Here is my latest article on the Olympic Peninsula. Please check it out, and subscribe to my articles. You would be helping me out. . .thanks & have a great day. . .Karen
Tag: locations
Northern Cascade mountain scenic loop
Here is my latest article, and a great idea for travel on the Labor Day weekend. Please check it out. If you like my articles, please subscribe. Thanks, and have a wonderful day. . .Karen
Visiting Olympic national park
Here is my latest article on Olympic National Park. Please check it out. Hope you enjoy, and have a great day. . .
Happy shooting. . .Karen
Photography Destination – John Day Painted Hills Unit
In the mountains east of Prineville, Or, the small town of Mitchell is located 15 minutes from the John Day Painted Hills Unit. The town of Mitchell has a population of 120 people, and is located directly on Highway 26. The Oregon Hotel offers affordable accommodations, and is pleasant to stay. Main Street is across the creek from the main highway. During our stay, it was quiet and peaceful. Temperatures in the summer reach the 90 – 100 range, and July is the hottest month. With the aspen in the hills, fall would be a beautiful time to catch the colorful hills, and fall colors.
The area is home to three separate units, and all are home to fossils, beautiful landscapes and wildlife. We saw numerous Ravens, Hawks, Falcons, Deer and other wildlife.
The Painted Hills are layers of volcanic ash from the time the Cascade Mountains were young. Today, we see these hills as layers of reds, yellows, whites, blacks and greens. The sunlight changes the colors of the hills throughout the day. The sunlight becomes harsh around 9 am in the summer. It has the best color during the early morning hours, and later in the evening. The photograph below was taken a little after 6:30 am. I polarized filter is very useful in this location.
Besides sweeping landscapes and panoramic, the area lends itself to abstract compositions. The vibrant colors, textures and shapes create a landscape filled with possibilities. The light-colored boardwalk (s) create a brilliant contrast to the colors of the hills. In the photo below, this is the boardwalk through color cove.
More later, and happy shooting. . .Karen
Photography Destination – Fort Casey
Living in the Pacific Northwest offers many beautiful photography destinations. Simply living near Puget Sound, the Cascade Mountains or the Olympic Peninsula give many opportunities for sunsets, waterfalls, tide pools and wildlife. For the urban photographer, there is Seattle, Tacoma, Everett and Bellingham. One of my favorite places is Fort Casey. It is about 1 1/2 to 2 hours from Seattle, and located on beautiful Whidbey Island.
The park is home to Fort Casey, the WWII fort that helped protect Puget Sound from the Japanese. It is one of three forts located at the mouth of Puget Sound. The other two are Fort Ebby and Fort Flagler. Another structural features of the park is Admiralty Head Lighthouse.
The park is home to a lot of wildlife, that are comfortable around people though still wild. I’ve photographed deer, fawns, bald eagles, rabbits, small birds, harlequin ducks and various species of gulls. The cliff top is a large grassy area, surrounded by forest. It overlooks Puget Sound and Port Townsend. There is a trail to the beach, which is cobble stone and sand.
As a photographer, I never run out of subjects to photograph. The concrete bunkers, of the fort, offer line, texture and angles to shoot. The contrast between the concrete and nature is wonderful too. The fort still has one of its large guns on display, and visitors can look at it up-close.
Besides the vistas, wildlife, lighthouse and fort, there are plenty of flowers and macro opportunities.
Happy shooting. . .Karen
Using Light in Composition
Light. . .without light, there is not a photograph. With light, there is a photograph. Using light within you composition can create a breath taking photographic image.
Sometimes, it’s simply luck. This photo was taken from Arches NP on one of the roads. It was late afternoon, and the storm over the mountains with the rainbow added to the composition of the image. It’s one of my all time favorite images, and the first time published.
Sometimes, it takes research, patience and timing. I didn’t know that the storm was going to happen. It was truly a serendipitous moment. It’s also one that not everyone would see. My travel companions on this trip didn’t want to stop, and one of them was a photographer.
I think it comes down to being aware of the surroundings, and seeing/predicting what will happen next.
More Later. . .Karen
It’s All About the Light
The light makes or breaks a photograph, along with good composition. You can have the greatest composition, but if the light is wrong the photograph doesn’t turn out well.
- This photo was taken on a sunny spring day.
The top photo is taken during a winter storm. The light or lack of light turns the color of the water to a gray, and the greens are muted. Overall, the photo is dark, and lacks shadows. This contributes to the lack of depth in the photograph.
The bottom photo is taken on a sunny spring day. The sunlight brings out the color in the water, cliffs and vegetation. The sunlight cast shadows, giving the photo a feeling of depth.
The light in the photos casts a mood for the image.
Time of day is another variable in photography, which will be the topic of the next entry.
Best to All & Happy Shooting. . .Karen
Spring on the West Coast
March is a wonderful time to photograph the change of seasons. Here on the West Coast of the US, our weather changes between rain, sun, and hail. Bulbs start to poke out of the soil in February, and the daffodils are blooming.
In April, the Skagit Valley holds its annual Tulip Festival. The photo above was taken in the afternoon, on a sunny April day. The use of color and perspective make for interesting floral photographic images.
This one was taken from below (on the ground) looking up towards the sky. I held my camera on the ground, pointing it up, with a wide-angle lens set at 17mm (full frame sensor). I wanted to focus on the idea of color, and the concept of being unique in the crowd.
Below is a shot of the fields with a sense of the surroundings.
In this image, I used a wide-angle lens set at 17mm (full frame sensor), set the horizon line low in the frame, and used the primary colors to define the photograph. My depth of field was F13.
For more information about garden photography, attend my class this Saturday at Coupeville on Whidbey Island. It’s the WSU Master Gardeners extended learning workshops for gardeners of all ages.
More later. . .Karen
Birds – Eagles, Snow Geese, Swans & the Skagit Valley
I am often asked where I find birds to photograph. I have spent a number of years traveling, and documenting the birds I see. I have notes that I refer to every year, that lists where a certain species of bird is most likely to be found, and the time of year to look for them.
One of my favorite places to go in the winter is the Skagit Valley, either into the mountains or out onto the flood plains (the flats). The amount of migratory bird life in incredible.
Through the months of December to April, thousands of Snow Geese remain in the Skagit Valley. They feed on the winter cover crops that are planted by the farmers. The pristine farmland becomes covered with these large flocks, and give photo opportunities to professional and amateur photographers.
Along with the Snow Geese are Tundra and Mute Swans. All three of these species migrate down from the arctic for the winter. The summer months are spent raising young, in the short arctic summer.
Other birds that may be seen in the winter are Snowy Owls (depending on their food supply), Short Earred Owls, Northern Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks, Sand Pipers, Great Blue Heron and more.
Through-out the area, bald eagles migrate down from Alaska and British Columbia for the salmon runs on the Skagit River. These beautiful birds can be seen in large number in the mountains along Highway 20, and other roads along the river. Also, the eagles can be found closer to Puget Sound in the Skagit flats.
This past weekend, we discovered an area along the river by the small town of Concrete with 15-20 eagles at a time. There were both mature and immature eagles roosting in the trees, and flying over the river hunting salmon.
The eagles usually start leaving, and returning North in February. . .
More Later. . .Karen