. Well, I think I like this image anyhow. It was just too beautiful to pass up at least attempting to capture the scene. I did take the necessary bracketed exposures for and HDR process, but haven't gotten to that part quite yet.

The morning was cool and clear until the sun came up. Then all of these awesome puffs of clouds started to rise up out of the valleys and skitter across the sky in assorted patterns. It was actually a great time to be making images of the surrounding cliffs and peaks and I made the most of it while I could. Now I have to do the actual work part of the shots - post processing. Well, that is a story for another time. Back to the setting.

With the high mountains surrounding, jutting up to 13,000 ft, and the dark foliage of the trees I really had my challenges. I was also down in a deep canyon shooting waterfalls and rocks and sunbeams, and those images truly do need HDR processing to look nice.

Just imagine being there in the still morning air, bundled up in cozy gear against the chilly 38 degrees and the dew on the grass. It's really a picture of peacefulness.



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Senj Lightning

These images were captured quite unexpectedly and came in the middle of two unlikely and unexpected weather events that just happened to slam into each other: a lightning storm and a thing called the "Bura" (more on that later).

While visiting with some friends in the city of Senj, Croatia we went up into the mountains for a breathtaking look down on the Adriatic Sea. While we were up there, our friend kept watching the weather and encouraging us to make our way back to the cars and go down the mountain. I was pretty much ignoring him because it was just one of those misty, foggy, mushy types of clouds that were very slowly creeping their way toward us. When we finally did wrap up our little hike and head down the mountain all still seemed just fine. We got back to the town of Senj and they were showing me a castle when all of a sudden, like a fan was switched on, wind just started hammering us.  Bura. The car (Prius) was being rocked back and forth like a toy. Well, silly me wanted to get out to take pictures of the castle. Smart Jonny had Irma (driving) point the car into the wind so that it wouldn't rip the door off. Well, good thing he did. After the car was positioned I made my move. Or, tried to. I pushed and strained with all of my might, arms and legs at the end of their power, but I couldn't get the door open enough against the wind to get out. Even if I had managed to make a gap wide enough, I would not have been able to push with arms and legs and also magically get out at the same time.

I did manage to get a picture, though it isn't very striking. Cancel the castle and head home.

When we arrived at the house, the wind had lessened to a manageable intensity to at least get out of the car, but at the same time unexpected event number two was knocking at the door.

For those not familiar with the geography of where I am describing, it is sunny and semi-arid. There isn't much greenery around at all and it is VERY rocky. Everything is stone, though that doesn't have much impact on the weather. It just doesn't rain much along the eastern side of the Adriatic during the summer. First the wind surprised us, and then the rain. And they didn't come from the same directions.  Quite a fancy trick.

When the rain began it was beautiful to see the sun glowing through the storm and the rain falling into the white capped vivid blue sea. A rare treat for this American boy! Then the lightning started with a BOOM to alert us. Jonny decided to get out his camera and tripod to do a little lightning shooting. Their home is up on the hillside facing the sea with the city and harbor below and to the left. He already has an AMAZING image of fireworks at the harbor and lightning striking the lighthouse. Too bad he isn't interested in showing it to the world or I would link to it. Back to the story.

Jonny is all set up and, knowing I am a photographer, is trying to get me to take out my gear and shoot. I had no tripod. Problem. I have no intervalometer. Another problem. I have no experience shooting lightning. Further problem, but with a solution. My gracious host not only encouraged me to try it but taught me how. I did experience a lot of non-ideal challenges while shooting. I had to set my camera on the (covered) balcony railing since I had no tripod, in the rain. I had to manually trigger each 10 sec exposure. The worst issue, as you'll see in the images below, is that because of the lack of tripod, I had to set up where there was a giant power pole right in the middle of my frame. UGH! Even more frustrating was that the lightning shots I did get were always directly behind the pole. I was hoping to avoid that by shooting with a wide lens. And since my camera was in the rain I was also getting water spots on the lens. Out of a couple hundred exposures I got a few shots with fire in the sky, and I present my favorite to you below. Please note that there are two versions of the same image. One before correction and one after.

Enjoy the lightning!

