Erwin Buske Photography

Nature Photography as a Spiritual Practice

~ Erwin Buske Photography ~ 10 Comments

I have always viewed my photography as a spiritual practice.   A spiritual practice is any repeated activity that helps bring us a sense of inner peace as we face the mysteries of life and nature.  They are undertaken to cultivate self awareness.  Spiritual practices help us recognize the illusion of a separate self. They deepen our connection with other people and nature.  This in turn helps us tap into powers greater than our individual self.   Spiritual practices ultimately cultivate a sense of purpose and meaning in life.  These practices can be diverse, ranging from prayer, music, singing, writing, dancing, meditation, and yes photography.  Photography is an individual expression of my spirituality. It has always been linked to my love for nature. Nature comes first. 

Where the Angels Roam

Mt Rainier

Photography over the years has increased my awareness of nature and respect for the mysteries of life.  Photography has also brought me purpose and meaning as I share images with others.  The images and stories associated with images instill an emotional reaction in others. They participate in my experience. They are also inspired to progress on their own personal spiritual and transformational journeys. 

Spirituality is not the easiest concept to define. For some, it’s primarily about a belief in God and active participation in organized religion. But for me the definition goes far beyond this. Spirituality often refers to the search for meaning, purpose, and connection beyond the purely material world. It encompasses one’s deepest values and beliefs.  It’s a personal journey of self-discovery. This journey can involve various practices and perspectives. These include religious beliefs, meditation, mindfulness, or a sense of inner peace.  Spirituality is not necessarily tied to organized religion, and many individuals recognize themselves as spiritual but not religious including myself.

Flock of Birds

Skagit Valley

Spirituality resists precise definition for a reason. Both traditionally and in the modern world, it is closely associated with things unseen. It is linked to the mystery of nature and life, and also human emotions—all of which resist precise rational explanation. Ultimately spirituality is about transcendence of the material world. Transcendence is a state of mind and feeling that can never be defined. It is well described in the Zen poem by Ryokan, “Like a finger pointing at the moon”. It is not the moon itself, it is just the finger pointing at the moon. The best we can do is use our creative skills in such activities as writing, poetry, music, painting etc. and yes also photography to develop artworks that represent the finger pointing at the moon. In other words we can create something grounded in this material world that is also evocative, pointing to a spiritual transcendence of the material world.

The following activities or concepts are associated with my practice of spiritual photography.

  1. Connection
  2. Stillness
  3. Beginners Mind
  4. Awareness
  5. Mystery
  6. Awakening
  7. Light
  8. Flow
  9. Cycles
  10. Transitions
  11. Emotions
  12. Soul
  13. Serenity
  14. Evocation
  15. Shared Experience
  16. Transcendence

1. Connection

On Our Way Home

Mt. Rainier

My spiritual path in photography started out with recognizing my strong connection to the natural world. In my case, this connection was not developed over time. I recognized this connection immediately during my childhood while in nature, especially in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Once I realized this connection, I felt inspired. This inspiration also felt very spiritual to me, opening my heart and mind to something much larger than myself. I spent more and more time in the natural world. Living close to nature is an essential part of who I am as a person.

2. Stillness

Mason Lake Foggy Morning

Finding stillness in nature has always been the way I open the door to spirituality. There is no door to actually open, but the imaginative door will only open once the sill point is reached. Stillness will often flow from observation of nature. Yet, it is not readily apparent without first getting into the proper frame of mind. For me this means slowing down and observing nature in a more meditative way. Before even taking the camera out, I will sit down and be present with nature for some time. It could be 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or even thirty minutes or more. This is the way I enter the church of Mother Nature.

3. Beginners Mind

My daughter running through the tulip fields as a young child.

To grasp the concept of a beginner’s mind, we should think back to when we were very young children. This mindset is also known as Shoshin in Zen Buddhism. We had a playful nature open and eager to explore. We were ready to learn from the world that surrounded us. We had no preconceived notions or knowledge of our experience because we were experiencing things for the first time. Creativity has a lot to do with getting back to this beginners mind set. With a beginners mind set, we are freed from filters and preconceived notions that frame our experience like wanting to capture an image we have seen before. Instead, we are open to whatever beauty we ourselves encounter on our daily journeys. This allows us to see beauty that others may not notice. For more on Zen see my blog post The Way of Zen, Love of Nature, and Photography

Erwin’s Pond

The image above is of a pond close to my home called wetland #`4, not a very descriptive name. I have never seen images of this pond posted on social media. Most people think of it as just an ordinary pond, nothing special. On this evening, though, I instantly recognized the beauty of this pond. It has waterlilies and an ability to collect light and reflect clouds. I allowed myself to slow down and waited for sunset bringing this ordinary pond into some extraordinary sunset lighting. . Tapping into to my beginners mind helped me to do this. By the way, I now refer to this pond as Erwin’s Pond and photograph it often.

4. Awareness

Painted Hills Claystone Silt Abstract

Awareness is related to the “Beginners Mind” but is also different. Both open our eyes to scenes both large and small. These are scenes we might have otherwise missed if we just relied upon our habitual way of viewing the world. But awareness is more of a learned skill that gets better and better with practice. We improve at recognizing light, lines, shapes, textures, colors, and tones as we practice framing compositions and processing images. These elements make up an effective composition. We build awareness by learning to quiet our mind. We move into a more meditative state of consciousness. This state considers all elements of the scene, both large and small. Finally, we focus on a particular composition. For some, practicing formal meditation in a seated position will help here. For others it will be more of cultivating a meditative state of mind while walking around.

Mountains, Clouds and Mist

I have learned something valuable over the years. Pay very close attention to things you see out of the corner of your eye. This is especially true if they seem pleasing to you. If you see something out of the corner of your eyes that attracts you, it is almost always worth exploring. This holds true even if others would generally not consider it worthy of a photograph. Trust your instincts and see if you can make an image out of what attracts you.

Tree Beards and Mossy Arms

Middle Fork

5. Mystery

Historically spirituality has always been linked to the mysteries of nature and life. People look to spirituality to comfort them when dealing with things that are difficult for them to comprehend. Examples include facing up to their own mortality and the loss of loved ones. Spirituality, nonetheless, is also connected to the mysteries of nature. Although much of nature can be explained scientifically, science does not help us much with explaining “The force that thru a green fuse drives a flower”. These are the poet Dylan Thomas’s words that evoke the spirit of some of the wonders and mysteries of nature. Photography too, can evoke the feeling of the wonders and mystery of nature. One effective way it achieves this is by using atmospheric light. This includes clouds, fog, and mist in photographic compositions. For more on mystery see my blog post Mystery: The Holy Grail of Nature Photography

Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies

From Fremont Lookout Mt. Rainier

Fog, clouds, and mist serve to keep hidden, soften, or obscure parts of the landscape. They darken the landscape and build a more mysterious mood. Mystery is not so much about giving us fine pixelated details and all of the answers. We do not solve the mystery of nature. Mystery in art and photography is more about moving us closer to recognizing, appreciating and ultimately accepting what can never be fully known.

Middle Fork Mystical Morning

Since many including myself are attracted to foggy and misty scenes, our attraction naturally moves us closer to mystery and its close connection to spirituality. We feel more and more spiritual as we become comfortable living without all of the answers. We let go and accept the rhythm and flow of the wonders and mysteries of life and nature.

6. Awakening

While mystery often leads us into a darker world, awakening is more about experiencing the presence of light. As the sun rises, light shines on previously dark areas of the landscape. We too feel ourselves awakening to the bright promise of a new day. This transition from darkness to twilight and daylight is symbolic of a spiritual awakening. It signifies waking up to our authentic selves, grounded in nature.

Let the Light Always be with You

Cape Disappointment

The idea of awakening to our true spiritual nature can be found in several of the world’s wisdom traditions. These include Taoism, Buddhism, and related Zen. In Taoism, it is often expressed as a primordial awakening to our true nature. This nature existed all along. Yet, it became lost as we made various compromises to get along in society. Reclaiming our true nature is redemption. In Buddhism we have the image of the Buddha awakening under the Bodhi Tree. Many people also find a spiritual awakening with their journeys into the natural world. I have seen it countless time as friends and others who I know spend more and more time in wilderness settings. At some point, there is a shift. Priorities change. In other words, there is a kind of a primordial spiritual awakening. People discover that they too are connected to nature.

The Lantern

Every time I photograph a sunrise, I feel I am tapping into this energy of a spiritual awakening. The very act of photographing the sunrise is a spiritual practice. I wake up before dawn and set out into nature. I can’t help but feel a reverence for nature. This feeling arises amidst the beauty of the landscape with gradual changes in the quality of light as the sun rises. It is as though there is a correlation between the external landscape and my own internal landscape. I am in nature and nature is in me, no separation. The resulting photographs of sunrise become symbols and reminders. They show how nature can awaken us to our true nature. We are individuals interconnected to nature and the world around us.

7. Light

Closely related to Awakening is Light. This Summer, I took an evening hike around the Paradise area of Mt. Rainier. The blue asters were now out, an August-blooming flower. The clouds thickened as the evening progressed, and it was also windy. The mountain was not visible. In conditions like this, my inclination is to follow the light. On this evening, it was over Pinnacle Peak in the Tatoosh Range. I suppose this is somewhat of a metaphor for life. We should embrace the light. Follow it wherever it may lead us. Sometimes it’s hard to find, but it is always there. We find light in nature, in other people, and each of us has our own inner light. For myself and many others, following the light is a very spiritual act. With the close connection of light and spirituality it should not surprise us that following the light in photography leads us to spirituality.

Pinnacle Peak

Blue Asters

8. Flow

One of the enduring symbols of the Tao Te Ching and Taoist literature is flowing water. Water flows naturally like the Tao. It easily moves around, under, over, or through obstacles without resistance. It transitions smoothly from stream, to river, to sea. This Taoist notion of flow is also known as “Wu Wei” or effortless action. It is not the same as inaction or passivity. Instead, it means going about life in a simple and flowing manner. One should not try to force things but live in tune with the rhythms of nature. In his landmark book, Tao-The Watercourse Way, Alan Watts said this about Wu Wei: “The art of life is more like navigation than warfare, for what is important is to understand the winds, the tides, the currents, the seasons, and the principles of growth and decay, so that one’s actions may use them and not fight them.”

Falling into Tiers in the Forest

Alpine Lakes Wilderness

Tapping into the spirit of Wu Wei, going with rather than against the flow, is a point of view that is present for most of my best work in photography. This is not to say I go out into the field without any intentions or expectations. At a minimum I have chosen a place and a time to visit. What is important is that once I am at my chosen location, I navigate freely. I move with the vicissitudes of nature. I do not try to fight it when nature does not cooperate with my expectations. I move more freely with acceptance and a minimum effort cooperating with the ebb and flow of nature. Not uncommonly, moving with the flow I will move to alternative locations and compositions substantially different than any of my previous intentions. It is at these alternative locations where I create most of my best images.

Ocean Lullaby

Olympic National Park

For me, being in a flow state is very much a spiritual experience. In the flow state, there is a sense of fluidity between my body and mind. I am totally absorbed and deeply focused. Distractions disappear, and time seems to slow way down. My senses are heightened, and I feel one with the task at hand, nature and the landscape. Action and awareness coalesce in an effortless momentum as I carry out the task at hand, creating an image. For more on Tao and flow see my blog post The Tao of Landscape Photography

9. Cycles

The Gathering

Skagit Valley

In spirituality, cycles and seasons represent the cyclical nature of life, growth, and transformation, mirroring the natural world’s rhythms. The seasons are filled with mystery and symbolic meaning and often the natural world mirrors our own emotional states. With Spring there is rebirth and the sense of excitement of having one more life to live. This is a time for hope, growth and renewal. With Summer there is a sense of comfort, mellowness, and maturity in having arrived to a time where the end seems far far away, i.e., “the endless summer” . With Autumn there is a sense of warmth, change and letting go as the season gradually comes closer to what feels like will be an end but is still a ways away. Winter is a time of reflection and detachment with the realization things have come to an end. But there is also a beauty in the silence and quiet of Winter, knowing that the seasonal cycle will repeat itself as long as the world turns.

Fields of Lupine and Golden Light

Mt Rainier

As a photographer I feel I am connecting with the spiritual energy of the cycles of nature during my adventures into nature, There is a kind of rhythm that repeats itself year after year starting with Spring, then Summer, Fall, and Winter. On each adventure, I start with at least some expectation surrounding the current season, but surprises always lie on the horizon, and each year I experience the four seasons differently. After all, I am not the same person as the year and years before. So I will perceive nature differently even if I return to some of the same places. To me nature always appears new and fresh. In the four seasons, stability and change coexist side by side.

Autumn Cotton Wood Reflections

Rattlesnake Lake

Snow Mounds

Kendall Lakes Snow Shoe Trail

10. Transitions

Ever Returning Spring

Cherry Blossoms, a traditional symbol of Wabi-Sabi

Each season has its own sense of wonder. It fills us with mystery. We stand in awe of how nature can change the colors, mood, and feel of the landscape. This mystery, though, is even more deepened during the time of seasonal transitions. With seasonal changes, life moves from one state to another. Part of what was will now be hidden. Part of what will be has not yet come into view. When something remains hidden and unknown, the mystery deepens. But the mystery not only comes from what is in view. It also emerges as we stand in awe and wonder of the new season beginning to unfold. It is the interplay between what we see and do not see that creates the ultimate mystery of seasonal transitions.

You Keep Me Hanging On

Autumn Leaves in Winter

Spring Daffodil Flowers Under a Bare Tree Holding on to Winter

Seasonal transitions always lead me to a more spiritual perspective. Part of this is the correlation to changes in the seasons to changes in myself especially at a more emotional level. When I set out to photograph seasons in flux, I am tapping into this spiritual energy. I find that it helps in my creative journey. In the Japanese tradition of Zen there is a name for spiritual perspective and aesthetic. It is Wabi-Sabbi. In Wabi-Sab nothing is perfect, nothing lasts, nothing is finished. Wabi-Sabi is about the world always being in flux. There is no better representation for Wabi-Sabi than seasons in transition. For more on Wabi-Sabi see my blog post My Encounters with Wabi-Sabi and the Quest for Perfection in Nature Photography

11. Emotions

I have found over the years of spending time in nature that emotions and spirituality are deeply intertwined. Photography for me has fostered a sense of connection to nature and a feeling of belonging to something larger than myself.   In the field when I am photographing nature I often have feelings of awe, wonder, joy, peace, contentment, and tranquility. These emotions lead me to a feeling of alignment with nature, and powerful forces greater than myself. Often, the emotions I am experiencing in the field are also visible to viewers of my images. This extends the sense of connection to other people as well. It further validates the spiritual experience.

Awe and Wonder. Majestic and grand landscapes like mountains, lakes, and vast skies, as in the image below, can inspire feelings of awe. They evoke wonder and remind us of the power and scale of nature. 

By the Light of the Rising Moon and Setting Sun

Mt Rainier

Peace and Tranquility. Serene scenes like a calm lake with reflections can evoke feelings of peace. Mist and clouds rise from the lake into the mountains and forest, as in the next image. These elements bring relaxation and tranquility. 

Lake Crescent Misty Morning

Olympic National Park

Joy and Happiness. Bright and vibrant landscapes that include wildflowers and the rising or setting sun can give us a feeling of joy and happiness.

Falling into a Beautiful Dream

Columbia Gorge

Mystery and Intrigue. Foggy and often dark landscapes can alter our sense of time and space. They create a sense of mystery and intrigue. These landscapes prompt curiosity and imagination. 

Licorice Ferns in a Foggy Forest

Cougar Mountain

Introspection and Reflections. More intimate images draw us deeply into the scene. For instance, these submerged leaves underwater encourage introspection. They prompt deeper contemplation. 

Submerged Leaves Under Water

Lake Fenwick

All of these emotions have been traditionally linked with spirituality. Photographing scenes like this lead us directly to a more spiritual orientation, especially when these images are shared with others.

12. Soul

The soul is often described as the inner self, the essence of an individual. The spirit, on the other hand, is often seen as the animating force of life, connecting us to a higher power or realm of existence, and enabling spiritual growth and connection.  Although these definitions are different, in the consciousness of most people today and in my own mind, soul and spirit are related. That is why I include soul in the discussion of spirituality. Thomas Moore, in his work on “Care of the Soul,” defines the soul not as something separate from ourselves as in some lofty spiritual place. Instead, he describes it as something at the core of who we are as individuals. It is the home of our emotions and the source of our unique identity as individuals. According to Moore, the soul is also deeply connected to our unconscious self. A soulful individual is one who maintains a healthy connection to his/her unconscious self.

In nature and landscape photography, photographing from the heart and soul means we are not just photographing what is out there. It is also about expressing who we are as individuals. When a photographer puts his/her heart and soul into a photograph, even common or mundane scenes come to life. When we view the soulful photographer’s work, we are not just looking at the scene. We are looking into the heart and soul of the photographer. Soulful subjects often take us deeper into a scene. They bring us down into the earth rather than up into the stratosphere. Here are a few of my images I and others have characterized as soulful.

Forest Pond Mossy Stones

Middle Fork

Yoshino Cherry Blossom Reflections

UW Quad

Lone Juniper and Owl Rock

Joshua Tree National Park

13. Serenity

I found early on in my hiking adventures a sense of serenity and inner peace. I felt calmness in nature, especially at locations with sublime beauty. These included alpine lakes and ridges. I was also captivated by landscapes illuminated by the rising or setting sun, ocean beaches, and meandering rivers. Later this feeling evolved to include all aspects of nature. It now encompasses long walks through quite ordinary forests or sparse desert landscapes. Now, I even feel a sense of inner calm and serenity hiking in the rain and snow, and during storms.

Magic Meadows

Mt Baker

Most of the people I know who have followed my work over time have let me know that they also find a sense of serenity, peace and calm in most of my images. This is important to me. Not because I need some form of external validation of my images, but rather I am helping others also recognize nature as a source of serenity. This in turn helps inspire my viewers to set out on their own journeys into the wild.

Reflecting In Nature

Mt Rainier

Reflections, Layers, Light

Mt Rainier

Serenity and spirituality are deeply intertwined concepts, with serenity often viewed as a key attribute of the spiritual journey.    Serenity in nature, is a state of inner peace and calmness, a freedom from worry or agitation. Serenity flows directly from our external surroundings but also becomes internalized in us. Us in nature, nature in us-connection. Nature and landscape photography as a spiritual practice directly helps cultivate feelings of inner serenity. This practice leads to a more balanced and fulfilling life. Serenity in landscape photography is achieved by capturing scenes that evoke feelings of peace, tranquility, and calmness. This often involves using techniques like soft light, muted colors, negative space, and shallow depth of field to create a sense of solitude and quiet beauty. 

14. Evocation

There are moments when my soul is a mirror to everything around me. Forms, shapes and patterns bathed in light rise out of the dark void and return again in an endless cycle. In such moments, I feel I am the mountains and the sea. I am the setting sun and the tree spread out over the bay. There is no me, mountains, sea, setting sun, or tree spread out over the bay–Satori.

My narrative for this image.

