Wish I Could go Back..Overview of Our Trip

I really don’t know how to put into words how I feel about my trip to the Central Cascades, but to say OMG!! It was an amazing trip out into nature. From September 14th to the 21st, Ali and I went to Wenatchee National Forest in the Central part of Washington State. This is an area where west and east Washington meet. For those who aren’t familiar with Washington State, it is divided in the middle by the Cascade Mountains. This creates different climates between the two sides. Most people know Western Washington as green and wet. Eastern Washington is different, the Cascade Curtain makes the differences. The weather is dryer, with hot summers and very cold winters.Where Western Washington stays very mild all year around. The central section of  Washington is were the two climates meet. This makes it colorful, lush, warm and full of life.
    For a week we hiked and explored the area. From dry dusty pathways to lush river bends. I found myself full of inspiration around every corner. While we were up there though we ran into a few limitations. One being Table Mountain was on fire due to 60 days without rain, making it very dry. The wildfires forced us to stay in areas away from mountain. This kept us to only a portion of the area. On one of our last days we drove up a gravel road to a ridge across the way to Table Mountain. WHAT A SIGHT! You couldn’t see the mountain. Just smoke overtaking the sky. This was the ugly beauty of nature. Even though animals were being moved from their home, trees where on fire and the ground was being blackened. There was still this eire beauty. It wasn’t like someone set the forest on fire. It is something that a forest needs every once in a while. It helps with growth of a forest, like getting a hair trim. I wish I could have gotten closer. None of the roads going to the mountain were open and I doubt my lungs would have been able to handle being closer.
    That was our next problem. The living and hiking in the hazy of the fires caused me to get sick. I began to have a hard time breathing and developed a cough. I was very unhappy about this. I tried my hardest to keep going and to keep on doing what we set out to do. I thank Ali though for making the decision to come back a day early. She was right, I would have pushed myself beyond what is healthy, so I could just stay in a land of beauty.
    I can’t wait to show the images I got on this trip. I looked for that great shots and I feel I got them. I can’t for another trip, to be in that world again.

- Heather

Mount Rainier

On July 20th, 2012 I took a short day trip up to Mt. Rainier in the Cascades. Wow. It was amazing. Here it was in the middle of July and there was still snow on the mountain. It was eerie but beautiful with the fog surrounding the mountain. I saw inspiring waterfalls, beautiful cloudscapes, and some classic wildlife, like deer. It only made me more excited for our trip in September. Here are some photographs from that little trip. It gives you an idea of what we will be seeing and photographing this September.

Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

 Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

Mt. Rainier - Copyright ALimages 2012

Northwest Trek and the Power of Wildlife

    There are things in life that keep your spirits low, making this stressful life, worse . Then there are places that lift your spirits and fill your heart with joy. For me, places like Hurricane Ridge, Olympic Mountains and Stehekin in the North Cascades have that effect on me. They take me away from all my problems and bring peace of mind. I find myself on cloud nine.
    Over this last weekend, I got to take a trip to the Northwest Trek in Eatonvillle. I had never been to the Northwest Trek before. I have wanted to go for a while, being so interested in wildlife all my life. I thought I would make my first time as special as I could. I choose to take the photo tour then a normal tram and brought Ali Lockwood along with me. I could have not chosen a better way to practice photographing wildlife. As much as it would have been better if I had gotten these animals out in their nature living quarters, I don’t have the time or money to track them down at the moment with school. Animals such as elk, black tail deer, mountain goats and big horned sheep are some of the wildlife that we can come across on out trip to the Cascades were there at Northwest Trek same with gray wolfs, coyotes, black bears, bobcats and cougars. Unfortunately, while we were at Northwest Trek all the predators were sleeping and hiding. The other animals were out and about in the acreages of land they have for them to roam.
    We got up at 4:30 a.m. to get ready and left at 6:00 a.m. to get to the park by 8:00. We were 2 out of 10 photographers there. We got on to the tram about 8:15 and off we went. The cool thing about being part of the photo tour is the tram stops when we want it too and we can have the driver move forward and backwards if need be. It was all about us getting great shots.
    Which is what I did. I got some great photos. Animals are hard to shoot. They move whenever they like and don’t care what you are trying to do. I find the difficulty of not being in full control of the situation to be exciting. To be so close I could touch the animals is thrilling. When I got to shoot the mountain goats at Hurricane Ridge a few years ago, I was amazed with how much I loved it, even though I was kicked off the mountain by them. It is this obsession with mountain goats and shoot them as much as possible to get that one shot. I have made it my goal that I get a shot of a mountain goat thats perfect and inspiring. Being able to shoot all three of the mountain goats at the park was such a great experience. I feel so much more confidante in my wildlife shooting abilities. I can't wait to see what I can bring to the table when are on our trip. I know am looking forward to running into as many spieces of animals as possible but I am really looking forward to seeing mountain goats again. Nothing beats photographing something that sparks life into the photographer.

