The images in this portfolio exemplify the joy I find in contemplative observation. Sometimes these observations happen up close, like discovering a cascade of water drops magically held aloft by a spiderweb suspended among blades of grass (Water Drops with Spiderwebs in Grass) or noticing the abstract, color composition in a kelp frond found clinging to a rocky beach (Dry Kelp Frond). Sometimes I observe from afar, like taking in the grand view across the San Juan de Fuca strait to the majestic Olympic Mountains (Olympics from Turtlehead) or a sunset from Lum Hill where I lived in a tent one summer (Sunset View from Lum Hill).
Have you ever scrutinized horsetail from a ground-level perspective? By using a telephoto, macro lens, I was able to isolate a single plant’s shady stalk against a glowing backdrop of its sunlit neighbors (Horsetail). Every year madrona bark peels away in curls. I found one particular curl bathed in an almost cinematic pool of light (Madrona Bark).
You may have heard Louis Pasteur’s dictum, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” In 1975, while attending Ansel Adams’ June Workshop in Yosemite, I heard portrait photographer Arnold Newman echo the wisdom as, “Good accidents happen to good photographers.” I’ve experienced such fortunate chance on a few occasions. Once, as I was setting up to photograph valerian flowers basking in the sun by the side of the house, a monarch butterfly flew into frame for a sip of nectar making for a beautiful, unplanned shot (Monarch Butterly on Valerian Flower). On another occasion, I found myself driving by a “slam on the brakes” shot, in progress, on my way to work. Near Orcas Landing fog had transformed a familiar landscape into a surreal work of art (Foggy Morning Near Orcas Landing).
Bull kelp fronds, when dried in the sun on the beach, are as tasty as they are beautiful.
These water drops hang suspended in a spider’s web, woven onto blades grass, about an inch above the ground.
Eel grass, left by the tide and illuminated by the rising sun
The Olympic Mountains, at high noon, as seen across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Turtlehead (part of Turtleback Mountain).
A single, backlit horsetail at the edge of the forest
Bark peeling off an old madrona tree on Madrona Point
A late-summer sunset as seen from Lum Hill
Rapids above Cascade Falls
Thick, cold, ground fog near Orcas Landing, illuminated in the morning light
A late-summer sunset painting the glassy water of Massacre Bay
Through this backlit curtain of cattails on the shore of Waldron pond, the sun shines through
As I framed the shot, this monarch butterfly landed in the perfect spot.