Category Archives: Behind the Scenes
Cherry Tree Blossoms, Seattle Arboretum
The Seattle Arboretum is a glorious place to wander year around, but in the spring, the rows and rows of flowering trees are wonders to behold. I often led many nature photography tours in and around Seattle’s most famous park, a long green belt that starts near the University of Washington and Museum of History […]
Patterns in Nature: Beetle Camouflage on Tree
We love looking for patterns in nature to photograph and nature provides no end of opportunities. This beetle was almost passed by as it blends so perfectly in with the tree bark. It’s near perfect as camouflage. To photograph patterns in nature, specifically subjects that resemble other more family subjects or those that melt away […]
Patterns in Nature: New Growth on Evergreens
In the spring, while everyone is looking at the spring flowers, I’m looking at trees, running my hands over the feather softy new growth on the tips of the evergreen trees. I love how dark green trees suddenly seem to flower with the light green “blooms” on their tips. Within a few months, this slippery […]
A Rainbow of Colors in Tulips, Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
When working the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, I always look for contrasting rows of colors. This garden section of Rodengarten near Mt. Vernon, Washington, had interesting rainbow tones of yellow, pink, reds, blacks, and whites. I chose to do this vertically to compress the feeling of the stripe patterns of colors. Conveniently, shadow fell across […]
Closeup of Red and Yellow Tulip, Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Among the many beautiful photographs of the tulips from the International Skagit Valley Tulip Festival held annually in the Mt. Vernon area of Washington State, I love it when I can find a simple tulip and focus on just the color and micro patterns in the image. Tulips are such powerful symbols of Spring for […]
Yellow and Purple Tulip Closeup, Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
I love the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and have many years of photographs from its bountiful rainbow of tulips. This one is from the 2007 festival, a very gray sky and wet few weeks. We always bring our full camera gear, different tripods, lenses, everything we can to get the landscape views as well as […]
Behind the Scenes: Lacy Trees in Winter
Winter is one of my favorites, and trees coated in snow is top of the list. I captured these ancient trees along the pond at the farm in Gaston, Oregon, where we stayed the first two years back in the Pacific Northwest. Their twisted and gnarled branches were perfect for creating a lacy effect with […]
Hauling Away Hurricane Katrina
I found this image in my files. I was driving through Mobile, Alabama, and saw the railroad had been repaired with fresh gravel lining the fixed rails. Hurricane Katrina had done its damage along much of the railroad system that followed the gulf coast, washing out and twisting the rails like licorice sticks. I liked […]
Sunset and Forest Fires
Driving up towards Yosemite National Park in California, the sunset turned incredibly intense. Recent forest fires had left particulates in the air which turned the sunset intense reds and oranges. Brent VanFossen quickly pulled over, looking for any subject to frame as a silhouette against this vibrant backdrop of color and found he was in […]
Arabic Books in the Markets of Istanbul
I recently stumbled across this photograph I took in one of the many markets of Istanbul, Turkey, and I wanted to share its story with you. We love photographing markets. Everywhere in the world we travel, we look up open air, covered, above ground, underground, and ancient markets. Fish markets, cheese markets, meat markets, clothing […]
Photographing Water Droplets
Risk. Danger. Anticipation. And nerves of steel. These are the thrills and spills of photographing water droplets. There is a constant threat of danger as they dangle, so close to the edge, hanging on until the last second…then splat. Gone. We love photographing water droplets. They are lenses within your lens, offering a new perspective […]
The Art of the Door
There is “something” about a door. Growing up in Washington State, it was a summer and winter ritual of ours to stop along the way, crossing over the mountains to Eastern Washington to visit friends and family, at The Alps. The Alps was owned by a German immigrant family and they offered a rest stop […]
Finding Photographic Inspiration Through Descriptive Words
Most people think of photography as a “visual” art. It is, but it also represents a “verbal” art form. Photograhy often expresses what most people hard find to say. One of the most popular email joke forwards that makes its rounds every month or so is the collection of animal pictures that express a lot […]
Dew-covered Spider Webs
You have to get up early in the morning to catch dew on most things, but especially early when tracking down dew covered spider webs. Spider webs are incredibly fragile, yet their construction and structure is the strongest of all structures in the world, even manmade. Inch for inch a spider web is stronger than […]