2019 Memories

It's hard to believe 2019 is ending and a new decade will be starting in less than a week. As I look back on this year, I marvel at everything that has happened. I started the year sharing a small cabin with family and friends in a remote corner of Washington State. Through this year I was able to share with 3 different groups my future books (no they are not done yet, but getting closer) and inspired a few to head out to explore on their own. I even submitted the book proposal to a publisher - fingers crossed. I was asked to present a talk at a local photo conference about personal projects and I think I found my signature talk - if I ever get invited to speak again. Mid-year I started vlogging and have learned so much about video recording and editing and even about accepting myself. I have even started working on a better business plan to coach photography and public speaking for photographers. Adventures have been amazing with 2 backpacking trips in the Olympic rainforest, several day hikes and road trips and finally a grand adventure in the Canadian Rockies. This has been a very good year and trying to choose my favorite images has been extremely difficult. Can't say these are my absolute faves from the year, but they help make the year memorable.

This first one may seem a bit odd for a landscape photographer - a city scape of pigeons flying into the air. But I love street photography as a way to challenge myself - to look at the cityscapes and find the beauty there in the buildings and the people. Our everyday interactions with our environment may seem mundane and boring, but really, are they. Stop and look around you to find the patterns in the construction, the nature finding a way to thrive, the humanness of an interaction. I was in Denver in February for a work conference. My last morning there, I decided that instead of meeting my coworkers for breakfast I'd walk around downtown with my camera. It had been 20 years since I left Denver and enjoyed walking along on streets familiar yet strange. This empty lot had a flock of pigeons pecking through the snow for treats and I accidently disturbed them. Not quite ready, I still managed to grab a couple of images of the birds lit from above and below.

It's all about the viewpoint. While camping at Mt Rainier National Park this past summer, I decided to take an evening hike to a waterfall close to camp. I had been there several times before and wasn't sure if I'd be able to create anything. By the time I got to the falls, it was just too dark to really look for a composition. Luckily I had spotted this little trailside waterfall on my way. There was something about the how it fell through the mossy rocks down the hill that said I needed to take my time with the composition to show the drama of this little falls dwarfed as it was in the expanse of the forest. This perspective of looking straight down helps create that drama.

One thing is true about the temperate rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula, life grows where ever it can. On one of my backpacking trips to the rain forest this past spring, I saw this little batch of Bunchberry Dogwood growing in a crevice of this Sitka Spruce - at eye level. Of course I had to photograph it. It is the essence of the story of the Olympic rainforest - that life will find a way to take root and thrive. I love the simplicity and resilience of the little woodland ground cover. The bright white flowers sparkle as 4-petal gems along the forest floor beneath grand stately trees - or, in this case, on the trees. The leaves have beautiful lines that turn gold then red in the autumn. The flowers give way to 3-berry bunches bright red berries. This little plant was growing perfectly placed to offer a cheery hello as we hiked by.

Envy is a powerful emotion. So reviled, it is listed as one of the 7 deadly sins in the bible. But there are 2 sides to envy. The first is the one listed in the bible. The one that eats at you and makes you angry and hurtful. The second makes you strive for better in yourself. This is an image that reflects both of those sides for me. I used to not want to watch YouTube videos of other photographers or read their personal blogs because I was envious of their journeys - both in the world and photography. I wanted what they had and it made me bitter and angry. I always felt as if I was trying to play catch-up with what everyone else was doing. I grew resentful when I saw other photographers capture the images I wanted especially if they had the free time to chase the image - I was stuck at work. Then I found a couple of photographers on YouTube that made me smile and want to do better. Listening to them helped me listen to myself. It helped to remind me that I have my own vision. This image is a result of listening to them and listening to myself, of taking a chance, of not always needing to pursue that big vista wow-factor. A reminder to be me. Thank you YouTube dudes and dudettes.

This is another reminder to be me - although this image is an accident. I have been trying for years to capture the iconic image of Cape Disappointment lighthouse with waves crashing high on the cliffs below. They are amazing images and honestly, I wanted to play with the big boys. I wanted to prove that I too had the ability to capture those images. So I traveled to Cape Disappointment for Christmas because the tides were going to be pretty high and there was a possibility of the crashing waves. But I felt like a hypocrite. I advocate for the smaller places on the planet - that they are photographic destinations no matter how small and that non-iconic images should be created in those places and the larger places. Yet here I was chasing an iconic image. I got the image. Then this happened - while using auto-focus, I focused on the lighthouse which is about a half mile away with a large splashing rock between me & the cliff. Between me and the water was about 20 feet of piled driftwood that waves crashed on. Just as I released the shutter for the wave in back, a wave crashed on the pile of driftwood and magic happened. Funny how magic happens when I go on a photo trip for Christmas.

