PNW Photographer Captures Beautiful Things That Are Gone
Even before the fires, the Northwest was changing really fast. With the fires… even more of this beloved land is gone…
please enjoy my TED Talk about the images below while you scroll
Wow, things change so fast and I’m not even talking about how sudden Autumn seems to be happening right now. With the fires happening all over the west coast I started thinking about the places I photographed that now, no longer exist. Each year my list grows and I add another photograph to the historical category. These are some of them.
“Tree of Fire” to see more details and story, click here.
The season I captured Tree of Fire seemed to last forever. But there was four days in which the brilliance of autumn color in Seattle was so bright that I knew it was peaking and I had to go see this tree one more time. I’m so happy that I did because this tree in Renton, WA was destroyed in a storm a few months later.
Tree of Fire was a 75-80 year old japanese maple tree in Renton’s Kubota Gardens. She lived a beautiful life with strong branches and an incredible canpoy of leaves. I captued this stunning moment in November, just as the sun set, with a long exposure and a medium format camera. What called me to in this composition was the balance of the pose the maple made over the pond and the light contrast of the pink and yellow leaves in the background. Tree of Fire is the third photo I talk about in the TED Talk above.
Big Four Ice Caves remains one of the most incredible experiences I’ve had. I mean… just look at that waterfall. It was INSIDE an Ice Cave.
The cave, nestled against a mountain side in the North Cascades in Washington, has been ebbing and flowing its way into oblivion. It is hollowed out by melt water each year and there’s more melt and less snow year after year. Sorry if that sounds bleak.
The day after I was there an avalanche trapped five people inside the cave! It’s accelerated melt makes the place extra special to me, knowing that it will never be the same. I just wonder how massive it was 50 years ago.
“Ice Cave With A View” See more details and inquire here.
“A Sun Story” See more details and story here.
Finding tree farms in eastern Oregon was not too difficult, the region used to be full of them. So much so that it is difficult to know where one ended and another began. And the roads; they go on and on for what seems like forever. It is no surprise to you, then, that it had taken me several overnight trips to find a scene like “A Sun Story.” All the elements have to line up for a capture such as this: the field, the light, the degree to which fall has taken hold, and luck. One has to give credit where its due and I attribute A Sun Story to luck. I had been driving for hours on my second day on the farm roads and the sun was already two spans above the horizon by the time I spied these three trees. They stood defiantly against an autumn that had claimed the winter’s toll in leaves from an entire forest. I was blown away by the contrast of life on display.
[Above - 80” Ice Cave With a View in a fotiou frame.
“Dance” See more details and story here.
These forest farms really are beautiful. On a morning a season apart from A Sun Story I discovered this composition. In the moment I was capturing Dance the shadows were sliding down the curvy trees and causing an illusion of motion. They were dancing.
Inquire about “Rising” (orange and blue) or “Chasing the Leaf” (green)
All four of the photos above were captured in the Boardman forests, which have been felled and replaced by cattle. There are still a few groves left but it is a sad sight to drive down the highway knowing what used to tower above the pavement on either side.
“First Light” Inquire or see more details here.
It was heart-breaking news when I heard that this monolith on Washington’s Olympic coast had fallen. Also a victim of a powerful storm and heavy waves, the rock split right in two. I suspect a growing root system was also partly to blame. That tree fought to survive in the toughest of predicaments. It’s fighting spirt will always inspire me. First Light is the first photograph I speak of in video above.
See the whole Bealtiful Things That Are Gone collection
“Punchbowl” See more about this piece here.
Even before 2020 and its seemingly endless trove of natural disasters it has lined up, fires had been reaping terror in the PNW. This waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge has been unaccessible for years after a fire swept through here. The photos I’ve seen of what it looks like now are gastly.
Here are more works in my portfolio that you might enjoy. You can discover them by searching the portfolios above or reaching out to me with the form below. Each limited edition photograph, like those above, has its own microsite with detail shot, framing examples and more.