-Heather

Stehekin

I got to take May 3rd to May 12th off from school and spend in Stehekin. For those who don't know Stehekin is an area at the end of Lake Chelan in the North Cascade. It's part of the North Cascade National park and has it's only community of people who live there all year round. I was up there to help Heather Biermann with her Stehekin Kite Project. She did a workshop and taught the community to make kites. We flew them and then they went up in the gallery of the visitor center at the end of week.

I as much as I had fun helping Heather out. I was more excited about the land that was all around me. We were camped out with a tent and sleeping bags (My friend Jessica was with me). I had no internet and no cell service. Life just slowed down. I hiked almost everyday. Played with some goats, went to a orchard and saw lots of rushing water. I had fallen in love by the time we had gotten off the three hour boat ride it takes to get to Stehekin. The only way in is by boat, flying in or hiking in from different trails. It felt like you were on an island.
Stehekin reminded me why nature is such a big part of my life and who I am. The waterfalls show me, that man is not all powerful. All the animals, give me hope for a new day. The mountains remind me that I am a very small part of this world as they cascade over me. The community reminded that you don't have to live in this fast pace life that we as humans have set up for ourselves, that it is okay to want to live it slower. It's actually really hard to put into words how much I enjoyed my trip, so here are some pictures I took. I can say left kick and screaming because I did not want to leave.

If we are to master the sensitive arts if building a life-encouraging environment, we need to realize that bigger may not be better, slower may be faster, less may be more. _Stewart Udall

-Heather

Tulip Festival

Saturday, April 14th, Heather and I took a trip up to the Skagit Valley to see the tulips in bloom during the Tulip Festival that happens during the month of April. Heather had never been. I had been once but it was before I understood how actually take a picture with correct exposure. We hoped that we could go on a day that was overcast, which honestly was not that big of a wish, but it ended up being very sunny. I was not used to shooting in such bright light and took a minute for me to get my adjustments but I think over all I got some good results.

I have not done a lot of large landscape photography. Heather is stronger at that than I am. I think that is why we work well together. She can see the larger picture where I am able to zoom in on one super small part of the larger picture. It is a strong combination that I cannot wait to showcase from our project come September. However, it was good to practice trying to get the landscape picture while up at the festival.

It was very busy and it was enjoyable seeing other photographers out there with their equipment. This trip made me excited for September. Washington is such a beautiful state! Here are some images that were taken at the Roozengaarde Tulip Gardens.

Photo by Ali Lockwood/Courtesy of RoozenGaarde (Tulips.com)

Photo by Ali Lockwood/Courtesy of RoozenGaarde (Tulips.com)

Photo by Ali Lockwood/Courtesy of RoozenGaarde (Tulips.com)

Photo by Ali Lockwood/Courtesy of RoozenGaarde (Tulips.com)

Photo by Ali Lockwood/Courtesy of RoozenGaarde (Tulips.com)

Photo by Ali Lockwood/Courtesy of RoozenGaarde (Tulips.com)

Photo by Ali Lockwood/Courtesy of RoozenGaarde (Tulips.com)

The Hoh

Hoh.

What an odd name, if you ask me. It is the name of a temperate rainforest in the U.S., and also one of the largest. Between the park boundary and the Pacific Ocean, nearly all of the forest has been logged within the last century. Which I find sad. I haven't been to the Hoh in years. It is a beautiful land full of every shade of green you can think of, and I mean every shade.

