Forest Fire and Fireweed

Tree's Burned in the B&B Complex

During a recent backpacking trip, I spent a lot time hiking through burned out trees. Between the B&B Complex of 2003 and the Lake George Fire in 2006, there were only 5 or so miles of trail between McKenzie Pass and Santiam Pass that we're green trees. The rest of the trip was either burned out or lavabeds, both of which make for some surreal environments.

In 2003, the Booth Fire and the Bear Butte Fire burned over 90,000 acres of forest, primarily in the Mt. Jefferson wilderness. As we approached our destination at Santiam Pass we hiked through a small section of the B&B Complex. This area was in stark contrast to the area's of the more recent Lake George Fire we had hiked through on the previous day. There everything was desolate, but here renewal had already begun.



Fireweed, named such because it is one of the first things to grow again in burned areas, was in bloom. Every time I see Fireweed growing amongst the burned out trees, I marvel at how something so beautiful could come out of such desolation. In a lot of respects, it becomes an image for my life and how even amongst times of devastation, God is planting the seeds of something beautiful. A reminder of God's desire to restore and renew and an illustration of Romans 8:28 - "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (NASB).

My Dad, Hiking the PCT

This is my Dad. A couple of years ago he decided he wanted to hike all of Oregon Pacific Crest Trail in sections. He got a guide book and started highlighting sections of trail and writing the date he hiked it. Today, about 3 years since he first had the idea, he now has nearly 150 miles logged on the trail and, even though Oregon still has a ways to go, is already talking about doing Washington sections.

Because of his goal, a lot of the hiking or backpacking trips we take together involve at least a chunk of the PCT, that is if they are not composed entirely of it. During our trips, I've ended up hiking some fantastic areas, many of which I would love to go back to. The PCT is a fantastic way to see the Oregon Cascades. Staying basically at the crest, it loops around numerous mountains and goes through some amazing country.

This was taken on base of Mt. Washington during a recent backpacking trip. Although we never did see the mountain, it sure was a pretty area in the fog and the wildflowers were in bloom.

Backpacking the Mt. Washington Wilderness

"Did I look miserable?"
"Yeah."
"Good! I want something to show my kids some day."

A couple of weeks ago, my brother, dad and I did a bit of backpacking in the Mt. Washington Wilderness. We had been planning a trip in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness for weeks when we heard that a storm would be blowing in on our first night. Because we were planning to have a late start and 40 mile an hour gusts, at 1am, on the side of Mt. Jefferson didn't sound fun (or really even all that safe), we decided to start a day later, hopefully miss the storm coming through and do a shorter, 2-day trip through the Mt. Washington Wilderness.


Looking out over the lava beds

So, we start out at McKenzie pass, with the rail falling sideways, and go trekking through the lava beds. As if to mock us, while we were getting soaked, it wasn't raining at all just a couple miles to the east. About a mile in, the trail was sheltered enough for me to snap three or four pictures before the lens was covered with rain drops. This would be the last section of trail with any kind of visibility we would see for a long while. We continued our climb through the lava beds and the higher we got the harder the wind blew and the harder rain fell and the more the visibility dropped. When we hit the tree line, and the welcome shelter from the wind and rain, we had walked right past Belknap Crater (6,872 feet) and Little Belknap Crater (6,305 feet) and simply didn't see either one of them. We plugged on for several more miles before deciding to wait out the rain in the tent.

We soon discovered that the tent leaked.

After waking up wet and putting on wet boots and wet...well you get the idea (if not, see the picture at the top of the article for a visual reference), we continued around the base of Mt. Washington.


Into the Mist, On the base of Mt. Washington

Day two started off great. That is to say, the rain wasn't coming down sideways and their wasn't as much of it. The base of Mt. Washington sure was pretty in the fog, although we never did see the mountain.


Zach, Resting at the Lake

As we continued, the weather got better and it turned into a nice day to be out for a hike. After realizing that we were a bit ahead of our scheduled pickup, we took it slow and easy for the last few miles, stopping for a bit to enjoy places like the little lake pictured above.

In the end it was a good trip. Very wet. But, I enjoyed it, I like the pictures I took and I would totally do it again next time.

Shinji & Vanessa

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of shooting an engagement session for my friend Shinji and his bride-to-be Vanessa. The engagement session was kind of a last minute thing, shot two weeks before the wedding. We decided to shoot it primarily for two reasons; the first being, my wife Alycia (you may have seen her picture) was going to be shooting the wedding with me and was looking for as much experience as she could get before hand. The second reason came from a conversation with Andy and Elisha at e[a] studios about how much more relaxed the wedding pictures are when you get the couple in front of the camera before the wedding. After having a "NO DUH!", "Shoulda had a V8" moment, we promptly called up Shinji and Vanessa and suggested meeting up at Edgefield, to which Vanessa responded "OH! Edgefield!".

