Chihuly glass was the canvas here … the afternoon sun, the painter. A stroll through glass-studded greens at Chihuly Garden and Glass (Seattle Center) exposed the Space Needle for the abstraction it wants to be. Throughout the garden, glass globes, spears and towers lie interspersed with botanical realness. What caught Hugh’s eye first, my imagination…
Bull Kelp Metallica
Click for Larger Image Nereocystis luetkeana I saw these bull kelp stipes or stems on Elliott Bay in Seattle, rolling with the pulses of the tide and buoyed by their bulbs. The slickness of their whips and ribbons reflect the sun and paint them metallic. It’s a dying sea forest alchemically transformed through the elements…
A Return to Itten: Days 9 to 12
Today seems like an Itten’s Contrasts kind of day, with rainbows reflected in puddles as the sun dances in and out of Seattle downpour. I started an Itten’s Contrast series on the eve of 2010 — finishing just eight of my twelve promised posts. I’m tallying up the final four today, two years later, with…
Beautiful Things in Humble Places
“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.” ~ Camille Pissarro. I can’t see the world the way Pissarro did, let alone paint it. My own mother creates watercolors like Georgia O’Keefe’s, but I can’t draw a stick figure in proper perspective. In other words, were it not…
Staging “Nature” Shots
A friend of mine recommended 500px as an alternative to Flickr. Between Flickr, Facebook, Linked In and my inactive Twitter account, I’m maxed out on social networking, something I’ve never been all that hot on, anyway. But, I meandered over to 500px because the interface is supposedly beautiful, and the community gets rave reviews. The…
Snowy Owls, Boundary Bay & Rethinking My Own Motivations
Snow Owls on driftwood, shot from the dike trail at Boundary Bay – ©ingridtaylar – Click for Larger Image My only intent in visiting Boundary Bay was to get a glimpse of Snowy Owls. I’ve never seen them in the wild, and although I brought my camera, I didn’t expect to be close enough to…
First … Signs of Snowies
Boundary Bay, British Columbia Edited to add (2/17/12): Since I posted this, I’ve had animated discussions with photographers who disagree with my stance on this owl/space/ethics issue. They’ve told me it’s acceptable for photographers to be out in the marshes, as long as they don’t flush the owls. I wanted to find out what the…
Bird Noir
There are wildlife photographers who apologize for any urban elements — like street lamps — in their bird images. I embrace those shots, for three reasons: I admire the rugged survivalists that are urban birds and wildlife. What we throw at them in the way of obstacles, pollution, windows, automobiles, poisons, traps, wires and electricity,…
The Halloween Raven
When I photographed this Common Raven, wind surfing off Ocean Beach in San Francisco, I didn’t realize that new life would continually germinate from this one photo … through my Creative Commons license and into the public domain by way of sketches, artwork composites and collages. I’m always delighted when an image I’ve licensed under…
Why I Don’t Disclose Wildlife Locations
You may have noticed that with many of my posts, I describe the location of my photos in most general terms. There’s a reason for this, and it has nothing to do with hoarding a choice photography spot. In fact, most places where I’ve photographed wildlife are quite open to the public and well-known by…