The evocation recognizes no words can describe the wonder and beauty of nature. The image itself is actually the best expression of the wonders and beauty of nature. Yet, if we also want to use words to complement the image, we should use evocative rather than literal language. Literal language seeks to fully describe the mystery of nature often in scientific terms but always somehow falls short. Evocative words as described by the Zen poet Ryokan are like a “Finger Pointing at the Moon”. Symbolically the finger represents the words and the moon nature or reality. The finger only points at the moon, it is not the moon itself. Words only give us an expression of the wonders and mystery of nature, and are not to be confused with nature itself.

For an evocation I usually use more poetic language to express to the reader a sense of what I experienced in the process of creating an image. I will choose words for their sound with extensive use of alliteration and consonance (repetition of sounds), rhythm and perhaps even rhyme. My words will often be metaphors in their own right like “Foxglove” and “Avalanche Lilies”.   The narrative will include rich imagery, symbols, and descriptions of my feelings. These elements do not just literally describe the photography. Instead, they complement the photography, taking us beyond the literal. Together, they allow us to better appreciate the mystery of nature. For more on Evocation see my blog post The Stories We Tell Through Our Images–With or Without Words

15. Shared Vision

One of the greatest joys for me as a photographer is discovering through comments or conversation that a viewer feels they are right there in my photo. They’re immersed in the scene, experiencing a kind of visual flow. In a sense they are living vicariously through me. Sometimes these feelings are so intense at an emotional level. Some viewers describe feelings of love, joy, and happiness. These emotions can bring them to tears. Can images instill this kind of emotional reaction? In my experience the answer is a resounding yes. This feeling of joy in sharing my vision is very spiritual to me. My connection with nature is also shared with others. This sharing extends the connection to a community.

Mirror Lake Sunburst

Mt Rainier

At this point it will be beneficial to explain my concept of a shared vision.   Nature images that have staying power put forward a vision that is shared by both the originator of the image, the Photographer, and the viewer.  The attributes of the image invite the viewer to participate in the photographer’s vision.  American philosopher and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson provides us with some insight into how this is possible.  The process starts by finding who we are as a person, our authentic self.  Emerson and two noteworthy legends he influenced, Henry David Thoreau and John Muir pointed out the way.  We must recover our authentic self through separating ourselves from societal influences and immersing ourselves in nature.  Emerson thought nature always points to soul and spirit, the invisible world, that is the source of all creation.  This may seem far-fetched to some. Still, in my experience working with skilled nature and landscape photographers, most have revealed to me that there is more to the world than what is seen. It’s this additional, often idealized or romanticized vision of nature they aim to include in their photographic creations.  Because photography, which is anchored in the moment and physical world also points to the universal world of spirit, others can join in and share in the photographer’s vision.  Emerson saw a circular and fluid path between Nature, the Self, and Spirit.  The conventions and distractions of society can keep us from noticing this flow, but experiencing this continuum is available to all who approach nature on her own terms. For more on Emerson and Thoreau see my blog post Journey to Your Own Walden Pond: Thoreau’s Legacy and Message to a Modern World

Mt. Si Boardwalk into the Fog and Mist

16. Transcendence

Mt. St. Helens

Bear Grass Rising Above the Clouds

The word transcendence is often used with lofty and abstract meanings that are difficult for most of us to grasp. But transcendence in nature and landscape photography brings the meaning of the term more down to earth. Here, transcendence is always anchored in nature itself. But in our photographic creations we go beyond a literal representation of the scene to create an image with deeper emotional and spiritual meaning. This is done in part through the photographer’s skill set including point of view, angle of view, framing, use of light and shadow, establishing a visual flow and other compositional techniques. It’s about capturing the essence and feeling of a scene, rather than just its visual appearance, connecting the viewer with something larger than themselves. For more on Transcendence see my blog post Transcendental Nature Photography: Creating Inspiring Images with Lasting Impact

Spirit Angels in the Forest

Summary

This post reflects on my journey of viewing photography as a spiritual practice that deepens my connection with nature and fosters self-awareness. Through my lens, I explore various facets of spirituality that manifest in my work.

  1. Connection: From a young age, I felt a deep bond with nature that continues to inspire me today.
  2. Stillness: Finding moments of stillness in the natural world opens the door to spirituality for me.
  3. Beginner’s Mind: Embracing a fresh perspective allows my creativity to flourish and helps me notice beauty in everyday scenes.
  4. Awareness: Cultivating awareness sharpens my perception and enhances my photographic compositions.
  5. Mystery: I find that spirituality and nature are intertwined through the mysteries they hold.
  6. Awakening: The presence of light during sunrise symbolizes spiritual awakening for me.
  7. Light: Following light in nature serves as a metaphor for my spiritual pursuits.
  8. Flow: Embracing the natural flow in my photography leads to enriching spiritual experiences.
  9. Cycles: The changing seasons reflect the cycles of life, growth, and transformation.
  10. Transitions: Seasonal shifts evoke deeper spiritual reflections and resonate with my own emotional changes.
  11. Emotions: Through my photography, I aim to capture emotions that foster a sense of connection and belonging.
  12. Soul: Photography from the heart expresses my individuality and connects with the essence of my being.
  13. Serenity: Nature evokes feelings of calm and peace, and I strive to convey this serenity in my work.
  14. Evocation: Literal words and images can never fully encapsulate the wonders of nature. Yet, expressive photography and poetic words can get us a lot closer.
  15. Shared Vision: Engaging with my viewers allows us to share a spiritual connection through my photography.
  16. Transcendence: My goal is to create images that go beyond literal representation, revealing deeper emotional and spiritual meanings.

Ultimately, photography serves as a profound avenue for my spiritual exploration and connection to nature, capturing not just moments of beauty, but insights into my own journey. The very process of getting out into nature opened the door to my spiritual awareness. Photographing nature deepened this awareness, and over time became my spiritual practice.

About the Author

Selfie taken around sunrise at the Columbia Gorge.

I am a nature and landscape photographer based in Fairwood, Washington. My work focuses on capturing the essence and emotion of the Pacific Northwest’s mountains, forests, and coastlines. I witness and interpret nature. I aim to convey my inner vision and personal connection to the landscape through images.  I am also a writer. I couple my images with stories. I publish articles covering a wide range of philosophical and spiritual subjects. These subjects also relate to nature and photography.

Point of View

~ Erwin Buske Photography ~ 2 Comments

There is nothing more fundamental in photography than establishing a point of view.  Point of view in photography refers to the position of the camera when taking a picture.  If the camera low to the ground this is a “worm’s eye view”.  If the camera higher up and pointed straight down this is a “bird’s eye perspective”.  Although this concept is simple enough, both beginner and more advanced photographers often fail to establish a point of view for nature that coincides with how they personally view the world.  Putting  ones heart and soul into a photograph to create a unique image requires a personally expressive point of view.  

Magenta Paint Brushes in the Mountain Meadow
This image is a good example of a “Worm’s Eye” point of view.

Establishing a personally expressive point of view requires what I call “working the area”.  Before even taking out the large interchangeable lens camera, one must  explore a wide range of points of view.  Go low, go high, get near, move  further back, go left, go right-in short dance around to find the best vantage point for your subject.  A cell phone camera is also a great tool for establishing a point of view, one which I now almost always use because it is so intuitive and allows me to explore many options quickly.  A slow approach to photography does not mean not moving around and even in a go slow approach moving around and working the area should be done fairly quickly in order to explore a wide range of options.  The biggest mistake I see photographers, both beginner and advanced, doing is not moving around and exploring options.  No matter how good you get, you still need to do this!   What I typically see in Landscape Photography even among advanced photographers is getting to a scene and immediately establishing a point of view planting their tripod legs-big mistake. No one is that good! Your legs need to work, you need to dance! I am currently mentoring a beginner Highschool student and point of view is one of the first concepts I taught him.  He quickly understood the concept and carried out an assignment to develop multiple points of view.  The impact on his growth as a creative photographer was immediate and easy to see in his images.

One should establish a point of view before deciding upon an angle view.  The angle of view is determined by the lens focal length.  Wide angle lens have a wide angle of view.  Telephoto lenses have a narrow angle of view.  The temptation is to first start with an angle of view then establish a point of view, but in my experience this approach leads to more formulaic rather than creative images.  Once a good point of view is identified, then and only then should one decide which angle of view (lens focal length) works best to best present the point of view.  The over reliance on either the wide angle or telephoto perspective usually is a result of jumping immediately to one of these two lens choices without first establishing  a personally expressive point of view by working the area.  The wide angle or telephoto may indeed be the best choice for some points of view, but for many others it will be something in the standard focal length range, 30mm to 70mm in full frame photography.  Once you get in the practice of first establishing a point of view, you might find out that on some trips that a majority of your images will actually fall in the often ignored standard focal length range. 

Painted Hills Claystone Silt Abstract: 32mm, F14, 1/60, ISO 400 Handheld
This is a good example of a “Bird’s Eye” point of view looking straight down.

Spirits of our Ancestors: Painted Hills 
72mm, F14, 1/20, ISO 100, 2 image focus stack
Although this image has a near far perspective it was not taken with a wide angle lens but rather with a 70-200 telephoto zoom at 72mm.  I first established a point of view by working this area for about an hour before settling on this composition.  The layering you see in this image, of not only the grassy foreground but also the turquoise peaks and red painted hill like mounds, could only be achieved using a moderate telephoto focal length.  The grassy foreground was the most tricky in this image and it required a low point of view fairly far back from the grass and focus stacking to get the entire image sharp.

Middle Fork Bridge to the Spirit of the Shire:
70MM, F14, 1/2S, ISO 100, Focus Stack
I discovered the point of view for this image by getting very low to the ground and making multiple dance moves forward and back, left and right, looking for the vantage point that would provide the best visual flow from the moss to the tree trucks and bridge.  Once settling on this point of view, I decided it would work best with a 70mm moderate telephoto perspective to achieve a good  balance between a near far perspective and compression of key elements in the scene.   A 70mm telephoto would also render the bridge at a size that would draw the eye into the light shining on the bridge through the trees and the middle fork river basin.

Day of the Eagle 347mm, F11, 1/2000, ISO 1250 Handheld
The point of view for this image is looking more or less strait up which allowed me to photograph the textures on the underside of the eagle’s spread-out wings.  In order to render the bird at a sufficient size in the frame I used my 200-600 zoom lens.

Trilliums Underneath Big Cedar Tree 18mm, F16, 1/5, ISO 400 Focus Stack 
The point of view for this image is a worms eye view and up close to the trilliums but also looking almost straight up to the big tree in the distance.  It might look easy but it took some doing to get this point of view.  Although I tried this with a much wider focal length I found 18mm offered a less distorted and more realistic rendering of the scene, much as if one were lying on the forest floor and looking up at the trilliums and big cedar tree. 

Two Hearts Beat As One: 16mm, F14, 1/10, ISO 100 Focus Stack
Olympic National Park
This is Lunch Lake in the Seven Lakes Basin of Olympic National Park.  This lake from most points of view does not look like a heart but from this point of view it does.  Note there is another lake in the basin called Heart Lake that more obviously looks like a heart from any point of view.  Point of view often also involves juxtaposition.   Juxtaposition is often not easy to find and involves both a keen eye and much moving around and working the area.  The rock in the foreground and surrounding red huckleberries echoes the heart shape of the lake.  In nature all hearts beat as one.  

Know Thy Self

Although the concept of a Point of View is simple enough, it is where you place your camera, many people find it challenging to create a personally expressive Point of View. To create an image that is personally expressive, a person needs to first be aware of how nature and the landscape makes them feel at a more emotional level. This might seem simple enough also, but I have found through my work with multiple students, few (at least initially) have this ability. It is not quite the same as the thoughts and feelings you bring with you when you visit a landscape. It is the feelings, emotions and moods that flow from your immediate and moment by moment connection to nature and the landscape.

Comfortably Lost in the Middle Fork Forest

I have found that the best way to get in touch with what you are feeling when in nature is to spend at least some time daily walking through nature ironically without a camera in hand. Doing this daily will help you move toward a more meditative state of mind, also known as the “Beginners Mind” in Zen. The “Beginners Mind” is free from preconceived notions about a place and our normal preoccupations with daily concerns. This opens the door to a more immediate connection to the nature and the landscape. Freed from the filters of the mind, one is more open to immediate flashes of perception and seeing things that others likely pass by. This is because you will be connecting directly with nature, nature in you, you in nature, no separation.

Forest Pond Mossy Stones

While hiking through the Middle Fork forest I came upon this small pond surround by lush mossy stones. To me, although not grandiose in its beauty, it was such beautiful sight to behold on a Mid Winter day. Several people reached out to me on Social Media wanting to know exactly where this scene is located. I declined to tell them as I know that scenes like this can only be found through becoming more self aware and in tune with one’s surroundings, not be retracing someone else’s steps.

What About Intentions?

Some of you may be wondering is there a place for intentions when establishing a personal point of view that requires getting back to a more beginners state of mind and letting go of expectations. My answer is that there is still a place for intensions. One should always start out with a set of intensions. To do otherwise is a bit like setting out on a boating trip with no ability to stir the ship. Having intentions is not the problem, the problem is not being open to changing plans once circumstances change. In the movie “Get Back”, during the creative recording sessions where the Beatles were engaged in a very free flowing and iterative process of composing their songs, Paul McCarthy says to his band mates that entering a session with no plan is a recipe for getting absolutely nothing done. This is interesting that he would say this because there was an incredible amount of improvisation and changing of plans in those jam sessions associated with the songs on the Get Back film set. The songs that were eventually recorded bore little resemblance to the original ideas and plans. Creative photography follows a similar trajectory. One is far more likely to be creative if one starts off with a set of intensions, but at the same time feels an immediate connection to nature, and is willing to pivot with what is happing in the field and momentary flashes of new perception. Can you imagine trying to write an essay or a story without a outline? Can you imagine the creators of the movie Avatar attempting to make a movie without a script or a plan? Of course not. Plans are not the problem and are necessary. The problem is not being flexible and willing to pivot and change the plan.

Cherry Blossoms Cobble Stone Roots

This old gnarled Cherry Tree, with its beautiful blossoms, also looked a bit spooky in the light of the early morning, also collecting some warm light from the golden lamps. Standing contorted and strong, as if it was doing a kind of yoga tree pose, its reflection to me looked almost like its own roots anchored deep deep in the ground. When I arrived at the UW Quad on this early morning, this is not the image I had planned. But when I realized that hoards of people were standing in the way of my originally planned compositions, I looked with fresh eyes in areas where few people were present. When I saw this magnificent tree, I knew this was the image and story for this day!

Technique: Learn it to Forget It

In a sense having a plan and the ability to be spontaneous both aim for the same thing. Both help free our mind from an overly deliberate and analytic approach to photography and allow us to shoot more from the heart which is the key to being creative. Because the plan is already there we do not need to think about it all that much in field. And because we are spontaneous we also do not need to think all that much about the need to change direction. Even higher levels of freedom are possible by being so thoroughly knowledgeable about photographic technique that it also becomes second nature. As important as things like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO are, we should not have to think about them all that much in the field. At this point in my photographic journey, I dial them in manually with no thought at all. This frees me to follow my heart mind finding that point of view that supports best my creative vision.

Tree Beards and Mossy Arms
I think some trees, just like people, come to life in the offseason or Winter, when we can see better their true form. With this Broad Leaf Maple Tree, we can also see its many lichen beards and moss covered arms cantilevered and spreading out over the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River. This scene was not part of the plan for this day and was a spontaneous discovery through a flash of perception out of the corners of my eyes. I have passed this tree countless times on my travels through the Middle Fork, but only on this day did it grab my attention. I instantly knew what to do and did not need to think through the technical details of how to create this shot. The how to was second nature to me, freeing me up to to follow the heart mind, establish a point and angle of view, and record on my camera sensor my creative vision.

Putting it All Together

Establishing a point of view, especially when combined with an angle of view, is the single most important creative decision in photography. A point of view is simply where we place our camera. Establishing the best point of view requires moving around, going this way and that. Get prepared to quickly dance. You will get a Zumba workout! Although the concept of a Point of View seems simple enough, for an image to rise to the level that is recognized as art, the point of view needs to be personally expressive in a way that also instills an emotional reaction in others. Personal expression requires that we are in touch with how nature and a landscape makes us feel. For this we must get back to more of a “Beginners Mind” that is free from preconceived notions about what is our task for the day. This does not mean we go into the field without intentions. Intentions are vital for putting the creative process in motion. The “Beginners Mind”, and the ability to pivot with changing circumstances, however, are what will ultimately lead us to the a personally expressive and unique point of view.

I’m Still Standing
Several of the trees in this grove (but not all) stand alone in having survived an ancient fire. Standing underneath this ancient grove and walking along the boardwalk, one feels humbled and what it means to endure in the face of danger. Establishing a point of view for this image involved use of a moderately wide angle view (27mm) and getting above the boardwalk leading to the Lady in Red. She was important in providing a sense of scale to this image juxtaposed with the sunburst at the top of the image to further enhance the sense of scale of the forest. It was important not to go too wide and not to stand too close to the forest in order to preserve the sense of forest compression.

Thanks so much for reading and viewing the images of this blog post. I encourage you to share your reactions, thoughts, comments, impressions on this post here. If you think others would enjoy reading this post, please also share it with your friends and communities. If you would like to see more content like this subscribe to the blog so you automatically receive future blog posts. To find out more about my workshops, apprenticeship, and coaching programs click here. To learn more upon my perspectives on nature be sure to check out my Ebook, the Hidden Landscape: The Inside Passage. This image rich book is 248 pages and provides insight how nature, mystery, the Tao, Zen, and the American Transcendentalism of Thoreau inform my photography and can provide sources for you own inspiration. Here is the link to the EBOOK along with a preview. https://payhip.com/b/FCI4z. Thanks again and happy trails!

Happiness is sitting on a carpet of moss in the Middle Fork valley!

My Encounters with Wabi-Sabi and the Quest for Perfection in Nature Photography

~ Erwin Buske Photography ~ 2 Comments

Wabi-Sabi is an aesthetic for beauty that has its roots in historical Japanese culture, buy also reaches way back to the practices of Zen and Taoism in China. Wabi-Sabi honors all that is authentic in nature by acknowledging three simple truths: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect. This stands in sharp contrast to classical western and modern concepts of beauty. In the classical western tradition beauty is associated with perfection with the proper relation of all parts to the whole. The modern tradition takes this classical concept a step further emphasizing clean geometric lines, the bold and spectacular. Wabi-Sabi, however, is more organic and connected to the earth with all its imperfections. In Nature, objects that evoke the spirit of Wabi-Sabi are especially ones that show nature in flux, moving out of or returning to nothingness-for example settling claystone silt and mud (shown below), new flower blossoms, or fallen leaves. Wabi-Sabi arrangements and compositions are not perfect–irregularities and asymmetries can almost always be found.

Painted Hills Claystone Silt Abstract
With the heavy rains in the Painted Hills, some of the claystone washes away with the silt quickly drying in streambeds often forming beautiful patterns with contrasting colors. These change from one rainstorm to the next and with different directional light for a constantly changing show. Who says mud cannot also be beautiful! This image is only loosely geometric, and it has more of an organic feel, with many irregularities, that brings us closer to the earth.  It is here where we can better feel the oftentimes imperfect rhythms of authentic nature rather than our own projections of a geometric order onto the natural world.  

