Driving

Original photo by GF

Driving along the highway as the sun rises is an iconic image of change. Feeling the wind blowing through a window cracked open while watching the landscape unfold before you is always some kind of exciting, especially when that landscape is in the Columbia River Gorge.

Traveling East you can see Mt. Hood in the distance as you drive between shadowed hills and cliffs lushly covered in verdant greens rising precipitously beside the river. Waterfalls cascade from the cliffs with an amazing frequency, some large enough to be famous. Hiking trails beckon at every twist of the road, promising vistas of incredible beauty.

In time the hills begin to flatten and the lush green turns to a golden or flaming brown. There the landscape turns from gardenesque to surreal as you continue to wind your way along the river's edge.

This is always an interesting drive but the gorgeous sunrise made it even more so this time around. From the passenger seat my husband captured an image of the sun lighting up and coloring the landscape with its warm glow. While I liked the image I knew a lot of the story was missing from the original. It showed a silhouette and the dawning light but my eye really had to search for the details.

To help this image tell it's story I filtered the sunshine and boosted the color contrast and brightness. This allowed me to establish the details that hint at the extremes of this high desert landscape and the beauty that every sunrise reveals.

Waiting

Not long ago I founds myself on a sidewalk in Seattle, waiting. We had plans to eat at Village Sushi but arrived a few minutes before they opened. The rest of my party stood on the stairs, hands in pockets. I took out my camera and started taking pictures of the restaurant and then the street outside and finally an interesting little weedy clump of flowers growing between the sidewalk and the street.

In this small space were twigs and weeds, lavender and daisies. Barely tended they intertwined while contrasting and supporting each other. The varying shapes, colors and textures playfully interacted in a way that was energizing and delightful. I considered this eclectic arrangement and snapped pictures until the restaurant opened and I was called inside.

The images that resulted are interesting. If i were painting the same image I would change it in a number of ways. I would never include the spent lavender bud, the quirky little dried twig or the ragged leaves yet they do lend authenticity to the portrait and prove that beauty does not require perfect composition or unblemished subjects to sparkle and have value. Without the surprising serendipity of a moment waiting I might never have considered the inspiring interaction of the narrow spikey lavender leaves in silvered green with the wide variegated leaves below them as a fitting backdrop to this gorgeous late season blossom.

As it turned out this brief pause with my camera set the perfect stage for the dinner to come. Village Sushi offered a lovely blend of traditional Japanese emphasis on presentation and quality with a casual U District indifference to detail and protocol. The dishes we ordered were served simply as they became ready, in great variety and without great ceremony. It was an inspiring wait and a beautiful meal.

Café du Grütli

Down the Escaliers du Marché from Notre Dame Cathedral in Lausanne, Switzerland, you will find Café du Grütli. It is a pleasant restaurant serving Swiss cuisine which one travel guide describes as a "venerable old tile-and darkwood brasserie in the heart of Old Town."

We found this restaurant in the twilight of our last evening in Lausanne. We wanted to eat like tourists tasting the fondue Switzerland is famous for. We were not disappointed. With the help of the waiter and the conversational crowd around us we had a wonderful meal in a charming atmosphere.

The atmosphere carried with us into the gathering darkness on the streets of the Old Town. As we left I captured this image. Just enough light falls from the indoor fixtures to illuminate the tables on the pavement outside and to offer a companionable glow to the setting.

This scene does not have enough light to make a good photograph. Details are lost and the setting remains dark in the image captured on my small camera. Yet by drawing out the shadows, turning up the color and flattening the details this image comes to life. Splashes of color convey the setting and the tone of the light emanating from the interior space sheds just enough illumination on the scene to suggest the casual elegance and conversational atmosphere of a warm evening under the hospitable awning of a European café.

Apple Harvest

Apples. Beautiful news at this time of year, gracing produce stands and seasonal displays. Not only are they gorgeous to look at, in a wide variety of colors from lemony yellow to bright green to orange gold and dappled red, but they are so good to eat. At this time of year they are so crisp and fresh they snap as you bite into their lusciously tart sweetness.

There are so many ways to enjoy apples: fresh from the tree, baked into pies and crisps, cooked down into applesauce or apple butter, pressed into fresh cider. Hurled like the apples from the trees in "The Wizard of Oz" they make fair weapons, drenched in caramel they make sticky seasonal treats, polished and set on a teacher's desk they make a handsome offering, and piled in the window at the produce market they make an inviting subject to photograph.

These lovely, locally grown apples are a beautiful tribute to fall. Just a simple apple drenched in autumn sunlight can conjure up a thousand memories and associations. Filtered to smooth blemishes, add texture and introduce a dream-like quality, this image evokes the taste and smell of autumn along with the faces and personalities of times gone by. What a rich blessing in such a compact package!

Incantation

The sun was bright and falling warmly all around the house. Everywhere I looked the brightness illuminated something magnificent. Here there was an empty nutshell filled with pine needles. There I saw a leaf withered and crumbling with its delicate veins exposed like threads of lace. Along the walk were honeybees burying their heads in the scent of lavender. Lilacs bloomed neatly at the side of the house and in the front, by the stone patio, irises were unfolding their tightly rolled mantillas.

This single flower led the way. Unfurled and stretching out toward the stone circle it was at the height of its beauty. I took several shots to try and capture its perfectly formed blossom.

With some careful cropping I was able to isolate this iris against the backdrop of the stonework. I adjusted the contrast and filtered the image to bring out the lines of its petals and the echo in the stonework. Like wands directing the tracery in the stonework the leaves arc toward the circle in the background as this lovely iris leans into the magic of a beautiful afternoon.