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Inspiration at the Headgate

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As a professional photographer I think it is very important to keep moving forward, growing your skill, your craft and your passion. But, when those things are connected to a paycheck, somehow the fire seems to dim. Well today I got a little fuel added to my fire by Trey Ratcliff (see StuckInCustoms.com for his work). He has a series of tutorial videos for anybody interested in getting into photography, and the first one is free to watch so I watched it while I was eating lunch. As I was listening to him teach the very basics (and smugly thinking "I know that already") it occurred to me that I wasn't actually doing the entire process of photography, but am generally just pushing the button on the camera and if it isn't Polaroid success then I just move on. Well, that seems to be the wrong approach, eh? You might say it is severely lacking inspiration.

So I decided to go outside in my own yard and poke around. I did my very own, solo photo walk. There are a bunch of side-by-side comparisons of the raw file before I did any processing, and then there is the way I have decided to finalize the images, at least for now. It is not unusual for me to revisit images a few months later for a fresh perspective.

The images following are the result of inspiration to do a particular thing, and that is take advantage of the depth of the raw file as much as possible, just using Lightroom. Because of that I ended up exploring the same subject from multiple points of view, and with a lens change as well. I was shooting with my Tamron 10-24 f3.5-4.5 at first, and later on switched to my Canon 28-135 f3.5-5.6.

In this instance I was using Trey as inspiration, but also trying to learn a little bit about how he thinks so that I can apply some of his techniques in my own process. I have to admit here that I have been too down on myself because of my aged equipment, which is no excuse. (For those interested, I'm shooting a Canon 30d and post with Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS3.) So take the images for what you will, and please ask any questions in the comments.

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Portfolio

This is a small portfolio of the photograph work I've done over the past several years. I have also done extensive work with outlines/knockouts but have chosen not to feature those images.

Some of the hand modeling is also me. Oddly enough, at times I had to set up and light the shot, and then magically transform into a hand model while my stylist directed me and pressed the shutter release.

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Orange Moon

As I was groggily stumbling my way to the bathroom to kitchen to get a drink of water I took a peek out the window as I always do. I love looking outside. What I saw amazed me, to say the least. At first I thought it was blood red, which would have been even more interesting if you are into Bible prophecy, but it wasn't. It was a vivid Orange Moon glowing eerily back at me.

It was a bit strange, yes. But it was even more strange to try and photograph. I'm curious to know why I was having such a hard time getting a good shot of this. Part of me wants to believe it was due to smoke passing between my lens and the moon, refracting the light and 'moving' the moon around during my long exposures. Another part of me thinks it was user error of some kind. Though I did have a solid tripod set up, using a cable release, had the mirror locked up, using image stabilization, auto and manual focus and I got lots and lots of images the looked like my tripod was sinking or I had camera shake. I even tried multiple different ISO's and shutter speeds all with the same result.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I didn't do ANY post processing of any kind whatsoever. All I did was to crop. So this truly was an orange moon!

Whatever the case, I was able to get a couple of shots that were mostly sharp, so here is one for you to enjoy. Now if only I had a longer lens to get really close to see that awesome orange moon.

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Pink Chandelier Flowers

The Oregon coast is very rainy. While there this past week I was hoping to see some whales, or maybe even see the ocean. Nope. It was just very foggy and drizzling. But it made some very pretty water drops on lots of things. These flowers were just about perfect for shooting in the rain.

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Teasel

 



If you don't know what a Teasel is don't worry, neither did I. It is the odd plant in this picture. If memory serves the prickly cone part is about 2-3 inches tall, so this is a fairly large plant. There were so many of them out there that I didn't even pay much attention to them, but upon closer inspection I noticed just how beautiful they are. The ones shown here must be from last year as they are completely dried. It doesn't take a keen eye to see this plant is very 'pokey', but at the same time is quite elegant with it's long fingers wrapping gracefully up and around, embracing such an abrasive heart. Maybe that is how we humans are; we are mean-hearted and unkind but we cherish our sinful behavior by giving way to it and helping it to grow. But out of ugliness can come beauty as we see in this plant, and in what God can do in our lives if we only let Jesus in and let Him work.
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Chukar Partridge

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On my trip to Leslie Gulch we saw quite a few of these neat birds called the Chukar Partridge. Most of them were running around among the sagebrush and across the road, but I did get to see one of them scrambling up the rocky cliffs and calling. It was like a proud chief overlooking his land, or maybe just a contented nature lover enjoying the wonder of God's creation. He was perched atop some high rocks and calling out (mating call?). As I was watching through binoculars, he too a running jump off into the abyss (about 60 - 80 ft) but I lost track of him. What a sight to see! Sadly, my images are out of focus and cropped tightly so they are quite small. Some day I'll manage a long enough lens to actually photograph birds. For now I'm just glad I got to see them.

