“Essence of Place”

Beginning to Blossom – A Lesson from the Desert

February 8, 2014 by Bo Mackison 3 Comments

Barely Blooming - Ocotillo in the Sonoran Desert

Usually, when the distractions of daily life deplete our energy, the first thing we eliminate is the thing we need the most: quiet, reflective time. Time to dream, time to contemplate what’s working and what’s not, so that we can make changes for the better. ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

I go to the desert. Walking in the canyon, deeper into the wilderness, away from the few others who are also roaming the desert. I sit on a rock outcropping, settle into the earth. Before I take photographs, I take the time to contemplate my surroundings. It is winter in the desert, there is little color in the desert. Only a few blossoms, the earliest flowers, add a touch of color to a world of muted greens and grays. The time of first awakenings. It is during this time of contemplation that I discover not only the essence of place, but also my place.

Filed Under: Nature Explorations, Writing Practices Tagged With: "Essence of Place", Arizona, blossom, contemplation, ocotillo, Sonoran Desert

The Essence of Place – Defined

February 4, 2014 by Bo Mackison 3 Comments

The Essence of Place, Defined

Essence of Place: A limited selection of photographs that, when combined, offer a unique glimpse into a place. The mood or emotion portrayed in the place is emphasized, and included are elements that are unique to the area. People also can be included to illustrate culture or connection.

Abstract. An abstract uses form, texture and color. Emphasis is more on the composition and less on the subject.

Landscape: The term landscape represents a segment of nature from a single point of view. It encompasses land, and can also include animals, buildings, and people.

Intimate Landscape: Photographs typically do not include a horizon line, or when the horizon is present, conveys only a hint of where the image is photographed. The grandeur of nature is captured in a smaller space. Less is more.

Still Life: A photo which depicts inanimate subjects. Includes common objects in nature, such as rocks, sticks, leaves. Simplicity is key.

Macro-Photography: A close-up image of a subject. Technically, the image is at a 1:1 ratio (life-size) or larger, magnified up to 5 times the life-size image.

Wabi-Sabi: “A Japanese aesthetic of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete…” ~ Leonard Koren. Includes objects connected to the earth: rustic materials, rich in raw texture; effects of weathering and aging by sun, wind, heat, cold; rusty, tarnished, warped, cracked or peeling surfaces; faded colors, muddy tones, or grays/blacks; simple, yet poetic. (source: Leonard Koren)

Combinations are also possible, such as:

Intimate landscape + portrait: A portrait of a person or animal which includes landscape to provide a context for the subject, or defines a landscape by contrasting the human perspective in a natural setting.

To capture the essence of place, I did some basic research and pulled key words and concepts for which the region is particularly noted.

Here are my notes:

Palo Duro means “hard wood”. Southern high plains. Rim of canyon is shortgrass prairie, canyon floor has more trees, shrubs, tall grasses. Canyon is 800 feet deep, formed by erosion from Prairie Dog Town Fork of Red River. Rock layers of gypsum (white) and claystone (red) and is called “Spanish skirts”. “Grand Canyon of Texas” – second largest canyon in US. Erosion shaped lands, caps of erosion resistant sandstone creating mesas, pinnacles, buttes.

Landscapes:

Intimate Landscape:

Intimate Landscape + Portrait:

Macro.

Still life.

Wabi sabi.

Filed Under: Nature Explorations, Photography Tagged With: "Essence of Place", "Grand Canyon of Texas", Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas

Essence of Place – San Pedro Riparian Area

January 22, 2014 by Bo Mackison 4 Comments

On a visit to San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area, I again captured the essence of the area in a few select photographs.

When I visit a natural area, I make a point of taking a variety of photographs including landscapes, intimate landscapes, portraits (wildlife or people), macro-photographs, abstracts, and details which capture the essence and personality of the place. I capture the essence of the place using one or two photographs in each of the categories.

Abstract.

The above photograph, the river with reflected trees, is abstract in feel. But it gives a feel for the area — river dependent, tall trees along the river banks, a quiet place.

Landscapes

The next two photographs, black and whites of the San Pedro River and its riparian corridor, are typical landscape photographs.

