Weekly Photo Challenge: Eerie Spiders

Alaska, Macro, Photography, Weekly Photo Post, Wildlife

Above: The much smaller wolf spider can be seen in the clasp of an orb weaver.

The weekly photo challenge for Nov. 1 through Nov. 7 is eerie. Of course it was announced just one day after I posted about the Paris Catacombs, which would have fit the bill perfectly. Not uncommon for me to have great ideas ahead of their time.

So for this challenge I’m heading to the archives. In 2010 I was slowly experimenting with digital – and often forgetting to make sure I was shooting RAW files.

I did have some extension tubes to attach to my old Canon Rebel XTi. Extension tubes increase macro capabilities by moving the lens farther away from the sensor. So when I saw a large orb-weaver spider killing a smaller wolf spider I ran to grab my camera.

Spiders are eerie enough when they aren’t cannibalizing other spiders.

Reservations for one.

Securing the pray for later consumption, July 11, 2010.

Securing the prey for later consumption, July 11, 2010.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Mt. Rainier Horizions.

Landscapes, Photography, Travel, Weekly Photo Post

Above: A riverbed in late fall offers little more then a creek winding into Mt. Rainier.

The horizon, like the end of a rainbow, is unreachable. Constantly changing – expanding and contracting, becoming more open or more obscured. Horizons inspire adventures and dreams, spawn stunning sunsets and create wonders.

Horizon is also the weekly photo challenge.

Paradise, located 5,400 feet up Washington’s Mt. Rainer, can supply spectacular views. As well as keep them completely hidden. I got a taste of both possibilities hiking there August, 2012.

Clouds lift, if only for a moment, to reveal a expansive view.

This time clouds descended to create a more abstract horizon line.

Again clouds create the horizon, no panorama today. Panorama Point, elevation 6,800 feet.

Potatoes and Romanesco

Abstract, Alaska, Black & White, Macro, Photography

Above: The odd green color makes romanesco feel even more bizarre.

Continuing the harvest theme from my last post about blueberries, it is fall after all, today includes some vegetables grown in my garden. Few things are more satisfying then a delicious home-cooked meal made with food you grew. Much like the blueberries, it can be difficult to find time to photograph vegetables rather then planting, picking or eating them. So here’s a few photos of some photogenic plants.

Potatoes are my family’s main crop, and come in many varieties. My favorite is probably Irish Reds. They work for many recipes, and look fantastic.

Fresh washed Irish Reds.

One vegetable perhaps more known for its appearance then its use as a food is romanesco, from the cauliflower family. Occasionally called “martian vegetable” for the lime green color and spiraling fractals that form the structure, it can be a very perplexing plant.

I chose black and white to emphasize the plants form.

Spiraling romanesco – repeating patterns play with the eye.

Vibrant and Healthy Blueberries

Alaska, Landscapes, Macro, Photography

Above: Handfull and bucket full of berries.

Fall in Alaska brings much more then decreasing temperatures and less daylight. Gorgeous colors fill the hills while harvests fill the pantries. The near total daylight of summer allows great success over the short growing season. The harsher, cooler climate vegetation endure make for sweet and succulent food.

Blueberries are both incredibly tasty and incredibly healthy. Packed with antioxidants, blueberries are often called a brain food for their anti-aging and protection-properties for brain neurons. A 2012 article from Alaska Dispatch describes how antioxidants “pick up loose oxygen-seeking substances that, left to roam, will ultimately find a healthy cell to deplete.” WIld Alaskan berries have repeatedly tested to be much higher then farmed berries in health benefits.

The vibrant colors also fit in nicely with the Weekly Photo Challenge: Saturated.

Berries topped with dew rest on a branch.

A sea of color.

More Cluny Museum – Stained Glass

Photography, Travel

Above: Visitors take in the colorful array of stained glass, July 8, 2013.

Once again the weekly photo challenge lends itself nicely to the Cluny Museum in Paris, France: Saturation. Saturation is a pretty simple concept, the intensity of color relative to brightness. A vibrant flower or dramatic rainbow would be saturated. Completely unsaturated would be black and white.

My last post dealt with lines and pattern of Musee De Cluny architecture. There is also a small stained glass room inside the museum. The nearly pitch black ambiance dramatically increases the vividness of the centuries old glassworks.

