Organic Light Pan

Remembering Spring

It seems like such a long time ago that the flowers were blooming yet it does not take much to remember them when a photo is looked at.  Every aspect is remembered from the aromas to the feeling of the sunlight caressing the skin. Thoughts re-emerge about how the photo will finally look once it is processed and the excitement of eventually seeing it.  Much goes into making a photo and the rewards of finally finishing it are great.  Good things come to those who wait, and hopefully all who see this photo now will have as much pleasure looking at it as I had re-living the moment and processing it.

Peace.

This year in California the wildflowers have been particularly prolific.  It has brought photographers out in massive numbers all looking to capture that unique wildflower photo.  On the one hand it is nice to see people out communing with the natural world.  The problem is that they have no clue how to behave while out there.

The open range land where most of the wildflowers bloom is private land.  Some of it is fenced and some of it is just open range land.  Private property is private property and it should be respected, wildflower heaven or not.  For as long as I can remember fellow photographer and workshop leader, Carol Leigh and her wonderful Wildflower Hotsheet has been an Internet resource for wildflower hunters.  It was user driven with reports coming in almost daily once the blooms started.  This year however, due to incredulous bad behavior of photographers in one particular canyon in the south-central part of the state that is private open range land, one of the land owners made a post on the hotsheet asking photographers to stop coming onto their land, to stop tramping all over the place, tearing up flowers, and warning that if the behavior did not stop further legal actions would be taken!  That was last week.  Well all of a sudden Carol takes down the hotsheet and leaves the notice that is there now.  Not only did the bad behavior anger the owners of the land, it has resulted in losing a fabulous resource that was of benefit to so many.  This passed weekend, I heard reports that the county sheriff was patrolling that canyon now, making sure private property rights are observed.

I have photographed in that canyon before, and yes it is a special place, but come on, you don’t have to trespass to photograph there, and you certainly do not have to tear out flowers once you have photographed them or picnic right on top of them, roll around in them or whatever other nonsense people dream up.

Mother Earth has rights as well.  It is always a difficult proposition trying to photograph the wildflowers.  In the process, some flowers are trampled on.  But we must learn how to tread lightly on the earth.  Even though the Earth seems like a resilient rock, its ecosystem is very fragile.  Even more fragile are the flowers themselves.  They rely on pollination to generate the seeds for coming years.  Trample them, or pull them out before they can secure pollination and there will be no more flowers. 

I do my best to stay on trails or on roadside when photographing the flowers.  However I must admit I do love sitting in the middle of them all, sampling their intoxicating spicy fragrance and vibrant over-the-top color.  When I do, I stay put in one place, I follow my own foot steps back out and when at all possible, I step on bare ground where no flower is growing.  And I encourage all my readers to practice the same when you visit the wildflowers this year.  And please do go out and visit them and be grateful for the bounty that Mother Earth and our Creator are giving us this year, just be nice, so that we don’t want to “shoot our selves in the foot” and never get to see the flowers again.  

Bed Of Poppies

Peace.

On Wednesday afternoon I decided to take a hike on the very last day of winter. The buzz is that the wildflower bloom this year is early with flowers blooming up and down the state, maybe not as extensive as in years past but definitely blooming. On a good year, Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve, the place where photography first took hold in my heart, is THE wildflower location on the San Francisco Peninsula and I wanted to see if anything had started there.

It was a day where you did not know where you ended and the sky began. The air was so soothing that you could not tell that you were actually outdoors. It was perfect. As I hiked along I realized the flowers were nowhere to be found. But nonetheless, the hike was great and the scenery, as always, was comforting.

At about one mile into my hike I detoured and headed to the ancient oak grove that resides on Russian Ridge. As I approached the grove, the sun was getting close to the horizon and I realized that this was the very last day of winter – March 19th, 2009. It was as perfect a sunset as one could hope for.

Winter's Last Sunset

I then noticed this live oak basking in the last rays of the winter’s sun. It was backlit and was poised against a distant hill that was in the shadows. It immediately caught my eye and I dropped my pack and pulled out the Large Format camera and began to work. Once I finished I also captured this image digitally as this oak was still waiting to leave. Still in its winter slumber, the early warm temperatures and life giving rains were not enough to coax the leaves to come out – but I am sure they will be out to play in the sun very soon.

