michael walters photography

I love to photograph trees. During my commute to work this lone oak tree always grabs my attention. I have always considered stopping, setting up the tripod, composing the perfect image for a corporate brochure that has been taken 10, 000 times already.

But then I realized that is not the way I see the tree. The colors are never vibrant blues and greens of grass and sky. The clouds are never the perfect shape to compliment the tree. I waited for months for the perfect image. Then I realized what I was really seeing. Every morning and evening I would see the drab colors of the dying grass, the almost black foliage of the tree, and a sky that was invariably monotone.

But the tree continued to grab my attention. So I began to just shoot the tree with camera at arms length while driving by at 65 mph. Using a technique I learned from Michael Long, I would guess at the exposure and composition. After all, wasn’t that how I was seeing the tree?

For months I would just glance over and hope for the imagined scene. It was never there. After just a few days I had captured the image I was seeing.

Sending blog posts from Flickr seems to work just fine.  This will significantly streamline the process so you can expect to see more content here in the future.

 

Frozen Lake Sunset, originally uploaded by Michael Walters.

I’ve missed the great colors over the last week or so. I wasn’t able to get up to the park before sunset. I thought I’d dig through the archives a bit to find something with some color. This is taken on Manzanita lake while looking to the southwest.

Moku Iki Moon Rise, originally uploaded by Michael Walters.

Well, I’m stalling before I need to go shovel snow. I’ve been looking through my Hawaii archives (warm thoughts, warm thoughts) and came upon this image of the full Moonrise over Moku Iki Island. The exposure was 30 seconds at ISO 400.

I am experimenting with blogging from my Flickr site to this one> I know some people have followed this site for some time and haven’t really took an interest in the Flickr side of things. So, hopefully this works and I’ll have content in both locations.

As always, time constraints have prevented me from doing regular updates.  I have managed to add some photos and comments to my Flickr site here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michael_walters/.

If you don’t have a Flickr account, I highly recommend you get one.   A new account is free and is a great way to upload, share, and comment on images.  I have been working with a few different people to help the improve their photography.  Flickr has proven to be a very valuable resource for this.  Some people are a bit shy when it comes to posting images and Flickr helps with this.  We can share images privately if necessary so that we can exchange comments and ideas.

So, check it out, sign up, and send me a Flickr mail or straight to michaeljwalters@gmail.com if you are interested.  I’d also love to hear your comments on some of the photos I’ve posted. 

A short, one mile hike along King’s Creek in Lassen Volcanic National Park leads you to a spectacular waterfall that is reasonably accessible.  Thanks to Leon Turnbull of waterfallswest.com for information on how to reach the falls.  My first hike in led me to the upper cascades and I missed the falls by about a quarter mile or so.  In my next post I will discuss the ins-and-outs of photographing waterfalls and some of the environmental/equipment concerns associated with this type of work.

As you can see, my website now has a new look. I have switched over to Word Press as a way to manage my posts. I was tired of the classic Blogger look. I will be creating additional pages and features as I become familiar with the Word Press management interface. Posts will continue as normal here. I was unable to import my previous posts from Blogger, so if you would like to read those and see some of the images please check here: The Daily Grind Archives. Thanks for visiting and feel free to comment on the new look.

Threes, originally uploaded by Michael Walters.

What is it about threes?

I was on Brown’s Lake catching some of the biggest rainbow trout I’d ever seen. The fly fishing technique we were using requires one to watch your line like an Osprey. Even glance away for a moment and you may miss a strike.

The broken-to-overcast skies were constantly changing the light on the landscape. I was struggling with what to watch. As a photographer it is nearly impossible to not be looking for a composition when in such a beautiful place with dramatic light. On the other hand, the fishing was the best I’d ever seen on a lake. Oh the dilemma.

STRIKE - “Damn, was that a fish, Dad?” “Yep, you really have to watch that indicator” he says. Guess I missed another one. Meanwhile, my dad is knocking the crap out of the fish. Helps that he is a pro. I think he may very well be the best fly fisherman in the world

So what is it about these trees that keeps grabbing my attention? It must be that there is three, and only three, on the shoreline. Plus the fact that they are separated by what must be the Golden Mean.

Threes occur everywhere:

the rule of thirds
tall, dark, handsome
win, lose, or draw
eat, drink and be merry
a hop, skip, and a jump
the good, bad, and ugly
ready, set, go
Tom, Dick, and Harry
wine, women, and song
lock, stock, and barrel
hook, line, and sinker
stop, look, and listen
morning, noon, and night
mind, body and spirit
thought, word, and deed

For some reason the brain finds it easier to assimilate and process groups of three.

Four seems to be more of a static representation.

Two is either balanced or imbalanced, either aligned or confrontational.

One is lonely and wanting for more.

So why three?

I found a post somewhere on the net by Robert ??? as follows:

The philosopher Pythagoras thought three was the perfect number, expressive of beginning, middle and end. The idea of Trinity is central to many religions. The Hindu Trimurti is made up of Brahma (Creator), Vishnu (Preserver), and Siva (Destroyer). The ancient world was ruled by Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. Three-forked lightning, the trident and a three-headed dog figure with these characters. The Fates are three, the Furies three, the Graces three, the Harpies three, the Muses were three times three. In Greek mythology a threatening and critical Pythoness sat on a three-legged stool called a tripod.

Man is traditionally threefold (body, soul and spirit), as is our world (earth, sea and air). Historic enemies of man have been the world, the flesh and the devil. Today’s realistic enemies seem to be fear, ignorance and hatred. The Christian graces are Faith, Hope and Charity. The kingdoms of Nature are animal, vegetable and mineral. The primary colors are red, yellow and blue.

So for whatever reason, I liked these three trees. And as always, I had my camera with me. I waited for the lake to settle, the light to improve, set my fly rod down, and captured these three trees.

And for what it is worth, I think I caught three more fish that day.