Home
Ed Book's Journal
photographs and words
Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Western Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum)
©2009 Ed Book

I was out for a walk in the forest and found some interesting Sword Ferns filling the forest understory.  The sky was clear so some bits of sunlight were getting through to the forest floor which clipped the highlights of any images made showing sunlit surfaces.  ('clipping the highlights refers to areas where the light is so bright that the pixels there record white with no details.  It's okay for specular highlights to clip (specular highlights are spots of light that are usually pin point reflections of the sun as in a drop of water or shiny metal surface in sunlight) because the eye expects them but broader light areas being clipped cause the eye to be uncomfortable... too bright to look at is the feeling the viewer gets.

I was in a deep canyon in late afternoon but the sun was still shining down into the understory blasting clipping at me here and there resulting in  unusable exposures.  On thing I teach my students is that when there is some attribute of imagemaking that is preventing you from making your intended image, then use that attribute in your favor and if possible exaggerate that factor.  (for example, if the wind is moving your subject too much to get a sharp image, then, exaggerate the motion to use it to make your image.

In this case, I got low to the ground with the fern between me and the sun to record the fronds backlighted and glowing with light.

more ferns

Peace
 
 

Tags: , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
 
Evening light paints moss covered Bigleaf Maples with a warm glow in the Duckabush River temperate rain forest in the Olympic National Forest, Washington, USA  ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://archive.edbookphoto.com
alpenglo in the Duckabush River valley rain forest - Olympic National Forest, WA USA

 

Big Leaf Maple, Vine Maple, Stinging Nettles, moss
Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Moss covered Big Leaf Maple and Vine Maple understory are bathed in evening golden alpenglow. Duckabush River, Olympic National Forest, WA, USA ©2009 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://archive.edbookphoto.com
alpenglo in the Duckabush rain forest

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
A trail passes through a forest canapy on the Kitsap Peninsula in Puget Sound, WA, USA ©2009 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)
late evening passage - Kitsap Peninsula, Puget Sound, Washington, USA

©2009 Ed Book

'went for a walk in the forest this afternoon,
made photographs
got dark
no light
got lost
surprised by getting lost

Peace

Tags: , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Bobcat tracks in the snow along a Mount Tahoma Trails cross country ski trail, Washington, USA ©2009 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://archive.edbookphoto.com
Bobcat tracks along the trail

©2009 Ed Book

I see Bobcat tracks along the trail often but have only seen an actual cat a couple times and it was in the summer. Their main food is the Snowshoe Hare which I noticed this winter being rare probably because of the extremely deep snows of last year and the resulting dip in population of bunnies and kitties... Also, I've noticed a dip in the frequency of Cougar tracks too this winter. The cats are probably hungry about now and I don't move too quickly--hmmmm, don't tell the kitties.

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
along a cross country ski trail in the Cascade Mountain Range, Mount Tahoma Trails, Washington, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
along the Puyallup Ridge ski trail - Mount Tahoma Trails, Washington, USA

©2008 Ed Book

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Garry Oak in autumn color near the Klickitat Canyon, Klickitat County, Washington, USA panorama ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
autumn Garry oak, Klickitat County, Washington

©2008 Ed Book

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Outlet Creek flows through an autumn forest in the Klickitat Canyon, Klickitat County, Washington, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Outlet Creek in the Klickitat River Canyon, Washington

©2008 Ed Book

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Garry Oak - Klickitat County, Washington, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
(Quercus garryana) Garry Oak, Gray Oak, Oregon White Oak, White Oak, Post Oak, Brewer Oak, Shin Oak

©2008 Ed Book


Peace

Tags: , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Aspen grove Glenwood, Washington, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Aspen - Klickitat County, Washington

©2008 Ed Book


Peace

Tags: , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
A trail courses through an old growth forest along the Ohanapecosh River in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Ohanapecosh River Valley just outside Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

©2008 Ed Book

I prefer to camp in this forest when I'm in the area although there are many campgrounds near.