Waiting To Leave

I then turned to the sun, that golden warm torch in our sky as it sank lower in the western sky I waited until it was just moments away before it bid us, and winter, a farewell and tripped the shutter once more.

Last Moments of Winter

Then I just stood there and watched the sun slowly vanish beneath the horizon – silently and without any fanfare. And suddenly, the last of winter was gone.

The air, laden with moisture, began to chill as the cold wind off the Pacific raced up the canyons and ravines filling it with a delicate mist that began to enshroud the mountains below me in mystery. Mixed with the final rays of the sun, the mountains blushed as Spring began knocking on the door asking to be let in.

Blushing In Pink

Light has always amazed me. It is everywhere in our world as it surrounds us, but at the same time it is invisible until it interacts with the objects in front of us. Then those objects reveal their many shades, tainted if you will, by the light that showers them. Sometimes they glow while other times they come on harshly and force us to look away as if they are trying to tell us to leave them alone. No matter what however, without light they could not manifest themselves for us to see. Without light we would be in perpetual darkness, lost without direction or the courage to step forward. Blinded and bereft of the beauty that appears due to light’s countenance. As spring is now upon us, the days will soon be vibrant with new life basking in the warm light and calling us to come out and play. Let us join the beams of light as they mingle with the Earth and be happy, we all need that.

Peace – Youssef

We are about 10 days away from the vernal equinox.  It is a refreshing time – a time for new beginnings and great hope.  And for about the past 10 days in the midst of rain and turbulent weather, the signs of spring have been present.  We don’t have to go far to find it and enjoy all that it has to offer.  Just a few steps from my studio door, the first signs of this wonderful season in my neighborhood can be seen and enjoyed.

First Signs

These wonderfully vibrant yellow clover blossoms are almost everywhere I look these days.  In front yards, around trees, along the curb line and in garden flower beds, these near fluorescent flowers just glow with new life.  They love the warm sun.  Without the warmth of the sunlight or in the absence of the sun altogether they just close up and hang down.  I decided to get up close and personal with these lovely little flowers yesterday afternoon and was amazed at what I saw.

Getting Close

They glow so brightly that they just bring on a smile.  The slightest breeze can move them and this tried my patience greatly for the time I spent with them.  But looking closer yet, the detail that they hold starts to really astonish the eye.

Closer Still

The closer I looked the more amazed I became.  From fine ridges on their delicate yellow petals to the green spirals that lead into the center to the fine stamen and pistils and the ever important pollen dust lingering in wait for the wind or an insect to come and preserve future generations to come.

In The Center

Just as I started to ponder on that, I heard a buzz.  I looked up from the camera’s viewfinder to see a lone honeybee had decided to visit the very patch that I had been photographing.  Now you would think that with the great technology of today’s digital cameras that capturing this bee in a photo would be easy.  However, I was using an older manual focus lens – yeah I know call me crazy, but how often does a tree or rock just get up and start running away in a landscape that I would need a fast auto focus lens?  Anyway after burning many pixels I was able to capture this little guest of the clover coming in for a landing and the subsequent meal and pollination that took place.

Landing Approach

The Sip of Nectar

All Through

It was a very awe inspiring interaction to witness.  This little bee flying in from who knows how far away to visit these little flowers and to feed on the minute amount of nectar that they produce.  And in the process it secures the existence of future clover plants to come in the coming spring of NEXT year!  These flowers exist, not for the pleasure of the onlooker, or for the sake of the bee, but only for the survival of itself.  It is astonishing to see the contrast between how a plant selfishly secures its future compared to how we greedily attempt to secure ours.

While we rake each other over the coals and throw one another under the bus to accumulate more wealth and leave the rest for dead, the flowers give much more than they receive and sacrifice only themselves once pollination is complete.  From the vibrant colors to the sweet perfumes that lure the bee and us to them, to the honey that results from the bee’s hive which feeds thousands of immature bees to sweetening our foods and drinks, the simple little clover – the unsung hero of the spring flower world – goes nearly unnoticed and regarded as a weed – how sad. 

