Palouse – first impression
I’m visiting the Palouse for the first time over the weekend. The spring landscape in the early light this morning presented many of the hues in the Easter color palette. As for first impressions, this is truly beautiful country and it is a fantastic place to explore. There is much more to say, but the sun is shining and there are many more Easter eggs to find in these hills.
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Aspen lines
Canon 5DIII camera and 300mm f/4 lens: 1/15th of a second at f/16 on ISO 200
I drove along the Grand Valley Road in search of raptors and was fortunate to come across a small group of fellow photographers who had spied a Northern hawk owl in a roadside stand of trees. I will share a couple of photographs of that fine bird soon but wanted to first show the abstract images I made earlier in the day. Before finding any wildlife, I was spending time looking for them among the trees and meadows along the road. Early on, I found this stand of Aspens and I loved the vertical pattern and the stark contrast between dark and light within and between the tree trunks.
Canon 5DIII camera and 300mm f/4 lens: 1/500th of a second at f/9 on ISO 1250
I loved the straight image and once I dialled that in the way I liked, I wanted to drag my shutter and play with the blurred images that I traced out.
Canon 5DIII camera and 300mm f/4 lens: 1/30th of a second at f/16 on ISO 200
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A Red Rock Canyon Abstract
The Red Rock Canyon is one of Waterton’s popular sites to visit. My son had a great time parkouring along the slick rock, jumping across the shallow stream that the creek becomes in the middle of summer. I photographed him mostly but the water, its ripples and the lines in this slab of rock, drew my attention for a minute.
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A dancing abstract
I was looking through my image library for abstracts that I could use for a print series I’m working on and found the image above. I had photographed a reflection pool from the fourth story of a hotel in Mandalay, Myanmar. Leaning out of the window and using a longer lens, I was first drawn to the koi swimming in the shallow water. However, the trees on edge of the courtyard were casting energetic shadows across the gently rippled surface. I photographed the fish with the shadows for a little while and then dropped the fish altogether. The patterns of the distorted tree shapes in the water mesmerized me. I think of dance in the one above.
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Patterns in Nature: Abstracted Landscapes
My post yesterday, Downward Spiral, had me thinking about patterns and prompted me to dive through my image library for patterns in nature. As I looked at these images, I assembled a loosely connected collection under this theme.
Pulling together this short set, really fired me up to go find new patterns in the forests, fields, rivers and mountains where I get to spend my time.
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Commuting Downtown: Vehicles and People Along the Way
I have been working downtown the past couple of weeks which finds me riding the bus, rolling on the train and walking around the core. It makes for great opportunities to photograph people and vehicles – two themes I quite like working with.
With the businessman striding past, along with the absurd text, the lines and the display designer behind the glass collaborating to create an interesting scene.
I will be downtown for a while longer so there will be more to come on these two themes.
Christopher Martin Photography 