A often sited example of Wabi-Sabi are cherry blossoms, especially at the early stage of the bloom cycle when there are still flower buds or when blossoms begin falling down and decorating the ground below. The cherry blossom cycle is short, at most a week or so, perfectly embodying the spirit of Wabi-Sabi: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.

Cherry Blossom Time
I know spring has arrived when I see the Cherry Blossoms! I especially like them when there are both flower buds and blossoms living harmoniously together! Cherry blossoms opening and in transition also embody the spirit of Wabi-Sabi.

Humanmade structures in nature that show the impact of weather and associated changes over time also show the spirit of Wabi-Sabi, as is the case with this old abandoned farm house in the image below.

This Old Farm House
As I made my way to the Painted Hills on a stormy day, I passed this old, abandoned farmhouse and decided to make a roadside stop. I love the old, weathered look of the wooden house against the dark stormy backdrop along with a few tumbleweeds in the front yard. Even the small amount of graffiti seemed to add a interesting touch. Wabi-Sabi is especially evident in weathered structures on their way out, returning to nature in an endless cycle of change

Encounters with Wabi-Sabi

It is impossible to define precisely what Wabi-Sabi is. The ancient Zen masters of Wabi-Sabi did not want to communicate this knowledge in this way. Wabi-Sabi is more of a mood or a feeling that at best lends itself more to a poetic description, rather than anything that can be analyzed and explained in rational terms. Photographers encounter Wabi-Sabi as they grow in their ability to find beauty in ordinary things and places. The best training ground for appreciating Wabi-Sabi is not a well known iconic landscape where bold and spectacular beauty is staring at us in the face. The best training ground is in places usually overlooked, most of time hidden, but often close by, in our ordinary worlds.

My house in the Woodside Neighborhood is located on the urban growth boundary of the greater Seattle area. Out my front door and a short ways down the street is a large area of open-space made up of several interconnected parks. This area is primarily second growth woodland with a pond and a few small forested lakes. Most would not consider this area very remarkable and mainly of interest to people who happen to live close by. One seldom encounters people visiting from other areas and this is primarily a locals only place where they take a casual hike rambling through a quite ordinary forested area.

Fern Hill Forest
Here is some local beauty across the street from my home on a north facing hillside leading down to the Cedar River. Walking to through this ravine I had the feeling of total immersion in this transparent wall of ferns.

These woods right out my front door are a perfect place for me to have encounters with the spirit of Wabi-Sabi. Because Wabi-Sabi is often hidden, it is up to us to give Wabi-Sabi context and perspective. It does not appear on its own accord. Think of Wabi-Sabi, as more of an altered state of consciousness where the light bulb clicks and we see beauty where we saw none before. Here are a few images from these woods that I believe embody the spirit of Wabi-Sabi.

Winter Leaves
After autumn most leaves darken and slowly disintegrate into the earth, a few find a place in an otherwise wet Pacific Northwest where they can just dry out and maintain their beautiful veins and some of their color, now with some areas of black and blue, after the snow has melted and well into winter. In retrospect, looking at the back of the leaf, for a moment I thought I saw a few angelfish swimming from right to left!

Wild Current Blossoms in the Forest
From my sunrise walk on a April morning in the forest outside of my home, here is a welcome sign of spring in the PNW, the blossoms of a wild current bush bringing some color to the forest.

This next image is more of a synthesis of Wabi-Sabi and a more modern perspective. I would not have encountered this beautiful sunset had I not been willing to venture into the quite ordinary woods close to my home. Encounters with Wabi-Sabi made me more open to encountering this extraordinary beauty at this quite humble forested pond.

Erwin’s Pond
The official name of this pond is Wetland 14 Natural Area. That feels a little overly technical and unimaginative to me, a little like second and third beach in Olympic National Park so I gave it my own name, Erwin’s Pond-but I encourage others to name it as they will! I have heard from a passerby on the trail who has walked this area forever (He is in his upper 80’s) that this was a peat mine that filled with spring water after the mine was abandoned. The woman who lived here had the entire pond in her residence. When she passed on, she willed the land to the park system for enjoyment of everyone. I can imagine the sunsets she saw here living at the pond 365 days a year! It is a simple pond surrounded by second growth trees; most of the time not all that remarkable. But this body of water does collect the light in such a beautiful way, and when there are clouds the reflections for me are beyond beautiful. I find the lily pads in bloom also very attractive. But more than all this, for me this is a place for meditation and reflection I can access frequently-maybe not 365 days a year, but at least 60 times a year!

Wasabi and Popular Movements in Nature Photography

In his landmark book: “Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers”, 2008, Leonard Koren points out that Wabi-Sabi has always associated itself with alternative cultural movements especially in aesthetic tastes. In the 16th century it was a reaction slick, perfect and bold Chinese art and treasures emphasizing instead the organic, imperfect, subtle, and earthy artifacts of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. Koren believes that Wabi-Sabi is also present in more recent cultural movements especially among younger people including the Beat Generation, Hippies, Counter Culture, and other Alternative Cultures. In modern times Wabi-Sabi turns away from slick and bold, exactly packaged, Madison Avenue like presentations of beauty to something much more organic, unique, earthy, irregular, and even murky.

Coyote Canyon Garden Wall
I am truly amazed at the resiliency of these Desert Parsley flowers growing in the cracks of the Coyote Wall. Not only is it challenging to live in this near desert area due to sparse rain fall, but somehow, they manage to thrive in the cracks of rocks where there is even less moisture. I loved how the surrounding patterns of the Columbia Gorge canyon wall helped to feature the beauty of these rock hardy plants.

In this blog post I am primarily interested in how Wabi-Sabi is associated with popular movements in nature and landscape photography. In this context I think it is fair to say that we find the spirit of Wabi-Sabi in the following movements:

  • Slow Photography Movement
  • Contemplative Photography Movement
  • Zen Photography
  • Expressive Photography
Zen Wet Rocks

I am not going to get into the philosophies of each of these movements but suffice it to say all four advocate slowing down, paying more attention to details, developing a more meditative, intuitive and mindful approach to photography. All four want us to be internally motivated and not allow the expectations of others to shape our photographic vision. All four also in my opinion struggle to explain in rational terms what their movement involves and there are definitely no exact step by step by the numbers approaches for creating images consistent with the aesthetic of any of these movements.

It is noted that Wabi-Sabi is closely aligned with Zen. In Zen the teachings are not explained in rational terms but rather through the use of koans-a kind of parable that defies logic such as: Two monks are arguing about a flag. One says, “The flag is moving.” The other, “The wind is moving.” A third walks by and says, “Not the wind, not the flag; the mind is moving.” Although our first inclination may be to try to figure the koan out, that is not possible. The purpose of the koan is to move us away from our rational mind to more of an intuitive way of perceiving the world. It is this kind of intuition that shapes our perception of the natural world and opens our senses to the world of Wabi-Sabi.. We begin to notice details we did not see before and interconnections between material things become more apparent. In short our creative minds get in touch with the spirit of Wabi-Sabi.

East Meets West

Touch of Autumn in Winter

Without knowing the name Wabi-Sabi until the last couple of years, I believe I have had encounters with the spirit of Wab-Sabi throughout most of the decades of my life. Prior to social media being a thing, I always had a penchant for the small scene, macro, intimate details, and finding beauty in ordinary places and things. With the rise of social media and my involvement in it through the sharing of images, I like most photographers started posting images that I knew, from examining behavior of others on social media, would be popular. But with me this phase did not last long. Although I would not say I am currently immune from the pull of catering to what I know for sure will be popular, this is definitely not my primary motivation any longer. But I would not go so far as to say that I travel only within the realm of Wabi-Sabi either. There is too much of the western and modern influences in me. I do love the bold, colorful, and often dramatic grand scenes that quickly capture my own attention and the attention of others. But my experiences with Wabi-Sabi have forever changed me, so that even when I am photographing the Grand Scene, Wabi-Sabi is shaping how I compose the scene, what I include and exclude, and my tolerance for and even welcoming of imperfections and sloppy geometry!

Clouds Float in My Eyes
At sunrise the sky of Garibaldi Lake was mostly blue, but as morning progressed patchy clouds appeared everywhere and were reflected in the beautiful water of the enormous lake. Early morning light filtered through gaps in the clouds help create this beautiful grand landscape. The clouds in this image if viewed somewhat abstractly form an X like shape, but it is imperfect with broken lines and irregular shapes. But with all of these imperfections and Wabi-Sabi we can still sense a modern and crisp vision of the world. I like to think of this image as embodying a synthesis of Modernity and Wabi-Sabi.

Grand Landscape Revisited

Much of the training and instruction in photography workshops today, especially those that are primarily focused on the iconic grand landscape, are about achieving a sort of perfectionist ideal in images. In workshops people are taken to iconic places and even specific scenes within iconic places where much of the planning and thinking has already been done for us. These places are bold and grandiose with clean geometric lines. These places are shutter ready with compositions that are already proven to be popular. Everything is all teed up with the only variable the weather and there are attempts to even plan for the best possible outcome there. Although getting to some of these places may be challenging, either in transportation or physically challenging, they are not the type of places where instructors are providing encouragement to see the scene with fresh eyes in a more creative way. If truth be known many of these instructors lack the skills even to do this. I know this to be the case because I have participated in several of these workshops myself. Sure I came back with some awesome images, but they were not ones that I am particularly proud of from the standpoint of personally expressive creativity.

Palouse Falls Dream
I love this iconic perspective of Palouse Falls. When I was there all around me were over 30 photographers, most part of workshops, all taking more or less the same image. If you have ever gone to this location, you will know that there are only a couple of compositions in this area that work well. Although I am proud of this image, especially with the beautiful not always present sunset clouds and processing, I cannot claim that it is particularly creative. There are literally tens of thousands of others out there like it!

The march to create a common and ubiquitous commonality in beautiful and perfect images does not stop in the field. It moves forward into the digital darkroom where a uniform style and instantly recognizable aesthetic in processing is taught, so that our images have that same kind of wow look that so many of the most popular images on popular social media sites have. Images are warped so as to obtain more perfect geometric shapes, patterns and relationships. Elements that are less than perfect are cropped or cloned out, and the lighting in the scene is heavily altered to place all of the emphasis on the most perfect elements of the scene. Even nature’s colors are changed so as to obtain a kind of perfect color harmony. It is a march toward perfection. But do we ever truly get there? In our attempts to obtain perfection are we fighting nature itself? In creating perfection do we loose our organic connection to nature?

Convergence
A photographer friend of mine in Vancouver Canada, Connie Wong, said this about this image upon viewing it when we were also discussing Wabi-Sabi: “It has dimension. It may have imperfections but I think it is a good balance. There is balance of the lines meeting on either sides of the midline. The darker to lighter tones draws the eyes into the photo. The streaks creates movement and flow.” I could not have said it better myself. Thanks Connie. I like to think of this image as a Convergence, not only of lines, but also of the spirit of Modernity and Wabi-Sabi, East and and West.

How might our choice of compositions change if we openly embraced irregularities, asymmetries, incongruities, murkiness, even distractions, and hard to spot details in our images? And if we embraced all of this but at the same time did not abandon our attempts to capture the bold, grand, dramatic, even the geometric–would this result in a creative synthesis between the modern vision of a perfect world and the Wabi-Sabi vision of nature where nothing is perfect and nothing is finished? There is beauty in this tension between the perfect and imperfect, that can provide inspiration to create images that not only capture our immediate attention but also cause us to stay awhile with the image and explore its details and subtleties. This is where I am at today—exploring the beautiful synthesis between Modernity and Wabi-Sabi in both grand landscape and small more intimate scenes.

Elfin Rocks
After climbing up over Elfin Lakes close to sunset, I felt drawn to these split, irregular, and somewhat crushed rocks leading out to the beautiful lake basin and distant peaks. These are likely remnants of past actions of glaciers that were once here leaving intriguing lines, textures and shapes.
Fallen Blossoms and Umbrellas in the Rain

Thanks so much for reading and viewing the images of this blog post. I encourage you to share your reactions, thoughts, comments, impressions on this post here. If you think others would enjoy reading this post, please also share it with your friends and communities. If you would like to see more content like this subscribe to the blog so you automatically receive future blog posts. To find out more about my workshops, apprenticeship, and coaching programs click here. To learn more upon my perspectives on nature be sure to check out my Ebook, the Hidden Landscape: The Inside Passage. This image rich book is 248 pages and provides insight how nature, mystery, the Tao, Zen, and the American Transcendentalism of Thoreau inform my photography and can provide sources for you own inspiration. Here is the link to the EBOOK along with a preview. https://payhip.com/b/FCI4z. Thanks again and happy trails!

Nature and Nurture: Creativity and Skill in the Art of Photography

~ Erwin Buske Photography ~ 4 Comments

One of my core beliefs is that we all have the potential to be creative. I believe not only this because of my own experience in learning the art and craft of creative photography, but also through my experience teaching others through my photography workshops and my apprenticeship program. Also, many of the top photographers who I admire the most have confided in me that they were not originally creative and that creativity came to them slowly over the course of many years..

By the Light of the Setting Sun and Rising Moon

I have no formal education in photography and the arts, and I am largely self-taught.  For most of my career I worked at Boeing as a Cost Analyst.  My forays into nature served as a necessary counterbalance to my role in the corporate world.   I have learned the art and craft of photography from many sources not the least of which is direct experience of nature.  Other indispensable sources include reading books, YouTube videos, tutorials, participation in photography club outings, hanging out with photography friends, photography workshops, studying the images of others, and willingness to experiment and make mistakes.    I think, however, my biggest hurdle that I needed to get over in developing a creative approach to photography is getting beyond my belief “that I am not creative’. My experience has taught me that we all have the capacity to be creative. In my case Nature itself was my best ally in breaking through thought patterns, usually learned, that tell us we are not creative. I will get into more about this later. Channeling creativity into an image of course also requires skills that must be learned. Creativity and skill are not an either-or proposition, the two are inseparable. But it is my belief the capacity to be creative is something we are all born with, but for most of us somewhere along the way this capacity becomes blocked, ironically due to learning. It is the ultimate irony of the creative process that we must learn to unlearn much of what we have been taught!

My apprenticeship program, where I work with a budding photographer over a period of one year, has also convinced me that everyone has the capacity to be creative and learn the art and craft of photography. Everyone learns in different ways and one of the benefits of a one-on-one apprenticeship program is the ability to tailor instruction to support the way a specific individual best acquires knowledge and learns. With all of my students this has meant putting them in the driver seat. They use their own camera and their own computer while I help guide them through their options, rather than just watching how I go about taking and processing images. I teach them the skills they need and help them see their creative options but leave actual creative choices up to them. With the student in the driver seat, this helps develop confidence, that they can do it. This confidence in turn helps unlock the creative potential, that in many ways was always there. I feel successful once the student does not need me anymore and develops their own ability to grow creatively.

Forest Moss Icicles

For as long as I can remember there has been an ongoing debate about the origins of creativity. Some think only certain people are born to be creative, and others think that creativity solely a function of one’s environment and how it supports the learning process. It turns out that science supports both nature and nurture playing a role in the creative process, but not in the way that many would expect. Let us take a look at study that is particularly important in this regard.

In a landmark study, NASA hired Dr. George Land and Dr. Beth Jarman to develop a test to measure creative potential for NASA’s scientists and engineers.  The test measured divergent thinking, the ability to come up with lots of ideas to solve a particular problem. After using the test within NASA, Land and Jarman, decided to use the same test to address the age-old question “where does creativity come from”. The test was administered to 1600 children who were then retested at different points in their life span.

As you can see from the above chart test performance declines precipitously with age. “What we have concluded,” wrote Land, “is that non-creative behavior is learned”. What we can therefore also conclude is the creativity is not so much learned as unlearned or put another way we must learn to unlearn much of what we have been taught, especially any negative and often habitual thoughts that we are not creative.

Mt. Si Boardwalk into the Fog and Mist

This notion that our natural capacity for creativity declines with age, can be found in the wisdom and spiritual traditions of the Tao, Zen and also American Transcendentalism. Consider this passage from chapter 56 of the Tao De Ching as translated by Sam Torode.

The Tao

As creatures grow and mature,

they begin to decay.

This is the opposite of the Tao—-

the Tao remains ever young.

Lao Tsu

A central theme in the Taoist perspective is a return to nature. At a more personal level this also means a recovery of our own nature. I say recovery, because our own original nature, a sort of childlike primordial state, was always there but its voice has become faint as we grow and mature in a society that pulls us away from the expression of our natural self that was born to be creative. For more on the Tao see my blog post The Tao of Nature Photography.

My daughter Caroline, running through the tulip fields and naturally expressing herself, long ago.

Zen

The way of Zen is for us to awaken to our true nature. When we wake up, we are also more creative because we loosen the hold of mental filters that not only falsely define who we are but also limit creative possibilities. The renowned Twentieth Century Psychoanalyst Erich Fromm expressed it more bluntly this way at a conference with D.T. Suzuki on Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis. “The average person’s consciousness is mainly false consciousness consisting of fictions and illusion, while precisely what he is not aware of is reality.” Zen practices such as meditation and mindfulness help us to slow down and gradually weaken the fictions and illusions surrounding our false identities. In the process of this happening our expanded awareness brings us into contact with new sources of creativity. For more on Zen see my blog post The Way of Zen, Love of Nature and Photography.

American Transcendentalism

The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the heart of the child.

From Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson

What did Emerson mean by these words? Many people only see nature as an object, but the child has a deep spiritual connection to nature. For Emerson, we are all an integral part of nature, with no separation between ourselves and the natural world. But most often we no longer feel this way. We separate ourselves from nature in the sense we no longer feel deeply connected to it. And yet the child is different; she feels nature deep inside her heart and in her soul. She doesn’t just see the sun, she sees—and feels—what it illuminates. Children are naturally curious about the world around them, and this curiosity spawns creative exploration. But as children mature into adults this curiosity gradually becomes less and less until at last one surrenders to the force of habit losing our natural inclination to be creatively curious. The primary reason for Emerson writing Nature was to issue a call to adults to bring back their childlike sense of wonder in exploring the possibilities of Nature. For more on American Transcendentalism see my blog post Journey to Your Own Walden Pond: Thoreau’s Legacy and his Message to a Modern World.

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus Mathew 18:3

You are the River: Green River Gorge

“Good artists borrow, great artists steal” Picaso

If both learning and unlearning are required for expressing oneself creatively in a photograph, which comes first? My answer is the two are inextricably intertwined. Although it has become popular in recent times to play down the role of technique and skill in the creation of photographic art, I know from my personal experience that the more that I develop my skill level, the better I am able to achieve my creative vision. But technique and skill alone will not result in a creative and artistic image.

A commonly accepted definition of creativity is “The process that leads to a novel and useful outcome”. I am not, however, going to get into this academic definition here of creativity because I think it does more to distract us than help up. I am going to voice my strong opinion, however, because I think that is what people who follow my work want to know. Photographic images that are creative and artistic need to have emotional impact. If well-crafted and composed images using good photographic technique do not result in emotional reaction in the viewer, they can never rise to the level of being creative and artistic, let alone great. Too often definitions of creativity have focused on the presence of novelty (something new or different) in the photograph and downplaying emotions. Personally, I think novelty has little to do with artistic creativity in photography, music, or any other field. We have all heard the expression “steal like an artist”. This is fact what creatives do, whether they be photographers, painters. musicians or writers. They borrow from many influences, standing on the shoulders of those who came before them. It is in their unique and authentic integration of various influences into their own personal style that results in an artistically creative image with emotional impact. My definition of creativity as it pertains to photography for those who insist upon a definition would go more like this: “The ability to experience and express artistically original, appropriate, and authentic combinations of emotions-adapted from Averill and Thomas-Knowles, 1991.”