Would that we could be so giving as the clover.  How many great things could we achieve?  In this wonderfully hopeful season when life renews and Mother Earth is glowing with this new life, I think it would be well worth our time in our human realm to foster growth and prosperity by helping each other get through this difficult time in our lives.

Peace – Youssef Ismail

I was sorting through some of my digital images on my hard drive and came across this photo of my son and I during the 2008 spring wildflower season in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. It was the middle of the day and we had been out since sunrise. The wind was howling and with sustained speeds of 20 to 25 mph! Finding it difficult to work under the darkcloth without my son’s help, I took his digital camera and placed it on a tripod. Pointed it back at us and we started to pose.

Camera Man and Lens Boy .

So here Camera Man and his faithful sidekick, Lens Boy, are out catching rogue light rays among the fleeting moments of time.

We had so much fun that day goofing around together, bonding, and falling in love again. Its hard at times to be a kid, to play as a kid or to even bring our persective back to that of a child. But it is what keeps the heart young, seeing the world through the eyes of a child. And what makes moments like this so magical and important is that it brings a parent and child very close to one another, so close in fact that very deep inner thoughts are shared. And through that sharing we discover so much about each other.

On the last night of this specific trip, after dinner as we snuggled up in our sleeping bags amidst the absolutely silent darkness, my son said something to me that will stay with me forever. He said, “I don’t want to go back home tomorrow, and I wish this did not have to end”. I asked why and he replied, “out here we don’t have anything to worry about”.

He, at only 11 years old, figured out what most people will never figure out in their entier lives – that in the wilderness a soul can find peace, while back in the material world all we do, day in day out, is toil and worry. Building that foundation of love for the natural world starts young. And I hope that someday, when he has to explain his life philosophy, that he will look back on this trip and make it a pivotal point in his life.

After The Rain was a photograph I made back in 2003 down in Southern California during the wildflower bloom on the Gorman Hills. It was the most extensive wildflower bloom on record there in Gorman. A similar bloom occured in 1992, but not as extensive. The hills run for about 7 miles along Gorman Post Road which parallels Hwy 5. For the entire lenght of Gorman Post Road and from the base of the hills to the top, it was socked in color like that seen in this image.

I decided to drive down from the San Francisco Bay Area on Easter weekend with the notion that on Easter no one would be out and about, as it was a family day and a religious holiday that would be observed. Well I was sorely wrong. However, my actual intention was not Gorman, but the John Gavrillis who had also photographed the extensive bloom at Gorman and had THIS photograph on display as 40″x50″ enlargement. It certainly was quite impressive to see. I asked when he had taken it and he told me Saturday, the day before I was there. I told him I had the same photo – you know how we photogrpahers like to hear that from other photographers – and he chuckled and said ahh huh! I invited him to my booth and pointed at my version and he said wow, that is better than mine. We walked back to his booth and I pointed out where in his composition you could see mine. We both had a good laugh.

After the Rain has been my number 1 runaway best selling image. To me the photo speaks to what gratitude is truly about. These hills are dry and yellow for most of the year. Even in winter and spring they sometimes don’t flush out with color as they depend heavily on ample rain. When it does come, they just burst out in color as if to say Thank You for the life giving rain and in their gratitude, they give off this amazing display of wlid flowers. It has brought some viewers to tears, for reasons they could not explain. It stops almost everyone who passes by my show booth. It is an amazing scene.

It has placed in many photographic competitions, however this award, even though it was only Runner-Up in the International Conservation Photography Awards is still its greatest accolade to date. The open invitational is put on by famed landscape photographer and convservationist Art Wolfe. The winners of this year’s competiontion will be on display from August 30th to October 12th, 2008 at the Museum of History and Industry located in McCurdy Park at 2700 24th Avenue East, Seattle, WA. If you are in the neighborhood stop by and take a look. Let me know what you think of the image in real life. I am sure it will knock your socks off.

Peace – Youssef