skies – Page 2 – widening rings…

Detail-oriented

I don’t think there has ever been a time in my existence when I wasn’t fascinated by the small details of life. My mother has told me stories of how ridiculously long it took to walk anywhere with me when I was a toddler as I kept stopping every few feet or so to inspect something that had caught my interest. For anyone who’s ever had the experience of walking somewhere with me today, they can probably attest that not a lot has changed! *GRIN*

Though it can be distracting (and occasionally overwhelming), my heightened attention to very small details is not a trait I would ever really want to change. I think it is an essential component of being a good naturalist… and photographer too. Being able to see small differences in two different shots can be very useful when editing a large number of images. Paying attention to how an image makes you feel if you alter the exposure a little or experiment with a slightly different crop can really improve your finished product. Of course, sometimes I wonder if the things I get hung-up on are perhaps too subtle for most people to care about. For instance, I was working on this image today:

This gorgeous scene was captured from the window of the train on the return leg of our trip to Seattle. The body of water paralleling the tracks provided a perfect mirror image of the striated sky above. The colors were subtle and perfect. This is the image I took, full-frame, nothing done in post-processing except to adjust the exposure a bit. I wanted this to feel somewhat abstract. I wanted it to be more about the repeating colors and lines than about the context of the scenery per se. As I stared at the above image, something just wasn’t sitting right for me. So, I cropped it, like this:

If you can immediately tell the difference between these two shots… well then, I am impressed! This crop did serve some practical purpose because my camera creates images that are roughly 8 x 10.6 inches. These dimensions are not particularly useful for making prints and cropping this to a standard size of 8 x 10 inches makes sense. But, that’s not why I did it. My reasons were far less obvious…

I am always trying to understand how someone’s eye reads a photo or piece of artwork. I think there are ways to guide the eye. To subtly suggest where the focus should be and how the eye travels to get there. My goal with this piece was to have the viewer’s eye follow the repeating horizontal lines in a way that would feel seamless… flowing, I suppose. Back and forth, like a typewriter, spewing pastel lines of clouds and water. I wanted to include the land below the water because it anchored the whole scene a bit and gave a hint of context. But foreground — especially darker foreground — is always going to draw the eye, and in this case, my attention kept being inexorably drawn to that tiny dark blob in the lower left corner. A little bump that made me stop and scrutinize when I wanted to just keep gliding back and forth.

At this point — if you’re still reading — you’re probably thinking 1) this woman is more than a little neurotic, and 2) does it really make any appreciable difference? Well, I freely admit to the first point… and as to the second, who knows? I felt instantly better about the whole thing after cropping it, but I have no idea how it translates to others. I’d be happy to hear what you think! Here are the two images side-by-side:

*Click on this (and the above images) if you want to see a larger view.*

Eventually, after staring at these two images for long enough and putting this blog post together, I began to second-guess myself. What was the big deal with the little blob anyway??? It finally dawned on me that it was the “blob” part that wasn’t working for me. Though a small protrusion, it poked up out of an otherwise congruous series of lines and drew attention. But then, to further frustrate things, I simply couldn’t resolve what I was looking at and that made my eye linger even longer on this spot. At this point, curiosity got the better of me and I enlarged the image and seriously increased the exposure to get a better view of the inscrutable dark lump.

sky & water blob revealed

Surprise! It’s a GOOSE!!! A Canada Goose, with its back to the camera, to be exact. Hah! Now, if this goose had been more visible, recognizable as a goose from a distance, there is no way that I ever would’ve considered cropping it out. That would have been a perfect destination for the viewer’s eye — traveling across the image and settling on this lone bird also surveying the unfolding scenery. Ahhh, but it wasn’t meant to be this time around, I guess.

Hmmm… re-reading this post, it seems awfully long and meandering. Not sure if anything I’ve written will be of interest to anyone. Just trying to give some insight into my creative process, which at times can perhaps be overly rigorous. More and more, I recognize that I must give myself more freedom to have fun and be spontaneous with my photography… but, the details do matter to me and they probably always will. And… I’m OK with that!