Sunset Tree Silhouette

 



While hiking and enjoying the rugged beauty of Leslie Gulch, Oregon I had to get one last shot of the day, of course. On the way out, driving up the canyon, this perfect sunset silhouette of a little tree was an irresistible treat to end such a gorgeous day. Thanks to Ross & Jodi Giem for showing us such a great place to spend Sabbath afternoon. I was able to get quite a lot of great images while we were there and I'll be posting them later on. Enjoy this finishing beginning of what is yet to come.

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California Poppies! ...in Idaho?

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During a nice Friday afternoon drive on this awesome May day, I saw a large clump of California Poppies growing happily along side highway 55 near Gardena. They were really in a very unsafe place between the road and a very steep hillside, but I managed a few shots. They are not perfect by any means, but what a joy to see such beauty unexpectedly!
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Super Moon !

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I went out to shoot the super moon in May 2012. I decided my best vantage point would be the top of a mountain pass between Horseshoe Bend and Eagle, Idaho. I got there exactly at the time the moon was to rise. I waited. And I waited. And I waited some more. Forty-five minutes passed and still no moon. I decided the mountains around were much too high and headed for home since the 'magic' hour had passed. At the last second I decided to drive up a dirt road at the top of the pass. After driving only 1/4 of a mile there it was, the super moon. And it was very super. I was stunned by the size and clarity of the moon and spent 20 minutes or more making different exposures in the freezing temperatures. It's still cold at 4, 400 ft elevation.

The first shot of the dark sky was just to capture the moon. The second image is my attempt at incorporating the landscape. The third is a strange one because it makes the moon look like the sun and the sky and landscape day like, though the light is soft rather than sharp edged. Part of the reason is simply that it was a very long exposure, but another could be that the moon is so close. Either way, I like how it is a bit of a trick. The sun had been down for about one hour when I made these images. The fourth image shows the same scene as the third only I put an exposure in for the sky that was correct for the moon. It's a really weird look and I don't think I much care for it, but I thought you might like to have a look at it since I had taken the time to make it.

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Moon Cradle

The moon seems to have really grabbed my attention lately. Maybe it is because I'm stuck down here in the valley, and that is all I see from home. Whatever the case, I like to look at it. Hope you enjoy it, too. Let me know in the comments below. :)

Moon Swept

The benefit of chasing the sunset, is greeting the soft light of evening. Even better is the accompaniment of a full moon, and photographing it.

Sunset Road

Every now and then I get the urge to just go and shoot something. This particular day, I decided to go hunting after the sunset. I took off up the pass as fast as I should (speed limit) go! At the summit there is a dirt track (not a road) that heads higher still, and west. I blazed off as I watched the shadows creep ever higher on the hills in front of me. I got to the top, but there was really no shot to make. But, not to be defeated, I decided to keep on going.

After I had traversed the top of the pass and started the descent, I finally had my chance to capture the sunset. While I was not able to come up with any spectacular scenery, I did manage to get a couple shots just to commemorate my mad dash.

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Backpacking: Bench Lakes & Fishhook Creek, Idaho

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Last July (I know, long delay posting pics) Sylvia and I went on our first-ever backpacking trip! It was basically awesome and amazing, and a little nerve wracking. I had only been "backpacking" one other time, and that was more akin to camping 2 miles from the car. This time, we went into the Sawtooth Wilderness, where there are bears to eat our food and ourselves. Fortunately we saw no signs of bears and only saw the cute animals that aren't likely to kill you. Things like deer and kuna (marten?), and horses with people on them.

On the first night we barely had time to set camp before dark because of a delay leaving. The landlord had hired a crew to paint the exterior of our apartment, and they decided to come on the very day we were set to leave for our trip. VERY upsetting as we had to stay there so they could paint our doors, which requires the doors being open. Anyway, we didn't hit the trail until about 6:45 pm. VERY late to start a backpacking trip, but at least it was early July and we had the most daylight possible! Let's go!



We started out on a beautiful little trail off through the trees and along a gurgling stream, which was actually more like a small river in the late spring runoff. I didn't get a single picture of the stream for some reason. I was probably too excited about just going on the trip. I'd been itching for it for a very long time.

As we walked along, getting accustomed to carrying our food and shelter on our backs, I was paying careful attention to all of the 'signs' around me of possible danger. Where those scratch marks on that tree, or just ant trails left behind after the bark fell off? Was that scat nearby or just a clump of debris leftover from winter? I wasn't taking any chances!