You Keep Me Hanging On: Kendal Lakes Snowshoe Trail

Learn it to forget it

What I tell all of my students in my apprenticeship program is that we must “learn it to forget it.” In other words, we must learn so thoroughly how to operate our cameras, take pictures, and process images that we do not need to think all that much about the technical side of things. A good analogy would be driving a car. Sure, we are aware at all times that we are driving, but our focus is more upon where we are going because safe driving techniques have become almost automatic. So, it is with creative photography. Once photographic technique is thoroughly mastered, we do not need to think about technique all that much anymore, then we can focus instead upon what is our photographic vision and the realization of that vision. Here are some basic areas of learning that we must learn so thoroughly that they become almost second nature freeing us up to live and breathe our creative vision.

Discipline is a way of expression. Say, you want to to express your feelings in stone. Now, stone doesn’t give way very easily; it’s tough stuff. And so you have to learn the skill–or the discipline–of the sculptor in order to express yourself in stone. So in every other way, whatever you do, you require a skill.

Alan Watts

Once the basics are learned, then one should also master as well these more advanced areas of expertise to further support movement into ones creative zone.

I am not going to get into the specifics of these learning areas too much here, as I am bringing this up to make a point that embarking upon a creative journey does involve learning skills. Although these skills will not necessarily result in a creative and artistic image, they are part of our tool box that makes creative photography possible, especially the basic skills. That is why in my apprenticeship program I teach all of these skills. Ideally my students learn these skills to forget about them!

Alpine Pond Autumn Moods

In the Zone

Once we have learned the basic skills and made good progress with the more advanced skills, it will be much easier for us to get “In the Zone” of artistic creativity. Why might you ask? We step out into nature fully confident that we have the requisite skills in our toolbox necessary to do the job. This helps liberate us from being too involved in a thinking process that can actually get in the way of getting us back to that more childlike state of natural wonder that is the wellspring of creativity.

What do we mean by “In the Zone”? Let’s look at a few definitions. Cambridge Dictionary says, “If you are in the zone, you are happy or excited because you are doing something very skillfully and easily.” In the Zone is an idiomatic phrase and not a word so it makes sense to also share the Online Slang Dictionary definition. To be in the zone is “to have one’s thoughts flow easily and creatively with regards to art, music design, or invention” (and I might add the creative photography). Being “In the Zone” is very much like being “In a Flow State.” Although the term Flow State was popularized by positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi the concept has actually been around for centuries. In the flow state there is a sense of fluidity between body and mind, where you are so totally absorbed and deeply focuses on something that distractions disappear and time seems to slow way down. Your senses are heightened, and you feel one with the task at hand and your environment. Action and awareness coalesce in an effortless momentum as you carry out the task at hand, in our case creating a photograph.

Coming Home: Avalanche Lilies and Ranger Patrol Carbon at Indian Henry’s Hunting Ground

Coming Home

All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

Pablo Picasso

Skills enable us to be creative, but how do we get back to a home where we once again see the world more with the eyes of a child? Although there are no series of steps, we can take that will bring this perspective back, there are practices that can help us feel more present. These practices include daily walks in nature, meditation and mindfulness. These practices will help loosen the grip of some of the barriers that keep us from experiencing the world of nature in a more intuitive, playful and spontaneous way. These barriers have to do with our habitual way of thinking about and experiencing the natural world. Daily walks in nature, meditation and mindfulness help weaken our habitual thoughts through making us more present and aware of our surroundings opening up the door to see the world with fresh creative eyes. You will find a more complete discussion of the practices of daily walks in nature, meditation and mindfulness in my blog post The Way of Zen, Love of Nature, and Photography.

Photography Practices

There are also photography practices that will help us see the natural world with fresh eyes. These will differ for each individual depending upon where you are at in your photography journey. But the basic idea here is to take up a photography practice that is different from what you normally do. For example, if you normally shoot primarily macro or small intimate scenes you may try near far perspectives of the Grand Landscape. Or if you shoot primarily birds, you may try instead shooting images of people in the landscape. This works for some of the same reasons that walking, meditation and mindfulness work. It takes us away from our habitual way of thinking about and experiencing the natural world, bringing us back home, to more of a beginner’s mind, one that is better able to see nature in fresh ways as if one had once again the eyes of a child. Sure, there will be new skills to learn, but my experience is that if you are already evolved in a least one genera of photography, these skills will be learned quickly and easily because you are already starting from a point of significant knowledge.

If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything, it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few

Shunryu Suzuki (Zen Monk and Teacher)

In the remainder of this blog post, I am going to explore multiple photography practices/genera that may help you get out of your creative slump. Again, they will help, not because there is anything inherently creative about these practices, but rather they may help breakthrough your habitual way of thinking about and experiencing the natural world. With this breakthrough you may once again see the world through the eyes of a child. Regardless of which practice or genera you choose, what is important is that you feel the spark of passion for this new approach. Going back to what I mentioned earlier, it is my belief unless you feel the spark of emotion in taking images and also covey this in your images in a way that also resonates with others, the photography will never rise to the level of being great and creative, let alone rise to level of being art.

Near Far

Light of the Angels North Cascades. 31mm, F14, 1/15s, ISO 100

Near far compositions, especially with the use of a wide-angle lens, have received a bad rap lately. Many perceive that the use of the wide-angle lens to capture grand scenes, especially icons, results in too many quickly captured images that are visually similar and lack creativity. This may be true for the initial spotting of the scene and taking a quick picture, but zeroing in and fine tuning the composition is another matter entirely. Used properly this lens is one of the most difficult but also one of the most rewarding lenses to use. A wide angle zoom, skillfully used, can also highlight your unique vision for the scene even if it is a often photographed location. Another criticism I frequently hear is that with a wide angle zoom one can only pick out one or maybe two compositions for a scene. This criticism reveals more of a user’s lack of knowledge or experience in the creative use of the wide angle zoom, than it is an accurate assessment of the lens’s potential. When one gets low and as close as possible to the foreground, even micro movements can and will result in substantially different compositions. The possibilities are virtually limitless. With a wide angle zoom, I can pick out in most situations as many as ten different compositions which is likely a point at which few would even want to venture beyond! A final misconception about the use of wide-angle lenses for near far is that one always goes to the most extreme wide angle. For me a least, nothing could be further from the truth. I am shooting the above image at 31MM which is almost near a normal perspective. This is a deliberate choice to better balance near, mid and backgrounds parts of the scene. As we will soon see, near far can also be creatively done with a telephoto lens.

Touch of Autumn in Winter: 30mm, F14, 1/100S, ISO 100 Focus Stacked

A wide angle zoom definitely requires slowing down as one gets very close, often within inches from the foreground and finds a visual flow from the foreground to the mid-ground and background. I have been known to spend up to a couple hours in the field fine tuning my wide-angle compositions. When the camera is this close to the foreground, a couple of inches this way or that can dramatically alter the composition. One needs to study thoroughly the scene, especially the visually predominant foreground, to eliminate or reduce visual distractions. It is almost as if one has in the foreground an intimate or macro scene within the larger scene. The larger scene provides context to the image, but it is the foreground that will make or break the image. Getting this close, usually will also require focus stacking. If one focuses on a very close foreground the rest of the scene will not be in focus even at F-16. If one focuses one third into the scene, which is usually the mid-ground, then the foreground will not be in focus.

Morning Dew: 19mm, F16, 1/160, ISO 100-a focus stack and exposure blend

The near far approach can also be used very creatively using the telephoto perspective. Just as in wide angle compositions, the key is to find a natural and believable blend of the near, mid, and backgrounds. I have found that these compositions are the most challenging and from a technical perspective also the most difficult. But the rewards are immense opening the possibility to create something truly unique. I have found myself more and more creating near far compositions with both standard and telephoto lenses. This gets me out of my habitual way of viewing the world, which for me tends to be wide angle, opening up new avenues for my creative expression.

Middle Fork Bridge to the Spirit of the Shire: 70MM, F14, 1/2S, ISO 100, Focus Stack

Criticisms by many in the professional photography community of near far compositions in my opinion has done more to tarnish the reputation of landscape photography as a creative and artistic medium than it has served as a constructive criticism. If there is anything that has served to help put landscape photography on the creative map alongside the painting arts, it is the near far composition. That is because photography can uniquely create near-far compositions in a way that is difficult for painting artists. I have several painting artist friends who have confirmed that this is the case and also indicated to me that near far is what caused them to recognize and accept my work as art. We also see this in the history of landscape photographer with key figures such as Ansel Adams, David Muench, Marc Adamus, Erin Babnik and others using near far techniques to bring the unique possibilities of landscape photography to an audience who appreciates art. Let’s be more mindful about our criticisms of near-far, and also celebrate and give appropriate and well-deserved credit to this unique practice of photographic expression!

Feathered Friends

Day of the Eagle

Although I consider myself primarily a Landscape Photographer, recently I have also gone to the birds! I decided to give birding a try inspired by the images of a friend of mine Shaping. Leveraging off of my experience as a Landscape Photographer I usually place equal importance to the bird and the bird’s environment blending the two together in a compositionally pleasing way. I also pay close attention to light to focus attention on the bird and what the bird is doing in its environment. I am excited about this new direction in my photography and will be releasing more bird images in the days to come! Bird photography can serve as a good counter point to landscape photography. For bird photography one must be nimble and quick, hand holding most images. There is no time to think about camera settings so things like combinations of shutter speed, aperture and ISO must be mastered along with focus tracking to the point where they are natural and intuitive. All the focus needs to be on the bird which in most cases will flying be flying around or not staying still for very long. Contrast this to landscape photography where often it seems one has all the time in the world! Going to the birds has helped unlock some more of my creative potential for working with and paying attention to the precise moment and working quickly that has also yielded benefits for my landscape photography in highly fluid situations such as weather. To see my complete portfolio click here Feathered Friends.

Blue Heron and Turtle on the Log

Flock of Birds

People in the Landscape

Including people in the landscape is an excellent way of breaking through the landscape photographer’s habitual way of viewing the natural world. Afterall we humans are also part and partial of nature, and including a person or persons in the landscape is an excellent way of expressing the fluidity of this connection-I and we are in nature and nature is in I and we.

The Sun Goddess

In August, my friend Shaping joined me for a sunset hike to Mt Fremont. Although when we started hiking it was a bluebird kind of a day and also very hot, as we approached the top a breeze moving down from the glaciers of Mt. Rainier helped keep us cool and comfortable. Wispy clouds slowly filled the sky. The wildflowers were still in peak form and Shaping in her beautiful dress reminded me of a Sun Goddess as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon.

Although I called this image the Sun Goddess, Shaping also represents to me the spirit of a “Nature Goddess”. When she wears this flowing dress and reaches out from Fremont Mountain to the sun she is celebrating and honoring mother nature. Shaping feels the same way. A few people confronted me when I originally displayed the series of images that this image is a part of and accused me of chasing Instagram popularity. I can assure you that that was the last thing on my mind. For me the event was completely unplanned and just arose spontaneously out of the happenings on this wonderful day. Sometimes I think some are too quick to jump to conclusions about other photographer’s intentions. Their accusations may be more of a reflection of their own inner state of mind than anything else. To see my complete portfolio click her Honoring Nature: Women in the Landscape.

Women in Saris

From left to right, the women are Cindy, Chetna and Shaping posing so beautifully and elegantly even after a 5,000 foot elevation gain hike up Sourdough Mountain in the North Cascades!

Daughter Caroline

When my daughter returned home from UCSD for the Holidays one of the first things she asked to do was to go have some fun in the snow at Gold Creek Pond. We have had many Father Daughter snowshoe hikes here over the years, and the beauty of this Winter Wonderland is like a thread weaving together our two lives even as both of our worlds go through changes that are inevitable in life.

Into the Forest

Small Stream in a Hemlock Forest

When we walk through a forest, oftentimes we feel a sense of peace and calm with our close connection to the wonders and beauty of nature that surrounds us. We have difficulty, however, transferring to our images what we experienced in our minds eye through our flashes of perception. This difficulty, however, is precisely why photographing the forest can yield creative breakthroughs. There is no iconic scene or scarcely even somewhat obvious compositions to latch onto. We must let go of all preconceptions, take a journey within, to a world prior to any thoughts, to the hidden forest. This process has been described by many as creating order out of chaos, and this analogy does have some validity. But to capture the spirit of the forest we need to go deeper than this, beyond projecting our own conceptions of order onto the forest, to developing a more organic awareness and skill set to capture the very essence and heart of the forest. This process results in more impactful images that more closely match what we experienced in our flashes of perception and in our mind’s eye. Photographing the forest teaches us to be more aware of subtle changes in light and recognize compositions that will at first look very faint and more like clues to a mystery than anything obvious. These skills, once learned, will then travel with us we return to photograph the Grand Landscape which we will then do with much more sensitivity and awareness. To see my complete portfolio click here Deep Woods Enchanted Forest.

Red Berries in the Forest Moss

Young Tree in the Forest of Elders

Abstract Discoveries

Rock Tapestry

Shooting abstracts has become a very popular if not trendy in recent year. In posting abstracts, some hope to show to others that they can move beyond the Grand Landscape and explore basic forms, shapes, patterns and textures devoid of any larger environmental context. Sometimes I think it is done too mechanically as more of a mental exercise. Abstracts are no different than other genera, for them to rise to a level that one identifies as creative and artistic they will need to have personal emotional impact both to the creator of the image and to viewers. That is why it is so important that if one does choose abstracts as a way to distinguish oneself and open up new avenues of creative expression, that one also feels the passion and is shooting from the heart; not just to say, “hey look at me I can shoot abstracts”. Back in the day we used to call such images devoid of emotional content, ” Artsy Fartsy-LOL-images that pretend to be art through emulation but that are seldom accepted as the real thing. That being said, abstracts can give us the necessary spark to grow creatively. By eliminating the larger context of the image this reduces if not stops our habitual way of experiencing and interpreting the natural world. This can open up our hearts to see the world with fresh eyes, the eyes of the child.

Valentines Day

Intentional Camera Movement

Intentional Camera Movement is a technique that involves moving the camera either vertically, horizontally or in a swirling motion during a long exposure usually about a half of a second or more in order to create an effect.  Intentional Camera Movement can work great in the forest where a somewhat chaotic scene can be reduced down to the essence of lines, shapes, blotches of merged colors and tones, yielding an effect the many have told me is like an impressionistic watercolor. Although this technique involves a lot of trial and error, successful ICM still requires careful selection of a suitable scene, previsualization, and good composition skills. When done in this way, it is a great way to get some new inspiration for creative growth. It encourages us to see more deeply, the scene behind the scene, the bare essentials, and the visual essence.

A Walk in the Forest

These white bark alders were lit by the diffused light reflecting off the walls of the Middle Fork valley on a beautiful Autumn Day, perfect for a walk in the forest. For this image I handheld the camera and gently panned up and then back down during .6 second time period.

Variegated Yarn Water Threads (Horizontal)

While at Rosario Beach, I noticed some beautiful water highlights of gold, aqua, and green. While waiting for the seals to return from underwater, I started to play around with some intentional camera movement to feature and blend together the streaks of light and color in the moving water creating this image. This image works either horizontal or a vertical but with somewhat different effects. Next is the vertical image which has more of an abstract look but also with seemingly more defined yard threads even though the two images are actually identical except for orientation.

Variegated Yarn Water Threads (Vertical)

Black and White Visions

Dance with Fog and Light

Black and White photography can spur creativity precisely because it does not rely upon reality, our accustomed way of viewing the world. Color which binds us to reality can also serve as a distraction to seeing the creative possibilities of a scene. I see this all the time in sunset scenes where the photographer is so excited about capturing the magnificent color of the moment that he/she forgets to carefully compose the scene. Sure, such images will get immediate social media attention, but they seldom if ever have lasting impact soon to be overran by another photographer who captures the next sunset a day or two later. Black and White Photography removes what can be the distraction of color and helps the photographer to pay better attention to other aspects of the image such as the subject/s, visual flow, textures, shapes and patterns, and composition.

Tree Shadows on the Snow

Color is the real world we live in, but Black and White can transport us to a completely different often surreal world. Because of this we feel we have more license to be creative, not so worried that we are passing the threshold where the image is no longer rooted in reality. This allows us to consider our subject in new and exciting ways. For some, including myself, in certain situations the Black and White image may actually be far more emotive than the color image. Back to one of the central themes of this blog post, if an image is to rise to the level of greatness and art it needs to tap into the viewers emotions.

Light in the Forest

Snoqualmie River Foggy Morning

Lens Baby Unplugged-Soft Focus Images

Inner Glow

Lensbaby lenses create optically beautiful soft focus and glowing painterly effects with minimal processing. This encourages a more spontaneous and immediate approach to photography where the in-camera image is already in synch with my vision in the present moment. This is very welcome in this day and age where many images are the function of much technical planning and pre-visualization of post processing requirements. This latter approach is so far removed from one’s flashes of perception and immediate experience of the scene that often all spontaneity is lost. With a Lensbaby, I can approach nature and the landscape more with a beginner’s mind, in other words with the eyes of a child which I find very refreshing.

Oregon Grape Blossoms

Portfolio-Twin Peaks

On a Blue Winter Evening

A pond in the Snoqualmie Valley makes the gradual transition from evening to night as a snowplow working overtime turns on its lights hoping to complete the clearing of a nearby farm road. This is one of the images I recently brought together into a portfolio that together convey some of the mood of the Lynch/Frost show Twin Peaks that was filmed in this area-perhaps agent Cooper is hiding out somewhere around this pond! You can find the entire portfolio at this link Twin Peaks.

One of the best ways to tap into and also channel sources of creativity is to build a new portfolio around a theme. A portfolio will often be stronger than the sum of its parts. Many of us will also feel more emboldened to put images into the portfolio that we would feel reluctant to post as a standalone image because of fear it may not be well received. In a portfolio, however, other images will help lift it up and give the perhaps more creative image the attention it deserves, which is beyond the two second attention interval that one typically is given when viewers rapidly scroll through their social media feed. To be creative, one must more beyond fear of rejection, be willing to experiment, and put our best foot forward regardless how we feel the image may be received. Oftentimes I will do this and will be pleasantly surprised that the image that does the best in a portfolio is actually the one I thought would not get much notice. These are also the images with more lasting impact and that will also help establish you as a creative artist with his/her own identity, not just some formulaic image that one knows will appeal to your social media audience. In the long run it is only the truly creative images that will separate you from the crowd and allow you to rise to a level of artistry.

Snoqualmie Falls December Moods

Secrets of the Forest

Its a Small World Afterall: Macro and Small Area Images

Dangling Conversation

Do you ever get the feeling plants are talking to you, or perhaps even poking a little fun? These Jade Vines might also be channeling a bit of their inner Mick Jagger only with Jade colored lips!