So one hot August evening, we all wandered around Edgefield and had a blast taking pictures of these guys. After a while, they relaxed in front of the camera and when time came to take pictures at the wedding, they were totally relaxed.

Here are some highlights from the session.

Into the Sun

More and more often, I find myself breaking one of the "rules" of photography and pointing my camera into the sun. While, typically, this results in a dark and/or washed out subject with awful ghosting and lens flare, if embraced as a stylistic decision, shooting into the sun can add a lot of character to a picture.

The popular advice is to shoot with the sun behind you and let its light light up whatever you're taking a picture of. And that is all fine and good, but like most "rules" in photography, knowing the rule is less about following it to the letter and really more about knowing how to get away with breaking it. Knowing what happens under these situations (i.e. pictures into the sun end up washed out with lens flare) is the first step towards using for your own devices.



For this picture of daylilies, I purposefully shot into the sun. Did you notice the prominent lens flare, the washed out areas and the darker subject mater? All those trademark "I shot into the sun" characteristics are quite clear in this picture (just in case you missed the big ball of fire in the sky). Now, did you notice what we gained by shooting into the sun? The semi-transparent daylilies are all lit up and glowing from the sun and all those trademark characteristics come together and add a bunch of drama and contract into what could otherwise be a flat, standard, boring flower picture.

Not all pictures into the sun have to be so over the top. Take, for example, the picture of my mom at the top of the article, which has been reproduced here for your convenience.



In it you have the same trademarks, but much more subdued. The lens flare is smaller and adds a subtle, warm feel to the picture, while the subject is only mildly washed out and isn't overly dark. By framing the picture without the sun, its effects are limited to the light spill hitting the edges of the lens and end up significantly diminished. Also because of the lack of the sun in the frame, the look of this picture could be totally changed by adding a lens hood or shading the lens with your hand. All in all I really like the way the warm tones from the flare and washout combine with the sunlight hitting her hair to enhance the portrait.



Another option for reducing the washout and flare is to block the sun with something. In this case, I decided to block it with my brother's head. Not only is he keeping the sun out of my eyes and saving me twenty bucks on sunglasses, he's got this great "wrap around" light that lights up his hair and separates him from the background. Also, he's got some great light hitting him, as it's sunlight that's bouncing off the trees and buildings behind me. Bouncing a light is a really effective tool to make a relatively "small" light (in this case the sun - yes it's small, did you notice that his head is blocking the whole thing?) into a "big" light (the trees and buildings behind him cannot be blocked out by his head, therefore they are big). The advantage of bigger lights is they are softer and provide a more flattering light for your subject.

While shooting into the sun is something that can get over used, cliché or produce some really nasty pictures, it is something that can be used to enhance a photograph. I quite like the results I've had with it and will be refining my technique until the rain returns in October.

Underwater

Another picture from last weekend's pool fun. I hadn't done "pool pictures" before and was looking to get more familiar with my new camera, so I got it out and started taking some shots with it. Before I knew it, everyone was really into it and we were all having a blast.

This is my brother Zach, enjoying the refreshing pool. To get this shot, I had to stand on the diving board and lean towards the pool (kinda scary with a brand new camera, but totally worth it!) while he swam underwater from one end towards me. This was snapped half a second before he surfaced.

This was tricky to get something that looked "right". If I took the shot when he was too deep, the water would distort him in odd ways and you would have a silly putty Zach, run over by a dump truck and tossed in the river by the mob look. If he blew bubbles, I would have a great picture of "Bubble Face". If I wasn't careful in my positioning and framing the sun reflecting on the water (I forgot my polarizer, and no I don't want to talk about it) would make it look like some helicopter was shining a spot light on him so the FBI agents on the ground could swoop in and make the arrest.

Having worked through those challenges, I'm quite happy with the picture I've made. It's not often that every time I look at a picture I go "wow, I love that picture" and even rarer is it one of mine. But when it is, I love that feeling. They aren't always my "best" pictures, but they always are special to me.

Backyard Baseball Dreams

These days its rare to see Jon with out something relating to baseball. Even though his season is over, he is always up for some catch, practicing some pitching or working on his batting.

After playing catch with everyone he could talk into it, he laid on the grass and tossed the ball to himself.

I remember doing that, how relaxing it was to toss a ball up in the air and catch it, then do the same thing over and over ... excuse me, I think I need to go find a baseball.