The San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area encompasses a desert riparian ecosystem – a river flowing through a desert – rare now but once common throughout the US Southwest. Tall trees – mostly cottonwoods and willows – hug the river banks.

The San Pedro River is one of the few rivers with a perennial flow. Its headwaters are in Mexico and it flows north into the United States. The river is protected from the US/Mexico border to St. David, Arizona, a span of 40 miles.

Intimate Landscape

The next photographs are intimate landscapes — they show only a part of the landscape and focus on color, texture, patterns.

Macro-Photography in a Landscape

The close-up of the soaptree yucca dominates the photograph, but the background of desertscrub provides context.

The San Pedro River flows through the Chihuahuan and Sonora Deserts. Away from the water, the landscape is dominated by Chihuahuan desertscrub — soaptree yucca, creosote and agave are common. Mesquite and sacaton grasses grow in the bottomland.

Portrait in an Intimate Landscape

The portrait of waterfowl in this intimate landscape adds another dimension of place.

The riparian corridor and its abutting lakes are home to 250 migrating birds, and over 100 breeding birds. Half the known breeding birds in North America have been spotted in this riparian region.

Macro-Photography and Detail Photographs

These photos capture the personality of the place, and often focus on wabi-sabi characteristics – textures and details.

An added note: This area is also home to a significant archeological site – home of the Paleoindians or the Clovis Culture, the earliest known inhabitants of North America. They lived in this area and hunted mammoths in the last Ice Age, over 11,000 years ago.

Filed Under: Nature Explorations, Photography Tagged With: "Essence of Place", Arizona, capturing the essence of place, landscape photography, San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, San Pedro River, Sierra Vista Arizona

Essence of Place – White Sands in Chihuahuan Desert

January 20, 2014 by Bo Mackison 2 Comments

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico is a desert within a desert.

The park is surrounded by the Chihuahuan Desert – a desert of low scrub plants. This desert of white sand dunes has even less vegetation than the Chihuahuan Desert.

Sherpa and I stopped at White Sands on our cross country trip from the Midwest to Tucson. Since I had a limited amount of time for photographs, I attempted to capture the essence of the park in a few select photographs.

The above landscape photo shows a progression of dunes, each topped with low grasses and yucca. The dunes are spotted with plants that thrive in gypsum — the white sand is pure gypsum. Gyp moonpad and gyp nama are common.

This photo of the arch of a crescent shaped dune is a small part of the larger desert landscape.

This kind of landscape photograph is often called an intimate landscape, and is a technique pioneered by Eliot Porter. Typically there is little emphasis on the horizon, the lighting, or a long shot of a vista, but instead the focus is on pattern, texture and composition.

Intimate landscapes often have an abstract feel.

The ripples of sand drifts offered plenty of opportunity for a close up photo.

The texture of the fine sand is nearly visible, the texture of sugar. This isn’t a typical macro-photograph, but it does give a good indication of the movement paths of wind blown sand.

Photo Session in White Sands National Monument

A portrait in a landscape, or an unexpected detail in a landscape.

When I saw this photographer setting up his equipment for a portrait, I had to get a shot even though they were far away. It gives a different perspective of White Sands – the grasses in the foregorund, the gently rolling sand hills, and then the tiny figures on the horizon – a photographer adjusting his camera on a tripod, and his posing subject.

White Sands National Monument attracts a fair number of sledders.

The gift shop at the park headquarters even sells the round discs for sledding. So it seemed appropriate, as part of capturing the park’s overall feel, that I include a photograph of the visitors who came to the desert for a sled ride.

And a final photograph, a bit of the hardy vegetation that grows in one of the more hostile climates in the world.

Not many plants thrive with little rainfall, constant wind and creeping sands, drastic changes in temperatures of day and night, scorching sun and intense heat in the summer, and a soil that has minimal nutrients. The rabbitbrush and dune grasses are highly adapted plants that live where few plants can.

Filed Under: Nature Explorations, Photography Tagged With: "Essence of Place", capturing the essence of place, landscape photography, national monument, National Park Service, New Mexico, sand dunes, White Sands National Monument