Playing by the Rules

The last weekend of June is spent on the border of Idaho and Montana, a special place in the world and US history - Lolo Pass. This is the place where Lewis & Clark crossed the Bitteroot Mountains. Here lie meadows filled with camas, meandering streams between forests of dark green seemingly at the top of the world. My organization sponsors a race on the forest roads behind the visitor center and I look forward to photographing the event every year. This year was no different I was even going to do a little backpacking on the way home, but snow levels on my intended route sent me home early.

So as I drove the Palouse in southeast Washington, I thought why not take my time heading home? Stop take some pictures. Afterall, I do have a new camera and I'm ready to make it pay for itself. I passed one picturesque barn because I needed to find the restroom. Passed another because it came & went before I had a chance to "see" it. Then along a stretch of highway I saw this little beauty. The clouds? Perfect. The greens? Perfect. The barn? Perfect. (Except a friend says it needs to be red - I like the grey.) I quickly pulled over, hopped out with my camera. The composition already in mind.

This scene is perfect for the Rule of Thirds where an image can be separated into a tic-tac-toe grid and the  important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. I knew I wanted the cloud-filled sky to dominate, so I placed the horizon line along the lower third of the frame. The face of the barn seemed to be looking left so I put it into the lower right corner so that it would "look" into the frame. I also had to be concerned where the peak of the roof fell - i didn't want it to intersect with the horizon - and wanted it to rise above the horizon to connect the sky & fields.

I only needed to shoot off one or two shots. I knew before I even lifted the camera to my eye that this would be a great image. Previsualize, and follow the rules at least until they need to be broken.

1st stop - The Palouse

3/29/09

The forecast called for snow again over the weekend proving that spring was still far away, yet the vibrant colors in the flower stalls in the market prior to my departure rallied my hopes that spring would indeed be right around the corner. Furthering my hopes that spring would be quickly on its way, the drive over the pass to Spokane revealed more land as the snows receded, the ice in the waterfalls replaced by flowing water. Yet this morning we woke to snow falling on the hills of the Palouse - winter was refusing to release its hold on the northwest.

However, I had been looking for this up close look at the Palouse by people who lived in the area, I was not going to let it pass. We did pass planned photo-op after photo-op as the falling snow made distant views non-existent. At breakfast we were joined by a local farmer turned historian, Glen Leitz, who shared with us bits and pieces of the history of the Palouse. I always enjoy listening to oral history and this gentleman had a lot to tell, so much in fact that we had to leave before he even finished his stories.

We continued on our journey as the snows started slacking off so we were able to stop at more places - museums, barns, mills, churches and cemeteries. All unique in their photographic qualities. I began to realize I would need to come back for several days to truly capture this rare and beautiful place. Finally, the clouds started breaking apart in the late afternoon and the sun highlighted the hills in the distance. Just in time too, our final stop near sunset would be Steptoe Butte.

Never seeing Steptoe before, I was extremely excited as I drove up the winding road to the top. Each turn revealed more of the scenery - rolling hills touched with snow stretching in every direction. I decided to leave before sunset - eager to be on my way and hoping to be someplace really cool for sunset. I was in a gully at the best color, but a not too disappointed because I knew my trip had started off great - even if spring was reticent in its appearance.

Sunny On Thanksgiving

Can anyone believe the fabulous weather we had on Thanksgiving? The sun shone so brightly wee had to hop in the car and drive through Western Washington before heading to the family get together in Elma.

Our first stop was down the hill to Puyallup. neither of us had taken much time in the old downtown and were sweetly surprised by the various sculptures decorating the streets. We walked around awhile on the almost empty streets admiring the art before deciding to drive on.

The road took us to parts of our state we hadn't explored. Travelling between the farms in Yelm, Rainier, and Tenino, I started making plans of a springtime bicycle ride on the Yelm-Tenino Trail. From Chehalis and Centralia, the adventure continued along highway 6 to Raymond. Just a week later this area would be under 10+ feet of water, but today was a day for adventure and plans for more.

Along this route, I spied a yellow barn, decaying in the trees so made Michael pull over for a shot or two . . . or twelve. Other picturesque barns dotted the fields and we made note that a weekend in a friends cabin on the coast would afford us the ability to explore some more. As our time was getting short, we had to speed our trip to get to dinner.