Harsi / June 10, 2011 / photography, skies, travel, water / 4 Comments

An Empty Space To Fill In

Blue
here is a shell for you
Inside you’ll hear a sigh
A foggy lullaby
There is your song from me

Joni Mitchell, “Blue”

Harsi / June 8, 2011 / lyrics, skies / 5 Comments

It Is Shining

Lay down all thought
Surrender to the void
It is shining
It is shining

That you may see
The meaning of within
It is being
It is being

Lennon–McCartney, “Tomorrow Never Knows”

Harsi / June 4, 2011 / lyrics, skies / 2 Comments

Cloud Jellyfish

A few days ago, a friend sent me a wonderful link to some footage of jellyfish in Palau and I started thinking about how amazing it would be to actually get to see these creatures for myself. Oh, I mean I’ve seen lots of jellyfish… in aquariums, in countless nature films, but never in person. Eventually, as is often the case with unknown places and things, I began to wonder what it would be like to photograph them. Who knows, perhaps someday I will get the opportunity and have those incredible photos to share with you all! For now, I thought I’d showcase one of my favorite images and a very special memory of mine… Last year, near the end of October, I was photographing this intriguing series of wispy clouds (cirrus clouds, I believe). As I stood gazing upwards, a subtle rainbow appeared. This was not a rainbow arcing across the sky, this was a rainbow in the cloud itself. I quickly snapped several shots and I’m glad that I didn’t hesitate because it only lasted about 2 seconds. (Really! I checked the time stamp on my photos!) After it disappeared, I mused to myself that it was a lucky thing I had been already engaged in the activity of photographing that particular cloud, or I’m certain I would have missed out on capturing it, and possibly never seen it at all.

So, according to the reading I’ve done, the (entirely unromantic) scientific term for this phenomenon is “circumhorizontal arc“. I have also seen it referred to as a “cloudbow” and I understand that it is a fairly common occurrence caused by the relatively high angle of the sun as it strikes ice crystals in the cloud. But for me, the instant association I had on that day, the very reason I was photographing the cloud in the first place…. was that it looked like a jellyfish. When the rainbow suffused the hanging tentacles, the illusion seemed complete to me. There, in the infinitely blue expanse of ocean-sky, hung a bioluminescent creature of the deep. Fanciful, I know… but, that’s what I saw. And once seen, it’s now impossible for me to unsee it. Why would I want to anyway?

Harsi / June 2, 2011 / skies / 2 Comments

Sometimes The Sky Calls…

Another night of unsatisfying sleep, my Inbox is full of e-mail awaiting responses, my household chores are steadily backing up. In light of all of this, I had decided that I would stay inside today and just post some remaining photos from yesterday’s walk. But… this morning I looked outside and it was cloudy. I cracked the front door and the weather was cool and breezy. Birds were singing… squirrels were zipping around… and, well, you know how it goes. I got dressed and put my shoes on. [insert sheepish grin] I figured I should at least grab a cup of juice before leaving and while gulping it down, I peered out the kitchen window. As if on cue, my favorite spotted-little-one showed up with its mom and gave me a glimpse or two as it snuck through the sage and olive trees.

There was a fair bit of blue sky showing, but the clouds that covered the rest of the sky more than made up for it. Wispy and whimsical. Puffs and arcs. Stretching, shifting and moving. Aaaah… action in the sky… just what I crave!

As if issuing some sort of homage to the little spotted fawn from earlier, the sky shifted yet again and produced this most wonderful pattern:

**Be sure to click on the image for a beautiful panoramic.**

A Cooper’s Hawk (quite likely the same one from yesterday!) soared effortlessly above me. Sharing the sky with the hawk were a few swallows swooping and diving at unseen insects. I heard the raucous croaking of the boisterous raven family long before I spotted them high over the hills. The juveniles are as big as the adults now and the family (6 birds total, I think) loudly travels together in search of food and perhaps a bit of mayhem.

Cooper's Hawk & Common Ravens

There were small arthropod joys to be had as well. Several bumble bees were working a patch of California Poppies. If yesterday’s photos were a matter of good luck and perfect timing, today’s images proved to be more a matter of supreme patience and diligence. For some reason, my camera repeatedly refused to achieve focus when I wanted it to, and countless opportunities for beautiful shots of the bees ended up as little more than blurry blobs of orange, yellow and black. But, it was a beautiful day to be out and I smiled despite my frustration, and stuck with it until I managed to come away with at least a few nifty shots.