Don't forget to look at the details. It was still early in the summer as I walked through Billy Frank Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Being summer and the world around me filled with rich tones of green the red of these leave drew my attention away from the mossy greens nearby. I was composing an image when the corner of my eye saw something else that seemed out of place - this little green tree frog. "Why yes, of course I will make your portrait little frog."

I had traveled down to the Lewis River in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest for a hike with friends. I was there early having driven down the night before and decided to explore the Lower Lewis River Falls. The light was with low clouds obscuring the sky and created a few images that I was happy with before going back to the car to wait for my friends. Once they got there, we headed back down to the falls before starting on our hike. Just as we were about to leave the clouds broke apart and the sun streamed through through the trees to highlight the falls and one little tree. Drama unfolded before my camera lens and it stays as a reminder of a wonderful day hiking with friends.

This is the first image on my list from my trip to the Canadian Rockies. I went with a group of other photographers for 10 days of exploring and photographing an area I often visited as a child with my family. Our last night in the area, a couple of us went back to a reliable location just outside of Banff township - Vermillion Lakes with an amazing view of Mount Rundle. As I sorted through the thousands of images I came home with, I couldn't stop looking at this image. It's a simple image but everything came together so well in it. The mirrored shapes between the grass in the foreground, water in the midground, and Mount Rundle create balance and symmetry. Then there is the drama between the light, golden clouds on the left and the dark, dramatic clouds on the right. This brings all the joy of the trip back to mind for me.

Another image from my trip to the Canadian Rockies - this time from Jasper National Park. My dad loved Jasper. So much that he often talked about moving here and never coming back. He never did, but our family spent many a vacation here watching bears, photographing mountains, and drinking out of clear streams. On these trips, mom would have one request - to be dropped off at the side of a lake to fish the day away. Dad would leave her on the side of the lake with her rod and a cooler filled with soda and take us girls for a hike.This was one of mom's favorite lakes as they shared the same name - Patricia. We got to the lake late in the day with not much time to explore and as the light began to fade we stumbled across this little scene. For me, it's the perfect way to commemorate my mother's love of fishing on this lake.

Like street photography, dance photography helps to push my boundaries and lets me explore a photography style I normally wouldn't pursue. I discovered an excitement within myself as I began to capture images of dancers gracefully showing their talents. This warm spring day a small group of dancers gathered for a larger group of photographers at Seattle's Gas Works Park for an afternoon of dancing, posing, and friendship. This image stuck out for me since I was able to capture the dancer in mid-leap with Seattle in the background and the effortless look on his face - as if this is just they way he moves through the world.

Another image from the Canadian Rockies (there were so many happy images from that trip). This is one of those images that came together perfectly. I convinced my friend to pull into this rest area/boat launch for the Athabasca River just south of Jasper township because I saw a bull elk in the woods. As people started gathering around the herd of cows close to the river, I thought I should give the herd some space and walked down the river bank a bit. I began photographing the cows as they contemplated swimming the river. Then the bull walked out of the woods onto that little spit of land to watch over them. It was the perfect moment with the herd framing the bull. A few minutes later, the herd began swimming across the river followed by the bull and the moment was over.

The last image in this list is one that is truly special for me. My mother loved owls. Every time I see one, I am reminded of her and feel her close to me. I meandered through the forest at Birch Bay State Park photographing another love of hers - wildflowers on the forest floor. I paused a moment and looked up to see this little Barred Owl watching my progress along the trail. It sat still for a few moments before silently flying to another tree. There was beauty in that moment - a connection between myself, nature, and a memory of love. And a perfect image to say farewell to this fantastic year and welcome the next adventurous year. 

May your new year be filled with adventure, beauty, and self-discovery.

A Mother's Touch

Mother's Day.

It's been 25+ years since I thought of celebrating this holiday by giving my mom flowers or an African Violet or an owl figurine. Mom died far too early in her life and mine.

As a young woman heading out toward life, I missed her presence, her advice and her love. I was only 24 when she died from complications due to Type 2 Diabetes. She was 57. I had just gotten married to a man I did not love and he knew. He demonstrated his frustration through his fists.

