Afternoon Shadows at the Wash, Thousand Palms

After a day at a conference in Palm Springs, I escaped into the sun in search of desert images.  A quick search of the internet reminded me of one of Palm Springs’ real treats, the oases of Desert Fan Palms (Washingtonia filifera) that flourish wherever the San Andeas fault forces deep groundwater to the surface, and I was soon speeding northward toward the Thousand Palms preserve.  Leaving the town’s ritzy gated communities and straggling suburbs behind, I was soon traversing Highway 10 through the rocky desert of the northern Coachella Valley.

Just before I reached the oasis, I passed over a dry wash curving off toward the eroded brown crests of the distant Little San Bernardino Mountains.  Intrigued by the interplay of the shafts of the late afternoon shadows and the curving lines of the wash and the trees, I stopped and went exploring.  The late afternoon sun was low, and every rock and tree cast a spear of  shadow across the line of the wash as it curved around a rocky outcrop.  I took this photo on XP-2 with my No. 1 Kodak Junior at f/22, and once again the little Rapid Rectilinear lens captured a crisp image with excellent contrast and tonal range.

Later, I found the little road to Thousand Palms Canyon and, managing to elude the rattlesnakes and sidewinders, I savored the cool dusk between the majestic columns of palms, and climbed a crumbling slope to the top of a bluff where I found an old wooden cross sillouetted against the sunset.

References:

“Coachella Valley Preserve.”  http://www.coachellavalleypreserve.org/.

“Coachella Valley Preserve Thousand palms oasis.”  http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/jotr/html/coachella.htm.

“1000 Palms oasis.”  http://www.coachellavalleypreserve.org/wilhelmhistory/histone.html.

“Thousand Palms Oasis on the San Andreas Fault.”  http://geology.about.com/od/geology_ca/ig/safsouth/safsouthpalms.htm.

The Stone House, Saltspring Island

Located between mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island, Saltspring Island, the largest of the Gulf Islands, is a unique and beautiful spot.   Driving up the ramp from the little ferry, one wanders along winding roads that snake between mountains and forests of cedar and Douglas fir.  Then suddenly the corridor of forest opens to reveal a pocket of valley with rolling farmland, punctuated by rustic farmhouses set among gnarled Garry Oaks.  Sheep graze in the fields, and signs for artists’ studios, potter’s workshops, and woodworker’s shops dot the road’s edge.

The island has a long and fascinating history.  First explored by the Spanish and British in the 1700s, Saltspring was settled in the 1850s by early pioneers who had abandoned their hopes of quick riches in the Fraser River Gold Rush.

A group of 9 Negro slaves, who had purchased their liberty in the United States, arrived at what was to become thew town of Vesuvius in 1857.  More black settlers from California were followed by immigrants from Portugal and Scandinavia, then British and Hawaiian settlers (Kanakas) originally recruited by the Hudson’s Bay Company.   As a result of this long history, the island boasts some of the oldest farms in  the province, and photographers find many abandoned farmhouses and barns dating from the 1800s.

As the light was fading under drippy skies and heavy overcast, I came across this old house in a small valley near the sea, with a meadow and a lovely old abandoned barn.  Sitting beside a muddy lane, this old farmhouse was framed by alders and maples festooned with lichen.

This image was taken on Kodak VC- 160 at f/16 using the 65 mm. Schneider Angulon on my Baby Graphic.  Given the limited amount of foreground, front tilt was not used.

Using the interchangeable backs on the Baby Graphic, I then took a black and white version on Ilford XP-2:

The Stone House, Black & White

References:

“Saltspring Island.”  Online Posting on vancouverisland.com. http://www.vancouverisland.com/regions/towns/?townid=257

The Misty Lane

This image, taken at f/22 with the 75 mm. Ross Xpres lens on my Ensign Selfix 16-20, is a good example of what can be accomplished by vigorous cropping and creative processing in Photoshop.  Although not of gallery quality, this is a pleasant and somewhat moody image of a road in the mist.  The original image (see below) was a thoroughly unremarkable color photograph of a lane in light mist taken on Kodak VC-160 film.

The mist was not thick enough to produce much effect.  However, on viewing the original image, I thought that there might still be a picture hiding within.  After converting the image to grayscale in Photoshop, I cropped out the busy sky and trees, isolating the lines of trees and road converging into the distance.  Cropping off the distracting, light-colored space between the trees at both sides, I anchored the image between dark tree trunks.  I then used the Curves function to accentuate the darker tonal values, darkening the trees at the beginning of the lane, and similarly accentuated the lighter values, brightening the early rays of the sun as they struck the end of the lane where the misty effect was most pronounced.

Misty Lane Original Image

The take-home lessons are twofold.  First, much of the artistry of photography occurs after the shutter clicks, and the same original image can be interpreted by the printer, be he/she at the sink or the mouse, in multiple ways.  Learn to scrutinize your photographs for interesting lines or elements that might be extracted to form the basis of an artistic picture.  Secondly, for those who still debate between digital and “real” photography, I would suggest that rescuing this image could have been done by traditional burning and dodging, but only by a master printer.  Using Photoshop, I drew out the essential monochrome elements of this image in about fifteen minutes- and didn’t have to clean out the sink!

Postscript:

Recently, a kind reader, Scott Bilotta from the International Directory of Camera Collectors, offered me another insight into the many images that can hide within a seemingly ordinary negative.  I must admit that I don’t think well in square format; as a landscape photographer, most things are side to side or, occasionally, up and down, but rarely square.  Scott reworked this image in Photoshop, using the square format to capture the critical elements in a way that I had not considered in my rectangular mindset.

The Misty Lane, Scott's Version

In this image, I think that the delicacy of the mist adds to the overall impression of early morning sun and colorful fallen leaves.  Thanks, Scott for showing me more creative possibilities.

The Store by the Road

Driving down the road late in the year in southeastern Washington, my eye was caught by this abandoned store under the naked limbs of a grove of huge maples.  Peering through the windows, I was barely able to discern piles of old furniture and discarded office equipment. The back porch was piled high with eddies of dried leaves that rustled with each swirl of  the chill autumn wind.  I propped my little pocket tripod on the hood of my car and took this image on XP-2 with my 1928 No. 1 Kodak using the f/6.3 Anastigmat at f/16.

Thinking at the Fire

One weekend in October, I took a camping trip through the eerie landscape left behind when the five cubic miles of water from prehistoric Lake Missoula gouged its way through the Palouse wheatfields at the end of the last ice age.  Carving out the Columbia Gorge from Western Montana to Portland, Oregon, this seven hundred foot-high wall of water must have been heard and felt for hours before it carved its way through the rolling hills, scooping out Grand Coulee and Palouse Falls.  I camped in my little tent  next to the cascading waters of Palouse Falls in below-freezing temperatures, warm in my sleeping bag under a space blanket.  Each night, my fire kept me warm and cooked my supper, then made my morning coffee after I broke the ice out of my water bucket.  One night, I set up my No. 1 Kodak on my little pocket tripod, then sat pensively gazing into the flames for several minutes while I took this exposure.  My image is partially transparent, as if I am not totally present in that time.  It matches the unearthly quality of this eroded landscape in the moonlight.