I have always included macro images in my portfolios ever since I started shooting with film decades ago. In fact, it was the beauty of macro photography that helped motivate me to pursue photography as more of an art and craft decades ago. I am surprised; however, about how many landscape photographers do not want to venture into this arena. I know they love these kinds of images based on how they react to my own macros and those of others. This is a case of some well-known photographers allowing social media perceptions to get too much in the way of guiding what they shoot and what they do not shoot. That is because macro images do not usually garner the same level of popularity as the grand landscapes. But there are exceptions. The key is to have images that stir the emotions and evoke a mood. Including a few macros in a larger portfolio of primarily grand landscape images will almost always do nothing but to strengthen the portfolio as a whole. And delving into the world of smaller things will definitely open up worlds withing worlds igniting new sources of creativity!

Lilac Tears of Joy

Dance of the Calypso Orchids

Conclusion

We are all born with the capacity to be creative. Creativity, however, declines with age. Recultivating creativity, which is our birthright, involves unlearning reasons why we think we are not creative and getting back to more of a beginner’s mind, seeing the natural world once again through the curious eyes of the child. Although creativity is natural, it cannot be expressed without skill. In Photography as in any art form we must learn the skills needed to express our creativity. We must learn these skills so thoroughly that we do not need to think about them very much anymore, and instead focus on getting in our creative zone and moving toward our creative vision. Walks in nature, mindfulness, and meditation can help cultivate the beginner’s mind, as can also experimentation with other genera of photography. It is important, however, that we feel some passion while engaging in this experimentation. For photography to rise to the level where it is personally creative and artistic it needs to convey the photographer’s emotions and also instill an emotional response in others.

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Thanks so much for reading and viewing the images of this blog post. I encourage you to share your reactions, thoughts, comments, impressions on this post here. If you think others would enjoy reading this post, please also share it with your friends and communities. If you would like to see more content like this subscribe to the blog so you automatically receive future blog posts. To find out more about my workshops, apprenticeship, and coaching programs click here. To learn more upon my perspectives on nature be sure to check out my Ebook, the Hidden Landscape: The Inside Passage. This image rich book is 248 pages and provides insight how nature, mystery, the Tao, Zen, and the American Transcendentalism of Thoreau inform my photography and can provide sources for you own inspiration. Here is the link to the EBOOK along with a preview. https://payhip.com/b/FCI4z. Thanks again and happy trails!

2022: Beginnings and Endings, Lines and Circles, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow

~ Erwin Buske Photography ~ 10 Comments

“We do not come into this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean waves, the universe peoples. Every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe.”

Alan Watts

In our modern goal driven western world, we have grown accustomed to thinking about progress in terms of beginnings and endings, starts and finishes. This helps us fulfill our need for accomplishment and closure. There is a mountain ahead of us, a definite starting point and a clear goal of reaching the top. We love lines, a straightforward way of thinking about progression, and are not very tolerant of ambiguous goals. Nature often has other ideas. Before the starting point there was multitude of events and happenings that brought us there, and the ending is usually not an ending at all but merely a brief resting point on an infinite circle of life. Nature is more of a circle than a line and repeats itself again and again. Witness the turning of days, seasons, generations even millenniums.

In the words of Alan Watts “We do not come into this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean waves, the universe peoples. Every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe.” We are not so much starting point as we are a reflection of mother nature who gave us life. When we leave this world, nature and our unique imprint will have fully merged together and live on for generations to come. Which is to say the circle will not only repeat itself but will change, forever expanding as it breathes in our unique contributions to the circle of life. When we climb to the mountain most of us want to think of our accomplishment as an act of personal will that gets us from the starting point to the top. But it is easy to forget who is lifting us up. We are not putting nature beneath feet and finally conquering her once we make it to the summit. Nature and the ground beneath us are lifting us up every step of the way. We are moving with her, and she will also be there at the beautiful summit to transport us to ever expanding circles as our journey continues.

“The life of man is a self-evolving circle, which, from a ring imperceptibly small, rushes on all sides outwards to new and larger circles, and that without end. The extent to which this generation of circles, wheel without wheel, will go, depends on the force or truth of the individual soul..”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Circles

Emerson published his famous essay Circles in 1841 and his usage of the English language may seem a bit archaic to us today, but the central ideas of his essay are as relevant to us today as they were back then. Early in the essay Emerson references St. Augustine who described circles as an infinite sphere, whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere. I have read the essay several times, and each time I draw new insights to help me on my journey. Circles reflects on the endless circles found in nature and the fluidity of all experience. The natural state for each of us is to forever expand our circles which is also a metaphor for personal growth. Emerson, however, also points out that for many of us our circles stop expanding, often in middle age and older, when we believe we have somehow already arrived at our destination. For Emerson there was no destination to arrive at, only a continuous journey. To settle down and stop reaching out to new circles is a kind of metaphorical death. Emerson did not fear actual physical death, because this is just part of the endless cycle of nature. The only thing to fear is not reaching one’s true potential before the time of our passing. Unlived potential happens because one gives up too early, settles into old habits and just good enough. This causes the death of the spirit whose natural inclination is always for us to move forward.

“There are no fixtures in nature. The universe is fluid and volatile.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Circles

This was a most memorable sunset at Artist Point during my weekend stay at the Mountaineers Mount Baker Lodge. I am not sure how the rocks forming the sundial or labyrinth below the sunburst came to be. Although it seems like an interesting feature, someone definitely left a trace through the construction of the dial. Part of me wanted to disperse the labyrinth, but I thought if the forest service did not want it there, they would have done the same long ago. A few of my viewers mentioned that it was a meditation circle put there to guide circular walks in nature. I often find myself going around in circles when in the beauty of nature. Circles and nature seem to walk hand in hand!

I myself have experienced some apparent endings in the past year, my daughter Caroline leaving home for College at the UCSD and Julia and I finalizing our divorce. But these events are also gateways to ever expanding circles. Caroline will make new friends and connections in Southern California, learn to surf and grow in both her mind and her heart. Julia will also expand her circles as she establishes her new home in California and tries out new activities, forms new relationships, and reshapes her identity. I am still listening to my heart for where to go from here, but I do have some plans. These plans are notional and a bit like looking out “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. The rainbow points in a direction but what is over the horizon remains to be seen. I will move forward with abandonment trusting my heart that I will create new and ever-expanding circles. Emerson concludes his essay Circles with this quote where he instructs us to follow our heart and move forward with a kind of abandonment.

“The one thing which we seek with insatiable desire, is to forget ourselves, to be surprised out of our propriety, to lose our sempiternal memory, and to do something without knowing how or why; in short, to draw a new circle. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. The way of life is wonderful: it is by abandonment”. ― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Circles

Juanita Bay Golden Hour Rainbow

I am excited about some of the new friendships I have formed and how these friendships will support collaborations in photography. Friendships are so important in providing the spark to expand our circles into previously unexplored areas. I also have a couple of books in process that hopefully will soon be published along with several trips planned, including one to the Italian Dolomites. Near term I will travel to Southern California both to see my daughter Caroline and to photograph Anza Borrego, Joshua Tree and other places that are calling me. I am also excited about taking my photography in new directions, integrating music more closely with photography, photographing people (models) in the landscape, intentional camera movement, photographing birds and wildlife in the landscape, building new theme portfolios and more closely integrating my writing with photography. And by the way there are a few peaks I still want to climb, but they will just be departure points into ever expanding and newer circles!

Here is a collection of my best and favorite images from 2022, along with the backstory for many of them, my thoughts, impressions and a few photography tips. They are not in any particular order, some were very popular some not so much so, but all are meaningful to me. Thanks for looking!

1. Two Tree Point

Two Tree Point

Before moving to Woodside, I used to live on Three Tree Point, but there were no Three Trees on the Point. In early December I was at Deception Pass Rosario Head at sunset looking out to Deception Island where there are Two Trees on the Point. My eyes were immediately drawn to these Two Trees with rays of light breaking through an otherwise cloudy day illuminating the Salish Sea and the two lovely trees. The two trees seem to be enjoying each other’s company underneath rays of light and hope! As Bob Ross always said, “Everyone or Tree needs a friend!”

2. By the Light of the Setting Sun and Rising Moon

By the Light of the Setting Sun and Rising Moon

A Waxing Autumn Gibbous Moon rises above Eunice Lake just as the sun is setting at Mount Rainier National Park. This was taken one day before the October Hunter’s Full Moon. From my perspective this is better than the Full Moon which rises well after the sun has set. This moon is at 97% and the convergence of sun and moon in the warm autumn atmosphere is spellbinding and simply amazing.

In the interests of full disclosure this image was taken with a very wide 12mm lens to capture both the red huckleberries and a large portion of the sky which also renders the moon very small. To get the moon to the size as our eyes see it, I took a second image at 105mm and blended the two images together in photoshop. Although both images were taken around the same time, in the time period between changing lenses the moon moved. I am not aiming at absolute accuracy but rather giving emphasis to how the scene impacted me at more of an emotional level, in other words I am shooting from the heart. Originally, I had the reflected moon offset more to the right and few individuals let me know that this is not possible from a physics point of view, so I corrected this. But in the end, I make no apologies that this is a time blend along with a focal length blend. Both were necessary to convey my personal vision. To me photography is not so much about documenting a precise moment, as it is about conveying my sensibility surrounding an experience. We do not experience the landscape through either a wide angle or telephoto perspective as our eyes quickly toggle from one to the other seamlessly as we process the scene both physically and at an emotional level. That was also my intention for this image that resonated so well with most of viewers, without a doubt my most popular image this year!

3. Touch of Autumn in Winter

Touch of Autumn in Winter

In late November I hiked seven miles up an old, abandoned logging road. The higher up the road I went the narrower the path became. At first there was just a little snow but as I wound my way up the mountain the snow steadily deepened until I got to this point where further travel was not possible without snowshoes which I did not bring. Views were far and few between, so I just sat down and took in my surroundings. Snow helps make even the ordinary beautiful, seemingly brings a sense of calm and tranquil order to an otherwise chaotic forest and ground. My eyes soon gravitated to these beautiful orange leafed bushes holding on to Autumn even as Winter was firmly settling in. I knew this was the moment the capture the mood and feeling of this experience heading into the Winter Season with Autumn still on my mind!

Shortly after taking this image somehow my iPhone slipped out of my hands and vanished without a trace into the still smooth texture of the winter snow. I did not have a clue as to where it was because the snow was so white and fluffy it just absorbed the phone without making any imprint. As I started to gently comb through the snow to find it I began to think why I took this phone out in the first place. It was an automatic impulse to take it out without even thinking why I needed it. I began then to realize that this may be a signal to be a bit less dependent on this devise, especially when out in a beautiful place like this. I eventually found the phone, but only after about 20 minutes of effort!

4. Mother Goat and Kid

Mother Goat and Kid

My Daughter Caroline and I last hiked together to the tope of Mailbox Peak when she was seven. As a Father’s Day gift, she offered to go up Mailbox with me again, this time at 18! We could not do the hike on Father’s Day because she was visiting her soon to be college at UCSD. But on this day in early June, although very foggy, it was the perfect day to make the trek! The bear grass was lovely, and we even had unexpected visitors, a Mama Goat and her Kid!

5. Rows of Green Stones at the Harbor

Rows of Green Stones at the Harbor

I am not sure what natural and organic marine and geologic forces created these lines of stones covered with seaweed at the Point of Arches. But they sure look like they were designed with intention reaching out to the gorgeous sea stacks also reflected in the calm waters of a natural harbor. This image was taken close to sunrise at a very low tide on my August backpacking trip to Shi Shi Beach.

This was my first trip to Shi Shi Beach and I am so surprised I have never been here before. I liked everything about it, from the long drive to Neah Bay on the northwest tip of Washington, the hospitality and friendliness of the Makah Tribe who provide recreational permits for access to their native land, the beautiful four mile hike through the woods and down onto the beach, to the camp sites close to the Point of Arches, not to mention the delicious smoked salmon to pick up on the return journey home!

6. You are my Shining Star

You are my Shining Star

At a very low tide at the Point of Arches, a starfish seemingly bathes in the sunlight until the tide rises. I think it is safe to say, at least for this period of time between tides, this starfish was a little “Laid Back”!

7. Middle Fork Bridge to the Spirit of the Shire

Middle Fork Bridge to the Spirit of the Shire

This has to be my favorite hiking suspension bridge and I return here often to visit this beautiful, lush forest of the wild Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River. The forest approach of the Gateway Bridge reminds me so much of Tolkien’s world and the spirit of the Shire. I have tried to capture this feeling many times walking through this forest, and this is one of the few times I think I actually succeeded. Capturing the mood of a place and what it means to us personally, and still staying rooted in the reality of the experience is not nearly as simple as some would think. When the two come together then one gets the feeling of “magic”! Here what certainly did help were the spotlighting on the bridge, and the soft rays of overhead light filtering through the forest and onto the moss, tree trunks.

8. Indian Henry’s Reflection Pond

Indian Henry’s Reflection Pond

Indian Henry, known as Soo-Too-Lick, early on (1883) guided several familiar names to Mt. Rainier including the Hunting Grounds, these familiar names include James Longmire Philemon Beecher Van Trump and John Muir. Indian Henry was a Cowlitz Indian, beloved by many people.

On this backpacking trip to Indian Henry’s Hunting Ground, I was joined by a small group of painting and pencil artists. We backpacked in from Longmire along the Wonderland Trail fording Kautz Creek. We arrived fairly early at Devil’s Dream where we had first pick of campsites. After setting up camp we then headed up to Indian Henry’s and Mirror Lake staying until sunset hiking back to camp with headlamp. Both Clair and Jodi created original works of art on site while I photographed the constantly changing mood and atmosphere of my all-time favorite place to be on Mt. Rainier! Claire also recorded an online training session for her Adventure Art Academy. We had some inspiring discussions on the trail and camp on the overlap of painting art and photography, similarities and differences. You can see more of Clair’s work and offerings at https://www.claireswanderings.com/ Also check out Jodi’s wonderful art at https://jomiekoart.com/

9. Going Home

Going Home

This cabin is in as beautiful setting as I could ever imagine and is like walking into a dream. In this dream I am finding my way back to where I truly feel I am more at home, in Nature and the Wilderness. This is a common dream shared by many as was evidenced by the thousands of reactions I received from this image. Although this was late July, the Avalanche Lilies were at peak, about one month later than when they usually peak in June. We had an usually cool late spring and early summer causing snow to linger which impacted the bloom cycles in many areas.

10. Snow Lake Mountain Ash Sunset

Snow Lake Mountain Ash Sunset

On a Sunday morning in the later part of September, I heard about the Snow Lake trail reopening and decided to check it out. The reports I heard that the trail was turned into a multilane freeway were definitely a huge exaggeration. What I mainly saw was the original trail refined in the upper part where there were rocks to climb over. The trail is now more or less smooth all the way to the top of the ridge and made for a more comfortable exit in the dark!

Snow Lake was crowded so I headed further to Gem Lake picking deliciously ripe and plump huckleberries along the way. For sunset, I made my way to what would be my evening home along the southern ridge overlooking Snow Lake. This is where I experienced this beautiful sunset with orange mountain ash in the foreground and colors ranging from purple, orange, yellow, and mauve in the sky-a most memorable evening and I am thankful I was able to experience it!

As the light changed steadily from the golden hour to right before actual sunset, I experimented with several compositions and vantage points before settling on this one. I needed to be low and close to bring attention to the orange mountain ash, but not too low because then I would lose sight of much of the lake. Although a wider angle would have given greater emphasis to the mountain ash, Snow Lake would have been rendered too small in size resulting in an unbalanced image. The soft light took on magical colors in the minutes just before actual sunset. I went all the way out to 35mm on my 16-35 zoom lens and did a focus stack of two images to render the entire scene sharp.

11. North Cascades Light of the Angels

North Cascades Light of the Angels

On this trip to the North Cascades, I was looking for an entirely different composition about a half a mile from this spot. But it was hard to notice this clump of heather looking out toward this soft early evening angelic light settling over the western peaks. Several very well-known photographers who I have been so lucky to meet in person including Candace Dyar and David Thompson have shared “follow the light” as a guiding principle for choosing what to photograph and putting together a composition. That principle certainly helped here, and this ended up being my most successful and impactful image from this three-day trip.

12. Inner Glow

Inner Glow

This was taken with a soft-focus lens at the Point Defiance Rose Garden which also has Calla Lilies. and provides another lesson in following the light. Although I normally do not take images in strong midday light, I loved how this light rendered the lilies almost translucent revealing their inner glow. In softer light toward the edges of the day this translucent inner glow would not have been nearly as well pronounced. It is acknowledged that use of my Lensbaby soft focus Velvet 85mm lens helped tame the harshness of contrasty midday light. Most of us landscape and nature photographers have been programed with the mantra to take pictures only during the edges of the day in the golden hours. Creativity, however, knows no such limit and invites us to explore the possibilities of light during all hours of the day.

13. Silver Falls in a Mossy Forest

Silver Falls in a Mossy Forest

I always enjoy this Silver Falls loop hike in Spring when the water is running high! Silver Falls provides another example of breaking through the myth that good light is only to be found during the golden hours. The recessed rocky forested walls of this river valley are sufficiently high that during the golden hours little light penetrates down to the riverbed leaving just the blueish cast of deep shadows for images. I took this image more toward the middle of the day in broken clouds that helped diffuse the light but still allow the light to reach down into the river valley. The light reflects and bounces off the forested and rocky river walls further enhancing the effect. To me a major part of the appeal of this area is the mossy forest, so I emphasized that in the foreground while still looking out to the turquoise glaciated water running high at Silver Falls.

14. Autumn Flame

Autumn Flame

On a cool but sunny November Day, I headed down to Kubota for a picnic in the Garden and to pay a visit to one of my all-time favorite trees! Yes, I have lunch with trees! Photographing the brilliant backlit leaves of this tree also requires shooting toward the middle of the day. Much of Kubota Garden is at the base of a steep hill that blocks the westerly light toward evening. The position of this sun stars also depends on midday light. Getting a good exposure of course in these kinds of conditions is challenging due to high dynamic range between dark shadows and brilliant highlights. But with under exposure, the raw files produced by many of our modern camera sensors are up to the challenge. I just love the symmetry of this tree swirling and reaching out in all direction like octopus’s arms in a kind of chaotic order!

15. Sunrise through the Lupines

Sunrise through the Lupines

What a wonderful feeling it was to experience this sunrise looking through the Lupines and out to the Balsam Root at Rowena Crest. It’s a wonderful world! Although I have photographed this flower field overlooking the Columbia River many times at Rowena Crest, I thought this time was the first time I captured the delicate first rays of light subtly illuminating the lupine flowers in a way that is consistent with my experience of sunrise. Although the dramatic colors of sunrise in the sky are often what we hope for in our sunrise shots, equally and in this case even more important is what the light is doing to the foreground elements.

New Horizons

In photography as in any other creative art form, we must continuously reach out and extend ourselves into larger and larger circles. The price of not doing this is essentially withering on the vine, and the death of creativity. As artists we can never rest on our laurels and draw oxygen from merely yesterday’s accomplishments. We must continuously move forward and find breaths of fresh air. Some of the ways in which I moved forward this past year include forays into taking images of people (actually a Sun and Nature Goddess!) in the landscape, Bird Photography, Intentional Camera Movement, and new processing techniques I learned from David Thompson. I also extended my reach through visiting some new areas (at least to me) including the Redwoods of California.

