It's tricky - a tree spirit
Posted on by Dianne

It’s Tricky

It’s tricky. Sometimes you can see them and sometimes you can’t. But once you do, you can’t unsee them. I’m talking faces. Faces and other features, mimicked in rock outcroppings or trees.

It's tricky in Olympic National Park
Can you see a fish face in these rocks?

I’m on the road this week. Since I am visiting Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint in  Bandon, Oregon today, I thought it might be fun to share a few of my images with “spirit people’ in them with you.

It's tricky in Olympic National Park.
I know I’ve published this one before, but it’s such a perfect “tree spirit”.

Face Rock even has a Native American legend attached to it, so a lot of people have given this sea stack human attributes over the ages. Even so, I had a real hard time seeing the face at first. It’s a nasty, stormy day with gray, flat light that doesn’t bring out the shadows that usually make this rock so distinctive. If you are also having trouble seeing a resemblance to a face, too, the profile is on the right side and she’s looking up towards the sky.

It's tricky to see the face at Face Rock natural Scenic Viewpoint.
This is Face Rock. If you can’t see the face, it’s a profile on the right, looking up at the sky.

Sometimes these faces are very well known. The Old Man of the Mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire was even a state symbol, printed on the license plates, until erosion did it in about 20 years ago.

That’s the thing about these features. Like the humans they resemble, they are ephemeral, although their life spans are generally much longer than ours!

It's tricky.
I saw this one very clearly when I shot it, but it didn’t translate so well. If you can’t see the face, here’s a hint – the black spot is an eye and the sawed off branch is a medallion on his headdress. That’s how I first saw it, though in this picture it looks like the sawed-off branch could be his eye, too.

Occasionally, I take a photo and find the “spirit face” in it after I process the image, having never noticed it when I took the original photograph. Has that ever happened to you? My feature photo is one like that. If you can’t see the face, it’s in the lower middle of the image and looks like a gremlin.

It's tricky.
Peek-A-Boo!

I spent a winter in Hawaii many, many years ago, back in my film photography days. I found spirit faces everywhere in those images when I had them developed! By secret waterfalls, in sacred caves…..it was spooky! There’s more going on out there in the world than our mere human senses will ever fully discern or understand. (Twilight Zone theme)

It's tricky in Redwoods National Park.
Fiona’s (Shrek) legs

I find this last image quite remarkable. I hope it doesn’t offend any of you. The tree grew like this naturally, a mother Madrone in the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon. I have not changed it in any way. This tree could make you believe in the old Greek myths where young girls pursued by lecherous gods were transformed into nymphs and dryads by jealous goddesses.

It's tricky in the Cathedral Hills.
A dryad turned into a tree

I hope you have fun with the resemblances in my post this week. Thank you, Donna of Wind Kisses,  for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, “It’s Tricky.”

 

 

8 Replies to “It’s Tricky”

  1. What a great idea for the week’s challenge Dianne! I’ve seen Face Rock which does definitely resemble a woman’s face, but had never seen or heard of any of the others. I just loved the closing image, that one is amazing and does indeed seem like a woman turned to stone (or tree as it were!) Marvelous!!

  2. What a creative take on the theme this week, Dianne. The photos alone are grand, but to look closer and find the faces, as well as hearing about your love for finding “more going on out there” made it even more fun. I didn’t have any trouble finding the faces. My favorite photo was Fiona’s legs. Spot on! I like to think I am pretty observant, but you sure found some great treasures. Thank you for sharing this.

  3. These are all great fun, although I found some easier to spot than others. I love the notion that they are spirits 😀

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