2011 American Penstemon Society meeting

Mount Ashland explorations, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

July 8 - 10 in Ashland, Oregon, with field trips into the Siskiyous. I have a lot of pictures to process and post, but I'll start with this teaser.

Aaron Wenzel, one of my graduate students, is studying the Caespitosi group of Penstemons in the Rockies and Intermountain region. He had never seen a Dasanthera group penstemon, and we found P. davidsonii on the summit of Mount Ashland. We hiked up from a spot a mile or two below the summit. There was still snow on the road, closing the area to automobile traffic.



This is a macro shot of Penstemon davidsonii.



The Siskiyous is an interesting mountain range in southern Oregon. There is a lot of biodiversity to be found here, partly because the region was a glacial refugium during the Pleistocene.



We saw many different species of Penstemon. This is a macro of P. deustus, aka Hot Rock Penstemon.

On the ferry

On the ferry, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

A busker working the ferry to San Juan Island; Puget Sound, Washington (July 2010). This guy was pretty interesting to watch. I don't remember how well he played.

Red-throated hummingbird

Red-throated hummingbird, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

I spent some time in Georgia over the past few days. My hosts in Barnesville (Fred and Kendall Morris) have hummingbird feeders at a few places on the porch or deck. This time of year the hummers are stocking up for their migration south. There were dozens of hummers going to the feeder in a frenzy of activity.

To properly photograph hummingbirds, a strobe and a fast shutter speed is necessary. However, I like the impressionistic look of this photo, which was done with a strobe, but at a slow shutter speed to get the motion blur of the wings and body whilst the head is still.

Feeding frenzy

Aerial ballet

Fort Knox

Fort Knox, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Another image from our visit to Fort Knox, Maine. This is from the outside of the structure, looking up a line of gun slits.

Paths we walk

Paths we walk, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

"If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success." ~ John D. Rockefeller

I think this quote sums up my wood turning adventures. I like to explore new paths in many areas, including art.

Bokeh abstract

Bokeh abstract, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Bokeh can be a fun and challenging subject to photograph. This photo was taken early morning during a heavy dew. The sun was behind the droplets, and my aperture setting was pretty wide open. I like bokeh.

Daisy and dew drops

Daisy and dew drops, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

From Soos Creek trail, Washington. Steve's folks live in a suburb of Seattle. We like to go walking long before anyone is up and about. The dew is pretty heavy at sunrise, but it makes for some interesting patterns on the foliage and flowers of the plants that line the path.

Big Leaf Maple

Big Leaf Maple, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Aptly named as some of the leaves are much bigger than a dinner plate. Acer macrophylla is the botanical name, and it's my favorite turning wood. Usually you can see huge burls dotting the trunk of the tree, and the quilting and curl patterns of this species can be stunningly beautiful.

Photographer

Photographer, a photo by Stephen A. Wolfe on Flickr.

Steve's portrait of me at Fort Knox, Maine.

Young couple enjoying the view of Camden Harbor from Mount Battie

Young couple enjoying the view of Camden Harbor from Mount Battie, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

When we drove up to Lincolnville Beach from Portland, Maine we arrived too early to check into our B&B. We explored the surrounding area for the rest of the day, including a drive up to the top of Mount Battie in Camden Hills State Park. Every once-in-awhile the clouds would clear to give us a view of Camden Harbor. These two were absorbed with each other and the romantic vista.

Portland Head Lighthouse - yes, again.

Portland Head Lighthouse, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

This time I did HDR processing from six exposures. HDR brings out the cloud details and the front of the lighthouse, given the back lighting. I'm not very experienced with HDR processing, but sometimes I like to try it.

Giant Sitka Spruce

Giant Sitka Spruce, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Steve is standing at the base of the tree for size scale. This giant Sitka spruce tree is at Cape Perpetua, Oregon. The old growth forest is gone except for some old trees that were left standing in various ravines and gullies. One can only imagine what the primeval forest was like before logging removed these ancient trees.

For comparison, here's what the after logging forest is typically like in the coastal range of Oregon - that is, if it's not been planted in Douglas Fir.

Fort Knox, Maine

Fort Knox, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Here's a black and white scene from the interior spaces of Fort Knox in Maine. It is an impressive place, full of history, and many connecting passages.

Another scene from Fort Knox. Black and white really fits the ambiance of this place.

Wood Artist

Wood Artist, a photo by Stephen A. Wolfe on Flickr.

Steve often comes into my "studio" while I'm working on a project to get some photos of me at work. I'm on a collaboration project right now that needs to be finished this week. The form was turned by Harvey Fein, using his ornamental set-up for turning geometric shapes. This one is a convex pentagonal shape with thick walls that allow me to carve a biomorphic motif.

Here's a detail teaser.

Portland Head Lighthouse

Portland Head Lighthouse, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

I was going through my photo collection last night and found several other views of the Portland Head Lighthouse that I wanted to process. So, here's another in the series. This was taken with my new Tokina 11-16 mm lens, which was dropped and broken just after this image was taken.

Portrait of a Maine Master Guide

Maine Master Guide, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Steve and I did a lot of exploring of coastal areas while we were in Maine. One of our later afternoon, early evening stops was at a place called Ducktrap. It wasn't far from where we stayed for most of the week, and it came highly recommended by our B&B host.

While we were birding and doing some photography, we encountered Dave McPheters, one of the Maine Masterguides of the region. I didn't see him listed on the currect roster that's on the website, but that seems to be out of date by a few years anyway. Mr. McPheters was a very interesting character. He gave us some background on what he does as a master guide, and we talked about the birds we had seen and what we had been photographing while on vacation.

I asked if I could do a portrait of him. He has such an interesting face - weathered from being outdoors so many years, I'm sure. I'll have to figure out how to get a copy to him. The card I have doesn't list an email address.

Sometimes a cliche is ok

Lone Pine, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

I browse Flickr a lot, and this theme seems to be a popular one over on that photo posting site. Still, it's an effective composition and I've wanted to try my hand at it. When we visited Fort Knox state park in Maryland, this lone pine was a sentinel at the entrance.