My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
I’m thankful for: my health, my family, those who are like family, friends, pumpkin pie, passion, love, joy, peace, serenity, quiet time, second chances, failures, my new wheels, each season, a birds morning song and each sunrise and sunset. I hope and pray everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!
In 2004 I made a 3 week tour on my motorcycle from Colorado to the West Coast. I rode 4200 miles and camped along the road during those 3 weeks. I saw some beautiful country and loved the experience. I spent two days in Glacier National Park, which is not enough time, camping along the southern edge of Lake McDonald. After setting up camp I wandered down to the lake. The most striking memory of that lake was the crystal clear water. Standing on shore I could see the bottom of the lake as far as ten to fifteen feet.
My visit was after the devastating fire in the summer of 2003. That was the most significant fire season in the history of Glacier National Park. After a normal winter snowpack, precipitation was below average from April through June (66% of normal), but more importantly, July, August, and early September brought almost no precipitation. This came on the heels of the 5th year of drought in northwest Montana. Approximately 136,000 acres burned within the park boundary, which was more than during the previous benchmark fire-year of 1910. Most of the forest on the opposite side of the above image were burned out. Yet, as the sun set, the majestic beauty of nature was offering a breath taking display. I really did not take that many images but sat there in a state of awe and wonder. I need to make another visit!
Thankfully, around the turn of the century, people started to look at Glacier National Park differently. For some, this place held more than minerals to mine or land to farm…they began to recognize that the area had a unique scenic beauty all to its own. I personally call it a life of its own. By the late 1800s, influential leaders like George Bird Grinnell, pushed for the creation of a national park. Fifteen years later, Grinnell and others saw their efforts rewarded when President Taft signed the bill establishing Glacier as the country’s 10th national park. Because of their efforts I had the chance to sit on that shore and was moved to tears.
I was one of those photographers who carried two GND filters, a one stop and a two stop. A year or two ago I removed them from the bag and started bracketing certain scenes for HDR images, even though I did not own any HDR software nor did I know what the technology would evolve into. I also did know how well it would be acceptable by myself or others. The only cost to shooting more images would be a small amount of my time and disc space. So, why not.
Just as any software there is a learning curve involved. We all go through the steps. I mumble to myself a question like: What happens when I do this? I watch the image form on the screen then mutter something close to “Yuko!” I then quickly hit command “Z” and try something else. I’m quickly noticing how important it is to expose them correctly. A good series of images will make a good final image.
The scene above was taken while visiting my parents in January of 2010. I took a total of seven images, bracketed at one stop each. This scene is created with three exposures, one at metered, the second at plus one stop and the third at minus one stop, and using one of the presets in Nik HDR Efex. I settled on the Nik HDR Effex software over Photomatix because it was more intuitive for me. Only time will tell if I made a sound decision.
All landscapes have their own beauty, whether that is a beach scene, a glacial mountain, the arid prairie, the desert, a gentle snowfall or a distant lightening storm. We can all photograph these scenes but keeping them beautiful for future generations to enjoy requires knowing how to coexist in each of these landscapes.
“As far as I am concerned, taking photographs is a means of understanding which cannot be separated from other means of visual expression. It is a way of shouting, of freeing oneself, not of proving or asserting ones originality. It is a way of life.” Henri Carier-Bresson.
The move to Denver has again allowed me to wander the country roads of the Colorado plains. I find my eyes are scanning for a solitary tree or groups of trees, isolated farms or old homesteads, windmills, the distant horizons, all forms and textures of rolling clouds and of course the Rocky Mountains. While out here I’m free of the noisy city. I can listen to the wind make music with the trees along a creek. I can listen to prairie dogs bark their warning calls. I can enjoy the joyful song of the meadow lark. In the heat of the day I can hear the hypnotic sound of the cicadas. I like being here. I like having my camera with me. This is a way of life.
We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can’t speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees.
— Qwatsinas (Hereditary Chief Edward Moody), Nuxalk Nation