16. Sun Goddess

Sun Goddess

In August, my friend Shaping joined me for a sunset hike to Mt Fremont. Although when we started hiking it was a bluebird kind of a day and also very hot, as we approached the top a breeze moving down from the glaciers of Mt. Rainier helped keep us cool and comfortable. Wispy clouds slowly filled the sky. The wildflowers were still in peak form and Shaping in her beautiful dress reminded me of a Sun Goddess as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon.

Although I called this image the Sun Goddess, Shaping also represents to me the spirit of a “Nature Goddess”. When she wears this flowing dress and reaches out from Fremont Mountain to the sun she is celebrating and honoring mother nature. Shaping feels the same way. A few people confronted me when I originally displayed the series of images that this image is a part of and accused me of chasing Instagram popularity. I can assure you that that was the last thing on my mind. For me the event was completely unplanned and just arose spontaneously out of the happenings on this wonderful day. Sometimes I think some are too quick to jump to conclusions about other photographer’s intentions. Their accusations may be more of a reflection of their own inner state of mind than anything else.

17. Blue Heron and Turtle on a Log

Blue Heron and Turtle on a Log

When I visited the Union Bay freshwater estuary close to the UW campus, my eyes immediately gravitated to this scene. The turtle and blue heron almost seemed engaged in a kind of meditation, looking out toward tow bonsai like tree branches, where new life appeared to be rising from this old decaying log.

This image is one of my first Birding images. I decided to try out Birding after observing Shaping taking bird images on a few of our trips and decided to give it a try. I acquired a 200-600 Sony Lens that provided me the tool I long needed for birds and wildlife. I am looking forward to many more bird and wildlife images on my horizon!

18. A Walk in the Forest

A Walk in the Forest

These white bark alders were lit by the diffused light reflecting off the walls of the Middle Fork valley on a beautiful Autumn Day, perfect for a walk in the forest. For this image I handheld the camera and gently panned up and then back down during .6 second time period. Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) can work great in the forest where a somewhat chaotic scene can be reduced down to the essence of lines, shapes, blotches of merged colors and tones yielding an effect the many have told me is like an impressionistic watercolor. Although this technique involves a lot of trial and error, successful ICM still requires careful selection of a suitable scene, previsualization, and good composition skills.

19. Autumn Fire in the Forest

Autumn Fire in the Forest

For this image I previsualized that intentional camera movement would simplify an otherwise chaotic forest scene into the basic elements of trees and blotches of colors that bleed into one another. I also eagerly anticipated that the orange vine maples would resemble flames rising from the forest floor.

20. Don’t You Feel Small

Don’t You Feel Small

On the trail through a mystical redwood forest filled with fog and mist, I pass ancient trees and an occasional rhododendron. I am in my happy place. Going to new places, or at least new to us, helps build a sense of excitement of visiting a place that we may have heard great things about but never have experienced firsthand in nature itself.  This was the case with me on my recent trip to the Redwood National and State Parks.  I had passed through these parts a few times before on road trips, but never had taken the time to get more intimately familiar with these ancient forests.  With my first few steps out of the car and out into the misty forest I felt my sense of enthusiasm starting to build.  These trees were like nothing I had experienced before—so tall, majestic and grand–a kind of life altering experience that goes straight to the heart.  There was seemingly no end to them and the deeper I went into the forest I felt like I was finding what could be a new home for many more photographic adventures.  I was most impressed by the amazing sense depth and scale of these forests. This in turn was a reflection of the enormous size of these trees, layers of fog and mist, naturally filtered light, and the beautiful undergrowth of Rhododendrons and Ferns. I began to see the world around me in a different way.  This location helped separate me from my habitual way of viewing the world which helped open the gate to fresh visions.

21. Green Goddesses with White Sails

Green Goddesses with White Sails

Sometime ago I heard that Cala Lilies, while native to Southern Africa, have naturalized in California and also parts of the Oregon Coast. On my recent trip to the Southern Oregon Coast, I stumbled upon this patch. I love the way these flowers catch the light, seemingly changing their subtle hues as the sun sets. The center of the flower is deep and invites one to look inside, but their deep interiors are always still a mystery.

22. Irises and Islands in the Sea

Irises and Islands in the Sea

This was such a beautiful Spring evening along the Southern Oregon Coast, warm temperatures, a gentle breeze, waves gently moving across the shore, irises collecting the evening light of the setting sun, and islands floating on the sea.

23. Cattails

Cattails

Walking through the Fir Island estuary my eyes were drawn to the soft patterns of these winter cattails. I liked the simplicity of this composition and in processing I maintained a lower contrast high-key look with somewhat muted colors to match my visual experience of this estuary scene.

24. Snoqualmie River Foggy Morning

Snoqualmie River Foggy Morning

It’s a foggy morning along the Snoqualmie River. Sounds are muffled except for the gentle movement of the water. These quiet sounds almost seem amplified in the quiet of the new day.

25. Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice

The afterglow of the sun that has just set spreads out over Mt. Rainier and Tipsoo Lake. Although the lake here is just starting to thaw, this is almost summer!

26. Pacific Northwest Lighthouse Moods

Pacific Northwest Lighthouse Moods

The Heceta Head Lighthouse casts a guiding light into a moody Pacific Northwest morning.

27. Mt. Si Boardwalk into the Fog and Mist

Mt. Si Boardwalk into the Fog and Mist

My favorite conditions for heading up Mt. Si are fog and mist which is what I found this morning in mid-June! I love this section of trail about half-way up. I later went to the peak where the mist turned more into a freezing rain, then crossed over to the Teneriffe connector trail and out through Roaring Creek to complete a loop. Wonderful day!

28. At Home Along the Ocean Shore

At Home Along the Ocean Shore

“We do not come into this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean waves, the universe peoples. Every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe.”
Alan Watts

Father and Daughter Hike July

Thanks so much for reading and viewing the images of this blog post. I encourage you to share your reactions, thoughts, comments, impressions on this post here. If you think others would enjoy reading this post, please also share it with your friends and communities. The full resolution images from this blog post can be viewed on my website where they are also available for purchase. Here is the link  https://www.erwinbuske.com/Print-Store/2022-Beginnings-and-Endings-Lines-and-Circles/ . If you would like to see more content like this subscribe to the blog so you automatically receive future blog posts. To learn more upon my perspectives on nature be sure to check out my Ebook, the Hidden Landscape: The Inside Passage. This image rich book is 248 pages and provides insight how nature, mystery, the Tao, Zen, and the American Transcendentalism of Thoreau inform my photography and can provide sources for you own inspiration. Here is the link to the EBOOK along with a preview. https://payhip.com/b/FCI4z. Thanks again and happy trails!

Multi-Day Backpacking and Photography

~ Erwin Buske Photography ~ 9 Comments

“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” John Muir

Multi-day Backpacking can provide an immersive experience into the wonders and mysteries of nature providing a powerful source of inspiration to the photographer that is rarely available in trips of shorter duration.  What I have noticed on my many multi-day trips is that it takes at least a couple of days to disconnect from the concerns of the day to day world and tune in to the subtle heart beat of nature’s calling.  At day three the wilderness almost seems like an extension of oneself, and this is soon followed by the realization that we too are nature.  The American Transcendentalist Emerson established nature as the liberator of our creative self.

“Nothing divine dies. All good is eternally reproductive. The beauty of nature reforms itself in the mind, and not for barren contemplation, but for new creation. Ralph Waldo Emerson (Nature – Chapter 3: Beauty, 1836) 

Indian Henry0545-HDR

Walking into a Dream: This  view is looking out to the patrol cabin and Mt. Rainier from Indian Henry’s Hunting Ground, one of my favorite places along the 100+ mile Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier National Park.  Although it is possible to do this trip in five days, for photographers I recommend a minimum of 10 days.  I did the trip in 11 days and wished I had more!

Our true nature is that of creativity, but often it is difficult to hear its calling when we are following instead the drum beat of our jobs, societal expectations, and desires to be popular on social media.  What better way to cut loose from these muffling sounds, and listen instead to the still small voice of nature?  Tune out to all this clutter and noise and  tune in to nature and creative renewal as part of a multi-day backpacking trip!  The rewards of this experience will pay dividends once you are back navigating through the day to day concerns of your life and will be spiritually transforming.  Although we cannot all realistically spend most of our life immersed in the wilderness, we can carry this experience back with us through the renewal of our spirit.  This spirit can be creatively renewed again and again through annual pilgrimages to the back-country with multi-day backpacking trips.

 

Glacier Peak 2017 Images1896 copy

Tda-ko-buh-ba Sunrise: Beautiful pasque flowers gone to seed and Image Lake awaken to a rosy sunrise underneath Washington’s most remote volcanic peak, known by the Suak Indian Tribe as “Tda-ko-buh-ba”, but also known as Glacier Peak. This location in the Glacier Peak Wilderness comes as close to heaven on earth as anything my imagination can possibly conjure up. Looking out across the meadow and lake to Glacier Peak one feels the pure essence of a wilderness area, an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by people, and where we are just visitors who cannot remain in a place of such unspoiled beauty.   We reached this location on the third night of our backpacking trip making this trip an obvious choice for a multi-day backpacking adventure.

In this blog post I will discuss the following: (1) Why a Photography Oriented Multi-day Backpacking Trip, (2) What to Carry, (3) Camera Gear, (4) Getting in Shape, (5) Selecting a Team, (6) Finding Your Photographic Vision, and (7) Destinations.  The chart below contrasts a typical backpacking trip with a photography oriented backpacking trip.

Typical and Photography Multiday Backpacking

Photography backpacks are much different from a typical organized backpacking trip. The pace and tempo of this trip is centered around photography.   This means frequent stops along the trail and organizing the schedule to be at the right places for at least a two to three hours window around sunrise and sunset.  Breakfasts on photography backpacking trips are usually eaten late and dinners early because it is important to keep the mornings and evenings open for photography.  Most movement from place to place will occur during the middle of the day arriving at the next camp well in advance of  the evening hours which means keeping daily backpacking distances reasonable where possible.

 

river-bendcomp

Rivers Bend, Eagle Cap Wilderness Area, Oregon.  To properly experience the vast Eagle Cap, a multi-backpacking trip is essential. This particular valley originally looked quite unremarkable to me and I struggled to come up with a compelling composition.   This area of Eagle Creek is not typically thought of as an iconic site.   But as I explored further down the valley I saw this bend in the river that caused me to think back on Ansel Adam’s image of Oxbow Bend in the Grand Tetons.  I attempted to photograph Oxbow Bend a few years ago but I felt I was recreating someone else’s composition.  But here in the Eagle Cap, I had no such concern.  The same emotional impact I felt when viewing Ansel’s Oxbow Bend image I now felt with even greater intensity and this helped to provide the creative energy I needed for this image.

What to Carry

Maintaining a good comfort level on a multi-day backpacking trip has everything to do with keeping weight of the backpack at a manageable level of between 35 and 45 pounds. This challenge is especially hard for us photographers because not only do we need to carry a full array of  backpacking gear, but also we need to carry camera gear including a tripod.  For a multi-day backpacking trip, we will of course need the ten essentials, but will need to go far beyond this if the trip is going to be an enjoyable and a worth while experience.

 

Ten Essentials

(1) Navigation (map and compass)
(2) Sun protection (sunglasses and sunscreen)
(3) Insulation (extra clothing)
(4) Illumination (headlamp/flashlight)
(5) First-aid supplies
(6) Fire (waterproof matches/lighter/candles)
(7) Repair kit and tools
(8) Nutrition (extra food)
(9) Hydration (extra water)
(10) Emergency shelter

The following heirarchial criteria will help guide us to the selection of the right equipment.

(1) Need
(2) Function
(3) Light Weight/Ultralight
(4) Bulk
(5) Cost
(6) Style

For every item that we pack one must ask if this item is needed and what function does it serve?  If there is no need that has to do  with protecting us and keeping us safe from the elements, that item may need to go into the nice to have but not necessary list that we keep to a bare minimum–for example camp chairs, bulky and heavy solar chargers, etc.  Although it is important that equipment is light, it is also important not to be so obsessive about reducing weight that one compromises a basic need and function.  For example, taking a minimalist first aid kit for a group of six people for a week or more in the wilderness is not a smart idea.  Accidents can and do happen even to the most prepared and an appropriately sized first aid kit will be required.  The same goes for backpacks.  It often takes weight to carry weight.  One of the most frequent complaints I have heard from ultra light backpackers with camera gear is that their backpack is so uncomfortable and is disproportionately distributing the weight to their shoulders rather than hips.

Enchantments and Tumwater0532processed

Here Comes the Sun: On a cold, cloudy and misty day in the middle of October, the sun likes to tease us, occasionally with breakthroughs, instilling hope, of a clearing to come. These hopes are usually dashed but I love the drama, and would go to the Enchantments again and again to experience it!  The Enchantments are best approached as part of a five to eight day Multi-day Backpacking Trip.  When in this much beauty, why would anyone want to leave sooner?

 

It is not only important that the equipment be light but also of low bulk.  This allows us to use a smaller backpack that is typically lighter and better balanced on the body.  Light and ultralight equipment can be expensive but sales can often be found at the REI Garage and Backcounty.com.  Although style is a consideration, style needs to flow naturally from need and function if it is going to find a place on our equipment list.

Every time I get prepared to go on a major backpacking trip I methodically go through this list before the trip and gather all the equipment together, checking off items one by one.  At the end of the trip I do a post trip analysis of what items I did not use and consider revising the list for the next trip.

 

Equipment List

Equipment List

 

Awakening

Awakening: While camping on Copper Ridge I woke up to this sunrise with the fog quickly rising from the valley below. A few minutes later the entire ridge was engulfed in fog. Copper Ridge is located in North Cascades National Park and is typically reached as part of a 4 to 7 day backpacking trip that also includes Whatcom Pass. This area receives a large amount of rain and fast changing weather even in the summer months which presents its challenges but also some great photographic opportunities. 

 

Camera Gear

My recommendation is to  take only two lenses and at the most three.  The lens that I find most useful on most multi-day backpacking trips is a wide-angle zoom closely followed by a macro lens that also doubles as a telephoto lens.  On my last trip I brought a Sony A7R3 mirrorless camera, a Zeiss 16-35 4.0 lens, and a Sony 90mm 2.8 macro lens. The wide-angle will work great for including important foreground details in the grand landscape composition and the macro telephoto works perfectly for flowers, small area compositions, abstracts, a compressed perspective,  and wildlife at a relatively close range.  With the Sony A7R3 one can easily switch to cropped mode making the macro lens effectively a 135mm telephoto.  One may want to substitute a 70-200mm 4.0 zoom for the macro lens and perhaps bring a small fixed focal length 2.8 manual focus wide angle for stars, but do not fall for the temptation of bringing any more than 2 or 3 lenses.  For more on the use of wide and telephoto lens perspectives in the field check out my blog post: Going Wide, Going Narrow, Creating Layers of Beauty

My entire system including the Induro Stealth carbon fiber tripod weighs less than seven pounds.  Bringing a mirrorless system brought the weight and form factor down considerably .  If I brought my much more bulky and heavy Nikon D810 DSLR and equivalent lenses I would have easily carried an additional three pounds.   It is noted that it is not just the weight that one needs to keep at a minimum but also the bulk of items, because with less real estate one does not need as big of backpack to carry all the equipment.  As previously mentioned, bigger backpacks tend to be heavier and also do not balance weight as good as a smaller backpack.  Mirrorless cameras and most lenses designed for mirrorless are much smaller than their DSLR counterparts.  The chart below compares the weight of the newest Sony A7R3 and Nikon 850 cameras for equivalent systems.

Sony versus Nikon

ErwinBuske_LozierLake2

Lozier Lake, Wind River Wyoming. Honorable Mention and in the Top 100 finalists for Natures Best/Smithsonian Wilderness Forever Contest.  Wyoming’s Wind River Wilderness Area is one of the best locations for planning a major Multiday Backpack that I know of.

I recommend that you store the camera, lenses, and accessories in a small F-stop ICU.  This fits perfectly into the Kangaroo pocket of my Gregory Baltoro 75 backpack.  I do not recommend backpacks specifically designed for camera equipment and gear from companies such as F-Stop, Lowe Pro and others because they do not carry multi-day backpacking loads nearly as well as conventional backpacks from Gregory  or Osprey.

My Sony A7R3 with 16-35 4.0 Lens and 90mm macro in a F-Stop Small ICU

 

 

The Gregory Baltoro 75 Backpack: Notice the large Kangaroo Pocket on the front that easily accommodates a small F-Stop ICU. 

 

There are two very important photography equipment requirements in multi-day backpacking that I have found many people do not think about until the need becomes apparent.  The first requirement is that you will need a camera available at all times while actually on the trail backpacking.  The second is that once at camp you will need some means to conveniently carry your full frame camera equipment and tripod around.

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Maroon Bells Secret Garden:  A flower meadow basks in the glow of the warm evening light at dusk somewhere below Buckskin Pass in the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness Area, Colorado. Although most people know the Maroon Bells primarily through the post card image of Maroon Lake, the wilderness area actually spans a large area that offers multiple opportunities to frame a unique composition. You will need to go backpacking, however, to find these spots. I took this image as part of a seven day backpacking loop trip over four 12,000 foot passes. This was one of the best backpacking loop trips I have ever taken and mid July is excellent to experience the flowers in full bloom.

 

Photographic opportunities abound on a multi-day back trip while actively backpacking on the trail,  but to take advantage of these opportunities you will need quick access to a camera.  Although there are many ways to carry your interchangeable lens camera while backpacking, personally I have found all of these ways somewhat awkward and inconvenient when carrying a multi-day backpack.  I have also noticed that when backpackers use such devices as a holster, a chest pouch, or a shoulder mounted peak one,  the  use of these devices is typically only temporary and then the user gets tired of their awkwardness and into the main backpack the camera goes.  What I recommend is to carry a second camera: a high quality and light weight point and shoot camera that fits easily into a pocket, such as the Sony RX100.   This is the camera you use while hiking from point to point while carrying your multi-day backpack.   It only weighs 8 ounces, has the full array of both manual and automatic controls, and is capable of capturing excellent images and raw files.  As the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you!  Once at camp of course you will use your larger full frame camera.  Although an I-phone or the like is good for an occasional snapshot, especially those that include people, the ability to manually control the RX100 along with its much larger sensor size coupled with malleable raw files, makes this camera a better choice for most applications.

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Sony RX100

Many backpacks now come with a secondary built in day pack that can be used to carry a full frame camera, lenses, tripod, and a few essentials once you are at camp and in the field.  I pack my camera in a small F-Stop ICU that fits in a Kangaroo Pouch of my Gregory Pack.  Once at camp I take the ICU out and put it into the pack within a pack that is included with the Gregory.    For an even better option, Marmont also makes an excellent ultralight pack called the compressor that weighs 8 ounces that can accommodate an F-stop ICU, lunch, extra clothes and gear, a water bottle and a tripod.  Although some people just empty out their larger pack and use it as a day pack, in my opinion this is awkward, limits mobility, and also forces one to put all unneeded gear now somewhat disorganized  inside the tent.

