Kat Eye Studio

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The Black and White Landscape

We got up early. The clouds were low and the morning was quiet as we hiked to Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park. We encountered a few photographers with their tripods at the bottom of the trail, photographing the falls, but there were few others around at that time of day. It had rained the night before and the trail was damp. The only noise was the sound of our bear bell and the rushing water, when we were near the stream flowing from the lake.

After a two mile hike, the valley opened up into glacier-fed Avalanche Lake. Amazing waterfalls crashed down cliffsides from the glacier invisible above. The clouds reached down and touched the mountainside around us, muting the colors. There were layers upon layers everywhere. In the rock…

Glacier National Park

…and the ridges…

Glacier National Park

…and the mountains themselves.

Glacier National Park

Many of the images from this morning’s hike seemed to call for black and white. I’m normally a fan of color, but I can see how landscapes like these are perfect for black and white. You see the texture and variations in light in a completely different way. I’m not sure that these images are “done” in terms of processing. I edited them a couple of weeks ago and I tweaked them again today. I think I still have much to learn about creating an effective black and white image, but recognizing the possibilities is a start.

Glacier National Park

Oh, and our quiet, misty morning hike? By the time we left the lake, the clouds were dissipating and the crowds had arrived. While we saw almost no one on the hike up to the lake, we saw a steady stream of people on the hike down. We had just beat the rush of people and just captured the clouds as they were lifting. Timing is everything.

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Carved by Ice and Time

I’m back! We returned this weekend from a week spent in northern Montana, exploring Glacier National Park.

Signs in Polebridge, Glacier National Park

To The Park

My husband has been wanting to go there for years, before the glaciers all disappear. There were 150 in the park when it was first explored, and now there are 25 left. Even these have dramatically shrunk when you see the pictures of long ago compared to today.

What’s left is the rocks, the trees and the water. A land carved by ice and by time. And it’s gorgeous…

Bowman Lake, Glacier National Park

Bowman Lake, Glacier National Park

Nature is not my usual subject, and it took a while to get into a groove with my photography. It took a while to get into the groove of this kind of vacation, to be honest. This trip didn’t yield new discoveries, but rediscoveries. The joy of being out in the woods on a trail, hiking. The fun of being in the water on a canoe as a family. The capture of tiny bits of beauty that have been scattered by nature’s hand.

Wildflowers, Glacier National Park

After a few days of walking and looking with my camera in hand, I began to see the colors of the forest. The patterns found in the trees. The lines of the mountains. I found that new perspective I was looking for. It’s always there, when I settle in and give myself a chance to see. I’ll share it with you over the next week or two.

The Photo-Heart Connection link up for July is still open through tomorrow. Come join us!

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I Will Not Take These Things for Granted

Continuing to work on A Sense of Place this weekend, this morning I’ve been exploring the big picture – landscapes and such. I love the expansiveness and peacefulness of this image, from Lake Como in Italy.

As I write this post, one of my favorite songs, I Will Not Take These Things for Granted by Toad the Wet Sprocket, is playing on iTunes. The image and the song are both a reminder to be grateful for the beauty that exists in this world around us, this day. I’ll leave you with the song today.

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Grateful for this Day

Today as I watched the video linked below, this image jumped out to me. A moment, a tiny detail, captured on a Swiss mountain over a year ago. A moment when my eyes were open to see the beauty of the world around me.

I don’t have much time for blogging today, I have some early meetings I need to go get ready for. I want to leave you with this incredible video on gratitude. If you have 10 minutes, your time will be well spent. I guarantee you will see your world, your day and your photographs with a sense of gratitude by the end.

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The Power of Nature

It’s hard to believe that a little over one week ago we stood on an active volcano. Located in Sicily, Mt. Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe. We rode the gondola up on the south side, stood in the snow as the locals skied down the hill, and ogled the peak puffing away. We marveled, “We’re on an active volcano!”

It was a beautiful day, as the blue skies attest (no color enhancement to these photos). It would be hard to believe that it could change in an instant, but you can’t predict nature. On the north side of Etna you can see the most recent lava flows below the smoking peaks.

As I hear the reports and see the videos of the Japan earthquakes and tsunami, I am rendered speechless. In the face of nature’s power, we are helpless. We are mere passengers on this ball of rock hurtling through space. The earth continues to re-shape itself as it will, regardless of how the humans on the surface try to monitor, predict or even control it. We easily forget that in our everyday lives.

My heart and support goes out to those struggling with the aftermath of this natural disaster in Japan.

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Beads of Fog

What happens when it’s cloudy and foggy on the mountaintop you visit? What happens when you look out and around and all you can see is a soft white? You start to notice the little details, close at hand. The way the fog beads up on the alpine grasses and flowers, like little crowns.
The softness of the light and the splashes of color of the wildflowers against the patina of the tundra.
The way the fog fades into the distance, providing a perfect backdrop to capture shining edges of nature’s summer blanket in the Alps.

Who needs grand vistas, anyway?

(Photos from Eisel Peak on Mt. Pilatus, Switzerland.)

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