I was kind of amazed at how long bumble bees’ back legs are when they let them dangle.

I knew I had been gone too long, and reluctantly I turned and headed for home. As I rounded the corner of the small work shed near our cabin, I slowed down to carefully watch my step and scan the ground… Why? Well, because there’s always the chance I’ll see this poking out of the abandoned ground squirrel burrow:

If you’ve got a heebie-jeebie-thing about rattlers, I wouldn’t click on this one for the bonus shot… (*grin*)

Hope everyone has had a truly wonderful day!

Harsi / June 1, 2011 / arthropods, birds, flowers, mammals, reptiles, skies / 2 Comments

Waiting There For Me

Gold and rose,
the colour of the dream I had,
Not too long ago,
Misty blue and lilac too,
Never to grow old.

Jimi Hendrix, “One Rainy Wish”

As I leisurely browsed through sky images yesterday, I stopped to reminisce on my photos from January 27th of last year. A short walk behind our cabin and up the fire road (a plowed service road meant for fire and other emergency vehicles) brings me to a great west-facing overlook spot. This is where I shoot a great majority of the skies in my archives. Some days (like this one) it’s honestly hard for me to comprehend the beauty I’m seeing…

The view to the east was equally spectacular… but in a much more subtle way. The sky reflected back the colors of the sunset in an amazing pastel gradation suspended above the hills…

Harsi / May 26, 2011 / hillsides, lyrics, skies / 6 Comments

Epic Battle

In the last few days, all of our lovely, unseasonably cool weather and cloud-filled skies have started to evaporate. Those who know me will understand my disappointment. I am just not a fan of the “blue sky” days that are so common here much of the year. What I mean by “blue sky”, is exactly what it sounds like — nothing but blue… not even a hint of clouds to break the monotony of that wide expanse. The light is constant, bright and glaring. Ugh!

I like movement in my skies… I like the way that clouds change and shift the light so that from one moment to the next everything you view is transitioning… making new shapes, new colors, new moods. In order to console myself a bit I decided to do some vicarious cloud-watching by sifting through my ENDLESS stack of sky images. (Seriously, I could have a blog devoted to nothing but showing pics of the sky every day and I would currently have enough images to last me years and years.)

I picked this one out to share with you guys. So, come on… join in the fun! What do you see in this wonderful sky? What can your imagination turn these fantastic shapes into? (Don’t click on the image or read any further until you’ve got it all worked out in your head!)

What I saw was an epic battle between a Great White Shark and a mythical fire-breathing dragon! Can’t see it for yourself?! OK, go ahead… click on the photo to see my (barely) artistic interpretation. *GRIN*

Harsi / May 25, 2011 / skies, weather / 12 Comments

Is it spring, is it morning?

I can’t stop thinking about my walk yesterday. It was the kind of day that makes you want to write about it with such perfection that everyone reading will instantly know just how you felt. I rarely posses that sort of talent… but Mary Oliver does. She is a true master. Her poetry never fails to speak what my heart is saying.

Such Singing in the Wild Branches

It was spring
and finally I heard him
among the first leaves –
then I saw him clutching the limb

in an island of shade
with his red-brown feathers
all trim and neat for the new year.
First, I stood still

and thought of nothing.
Then I began to listen.
Then I was filled with gladness –
and that’s when it happened,

when I seemed to float,
to be, myself, a wing or a tree –
and I began to understand
what the bird was saying,

and the sands in the glass
stopped
for a pure white moment
while gravity sprinkled upward

like rain, rising,
and in fact
it became difficult to tell just what it was that was singing –
it was the thrush for sure, but it seemed

not a single thrush, but himself, and all his brothers,
and also the trees around them,
as well as the gliding, long-tailed clouds
in the perfectly blue sky – all, all of them

were singing.
And, of course, yes, so it seemed,
so was I.
Such soft and solemn and perfect music doesn’t last

for more than a few moments.
It’s one of those magical places wise people
like to talk about.
One of the things they say about it, that is true,

is that, once you’ve been there,
you’re there forever.
Listen, everyone has a chance.
Is it spring, is it morning?