I had to come up with a project to do for one of my classes here at NCAD, to help my portfolio to graduate. I have known about the logging issues for awhile now. My goal as a photographer is to represent the natural beauty of the world. I want to be able to show people what they are missing out on, because of how us humans treat the land we live on. Yes, I understand we need resources to live a certain type of life. I don't agree to people who log and don't replant. It really bugs me. That is why my project is to photograph the land that has been logged and not taken care of and compare it to photographs I take of the areas the Hoh left to grow in it's old ways. I am hoping that one day a project like this can be published so more people can be aware of the damage we are doing.

I saw a quote today as sad as it is to read as a human, I feel a lot of times it's true and that is "man is nature's sole mistake " by W.S Gilbert. It's not like we are a total mistake. I mean, without us there would be a big difference in the world. Maybe another animal would be over populating the world, or maybe a planet life would be sucking the life out of it. What I am trying to say, I guess, is that too much of one species is bad and there are too many of us. So maybe it's not that we are a mistake, but more that it's we have gotten too far along in our ways, with technology and our way of living. Like other animals, we use to be much more connected to the earth and other animals but into today, people live in their own world. I believe this stops a lot of people from looking around to see the real issues in life and no your phone breaking isn't a real issue. I mean this is all an opinion. I am just sad for the other living things that live on this planet that you take for granite every day.

The Hoh Rainforest, by Heather Wallace 2012c

Learning

On Sunday March 18th, I had the chance to attend National Geographic Traveler's Nature Photo Seminar at the Seattle Library. I was excited the few days leading up to it but even more so that morning as I rode the ferry over to the city. The two photographers who were speaking were Eddie Soloway and Michael Melford. They are amazing nature photographers who I had a lot to learn from and I did. Even now I wish it had been a multiple days so I could just pick their brains clean.
    Eddie started the seminar with a story that I found something I feel like I tell people around me. So I wanted to share it with all of you. I even wrote in my notes, "write in blog." He began by telling us about his earlier years as a photographer and going around to different art shows around the country. I believe he was in Chicago. He got the question, we as photographers get, when people see our work, "what kind of camera did you use?" Once you answer they ask, "what kind of lens?" And on and on asking all sorts of questions about the equipment. He had a man asking him these things and wasn't getting the satisfaction he wanted from Eddie's answers. The man walked away and the Violinist, who was playing next to Eddie's booth, went over and told Eddie that he was at a show once and when he was done playing a man asked him what kind of violin is that, it makes beautiful music. The Violinist holds the violin out and says I don't hear anything. It's not about the equipment you have but the eye. Later on Michael told us of a couple he came across. The husband had all the gear and his wife was just sporting a point and shoot. His wife was kicking her husband's ass with the photos she was producing. These stories gave me some comfort. I am poor and don't have the money to buy the newest and greatest camera gear. I do believe I have the eyes though, which is the important thing.
    There were a few other techniques that both artists pointed out that I feel I can say I already do that helps make their photos and careers successful. One in particular would be being able to read light in the way that I can, which is change my vision black and white to figure out values. I mastered that by only shooting in black and white. I feel its something that a lot of photographers today lack, due to they don't have to shoot in black and white. There is all this color but by doing so you get a more full understanding of values, so when you do shoot in color they are rich and luster.
    One of the other ideas was from Eddie and that is to have a child's sense of wonder and curiosity. Which these things get me in trouble sometimes but can lead to awesome outcomes. He said if you have trouble to borrow a 4 year old for a day and you will learn a whole new world. I am someone who doesn't want to just take the normal shoot. Sometimes I will be bend over backwards to get what I want.
     I learned so much from both these amazing photographers. One thing is when it's mid day, cause on a sunny day it sucks to shoot at that time, to use that time to scout out potential photo areas when the light changes. Pepper Spray works well on bears. With wildlife the photo is in their eyes. I have 6 pages of notes! I could go on and on.
    In the end I was so happy I spent the time and money to listen to Michael Melford and Eddie Soloway. I even had the courage to give each of them my business cards. Was my heart pounding or what! As I was walking down the streets of Seattle, a feeling came back to me that I have felt like it was missing, and that was I can make it.

- Heather
Adventure is Everywhere