Peace

Tags: , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Hybrid Poplar grove, (Populus) Cottonwood, Boardman, Oregon, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Cottonwood grove - Boardman, Oregon

©2008 Ed Book

Peace

Tags: , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Hybrid Poplar grove, (Populus) Cottonwood, Boardman, Oregon, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Cottonwood Grove dream

©2008 Ed Book

I should mention that the effect here was not generated in Photoshop but instead in the camera during the exposure... it's called 'moving the camera'.

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Hybrid Poplar grove, (Populus) Cottonwood, Boardman, Oregon, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Hybrid Poplar grove, Boardman, Oregon

©2008 Ed Book

If you travel east on I-84 through eastern Oregon, you'll see this grove. Get off the exit and go walk in the grove, It's quite surreal, all the trees the same size and in lines... I've been by here a few times but this was the first time I stopped to make photographs. I plan to return again in different seasons and when I can spend more time.

Peace

Tags: , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Barred Owlet in the forest canopy - Olympic National Forest, WA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Barred Owlet (Strix varia) - Duckabush River Valley, Olympic National Forest

©2008 Ed Book

Last week when I was over on the Olympic Peninsula camping with my children and grandchildren, Victoria (my new daughter-in-law) heard an owl in the forest canopy (I consider her an expert in birding) and Parker (grandson) saw one fly. I set up my tripod with 100-400 mm lens and teleconverter to make some photographs of this owlet and it's sibling calling to mom to feed them.

Peace

Tags: , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Mount Constance in the Olympic Mountains of Washington, USA as viewed from the east ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Mount Constance - Olympic Mountains

©2008 Ed Book

Last week, I spent some time in the Olympics with my kids and grandkids and on the way home stopped a few places I return to again and again to make images. We can see Mount Constance from our home across the Hood Canal but from a distance of a couple dozen miles so details are few. When cold and clear, I'll sometimes set up my Canon 500mm image stabilized f/4 L lens with 1.4X teleconverter and 2X teleconverter to give an effective 1400mm lens on the Canon EOS 1Ds MkII with full size sensor to bring in some details unseen by naked eye. It looks quite different from up close ("up close" as in from about five miles away but up on a high ridge to preclude 'foreshortening' that is involved when looking up across the foothills between when viewing from home)

Although I did set up long lens and teleconverters to look at the mountain up close from up close, this image was made using the 100-400 Canon L lens at 160mm. I might post some of the 1400mm images later if there's interest.

Peace

Tags: , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
small waterfall mists mosses and maidenhair ferns near Walker Pass in the Olympic National Forest, WA, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
tumbling water near Walker Pass - Olympic National Forest - Washington

©2008 Ed Book

Before my Daughter and my Grandkids flew back to the east coast, I spent a few days camping with them and my Son, Seth and my new Daughter-in-law Victoria. On the way home, I visited an old friend, this waterfall along the Rocky Brook road that climbs from Walker Pass on US 101 in the Olympic National Forest.

This is one of those places that I keep returning to hoping that the air will be still so I can photograph non-blury Maidenhair Ferns with a long enough exposure to render the water silky. This was the first time the air was still... happy me

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
vine maple branches with abundant leaves in springtime, Ohanapecosh River Valley, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA ©2002 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
vine maple - Ohanapecosh River Valley, Mount Rainier National Park

©2002 Ed Book

Nikon 990 digital capture

... )

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
redalder with catkins in late winter, along the road to Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
red alder along the road to Paradise

©2008 Ed Book

G9

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Tatoosh Range beyond Paradise Valley in a snowstorm, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Tatoosh peaks beyond Mazama Ridge - snowstorm

©2008 Ed Book

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
winter waterfall near White Pass in the Cascade Range - Wenatchee National Forest, Washington, USA ©2006 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
White Pass, Wenatchee National Forest, Cascade Range, Washington

