reflections

morning on waldo lake

by

waldo-lake-reflections

Part of our travels this past September included our annual trip to Waldo Lake. East of Eugene and south of Bend, Waldo is one of our special places, and it is remote enough that there is no cellular coverage, which suits us fine. This year, we spent a week there with the Casita, living off the grid, hiking, chopping firewood, and enjoying the forest.

I love photographing the lake, especially at the beginning of the day, when the overnight winds have calmed, the mists are clearing, and portions of the shore become bathed in sunshine while others linger in the shadows.

Next year, I need to figure out how to get the tree on the left a bit further into the frame without reducing the left side of the image to a mush of trees (which is what it is).

Click the image to see it larger. You can find last year’s Waldo Lake photos here; the group includes one of my all-time favorites–and a rare black and white photo from me.

 

west lake, towards hollywood

by

west-lake-towards-hollywood

I have had a camera with me constantly for the past few months, but it’s not going to surprise anyone that I haven’t felt a creative spark at all. I look through the few shots that I’ve taken, and there’s absolutely nothing there.

This is the first shot in a long time where I actually looked at the scene as I drove by; made myself stop and backtrack to the location; and actually took the time set up a shot. It might not be great art, but it sure felt good.

[where is this?]

sauvie fog {3}

by

sauvie-channel

I keep coming back to the set of images shot along the Columbia River, off of Sauvie Island, in January. They have been represented here on the blog twice so far: in Sauvie Island Fog and Sauvie Fog {alt}. They sit in the ‘working pix’ area of my library, and I regularly play with different versions from that day, trying to find the best representation of what I felt out there.

I like the vertical representation of the first image (Sauvie Island Fog) I posted, and I wish I hadn’t posted the {alt} version. I’m not sure that the version posted here is better than that first one, but I have returned to this one enough that I was compelled to work on it. There really isn’t a lot of image processing; it was mostly dust spotting, which was a result of grabbing the older camera and not paying attention to the sensor beforehand. I did look at a panoramic-style crop across the middle of the photo, but it felt extreme, and I tossed it.

What’s interesting when I look at the group of images in my library, there’s a tranquility in nearly all of them that was present on the day I was there. This one, which doesn’t have the (lovely) detail or color from the grasses along the riverbank, does have a more timeless quality and feel to me, and one that I like.

The next step will be to print them, and see which ones hold up better there. My gut tells me that it will be this one, but I never know until I get to the print.

reflection {17}

by

reflection-2011

As I posted on Twitter last week, this has been a year of beauty, profound happiness and deep sadness. It has also been a transitional year for my photography. I started the year ready to charge ahead on the Columbia River project, but I really couldn’t get it off the ground, largely due to circumstances outside my control (and ones that I won’t go into here). I still have a sense of where I will go with the project, but most likely it will be 2013 before I get a chance to put it into gear.

I spent a lot of time with a camera in my bag or pocket, but I took far fewer photos this year than last. I’d like to say that this is because I was more judicious about my shooting, but that’s not the case. I honestly found it hard to find the mental energy to compose properly. There were times when I deleted whole shoots’ worth of images after going through them, something I haven’t done in years.

The funny thing about all this is that, while I generated unnecessary angst over the Columbia project and my creative blocks, the year really wasn’t a bust. Some of my favorite images were taken this year: Water Avenue Coffee; Abstract {767}; Sunset Ka’anapali; Bradford Pear, Golden Hour; and Railbed, Morrison Bridge. Whether they’ll be there at the end of next year is a question I don’t have an answer to, but I’m proud of those images–and a few others–and there’s only one or two photos I put up here in 2011 that I’d take down.

At this point in 2011, I expected to be finishing a movie of photos shot along the Columbia River, but I ended up with a completely different theme for the year. I look through my 2011 photo library, in the 71 images posted here and the others elsewhere, and I feel that, when I was successful, I was keenly focused on tranquility and peace[1. One image, Beacon Rock, Fall 2011, exemplifies this for me. It is one of the most personal images I took this year, and it’s the one I have on the wall in the dining room. Just looking at it is like a mini-meditation for me.]. When I picked up the camera to actually shoot–as opposed to running through the motions–it was to find solace from the heat that comes from constantly stoking the furnace of our lives. And I’m more than ok with that.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and took a look, or even commented; it’s much appreciated. I wish you all the best for 2012.

rk

(The shot above is an alternate version–taken with the Lumix GX1–to one posted on Insta.gram last week.)