Some folks have wondered what my life is like out here on Orcas Island this winter, so I’ll share a day in the life. The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week is “A One Lens Walk”. We’re supposed to take a lens for a walk. I took my Panasonic Lumix DC FZ-80, a high-end point-and-shoot, and walked the beach that fronts the property here, so that you can see my everyday view.
There’s a reason why I landed a winter-long housesit here. It’s the same reason that what seems like half the population of western Washington comes down to Death Valley in the winter. The weather isn’t really bad. It’s actually pretty good compared to most of the country in January. But it isn’t very good, either. It doesn’t rain all that much, but it always looks like rain. It’s somewhat drizzly and… gray. It’s a Maritime climate and it’s fairly far north. So it’s dark. And gray. Almost always.
The light is flat. It’s not very inspiring, photographically speaking. I often go for walks and feel disappointed because I find so little I want to shoot. It’s kind of pretty. But it’s also pretty bland.
Sometimes, though, there are surprises. I started this walk and at the edge of the property, where it borders the teeny tiny public beach, I found a flower! In January. In northern Washington, where everything is dead and dormant this time of year! Gives me hope!
By the way, I’m real good at wildflowers but don’t know garden flowers at all, and this one is a garden flower gone feral. If you can identify it for me, let me know in the comments!
Flat light’s not all bad. As any flower photographer could tell you, it can be amazing for bringing out color and detail in closeups. So I have to look a little closer, for the details, like the hues and textures in a piece of driftwood.
Today I riffed on this awesome piece of driftwood, making abstract images. I’ve been getting into abstracts a lot on Orcas, because I’m usually not inspired by the view. (Spoiled, I know.)
Although Orcas hasn’t really inspired me, in other ways this stay has been very good for my photography. Because it’s gray I spend most of a day in the life sitting in front of the computer. I don’t really care that I’m not out and about. I’m enjoying the occasional look out at that gray view, and sometimes I see my neighbors. I have fellow snowbirds living in the Sound off my beach. The ones I see daily are about a half dozen harlequin ducks. Since harlequins are my favorite ducks, I think that’s pretty cool. Sometimes I see a few buffleheads, or a pair of Goldeneyes, or a pair of loons, or a flock of geese.
But most of the time I’m focused on the screen. I’m taking a Lightroom course and my processing skills are growing exponentially. I spend a lot of time processing and organizing my huge backlog of images. I’m also working on my book, a history of Kennecott, Alaska, illustrated with my photography. These are all projects that are making me a better photographer. Projects I wouldn’t get to if it was a sunny day in a drop-dead gorgeous locale.
I’m trying to get my work out in front of more people, too. I’m in three exhibitions for the month of February, with pieces in the Anza-Borrego Institute’s Desert Photography exhibition in Borrego Springs, California, the New Horizons Exhibition here on Orcas Island and Gallerium’s Shapes and Colors online abstract exhibition.
A day in the life for me on Orcas is chill, a little lonely, low-key but productive. Quiet, still, but subtly beautiful, kind of like the driftwood on the beach.
You’ve made wonderful use of your time this winter, Dianne. The weather isn’t inspiring, but you’ve found ways to ignite your creativity. Wonderful. And your photos are–as you say–filled with great attention to detail. I love those ducks! I’ve never seen harlequin ducks before. Where are you taking the Lightroom course?
Thanks, Patti! I’m taking David Muench’s LightRoom course online.
I do love your driftwood abstracts! As to the rather grey abstracts, have you experimented with monochrome edits? I think your flower may be a type of calendula but I’m no expert!
Thanks, Sarah! That was my thought on the flower too, but I know so little about domestic flowers. I certainly don’t know for sure. I’ll play more with monochrome. Thanks, it might be a fun way to deal with the gray!
Greetings Dianne – I love your attitude on this one! I’m one who has a bit of seasonal affect disorder and cold, dreary days really make me depressed, hence my move to the southern US where sun is with us year-round. You, on the other hand, have found terrific ways to be productive and to inspire your own creativity which is great! I’m happy to hear you’re exhibiting because you work is marvelous. This week I loved your ducks and the driftwood with the little stones especially. As an aside, LR is a terrific product which I use extensively but you could spend years learning all of the details in each of the features!!!
Thanks, Tina. Yes, there are so many layers to LightRoom! I’ve been muddling along on my own for years but it sure is helpful to have a pro teach me the ins and outs. For instance, after I discovered dehaze on my own I leaned on it heavily, using it like a polarizer on a film camera. But one of my major challenges with my images has been noise. Lo and behold, he taught me that dehaze greatly contributes to noise so I’ve been doing it wrong all along! It’s things like that that make this course so worthwhile.
I love all the driftwood shots. I have been to Orcas Island numerous times. And gray it is, and hard to muscle through sometimes. I am inspired my the landscape, as wildlife always seems to show up, but I agree with you, a walk and a closer look tells a bigger story. This was a nice look back at Orcas through your eyes. Good on you for taking classes.
Thanks, Donna. I think that’s what’s missing for me, the wildlife. I see a few waterfowl and occasionally an eagle or a seal but that’s it. When I visited the San Juans about 30 years ago, there were these cute little deer and otters, but I’ve only seen one deer for about 10 seconds (a plague wiped them out a couple of years ago) and no otters yet. I was expecting more. Things have changed, something that is sadly true in many places. I’ve yet to see an Orca on Orcas. Guess I need a boat.