©2006 Ed Book


some like it vertical

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
winter waterfall near White Pass - Wenatchee National Forest, Cascade Range, Washington, USA ©2006 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
White Pass - Wenatchee National Forest - Cascade Range, Washington

©2006 Ed Book

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
About a week ago, Gene, and Phil, fellow ski patrollers and I skied out to this ridge to scout a hopefully proposed location for a new temporary Mount Tahoma Trails hut about two miles beyond the Copper Creek Hut. The view included Mount Rainier above the Glacier View Wilderness and Mount Beljica, the Goat Rocks, Sawtooth Ridge, Mount Adams, Griffin Mountain, Mt St Helens, Mount Storm King, Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountain Range. What a day! What a view!
(the image also has three sets of cougar tracks that course along the ridge).


Ski Trooper Ridge 360 degree view of Mount Rainier, Mt Beljica, the Goat Rocks, Sawtooth Ridge, Mt Adams, Griffin Mtn., Mt St Helens, Mt Storm King, Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountain Range - Mount Tahoma Trails - Washington, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Mount Tahoma Trails - Ski Trooper Ridge - 360º panorama

©2008 Ed Book

We are calling the ridge Ski Trooper Ridge to honor the Army's 10th Mountain Division who got their start early in the 1940's on Mount Rainier. The location is on privately owned timber company land and so any hut we would erect would have to be stationed in place temporarily being moved after the snow season. We've been thinking of designing some sort of arrangement of ocean shipping containers mounted on trailers. This hut would be crude compared to our (Mount Tahoma Trails Association) other huts which are actually (3) two story cabins and a two story yurt located along our 50+ miles of cross country ski trails.


Here's a larger version of this photo (~600K) )

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
cougar tracks in the snow - Mount Tahoma Trails - north district at the hoped for new location for a temportary xc ski hut above the Morge Lakes cirque-Mt St Helens is in the distance about 40 miles away, Cascade Mountain Range, Washington, USA ©2008 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Mount Tahoma Trails north district near the Morge Lakes Cirque

©2008 Ed Book

I've seen lots of cat tracks in the snow this year but they were mostly made by Bobcats. I didn't see any cats though. These tracks were much bigger and there were three sets. I suspect siblings or mother and offspring who were still with her. I have seen Bobcats and fox and martins and rabbits and hares on the trail system and elk, deer, and bear in the summer up there but have yet to see a cougar in the mountains. I'm certain that they have seen me and have seen their tracks on my own. I often ski in remote areas alone and sometimes at night but do so much less lately because I'm paranoid of the big cats.

Last week, I was skiing down one of the trails and saw where two sets of cougar tracks entered the trail and were ahead of me going the same direction. It was snowing and they were fresh enough to not have snow in them. I made lots of excuses to myself for stopping, a snack, then a drink, then some photos, and then another drink, and and and till I realized that it would be dark soon and I had a couple more miles to go. I didn't enjoy that ski so had to repeat it again the next day early when I wasn't afraid. (I'm afraid of the dark and of big animals that would like to eat me and can usually handle one fear at a time but when they gang up, they become symbiotic and I chicken out.)

I even practiced swinging my ski poles around to be ready for a confrontation.

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
USA WA alder big beef creek calm cold color creek flow forest kitsap peninsula plants puget sound state stream tidal tidewater washington western red cedar white winter ©2007 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
freshwater from Big Beef Creek freezing in Hood Canal tidewater

©2007 Ed Book

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Big Beef Creek winter with a light snowfall, Hood Canal tidewater, Kitsap Peninsula, Puget Sound, WA, USA  ©2007 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Big Beef Creek at the Hood Canal tidewater

©2007 Ed Book

fresh snow at sealevel

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
light snow on a bog on the Kitsap Peninsula in the Puget Sound lowlands, Washington, USA   ©2007 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
Kitsap Peninsula - Puget Sound lowlands (bog along Sesame St up the road from Nika Trail

©2007 Ed Book

Contrary to some opinions that I may have generated with my last post of some peaks in the Olympic Mountains from our home here on Nika Trail... Although we have views of the mountains like that view, we're not in the mountains but in the Puget Sound lowlands and our home is at about 350 ft above sea level. The Olympic mountains rise to about 5700' along the Hood Canal (fjord) that separates our Kitsap Peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula and the peaks are about 20 miles away.