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Getting in Shape

Many people are very surprised at the difficulty of the trip once they embark on their multi-day backpacking adventure.  This multi-day backpacking trip requires extensive prior conditioning if you are going to enjoy the trip in comfort.  Before beginning your journey take multiple day hikes that involve elevation gain in the range of two to four thousand feet, for example in the Seattle area: Mail Box, Granite Mountain, and Mt. Washington.  Also before launching off, go on a couple of overnight backpacking trips of six miles or more and two to three thousand elevation gain with a backpack in the range of 35 to 45 pounds.  There is nothing like actually hiking and backpacking for conditioning, and although time spent at the fitness center helps, this alone will not prepare you for the Multi-day Backpacking experience.  The getting in shape experience also includes trying out some of the equipment you will be using in the field ahead of time, especially items like Hiking Boots that need to be broken in and a Tent that you need to be able to pitch quickly without the need to follow written instructions.

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Ediza Lake Sunrise:  The Ansel Adams Wilderness Area, approached from the Eastern Sierra, affords splendid opportunities for multi-day backpacking.  But be prepared for a variety of challenging circumstances including river crossings, the elements, and some cross country travel.  On this trip I encountered one of the worst hard driving rain storms in my life that finally passed over shortly before taking this image.

 

Selecting a Team

For multi-day backpacking trips I recommend keeping the number of participants at a small number, at the most five or six, to make sure each of the photographers has a quality experience and participants are not stepping over each others toes trying to get the image.  Keeping the team size small will also help reduce the footprint on environmentally sensitive areas–as always our motto is to tread lightly and leave no trace.  For more on the potential impact of photographers on the environment see Wilderness Gone Viral.  Participants should also be carefully screened as this is physically challenging, and not everyone may be in sync with the pace, rhythm, and goals of a photography oriented backpacking trip.  Non-photographers can participate in the trip and there are even some advantages of having their presence.  They can offer a counterbalance to the often overly driven demeanor of photographers, reminding us to slow down, and appreciate the natural world for what it is, without always trying to immediately shape the experience into an image.  Non-photographers can also provide needed logistical and other support to the photographers, but as mentioned, they must be OK with the trip being primarily oriented around photography.

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Colorado’s expansive Wemminuche Wilderness Area home to some of the best Mult-day backpacking.

Finding your Vision

Although a multi-day photography trip is oriented around photography as one of its primary goals, finding your vision for the area will require that you meet nature on its own terms.  Before even reaching for the camera, take a deep breath, look around, engage all of your senses and imagination in tapping into the heart and soul of nature.  What are the elements of the scene that you find most interesting and how do they effect you at both mental and emotional levels?  What feelings, memories, and perceptions does the scene and these elements bring to the surface?  This is not an activity that spans just a few moments of time but is a meditative state that can span hours.  Be sure to arrive at the scene well ahead of time to do this necessary inner work before launching off on a photo tirade.   This meditation will provide the necessary support for giving your personal vision expression in a photographic image.  More on this can be found on my  blog post “Finding your Photographic Vision and the Search for the Authentic Self” and a  related post Forests in the Mists: Windows into the Active Imagination.

 

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Morning Mist: First light over a misty Lake Lacrosse, Olympic National Park. No matter which route one takes, this lake is about a 20 mile plus hike, making it suitable only for a multi-day backpack for maximum enjoyment.  I approached this area as part of a east to west trek through the park involving the use of a shuttle service.

 

Destinations

There are many excellent destinations for a Multi-day backpacking trip and I have provided images of many of them throughout this blog post.  Two that I highly recommend and I have written blog posts about include Visiting and Photographing the Enchantments and Visiting and Photographing the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area: Spider Gap – Buck Creek Pass Loop.  The Enchantments are best accomplished in about a five to eight day trip to fully immerse yourself in this awe inspiring area and assimilate its beauty.  I recommend going in fall when the Larch Trees turn gold.  The Glacier Peak Wilderness loop trip is best done in early August when wildflowers are at their peak and you will want to have a minimum of seven days scheduled and ideally more to experience this heaven on earth.  Be sure to visit the blog posts above for more on these areas.

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Goodbye My Friend:  The Enchantment’s Leprechaun Lake as we were leaving an approaching snow storm.  Fall time backpacking in the Enchantments involves extra preparations for cold weather and the use of microspikes to safely walk on potentially slippery surfaces.

 

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Ripples along the Lyman Lake Shore.  This image is from my multi-day backpacking trip to the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area in August. What a beautiful and restful place to camp after going up and over Spider Gap and the Lyman Glacier!

 

Conclusion

Multi-day backpacking can be a powerful source of new found inspiration with complete immersion in nature for a week or more, an opportunity to temporarily disconnect from the day to day routine and distractions, and connect to Nature, one’s Authentic Self, and source of all creativity.

“The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere, the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling, vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.” John Muir-Sierra Club Founder.

Forests in the Mists: Windows into the Active Imagination

~ Erwin Buske Photography ~ 8 Comments

Of all the different landscapes I have in encountered in my many journey’s throughout the US and the world, there is none that moves and inspires me more than the feeling I get when walking just above mist, fog and clouds moving through a Pacific Northwest Forest.  I just love photographing in these conditions. With the fast changing action caused by fog, mist and clouds mingled with light moving through the forest canopy, possibilities for compositions seem almost endless. It is almost as if the forest is a blank canvas mirroring ones internal thoughts, dreams and visions, all captured through the lens of the camera and later processing.

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Spirit Angels in the Forest

In this blog post I will discuss will discuss several factors that go into the creation of the Forest in the Mist image including (1) location ; (2) state of mind ; (3) equipment: (4) technique; (5) active imagination; (6) composition, and (7) processing.

(1) Location

Although most of the images in this blog post were taken at a single location, Poo Poo Point in the Issaquah Alps, one can find similar opportunities throughout the Pacific Northwest.  I find the best locations for shooting are along the ridges of the foothills and first flank of peaks of the cascades, with forests trailing down to the wide open valleys below.  The valleys are important because they are the first to fill with fog and then when the morning sun rises, the fog and mist lift and rise moving in a constantly changing fashion through the trees as the mystery of an ethereal world comes in and out of view.

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Island in the Fog

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Forest Carpet of Clouds

(2) State of Mind

Making images of forests in the mists is not as much about exact locations as it is about ones state of mind.  As previously mentioned, one can  find these vistas just about anywhere in the Pacific Northwest, but will you be ready for the mystery and recognize this ethereal beauty when it arises?  Many will likely answer this question with a resounding yes, but the true answer is likely not nearly so forthright.  One needs to be in the right state of mind.  Looking out at this foggy and misty world through a long telephoto lens one is no longer pondering the wide open grand landscape, but rather a very small section of the macro world.  Scenes transpire and evaporate into evanescence in a matter of seconds and then reappear in different shapes and forms in a seemingly endless cycle.  Looking at such drama is like looking through a window into ones own soul.  What attracts you to this small section of the misty landscape rather than another?  A rational approach to answering this question may not get you very far.  With the environment changing so fast there is no time to precisely compose.  One is not so much aware of things here as they are, but rather ones experience of a fast changing landscape.  And with this much movement and change, our experience of the scene will direct where our attention goes and ultimately the moods and emotions inherent in the images.  Presence and stillness are required, a willingness to let go and go with the flow, and to be a part of the flow.  In essence, we become part of the landscape, with our inner self, emotions, and feelings moving freely through the mist of the forest.

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Secrets of the Forest

(3) Equipment

The equipment I recommend for capturing beautiful moody and atmospheric images of forests in the mist includes a full frame digital mirrorless or DSLR camera and a long telephoto zoom lens.  For most of the images in this series I used a Nikon D810 along with a Nikon 200-500mm 5.6 lens.   Although the Nikon 200-500 is one big beast of a lens weighing approximately five pounds and being 10.5 inches long, it is not nearly as heavy as its F 4.0 counterparts.  The lens has a very capable Vibration Reduction (VR) which can be used even when the lens is resting on a tripod which is very important because even the slightest movement of the lens can create blur with a telephoto zoom this large.

Although one can of course also compose images with other focal lengths such as wit a 70-200mm zoom or even a wide angle zoom, it is a long telephoto zoom that is going to maximize your flexibility in capturing the best compositions in the field.  The best compositions are most often very small areas of the larger scene best captured at focal lengths of between 400 mm to  about 700 mm.   Even small movements left, right, up or down, will result often in entirely different compositions.  Using these large focal lengths will also create a pleasingly compressed perspective.  This will transform a scene that at shorter focal lengths would appear rather flat with  major areas of dead space to something with well placed composition elements filling more of the frame.  Although the Nikon lens only goes to 500mm, going beyond this can  easily be achieved by either shooting in cropped sensor mode or by simply cropping the image in post processing.  The quality of the files from the Nikon D810, Nikon D850, Sony A7R2 and A7R3 can easily handle cropping by as much as 50% or even more.

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Lost in the Forest

(4) Technique

One must keep in mind when discussing technique in photographing forests in the mist that technique is all in service of creating images that are also projections of our own inner vision.  As previously mentioned, the images are not of the scene as it is but rather our experience of the scene.  More on this when we discuss the “Active Imagination” and how this relates to creating images.  But clearly there are actions of a more pure technical nature that warrant review that will help us harness our vision.

I always scan the scene first with my own eyes looking for areas of interest.  Remember areas of interest will be fleeting, but one may still look for the dominant recurring patterns in the scene by answering the following questions: (1) which direction is the mist moving –up from the valley, or down from the ridges? (2) What sections of trees come in and out of view? (3) Are the trees deciduous or evergreen or some of both?  (4) do the trees follow the lines of ridges and are these lines curved or straight? (5) Are there islands of trees separated by fog, mist or clouds?  (6) Where is the source of light and how is it penetrating the clouds and mist?  (7) Is there a layer of clouds over the fog and mist? (8) What colors, texture and tones are present?  Once I have an understanding of the answer to these and related questions I will only then mount the lens with camera attached to the tripod.

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Behind the Scenes PC Stuke Sowie

Long telephoto lenses will magnify the impact of any movement of the camera and lens resulting in blurry images.  A long telephoto lens needs to be mounted onto the sturdiest tripod you can reasonably carry using a tripod color as the point of attachment and not the camera itself.   This will help reduce the chance of shake and vibrations associated with the use of a very long and heavy lens.   If possible it is best to mount the lens on the tripod with the legs only partially extended minimizing the use of the extended legs that are smaller in diameter.  This will result in a sturdier tripod less effected by movements caused by wind.  Never use the tripod’s center column unless absolutely necessary.

Additional steps to reduce vibrations and any camera and lens movement include the following: put the mirror in lock up position (or use a mirrorless camera), use a cable release in combination with a self timer, and enable use of electronic first curtain shutter.   Electronic first curtain shutter (EFCS) used either with mirrorless or with the DSLR mirror up makes it so the start of the shutter motion isn’t even mechanical (the camera basically just starts recording the exposure because the shutter is already up, so there are fewer parts moving to create vibration.   Even with mirror lockup on a tripod and proper technique, without EFCS enabled it’s easy to get blurry results at certain shutter speeds (from around 1/100 to 1 second) with long lenses.  With the EFCS enabled, use a 3 second exposure delay mode combined with the 2 second self timer (5 seconds total) and a remote, and that will be  enough time for camera and lens to settle.

To even further reduce vibrations cause by wind experiement with the use of VR.  VR on newer lenses have either a tripod mode or the lens automatically detects the use of a tripod.   Try taking images with and without VR.  Use of VR will often  make a huge difference for the better, other times it seems to make things worse.  Finally experiment with the use of different ISOs.  I always take a series of images at several different ISOs.  I always start by attempting to use the cameras base ISO because ultimately if conditions are sufficiently good this will result in the best file.  In order to ensure success, however, I also try ISO 400 and even ISO 1000, especially when shooting in low light, to get at faster shutter speeds that may be less succeptible to the impact of any camera and or lens movement.

Once the camera is mounted on the camera and you are ready to shoot, start at the widest focal lenght  because it can be very diffcult to find and isolate your intended subject at 500mm.  Alternately look at the subject with your eyes and through the viewfinder until you lock on the subject and then move to the desired longer focal lenth.  Remember the scene will be fleeting  and the cluods and mist may be moving fast so you will need to repeat this process again and again during the shooting session.

Active Imagination

“Without this playing with fantasy no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we owe to the play of the imagination is incalculable.”  Carl Jung

Forests in the Mists offer a fertile playing ground for the Active Imagination and finding the inner source and drive for creativity.  For the Active Imagination to come into play it is necessary to let go for a period of time of our conscious attempts to deliberately control every step of the photographic process and enter a state of flow.  The first stage of the active imagination is like dreaming with open eyes.  Active imagination is a method of assimilating unconscious contents  (dreams and fantasies) through some form of self-expression, in our case photography.  With a constantly changing landscape with the mist and clouds moving through the forest coming in and out of view, it is difficult if not impossible to be too deliberate in our actions because if we do, the scene will evaporate before our eyes before we have a chance to capture the image.

In the second stage of Active Imagination, we go beyond simply observing the images, consciously participate in them, taking notice of emotions and feelings, and  honestly evaluating what they mean about oneself and a willingness to act on these insights. This is a transition from a merely perceptive mode to one of judgment.  It is in this second stage where the craft of photography comes into play for the creation of art that is not only part of ones immediate experience and personally meaningful,  but is also is connected to the the physical world, forest in the mists.  This is like a dance between our conscious and unconscious self, with neither being in total control.  What emerges from the dance is a stronger sense of self, and a visual metaphor for the dance, in the form of a photograph that is art.

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Stairway to Heaven

Composition

Composition can be very challenging in an environment where nothing is still and scenes are fleeting, but it is not impossible if one is not overly judgmental.  Remember this is a play between the fantasies of our unconscious mind and our conscious self.  One must be willing to dance, not getting too attached to precisely formulated and deliberate actions.  I take many images, one right after the other, looking for composition elements such as lines, curves, repeating shapes, a balance of warm and cool tones, and layers of interest that will help provide a sense of depth to and otherwise compressed telephoto perspective.  This is not the time for just taking just one or two sequences of images as many do at an iconic grand landscape scene.  This is also not the time for being overly critical of oneself, but just to engage in the flow and dance of creative photography.  There will be time for curating and reducing the number of images to a manageable level later.  But even here one must be careful not to overly curate.  These images will provide insight into your own soul and creative journey.  Many, not just a few, will provide the visual trail that leads to a better understanding of your authentic self.  Your viewers will have a much better sense of who you are as a person and your journey through viewing a more complete portfolio.  For a more on Finding Your Photographic Vision and the Search for your Authentic Self click here.

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Mystery

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Layers and Tiers of Clouds and Trees

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Trees Floating on Clouds

Processing

Usually I can capture all the dynamic range I need with either my Nikon D810 or Sony ARR3 camera and do not need to exposure blend.  In raw development, however, I will often use a graduated filter to reduce exposure to the upper par of the scene.  In difficult cases I will double process the image, one image processed for highlights and the second for the shadows or darker parts of the scene and then blend the two in Photoshop.   A key processing step for Forests in the Mist is global and local area adjustments of white balance.   I will first decide if I want to give the entire scene a warmer or cooler tone and then apply a global adjustment if needed.  I will then, however, selectively cool or warm up different parts of the scene paying close attention for where the source of light is in the image.  The portion of the image closer to the light source may need warming up, and the portion further away may need cooling down to get at the contrast between warm and cool light that is consistent with my experience of the scene.  I may also add either globally or selectively a little more magenta to the image if it has a green bias.  In raw development I will open up the shadows moderately and make sure the image has sufficient brightness.  I generally do not play with the clarity and haze adjustments at all unless there are local areas of the scene that need a little boost because there is little or no definition.  These scenes are naturally rendered soft so the grunge look is neither neither or desired.

In Photoshop my main adjustments are for contrast using Luminosity Masks.  For this I usually start with the lights using a curve adjustment with a multiply blending mode and then raise the center of the curve.  I will then adjust the darks and mid-tones using levels adjustments to improve the contrast in the image and get the image to have more pop.  I then will consider applying a light Orton effect if needed (the scene is already inherently soft due to atmospheric conditions).  I may or may not sharpen the image depending upon how shapening effects the image.  Too much texture or micro contrast in a Forest in the Mist image is not necessarily a good thing where a softer less contrasty image usually works best.  If I need to do a color adjustment this comes last but usually with the contrast adjustments in the previous steps the image already has good color.

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Ephemeral

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Behind the Veil of Nature’s Mystery

Conclusion

If you are looking for new avenues for creativity in your photography consider taking a walk into Forests in the Mist.  This mystical forest is ripe with mystery that is fertile ground  for unleashing creative forces through the Active Imagination that will not only find their way into your images but also help you develop a more evolved sense of your authentic self .  This more evolved self will most resonate with network of friends and acquaintances who will be able participate in your artistic journey through your images.

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Misty Forest

Erwin Busek Photography (c) 2018

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Finding your Photographic Vision and the Search for the Authentic Self

~ Erwin Buske Photography ~ 23 Comments

One character trait that I have found in Landscape Photographers is that they are always searching.  They are searching around the next bend for a better perspective for their subject, be it a mountain, lake, or field of wildflowers.  They are also working with previously unexplored ways (to them at least) of creating images: black and white photography, abstracts, new processing techniques and macros.  They begin exploring the use of a more telephoto perspective, perhaps a tilt/shift, or an extreme wide angle lens.  Landscape photographers will research for hours looking for a unique destinations or composition finds.  All of this searching and exploration typically occurs against a background of constantly evolving sense of self and who the photographer is as a person. But the landscape photographer may be barely aware the he/she is changing as a person.

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Denali Polychrome River Delta & in Monochrome (120 mm) 

The Photographers Path

I have read through a large number of bios of landscape photographers (including my own) and there seems to be a common thread of what brought them to landscape photography that goes something like this.  “Early on I started out my photographic journey with a desire to share the incredible beauty I was witnessing during my hikes, backpacks and adventures in the great out of doors.  I purchased my first camera and started taking and sharing images.  Although these images were not that good people reacted favorably to them which helped encourage me to develop my photographic skills which are still evolving to this day.”  There is often little mention in these bios of any inward journey or even personal struggles that helped shape who the photographer is today.

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Secrets of the Forest (Poo Poo Point, but such a scene could at a forest anywhere 470 mm)

Conformity in Photography

Recently I have read numerous posts and essays from accomplished landscape photographers who are concerned that we are headed toward a visual conformity of images and styles in the field of landscape photography.  These posts often place the blame on the social media and how it acts to influence the behavior of the photographer causing people to gravitate to the same iconic sites and compositions that seem to be popular on the internet.  The antidote to all of this is typically to distance oneself from the influence of the social media, stop shooting iconic sites, start exploring out of the way previously undiscovered places, and to put down the expansive wide angle lens and take up different approaches to photography including abstracts, black and white, macros, etc.