Are there trees near you,
and does your own soul need comforting?
Quick, then – open the door and fly on your heavy feet; the song
may already be drifting away.

For those that are curious, the birds pictured from left to right are:
A displaying male Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater).
A pair of Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) — they had literally just finished mating!
A singing Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata).

Bliss. Peace. Beauty. Joy. Everything I want to have in my life! I hope that Spring is bringing all of these things to you too. We all deserve at least a little bit of this every day.

Harsi / May 17, 2011 / birds, hillsides, quotations, skies / 0 Comments

Sunday Sky

Sorry for the late post… it’s been a busy weekend! I spent the first part of today in my mother-in-law’s impressively lush garden. We had a bit of rain, then some sun and the most amazing puffy white clouds that filled the sky in a way that couldn’t help but make a person smile. (I found a bevy of interesting things in her yard and hope to be sharing a few of those discoveries soon!)

Did anything make you grin from ear-to-ear this weekend?

Harsi / May 15, 2011 / flowers, skies / 0 Comments

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Yesterday, in the late afternoon, I headed out the door for a walk. I was feeling good and one of the first sights I saw was the faint outline of the moon rising above the hills, which are currently decked out with the pale orange blooms of monkey flower (Diplacus aurantiacus, I think). Usually, by the time I notice the moon in the daytime, it is already fairly high in the sky… it was cool to capture a few shots of it nearer to the horizon.

I decided to take the road that parallels the seasonal creek. The oaks that grow down there are so magical. And the way it looks when the sunlight streams through the dense canopy is something that my camera never seems quite able to capture. It looked something like this…

As I was walking, I heard a noise coming from the dense plant growth next to the creek. I looked down and saw this tiny bundle of brown feathers struggling to keep its balance and grip on the twig where it perched. It failed and tumbled down, disappearing into the foliage. I assumed it might be a juvenile bird and so I waited very quietly and patiently to see if it would return. I was delighted when this very young Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) reemerged!!

The photos aren’t fantastic due to the heavy shade cover, but as you can see it is in the early stages of feather growth — the wings are nowhere close to their eventual full length and the tail is practically nonexistent! Sweet little thing that it was, it sat there and made the most endearing peeping noises over and over (and over!) again.

Even though the juvenile didn’t seem to mind my company, I didn’t stay too long because I assumed that my presence was probably keeping the parent(s) from returning with food. [Sure enough, when I was walking by the same spot again on my way home, I saw one of the parents flying away from the clump of vegetation where the juvenile was still “peeping” away.]

Today’s trash has been brought to you by the letters “G-R-E-E-N L-A-N-T-E-R-N” and the numbers “6-17-11”.
The title and release date of an upcoming superhero film.

So, in this case, “the bad & the ugly” part of my walk were the same thing: TRASH. We live in a pretty remote area of the canyon and there is relatively little human and vehicle traffic. Nevertheless, every time I go out for a walk, I bring a bag with me and never fail to find new bits of refuse which I pick-up and take home. The constant winds in the canyon must blow a lot of stuff our way, some things get washed down the creek when we have heavy rains, and some of it undoubtedly gets thrown or falls out of cars traveling on the main road. I try not to get up on my soap box too often, but this issue makes me so disgusted. Balloons seem to push my buttons even more than other things… I think because they are just so superfluous. The epitome of a single-use, non-essential, impulse item that people don’t seem to think twice about. They are insidiously designed to escape and travel long distances, often ending up in the mountains or the oceans. Had I not picked it up, the best case scenario for this balloon would be that it continued to break down into smaller and smaller bits of plastic that scatter through the environment. The worst case scenario is that one of the many critters here in the canyon would mistake it for food and try to eat it — a situation which can have dire consequences for the animal.

For those of you who take regular walks in natural areas, I’d like to ask you to consider carrying a small bag in your pocket or with your gear so that if you run across these bits of garbage you can remove them. I know it’s only a very small solution to an overwhelming problem, but I truly believe that every little bit helps.

Thank you for putting up with my rant. May your Saturday be full of the “good” and none of the “bad & ugly”!

Harsi / May 14, 2011 / birds, conservation, hillsides, not nature, skies / 4 Comments