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
mature conifer forest in the Tahoma State Forest, Cascade Mountain Range, Washington, USA ©2007 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com
mature forest - Tahoma State Forest - Cascade Mountain Range - Washington

©2007 Ed Book

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
roaring through the woods -dirtbike motorcycle rider ©2007 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com

©2007 Ed Book

Peace

Tags: , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
running through the forest ©2007 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com

©2007 Ed Book



Peace

Tags: , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Ohanapecosh autumn rain ©2006 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com

©2006 Ed Book

camera motion––not a Photoshop effect.

Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
a few years ago, Bob was mountain biking in the Capital Hills near Olympia and found that he was being followed by an emaciated looking very young and obviously lost husky. The dog couldn't be chased away or dissuaded from following. After about eight miles of trail, Bob decided that he had found a new friend, or rather, vice versa. Luka went home with Bob and they've been together since. Here, we see them on the trail enjoying the snow. Luka is strong and loves to run and run she does and wow is she strong. While I was talking to Bob, she sat patiently waiting but obviously eager to get up the trail. I turned and went up the trail a little way to photograph them coming up the trail toward me and behind me heard Bob yelling for Luka to stop. I turned to see that Bob had fallen and Luka was running full speed, dragging him behind, flailing in the snow...


skier being pulled by a husky in the forest on the Mount Tahoma Trails near Mount Rainier in Washington state's Cascade mountain range ©2007 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com

©2007 Ed Book


Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend

©2007 Ed Book

If you're a Washington state resident, I have a request for you.

There are funds available for recreation on state Department of Natural Resources lands and a large portion of the Mount Tahoma Trail system is located on these state lands and The Mount Tahoma Trails Association (MTTA) is a non-profit organization that maintains the trail system. There is a line item to purchase and maintain snow cat grooming equipment for the trail system on the Department of Natural Resources appropriations bill being considered this week by the state legislature. As there are no fees for trail or hut users and all work is done by volunteers, the trail system meets the criteria for these recreation funds. The current sno-cats for grooming are old and in need of constant repair. (They were obtained being retired from service at other trail systems and have been kept in use with much volunteer effort but they spend most of the time unavailable, needing repair.)

SO... what it takes: please call the legislative hot line at 1-800-562-600. You will be asked for your name and address to determine your representatives and then

say that you would like your elected officials to support the Department of Natural Resources appropriations bill to purchase and maintain snow cat grooming equipment for the Mount Tahoma Trails System.

That's all it takes. this phone line is well-staffed from 8AM to 8PM.

We've been told that these phone calls are effective and will significantly contribute to the success of maintaining a safe trail system with reliable grooming equipment.

Thanks and


Peace

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
snowy Elwha valley, Olympic National Park forest ©2007 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http;//edbookphoto.com

©2007 Ed Book

I made this image from the dam on the Elwha River in the national park. This forest is inaccessible from any trail and isolated by the river and Bolder Creek.

Question: How many trees are there in this image?

Peace

Tags: , , , , , ,

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Orion and the night sky Milky Way  ©2007 Ed Book (all rights reserved - DO NOT COPY)   http://edbookphoto.com


©2007 Ed Book


one more and sleep...


Peace

Tags: , , , , , ,

profile
Ed Book
User: [info]edbook
Name: Ed Book
Website: EdBookPhoto
links
archive (dark dates indicate posts)
Back November 2009
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930
tags
PEACE
visualize peace
pray for peace
work for peace
be at peace
it starts in your heart