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Wild Geranium Sunrise at Oxbow Bend (Iconic yes but I believe this is unique 23mm)

I struggle with this characterization of events that have led to the current conformity of visual content and styles in landscape photography and also the recommended steps to separate oneself from the herd.  Finding ones photographic vision is intrinsically related to a lifelong journey of discovery of ones authentic self.  If one is firmly planted on this inward journey one can faithfully deliver ones photographic vision at either an iconic site or at one known to no other.  What makes one vision unique is not the physical location but the integration of one’s inward journey  with the physical landscape.  I am constantly amazed that  just when I thought I have seen everything when it comes to an iconic landscape someone will come along with a very unique vision for that place.  What I typically notice with such photographs is a tremendous sense of enthusiasm for the iconic site and a story where the photographer shares some of their inner journey, often emotionally based, that helped shape the image.

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Spiral (35mm)

There is little doubt that changing ones shooting style, lets say trying black and white or macros, can help develop the photographers skill set and may even remove blocks in the way of bringing his/her vision to fruition.  But these steps should not be mistaken for the vision itself.  There are plenty of black and white images that lack vision just as there are hundreds of images of obscure and unknown places that slip into mediocrity.  A transition to a different photographic style and shooting locations also makes sense as a marketing strategy to better differentiate ones product.  But vision is ultimately connected with integration of ones inner landscape with the the outer landscape, not  a particular kind of photography or location.

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Foggy Trail (Mt. Si the most traveled trail in King County looking quite different! 16mm)

Social Media

To me social media has received a bad rap in all of this.  If anything the social media is neutral and merely a reflection of the photographic community.  There is no doubt that blindly chasing the social media in order to achieve greater popularity will cause people to gravitate to iconic sites, image cliches, excessive use of wide angle compositions, and eye candy sunrises and sunsets.  But the social media itself is not responsible for this behavior.  Each photographer must choose how to convey his/her photographic vision.  It is not a personal vision if one is merely recreating compositions and processing methods of those who came before them.

I would go as far as to say that any photographer that has rose to popularity in the past five years and perhaps going back even as far as ten years owes his/her rise in no small measure to being discovered by the social media.  With perhaps a few exceptions they would be all virtual unknowns if it were not for the ability of social media to bring them visibility.  Even as the photographer gets discovered by the social media, many will then attempt to distance themselves from what brought them to fame and this is typically done in critical discussions of the social media on you guessed it the social media itself!  It is understandable, however, that photographers would eventually take this step of limiting the effects of social media, sometimes even going into a social media celibacy. The path of discovering ones true creative potential, ones authentic self, may demand just this.

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Prickly Pear Macro (105mm Macro)

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Jade Vine Abstract (105mm Macro)

The Authentic Self

That we can discover ourselves suggests that there is more to us than we know and we are mostly a mystery to ourselves. We do not know “all we are.”   There is a movement in evolution of American history and culture called Transcendentalism that will help us in the understanding of the Authentic Self.   Depth psychology pioneered by Carl Jung can also help us in understanding concepts that will shed some light on what it means to discover one’s Authentic Self.

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Indian Beach Dreamtime Stepping Stones: Jung thought dreams provided important insight into the workings of the unconscious mind (19mm)

Transcendentalism

A core belief of transcendentalism is in the inherent goodness of people and nature.  A common theme especially in the writings of Thoreau is going back to nature to find one’s self in other words finding ones own Waldon Pond!  Adherents believe that society and its institutions have corrupted the purity of the individual, and they have faith that people are at their best when truly self reliant and independent.  Key figures in the American transcendentalist movement include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.  Adherents believe that individuals are capable of generating completely original insights with as little attention and deference to past masters as possible.   Transcendentalists have faith that people are at their best when truly “self-reliant” and independent. It is only from such real individuals that true community can form. Even with this necessary individuality, transcendentalists also believe that all people possess a piece of the Oversoul or (God). Because the Over-soul is one, this unites all people as one being.

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Spirit of our Ancestors (A different view of iconic Spirit Falls) (16mm)

Now you are probably asking what has this to do with Landscape Photography?  Finding ones self will involve becoming more self reliant and limiting the influence of others and the social media on ones own creative development.  Finding ones self may also involve a more deliberate return to nature and meeting nature on its own terms without preconceived notions for an image.

“Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self.  There is something which you can do better than another.  Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that.  Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for.”

—-Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance

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Rivers Bend Eagle Cap Wilderness (I have never seen this photographed before 16mm)

Depth Psychology and Carl Jung

The self in Jungian Psychology is an archtype signifying the unification of consciousness and unconsciousness in a person, and representing the psyche as a whole.  The Self is realized as the product of individuation which in his view is the process of integrating one’s personality.  Jung, like the Transcendentalists considered that from birth every individual has an original sense of wholeness – of the Self – but the development of a separate ego-consciousness diminishes the sense of Self.   This process of ego-differentiation is necessary providing the skills one needs to make a living and survive in society and is the task of about the first half of one’s life-course, though Jungians also saw psychic health as depending on a periodic return to the sense of Self, something facilitated by the use of myths, initiation ceremonies, and rites of passage.  The task for the second half of life (may be earlier for artists) has more to do with individuation and the integration of unconscious (personal and collective) and conscious elements in order to achieve the health of the pysche as a whole.  This involves confronting ones own shadow or parts of one self that one does not want to acknowledge as one progresses to self knowledge.

Now again you are probably  wondering even more what does this have to do with landscape photography?  Finding ones vision in photography will require a lifelong path of self discovery and the road ahead will be difficult to follow and ultimately can be only followed by the self reliant individual alone.  Just as new landscapes are discovered, the individual will discover previously hidden parts of him/herself that will set a new course for the journey.  Great works of art are often created not so much with the completion of this journey but during the emotionally charged struggles along the way as one resists coming to terms with all elements of who one is as a person  This is the journey of the artist and what Joseph Campbell referred to as the hero’s journey.

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Misty Morning at Yellowstone Falls (Iconic yes but definitely a different mood!  Iconic sites can have symbolic value in the collective consciousness  62mm)

Authentic Self Revisited

Finding ones authentic self for most of us is not a journey that will end anytime soon.  Just when I think I know myself I will find out I do not know myself hardly at at all.  And that is how it should be.  It is a process of self discovery coinciding with our photographic journey.  Ones emotions rising out of the process of self discovery will merge with and become part of ones feelings about the landscape and together find their way into the artists photographic creations.  If you stay in tune to this struggle and journey it will shape your vision as photographer allowing you to distinguish yourself  both shooting the iconic subject and your favorite haunts that no one else knows about but you!

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Sounds of Silence (A seldom photographed spot along the Kendal  Snowshoe Trail 18mm)

Erwin Buske Photography (c) 2017

Thanks for reading this blog post.  Your comments, concerns, and perspectives on this issue are all welcome!  If you like this post and want to see future posts please subscribe to the blog.  Thanks again!

Visiting and Photographing the Enchantments

~ Erwin Buske Photography ~ 6 Comments

The Enchantments are calling!  This in an enchanted land of beautiful azurite and indigo blue high mountain lakes  with names like Leprechaun, Perfection, Inspiration, and Temple Lakes.  In Autumn, stunningly beautiful larch trees turn bright orange colors that glow in soft luminous light.  Large peaks made up of huge slabs of granite with names like Prusik, McClellan, and Little Annapurna rise high above the lakes and are reflected beautifully into the calm waters as the  sun rises and sets.  The granite rocks around the lakes almost look like they were placed there by the Gods to create leading lines and curves to transport us into the beauty of each lake and the surrounding landscape.  This in short is a photographer’s paradise, as close to heaven on earth as we will get in our mortal lives.

baseline-for-white-balance-changescompLarches in the Enchanted Mists

The Enchantments are located in the northeastern section of Washington State’s Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, USA, close to the town of Leavenworth.  I consider the Enchantments are one of the wonders of this world and I harbor great memories of these beautiful blue and rock-bound lakes spanning the last four decades of my life. I have made a journey to this iconic site about every ten years since my late teens. When I received an email notice in CY 2015 that I had won the Enchantments Lottery I was totally stoked!  This time the trip felt like a return journey, somewhat like a spiritual pilgrimage to my roots–a pristine wilderness that has helped shape my photographic journey. With permit in hand, I organized a six-day backpacking trip as a photography oriented trip through the Seattle Mountaineers. Photography backpacks are much different from a typical organized backpacking trip. The pace and tempo of this trip is centered around photography. This meant frequent stops along the trail and organizing our schedule to be at the right places for at least a two to three hours window around sunrise and sunset. I deliberately kept the number of participants at a small number, five, to make sure each of the photographers had a quality experience and were not stepping over each other trying to get the image. Participants were also carefully screened as this is a physically challenging backpack.

I was even more thrilled the following year when a friend, Kris Harken, reached out to me with an invitation to join his team to visit the Enchantments once more in CY 2016.  This time I could capture all those compositions I realized I missed in the previous year!  I think it would take multiple lifetimes of annual trips to fully capture the beauty of the Enchantment, this area abounds in so much nuanced beauty.  On the last trip we were forced to leave early due to heavy and unrelenting snow so I did not shoot all the site I had previsualized.  Hopefully I will return to the Enchantments soon or perhaps in my next life!

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Leprechaun Lake

In this post I will discuss visiting and photographing the Enchantments in Autumn including the following topics: Getting a Permit, Route, Conditioning, Cold Weather Preparations, Importance of Packing Light, Camera Gear, Compositions, Light, Wildlife, Larches, and the Magic of the Enchantments.

Getting a Permit

Going to the Enchantments requires a permit for overnight camping.  This requirement is strictly enforced by the Forest Service to reduce the environmental impact that comes with too many people loving this place to death.  From the Okanogan Wenatchee Forest Website: “Due to the overwhelming popularity of this unique area, all overnight visitors must obtain a limited entry FEE permit for trips planned between May 15 and October 31. Demand for overnight permits far exceeds the number available, therefore advance reservations are highly recommended. A pre-season lottery is held in February through early March of each year to allocate the majority of permits.  Following the pre-season lottery, remaining permits are available on a first come, first served basis through the recreation.gov advance reservation system. A small number of permits are available on an unreserved daily walk-in basis.”

Because this area is extremely popular, far more people apply for a permit than there are permits available, especially in Autumn.  Only 60 people are allowed in the Core Enchantment area at any one time.  The good news, however, is that a permit holder can lead a trip that includes as many as eight people.  So even if you are not lucky enough to get a permit, someone you known many be kind enough to invite you on their trip!  There are different Enchantment Lakes permit zones and the most desirable one is the Core Enchantment Zone because it allows you to camp at the lower Enchantment Lakes for up to eight nights.  Keep in mind that the lower Enchantment Lakes are about 7,000 feet high in elevation and offer the best views of large collections of larches.

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Leprechaun Lake Sunrise

Route

For my last two trips to the Enchantments, we entered through the Snow Lake trailhead just outside the Washington town of Leavenworth along the Icicle Creek. The first day we climbed approximately 3,500 feet over five miles to the beautiful deep woods Nada Lake. Then on the next day we hiked past Snow Lakes then scrambled up the steep trail to the Enchantments Leprechaun Lake where we camped for three nights before returning through Nada Lake .  Although this route is longer and involves more elevation gain than going over Asgard Pass (the alternative route), generally it involves less steep climbing, traversing through scree and boulder hoping.  I love the sense of a journey that one gets taking the route through the Snow Lake trail entrance.  Camping at beautiful Nada lake offers a great transition zone between the sub-alpine and alpine helping whet the appetite for even greater beauty ahead.

Nada 32 Bit PS16bitNada Lake Outlet

2016 Enchantments0387compr1Nada Lake Sunset

Conditioning

Many people who are lucky enough to get a permit and very surprised at the difficulty of the trip once they embark on their adventure.  This multi-day backpacking trip requires extensive conditioning if you are going to enjoy the trip in comfort.  Before beginning your journey take multiple day hikes that involve elevation gain in the range of three to five thousand feet, for example in the Seattle area Mail Box, Granite Mountain, and Mt. Washington.  Also before launching off, go on a couple of overnight backpacking trips of six miles or more and two to three thousand elevation gain with a backpack in the range of 35 to 45 pounds.  There is nothing like actually hiking and backpacking for conditioning, and although time spent at the fitness center helps, this alone will not prepare you for the Enchantments experience.

Cold Weather Preparations

In most years peak season for the larches is the last week of September and the first week of October.  Go any earlier and one risks the larches still being partially green.  Go later and one risks the larch trees being stripped of their orange needles due to fierce wind storms that pass through the area.  Although during this time the Enchantments experience what is known as the Indian Summer with warm days and cool crisp nights under cloudless skies, this is punctuated by storms passing through the area that can bring freezing cold temperatures, dark gray moisture laden clouds, and snow.  It is not uncommon to wake up to 2 to 6 inches of snow and temperatures in the teens.  This happened on both of my recent trips.  So cold weather preparations or in order.  This means a four season tent, a sleeping bag that can go down to 15 degrees or below, multiple layers of warmth, head to toe water proof rain/wind gear, gloves, and a warm beanie type hat.

Winter LayerscompFusion of Fall and Winter at the Enchantments

Importance of Packing Light

Maintaining a good comfort level on a multi-day backpacking trip has everything to do with keeping weight of the backpack at a manageable level of between 35 and 45 pounds.  This challenge is doubly hard for us photographers because not only do we need to carry extra layers of warm clothing and a four season tent, but also we need to carry camera gear including a tripod.  One needs to think carefully through what one brings along because every ounce counts.  I strongly recommend to photographers to carry an ultralight sleeping bag, tent, rain gear, clothing etc.  But this does not mean accepting significant compromises in functionality. Three season tents will be crushed under the weight of a heavy snowstorm and a sleeping bag that only goes down to 35 degrees will not keep you warm when temperatures dip down into the teens.  Ultralight gear can be expensive, but there are deals to be  found at the REI Garage, Backcountry.Com and other outlets.

Camera Equipment

My recommendation is to  take only two lenses and at the most three.  The lens that is most useful at the Enchantments is a wide-angle zoom closely followed by a telephoto zoom.  I have never found the need for a standard zoom at the Enchantments except to take candid images of people and an I-phone will work just fine for that.  On my last trip I brought a Sony A7R2 mirrorless camera, a Zeiss 16-35 4.0 lens, and a Zeiss 70-200 4.0 telephoto zoom.  The wide-angle will work great for including important foreground detail in the grand landscape composition and the telephoto zoom works perfectly for small area compositions, abstracts, a compressed perspective,  wildlife and even macro.  One may want to supplement this with a small fixed focal length 2.8 manual focus wide-angle lens for stars.  I brought the Zeiss Loxia 21mm 2.8 for this purpose.  My entire system including the Induro Stealth carbon fiber tripod weighed in at about seven pounds.  Bringing a mirrorless system brought the weight and form factor down considerably .  If I brought my much more bulky and heavy Nikon D810 DSLR and equivalent lenses I would have easily carried an additonal three pounds.   It is noted that it is not just the weight that one needs to keep at a minimum but also the bulk of items, because with less real estate one does not need as big of backpack to carry all the equipment.  Bigger backpacks tend to be heavier and also do not balance weight as good as a smaller backpack.  Mirrorless cameras and most lenses designed for mirrorless are much smaller than their DSLR counterparts.

Compositions

The lower Enchantment Basin consists primarily of boulders and slabs of polished granite. For grand wide-angle landscapes, one of the keys to finding a successful composition involves finding one of these granite slabs or collection of slabs and boulders that provide leading lines and curves that transport the viewer into the larger scene that will often include a lake and a prominent peak.  This is also how to make your composition unique.  There are literally hundreds of these slabs and boulders surrounding each of the lakes.  Out of any one slab, I could make literally hundreds of different compositions simply by getting closer to the lake or moving further away, changing focal length, and rising and lowering the camera and the direction of the lens ,  working with the ever-changing light.  You do not need to worry about stomp comping here if you work the scene as just described and follow your own intentions for the scene in executing your personal style and vision.

0497EnchantmentsAnd8morer2Stepping Stones to Enchanted Autumn

In the above scene notice the stepping-stones in the foreground leading down to the lake. In the next image I decided to follow one of the granite slabs to an area above Leprechaun Lake and this created an optimal viewing platform and foreground that transported my eyes down the mountainside to the lake and McClellan Peak beyond.  There is a strong line going from the right side of the image to the left that also forms a U shape curve in the lower right section of the image.  The key is to make sure the foreground is well-integrated with the larger scene and do not just select the foreground because it is appealing in its own right.  Orienting the scene around foreground will often make the composition look forced rather than bringing a more organic and free flowing feel to the image.  Look at the scene and how it effects your mood and emotions, determine your intentions, and only then start working the technical details of focal length, specific foreground details, tripod placement, ISO, F-stop and shutter speed.

Slopping Rock CompEnchantments Sliding Rock

1620Enchantments_HDRRock Formations

The classic composition in the Enchantments typically involves one of the prominent peaks reflected beautifully in the water of one of the lakes.  But you can make yours more unique by also including attractive foreground elements and framing of the peak and reflection such as I was able to accomplish in the next image.

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A telephoto zoom lens is indispensable for smaller area compositions that feature the lines and patterns of the granite slabs and boulders punctuated by blazing orange larch trees..  It takes some training of the eye to isolate an area of the larger scene that will make a good composition but it is well worth the effort because these compositions will be very unique and help balance out an Enchantment Lakes portfolio that is heavy on lake images.  This is an area I plan to work far more in future visits to the Enchantments.

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0818EnchantmentscompAutumn Larches below Granite Cliffs

A telephoto lens can also be used to capture even smaller subjects and details such as this next image of a snow-covered larch branch.

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Lighting

Most of the featured images I have seen of the Enchantments are taken at sunset which is a great time to capture soft light, and colorful dramatic clouds and skies.  This, however, in my opinion is not the best time to capture well illuminated larches.  I have found the best light to actually be about an hour after sunrise and about an hour  before sunset.  Digital enhancement and painting on light can only go so far if the light was not there in the first place.  The lower Enchantment basin is deeply recessed beneath the towering peak and it is only then the light will penetrate low enough to sufficiently illuminate the larches to get the desired effect.  The lighting will also be far more nuanced in this time period with areas of light and shadow.  If there are clouds and mist in the area and the sun can still get through, the effects will be even more splendid.

Leprechaun Sunset  Leprechaun Lake at Sunset

larches-with-character-compEpiphany (Leprechaun Lake one hour after sunrise)

Tidelands no StackCompLeprechaun Lake Tidelands (One hour after sunrise)

Fish and Wildlife

The lower Enchantment Lakes are teaming with trout, and this area is one of the best in the Alpine Lakes for the sports fisherman.

Caroline Buske Family PhotoKris Harken’s Lucky Day

There are Mountain Goats in abundance at the Lower and Upper Enchantment Lakes.  You can expect them to wander into your campsite in the mornings and evenings creating multiple opportunities for both wide-angle and telephoto capture.

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0270EnchantmentsMama and Kid Goat checking out the intruders!

Larches

About one hour  after sunrise and one hour before sunset the Larches are at their best.  In this next image I captured a beautiful collection of side-lit larches reflected in a small tarn.  It is also possible to find single specimens to capture the beauty and character of an ancient larch.

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The Magic of the Enchantments

In this post I have  expressed my own perspective about capturing the magic of the Enchantments.  I hope some of what I wrote here will  provide you some helpful guides as you follow your own instincts, personal vision and style in creating your own images that capture the Magic of the Enchantments.   Thanks for looking, sharing and your comments are always greatly appreciated.