Storytelling was the main function of these colorful creations. Most depicted people, many seemed to deal with religious or revolutionary subjects, and more then a few dealt with violence.

The overthrow and subsequent beheading of a king.

Perhaps symbolizing the temptation from satan.

Perhaps symbolizing temptation from satan.

Cluny Museum: Lines and patterns.

Photography, Travel, Uncategorized

Above: Cascading light and rough masonry from Cluny Museum architecture create lines and patterns. I like how the busts on the left and lady on the right direct the eye toward the smaller lady nearly dwarfed by rock.

Located in Paris, France, Musee de Cluny occupies two gorgeous buildings, the 1st century Gallo-Roman baths of Lutece and the 15th century townhouse of the abbots of Cluny.

The highlight for me was the amazing architecture of the building, one ceiling in particular.

The the many triangles with inlaid s-patterns are perfectly suited to the Weekly Photo Challenge: “From lines to patterns.” The following photo uses a simple tactic. Setting the camera flat on its back, to get as much of the roof as possible.

A ceiling in the Cluny Museum in black a white. July 8, 2013.

A ceiling in the Cluny Museum in black and white. July 8, 2013.

The ancient busts have long seen wear and tear.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Focus, on the Notre Dame Cathedral and roses.

architecture, Travel, Uncategorized, Weekly Photo Post

Focus – a powerful concept that applies to so much more then photography. Naturally, when thinking of focus I think equally of the opposite, unfocused. The difference is apparent as black and white. Sharp or fuzzy. Crisp or cloudy. Clear or muddy. Focus is a powerful tool to draw the eye and attract attention. Focus is necessary in all aspects of life – from reading and writing to work and sports.

In photography focus is fairly straightforward. Often my first question when editing a photo: What is in focus? Little is more disheartening then finding a lovely composed and well-timed shot, then realizing the subject matter is out-of-focus. Worse, nothing in focus.

The following two photos are Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in the background and roses in the foreground. The different focal point and shallow depth-of-field provides a dramatic difference in the images feelings.

With the roses in focus the image feels soft, almost delicate.

Roses and Notre Dame Cathedral. July 8th, 2013.

Roses and Notre Dame Cathedral 1. July 8, 2013.

The following photo, with Notre Dame in focus (perhaps almost in focus,) feels more grandeur.

Roses and Notre Dame Cathedral 2. July 8, 2013.

These are two images from six weeks I just spent traveling throughout Europe. I will continue to post images of my travels, many with history about the subjects. So please stay tuned!

Weekly Photo Challenge: The Golden Hour, Versailles, France.

Photography, Street, Travel, Weekly Photo Post

The golden hour is the current weekly photo challenge. Around sunrise or sunset the sun’s low angle causes more diffusions in the atmosphere and casts long shadows. The result can be spectacular light. I used to strictly time my photography around this time, until one day a teacher asks when the best time to take a photo was. I replied “the golden hour” to which he responded, the best time to take a photo is anytime. While I still prefer catching the dramatic and soft lighting prone to the golden hour, that piece of advice has stuck with me and greatly influenced my photographing habits.

These two images were recently taken in the town of Versailles, France.

Apparently weary of my camera, a dad plays with his son during sunset.

Pedestrians cast long shadows walking by packed cafes.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture, Turkey Tail.

Abstract, Landscapes, Photography, Travel, Weekly Photo Post

The Weekly Photo Challenge, that’s almost over, is culture. While the example is the culture of a specific society, culture has many more meanings. I’m choosing a very literal meaning of culture, the verb, according to merriam-webster online: “the act or process of cultivating living material in prepared nutrient media.”

My culture is a fungus growing in its specific environment. Trametes Versicolor, due to it’s shape and common color patterns, is often called Turkey Tail. Here it grows on a tree in Oregon.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Change – A Few Interpretations.

Alaska, Photography, Portraits, Weekly Photo Post

Change is something we all deal with daily. Seasons, cloths, tastes, locations, personal attitudes and feelings, just to name a few. Change is good and bad, but in its very nature something different. Adjectives for change abound: life-changing, quick, slow, small, large, relative, unexpected and necessary.

Enjoy my multiple interpretations of change.

One of the most wide-spread changes in popular culture is Halloween, where people change into whatever form they desire.