When we reached the edge of the officially designated wilderness area, there was a small wetland. We didn't see any wildlife here, but it saw us. Mosquitos! I think we used up half of our bug spray right then and there.

As is evident in the picture to the right, we were running out of daylight pretty fast. In my nervousness I pestered Sylvia to walk as fast as she could and together we hustled on the rest of the way to what seemed like the end of the trail. We set camp in pretty good time considering we had neither one done it before. After a delicious supper of re-hydrated mac n' cheese and something with an Indian flavor, we got the dishes done and set about tidying up for the night.

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The most difficult part was tying up the food. You would think that in the forest, surrounded by trees, you could get a line up and suspend your food without much trouble. Boy was I wrong about that. It must have taken 20 or 30 minutes to find the proper tree, figure out a way to throw the line through and get it around all the other branches. I had read that the food should be about 12 feet above the ground and six feet from the nearest tree, including the one's suspending it. This proved to be very difficult for me to accomplish. I think I made it to about 9 feet and 3 feet.

We turned in for the night and waited for it to get dark. This was the most difficult part. Sleeping in a tent doesn't provide much darkness from the brilliance of the long evenings in the north. It was nice to just lay there and listen to the stream, wondering what the stars looked like. My tent does have a full 'screen' body, so we could have removed the rainfly to see the stars, but I didn't want to wake up in the night covered in frost, or worse, in rain.

Uneventfully, morning arrived. Brr... I didn't want to get up until the sun was shining on our camp. That proved to be a very long wait. The mountains around us were tall, and the valley deep. It was probably around 8 am before we decided to get up and see what the day had in store. As I flung back the tent flap, to my surprise and joy I got my reward for walking up this one-way valley. The first sight of the morning was a deer outside the tent. What a way to start the day! The many flowers blooming, the greenery all around and the bright sunshine beckoned us to get moving and enjoy the day. We had a delightful breakfast of oatmeal and struck camp. We were headed to a new location, but back the way we had come the night before in order to get there.

On our way out, the scenery was much different and more beautiful, at least to me, because of the time of day. The vividness of the spring colors really grabs your attention when the sun is shining bright.

After we passed back through the previous days terrain, we headed up a new trail toward Bench Lakes, so named because there are several lakes that rest on the side of a mountain each one progressively higher than the other. Sadly, we didn't see anything like I'm sure you are imagining. The trees surrounding the lakes were enough that we really weren't aware we were on the side of a mountain at all.

On our way to the Bench lakes, we walked along a large mountain lake called Redfish. The name comes from the endangered sockeye salmon that used to inundate the lake with their red bodies. The waters no longer shimmer red with the color of the fish, but they can still be seen there today.

Our journey was interesting to say the least. After climbing up what seemed like an endless ascent through the dry foothill forest, we finally reached the top of the knife ridge. To our left (east) we had a gorgeous view of Redfish lake, which was nearly straight down. And to our right (west) the mountains we were headed for.

The ridge trail trek was about 2 to 3 miles long, briefly descending into a gentle valley with a trailside creek, and then we started up again. This time it was on the nearly treeless face of the mountain we were to camp on. This last part of the trek was the hottest and most dry, but it was free from bugs and there was a little puff of a breeze from time to time.

As we climbed higher and higher, the view got better and better. And I think our energy got lower and lower. Of course I was fueled by excitement for the trip, but even that can run out eventually. At least we had good reasons to stop and rest: the scenery was too good to pass by and not take a picture!

Shortly after our last photograph of the surrounding mountains, we reached a turn in the trail and headed into the trees. Just a few hundred yards ahead lay a lake. We had made it! We thought that surely we would find a place quickly and set up camp, but to our surprise there were already quite a few campers there already. Most of these people were choosing to ignore the wilderness rule of camping at least 100 feet from the nearest water and instead were directly beside the lake. I suppose we might have been tempted to do the same if there were any good spots available, which there weren't. We spent the next hour hiking around in circles trying to find a place that was free from snow, boulders, saplings and was somewhat level. When we finally got that accomplished it was time for some food! And time to go through the rigors of tying the food bag up in a tree. We made it, with even more difficulty, but no harm done. This was what we signed up for, right?

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When we finally lay down for the night, we opted to keep the rain fly off so that we could see the stars. While it wasn't the most spectacular starry night I've ever seen, it was still worth the effort. Lying beneath towering trees watching the stars slowly appear in the ever dimming night sky is a treat not often enjoyed in our modern, city-oriented lives.