But Mom didn't raise me to be a punching bag. I knew it. He knew it. And after an emergency room visit with friends we were divorced. Thoughts turned to returning home to the safety of family as at the time I was in Ohio. But Mom would have wanted me to follow my dreams and so I stayed in school and became an educator.

Not liking the public school system, I taught college level courses and, later, extending education for adults. And when I look at what I teach (hiking, navigation, photography, the natural world) I see her influence.

Mom taught me about the natural world, life cycles, love of being in nature and a vision of the art in everyday life. She taught me to look at the more minuscule world even as I gazed in wonder at the grand views. And she showed me that helping others find their view is the most rewarding. 

And so, without even really thinking about it I will be celebrating Mother's Day in the world she taught me to love and to share. This Mother's Day I'll be backpacking with friends and new hikers sharing my love of this natural world with them. 

Thank you mom. I miss you.

Lone Tree

It stood on the hill.

Alone.

Bent over like an old man with arthritis.

A weather worn tree, formed into it's crooked appearance by the wind. Wind blowing hard and stiff over the years, bending the life of the tree to its will.

And the tree bent and it grew with the direction of the forces of nature until it was permanently hunched under clouds.

But do not pity the lone tree, crouching on top of the hill. This lone tree does not cower in the fierce nature of the elements. Instead, it was made by Mother Nature in this form to protect the delicate flowers at its base.

This tree, this old weathered man with arthritis is strong in purpose.

Friends of all Sizes

Divide Camp Trail, 8/29/09, 10 miles, 1800 elevation

My friend Anna is going through a difficult time in her life. Her second bout with Breast Cancer took both of her breasts. At this point, she is going through reconstruction - the painful part - where they have to stretch your tissue to make room for the implants. Always upbeat about life and her predicament, and yet constant pain does start to wear a person down. When she asked if she could go on a hike with me, I jumped at the chance. Nature has a way of restoring even the weariest of us.

She wanted to go somewhere new & I wanted to take her somewhere that wouldn't tax her strength or resolve too much. She was also bringing along her 4-month-old Puppy Niko. For all the energy puppies have, they do tire out so easily. I decided to give Niko some company, Zillah should come along too. As for the trail, I decided on either Killeen Creek or Divide Camp trails on Mt Adams. Anna said she had never been to Mt Adams and would love to see it. These trails give you quick access to the upper meadows without too much work. They also connect with the Pacific Crest Trail so once you get to the meadows you can wander along as far as you want to go.

Even though we had a great plan, the weather decided to make its own decisions. We both woke to pouring rain. But we are Northwest folks and a little rain rarely deters us. Good thing to - it barely sprinkled on us throughout our day and the clouds even broke up in the afternoon to shine a little warmth onto us and Adams.

This late in the season, I wasn't expecting much in the way of wildflowers. Yet lupine were still making a slight show. Indian Paintbrush and Cascade Daisies were still going strong. Monkey flowers brightened the grey rocks along streams. Even the marmots came out to admire (or eat) the pretties.

As we were on the PCT, we did meet up with at least one thru-hiker who stopped to chat with us. I neglected to get his name, but do know he's from Israel. I told him it was too bad that My Adams decided to hide today as walking along his flanks at this altitude gives you the most spectacular views. He asked about the Goat Rocks. I told him the Goat Rocks is where God goes to hike. This is when he mentioned he was from Israel and he guessed God needed a vacation too once in a while. We laughed at his joke and shared some more information then Anna & I waved good-bye and wished him luck on the rest of his journey. Anna asked after he left where he was hiking from - I told her Mexico. She asked "You can do that? That's a long way!"

We meandered south along the PCT looking at flowers, watching marmots, gazing longingly toward the cloud shrouded mountain. Zillah & Niko pranced side by side, never discerning where the whistling marmots were hiding. We stopped for lunch at the lava fields. Poor Niko was already getting tired - he plopped down and barely moved even for a treat. I figured we all could keep going but Niko was just too tired to go on. Anna & I decided this would be our turn-around point and made our way back to the parking lot.

Once there, the sun broke through the clouds. Ahh, the warmth. We chatted a bit with a gentleman waiting for his wife and her companions. He was a Forest Service retiree and told us wonderful places to go - I wish I wrote them down. We made a quick detour to Tahklahk Lake to finally see Mt Adams in his beauty - basking in the afternoon sun with the lake below. How perfect an end to our day. We agreed before heading out on the road again that next time we'd spend the night next July up with the flowers, the marmots and the views.