Brian H. Powell Photography

Jul 7

Paris is in the Details

A few days ago, I posted a photo from la Tour Montparnasse in Paris—a broad, sweeping view of much of the city. I hope you liked that photo. I did, but it’s hard to express something new in this city that is constantly being photographed.

Many years ago, I took a photography workshop at the Grand Canyon Field Institute. One of the best pieces of advice was to not try to photograph the canyon with a wide angle lens; instead, use a telephoto lens. Rather than try to capture the vast expanse of the canyon, isolate a detail, and that will convey the spirit of place better.

Here’s a take on that idea. Do you know where this is?

It probably helps that I’ve mentioned Paris… it’s a detail of the Eiffel Tower. If you hadn’t already been thinking of Paris, would you have figured it out? Recalling this earlier blog post, would you have figured out the story on your own?

Here’s another take. I think here, almost everyone who’s seen the Eiffel Tower (or even a photo of it), would recognize it. This detail shot even gives us a chance to read the names of the scientists and engineers which appear under the first balcony. It’s a detail so easily missed when trying to take in the whole scene.

How about this? Do you recognize the place shown below? Hint: several of the names shown on the monument are places in Italy.

It’s a detail of the Arc de Triomphe de L’Etoile. It tells its own story of the many battles fought by French forces over the centuries, but unless you know your French military history, you might not recognize from the photo that this is Paris.

Here’s one last variation on the theme. An infrared photo (as are all four of these photos) of the Arc de Triomphe, with a menacing sky, and… what’s that?… a two-seater microcar driving around it. Doesn’t that scream “grand army”? “Military might”? To me, it’s the detail that makes this photo work.

Jun 24

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Paris

I’m in Paris for a few days, and wanted to share a photo I took today. It’s an infrared shot of a few of the famous sites in France… La Tour D’Eiffel, École Militaire, Les Invalides, Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile.

This has been my first trip to Paris. It’s so overwhelming all of the things I don’t have time to see, but I know I’ll be back and can’t wait to spend more time here.

Jan 18

Viera Wetlands, Brevard County, Florida

At the suggestion of a friend, I stopped by the Viera Wetlands, near Melbourne, Florida. I didn’t have my usual birding photo gear; just a simple point and shoot camera. But, I think I’ll be back. This looks like a great spot. I saw herons, egrets, ibis, coots, moorhens, and others. The wetlands are relatively small—just a couple of hundred acres—and there are several roads that cut through to make it easy to get to good locations based on the light, the wind, and wherever the birds are hanging out.

Great Egret

Sep 24

Gettysburg

Today, I visited the Gettysburg National Military Park and Gettysburg National Cemetery, the site of a bloody American Civil War battle in July of 1863. As with most of the Civil War battlefields, the park is filled with hundreds of monuments memorializing the dead and wounded soldiers.

Here’s an infrared photograph of the State of North Carolina Monument, sculpted by Gutzon Borglum (who also sculpted the heads on Mt. Rushmore and the carving on Stone Mountain).

Sep 23

Fallingwater

I’ve spent the past week in Pittsburgh, at a conference and visiting some professors at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Today, I escaped the city—Pittsburgh’s a great city, by the way—and did a little sightseeing in southwestern Pennsylvania.

I visited the Flight 93 National Memorial and the Johnstown Flood Museum. But most of my time was spent at Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece, Fallingwater. There’s a hint of fall color just beginning to appear—this part of the country is beautiful.

A year or so ago, I visited Taliesin West. Both it and Fallingwater have an enormous sense of fitting exactly into their surrounding environments. Taliesin West sitting perfectly in the desert of Arizona, and Fallingwater belonging no other place than along the stream called Bear Run in Pennsylvania.

Aug 13

Yankee Fork Gold Dredge

I spent my last full day on this Idaho trip in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Near the town of Stanley, Idaho, is a tiny village/trading post called Sunbeam. From there, I drove up the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River, past piles and piles of tailings and cobbles, and then reached the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge.

The dredge was operated during parts of the 1940’s and early 1950’s, gnawing its way for several miles up the Yankee Fork and leaving the waste rock in its wake.

I recommend the tour. You’ll be able to go inside and learn more about how the dredge operated and what it was like to work there.

Aug 11

Hells Canyon of the Snake River

I am in Boise, Idaho, for a conference, and had a spare afternoon. I drove up Hells Canyon, on the Oregon/Idaho border, and did some hiking just below Hells Canyon Dam.

Here’s an infrared photo, taken with my infrared Nikon D200, converted to infrared by Life Pixel. It’s interesting how the infrared highlights the different textures of the water.

I took this photo just upriver of the Hells Canyon dam, looking downriver along the Hells Canyon Reservoir…

I’ll be back. I’d like to take one of the boat tours that heads deeper into the canyon.

Jun 5

Inspiration

Sunset Over Kalalau Valley, Kaua’i

I had a great time in Hawaii, and made it back home safely. I very much appreciated the words my friends suggested for this series of articles. I want to talk about one more word… “inspiration”.

Hawaii is a pretty inspiring place, especially for a visual artist. Remote islands with beautiful scenery and amazing wildlife. Grab your camera and just head out for the day to see what you’re given.

But as I’ve said before, the most important inspiration comes to me from the people around me in my life. Family and friends. Really amazing family and friends. Amazing. And imperfect. And courageous. And especially, inspiring.

Thank you all for being here, for gathering here, in my life.

May 21

Hawaii, Day Eight

The word that was suggested most often for this blog by friends was the word “peace”. I’ve chosen a couple of images to try to represent that.

Earlier this week, at the Kilauea Lighthouse on Kaua’i, I took this photo of a Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon rebricauda). There were scores of these birds along the nearby cliffs. Graceful. Peaceful.

And today at Punalu’u Beach Park near the southern end of the Big Island, I saw this Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) sleeping on the black sand beach.

This is my last Hawaii blog post until I get back and write a wrap-up. I hope you’ve enjoyed this series. See you soon.

May 20

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Hawaii, Day Seven

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow, I’ll have been here a week already. On the day after tomorrow, I will start home.

I have several images I want to show you, and I was also struggling with which inspiring word to use for today’s post. I finally chose two images to fit with the word “power”.

This morning, we went on a boat tour with Lava Ocean Adventures along the southern coast of the Big Island. There’s no lava flowing into the ocean right now, so I don’t have any dramatic photos of that.

I did manage to get this photo of a dolphin who swam near our boat for a few minutes. Seeing this image, I am reminded of the word “power”.

Most of the rest of our day was spent in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We ended the day at the Jaggar Museum overlook, photographing the inner caldera and the glow of the hot lava in the steam clouds. This image also reminds me of “power”. The lava here stays in the caldera, and does not flow out to the ocean.

More adventures tomorrow. See you then.

Brian H. Powell Photography

Conservation Photography and Other Photo Adventures