As we lay dozing off, relishing the bliss of clean air and silence all around, our silence was intermittently perforated by bumping and thudding and a sort of 'whoosh' sound. I was concerned about bears, but the sounds just didn't seem right. I tried to remain calm and go to sleep but it was so difficult. I think it was Sylvia who sat up to have a look around at what was making these noises. To my great relief, it was only passing deer. We had inadvertently set up camp near a busy deer trail, probably leading down to the lake. We were interrupting their evening drink, and I suppose as they smelled us they would stamp and snort to alert others before moving away.

In the morning it was the same routine, and we decided to head home. Our first trip was a success, and we experienced both the beauty and the rigor of backpacking.

Summer is on the way, and we're fully prepared to hit the highlands as soon as the snow will allow!

Happy trails!

Below are all all of the images from this trip, worth showing. There are a few repeats from above, but more than half are unique.

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McCall, Idaho Winter Sunset

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One weekend in February I had the pleasure of going to camp. The first evening the sky was just so calm and serene, and the evening star shone so bright. The sunset was soft and shallow. This really allowed the entire scene to speak out, rather than the sky stealing the show.

Often a photographer will choose to capture a scene in several different ways, but only show the one he feels is best. I decided I would most enjoy showing you all three versions of how I saw this particular scene. My favorite is the one with the posts in the foreground. Which one is your favorite?

Please let me know what you think in the comments boxes below.

Oregon Road Trip

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Sylvia and I went on a road trip to Portland, Oregon to see her mother. (Actually, she lives in Vancouver, WA but it seems like more people know where Portland is. That, or they get confused between Vancouver, WA and Vancouver, BC.) Along the way I had to stop at the overlook. It is really very high above the valley, but the conditions at the time and the lens I used really didn't let that part of the story come through.

There was skinny trail through the grass leading off to who knows where, but all I could do was point my lens and make a photograph. I didn't have the time to follow my nose.

We didn't do a whole lot, but one of the fun things we did was to visit the Portland Chinese Garden. It was really very beautiful, even in the autumn. It was a cloudy day so I didn't photography much worth showing. The lanterns were very cool, and the floor mosaics all over were amazing. Each of the different areas had a different theme, story, or meaning. The photograph of the large area with the jagged floor mosaic represents ice and the dark spots are berries or flowers. I've forgotten so much! It was either 'winter' because of the ice, or 'spring' because of the breaking up of the ice, and the flowers.

*I cannot sell any of the images from the Chinese Garden without special permission as everything inside is copyrighted. 

PSA MarvinBowen.com - a Photo Blog

 MarvinBowen.com - a Photo Blog

Friends and friendlies, welcome to my newest foray into the public world of personal display!

I have long pondered the re-awakening of this website, which has sputtered along in one form or another for the past 7 years. At times, it has gone quiet altogether. Now, I invite you to follow along with me as I present my art, my recreation, and my own style of whimsy. For now you'll mostly see photographs on this site, but from time to time I'll likely provide some drawings or poems. Maybe I'll mix n' match.

Please browse through each section. If you'd just like to see everything I've posted check out the blog page, or the archive. And of course have a look at any of the images available to be purchased as prints. I would be honored to have my images displayed on your wall.

I have recently come to the conclusion that to make art of any kind, and not share it, is a tragedy. So, here is my life.

Life is art.

MarvinBowen.com a Photo Blog

"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."       - Genesis 2:7

Horseshoe Bend Sunset & Editing

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While I do try to remain honest with my photography, sometimes you have to push the edge of reality just a little bit. On a beautiful January day, I was happily working away at my desk (at home) when I noticed the sky start to become more and more rich and bold in color. I had my camera ready and rushed outside to snap off a few images before the colors died. Usually this type of sunset sky only lasts a moment or two when it is at its most magical, so I had to be fast. Because of this, I had to shoot it where I was. In town. No time to run up the pass or around the bend of the river. Just shoot!

Below is a description of what I did to make the image appealing to you and I, and to be usable as the featured image for this website.

1. In the first image you'll notice two things:




• There are power lines


• The highest hill is on the right, not the left.




2. In the second image the power lines are gone


3. In the third image I flipped it so that there would be a good place for the site name and tag line

Click on the first image and then use your keyboard's arrow keys to quickly flip back and forth for the magical disappearing act.

It's as simple as that. Though it did take over an hour to remove the 'man made' stuff. If only I had Photoshop CS5...

Buy this picture