In Search of Light © 2014 Bo Mackison
You were born with potential.
You were born with goodness and trust.
You were born with ideals and dreams.
You were born with greatness.
You were born with wings.
You are not meant for crawling, so don’t.
You have wings.
Learn to use them and fly.”~ Rumi
Copper Light © 2014 Bo Mackison
“Whatever you are physically…male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy–all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things, they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside.” ~ Cassandra Clare
On a visit to White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico, I photographed a lot of white sand landscapes. I also photographed the architectural details in the Visitor Center complex, a set of adobe buildings built in the 1930s.
I was fascinated by the adobe windows and the copper lighting fixtures. And I was doubly thrilled to photograph the window and the light with several glass snowflakes sparkling in the shadow and the light.
Loved the light — the light from the window combined with the light from the vintage copper fixture. It was a happy moment, the snowflakes, the glitter, the delicate shadows.
Love the Stripes at Mesa Verde Visitor Center © 2013 Bo Mackison
Day Three – A Colorado Day
37˚ at 5:40 am, I unpack the trunk to find my sweatshirts,
truckers start their engines and let them idle over breakfast
the couple in the next room search for their car keys.
Back and forth bickering, truck fumes. I grab my coffee
and a couple of hard-boiled eggs and pull onto the highway as the sun rises.
Mesa Verde National Park is only minutes east, and the new visitor center
receives last-minute grooming for a Memorial Day Grand Opening,
I overlook the bright exhibits on prehistoric dwellings and pottery,
my attention captured by dizzying stripes of light/shadow,
building, bricks, benches, steps.
Each stripe marks my time, passage on a sunlit day.
I follow the self-guided tour of Spruce House,
an Ancestral Pueblo dwelling abandoned in A.D. 1300.
Imagine life on the edge of a rock cliff with toddlers and elders,
and give thanks for the salad and iced tea I order from the Spruce Tree Cafe.
I meander through the gift shop, the museum, explore the ancient diorama,
and leave Mesa Verde — Green Table — hours later than planned.
Spring Melt in Colorado Mountains © 2013 Bo Mackison
Durango is a city I yearn to explore, park my car, walk the streets,
peer in the galleries and visit the breweries, perhaps next year.
Deer and elk crossings, lights flash red and yellow,
I head out-of-town on Colorado 550.
Later I read there are 638 mountains in the Rockies over 13,000 feet.
I won’t claim – neck craned, muscles in spasm – that I saw all those peaks,
but I saw enough for one day.
It is spring thaw, the melt flows over the roads,
waterfalls course along the sheer rock walls, mini avalanches slide across the two-lane road
and snow plows patrol the passes. The scenery is mesmerizing,
I stop at the pullouts constantly as I don’t chance a glance while driving
these no-guard-rail curves and to let my courage catch up to task ahead.
Ribbons of rocky earth alternate with snow pack on the peaks,
stands of fir poke sharp greens into the blue skies,
clouds that peek over the mountain tops are
white as white – glaring white, brilliant white, white of purity.
The high country ponds are frozen and
roads to summer retreats with inviting names are still impassable,
hidden from civilization. Some aspen are greening,
and black tooth-pick lodge pole remnants
stand as reminders of the Missionary Fire of 2002.
Hairpin Curve on Highway 550 © 2013 Bo Mackison
A hawk’s shadow crosses the road and glides towards the San Juan Mountains.
Coal Bank Pass 10648 feet.
Hairpin turn at Lime Creek.
Molas Pass 10910 feet.
Sultan Creek.
The Colorado Trail.
Silverton.
Red Mountain Pass 11,108 feet.
Road as slalom, blinking avalanche warning signs,
rock slide mitigation crews clear the road,
we alternate driving the cleared lane which hugs earth, drops into sky.
It is still breathtakingly beautiful.
I practice deep breathing techniques. To calm my racing heart or to increase my oxygen levels?
No matter. I descend into Ouray, and follow the Uncompahgre River,
frothy brown and wild, into the valley.
The next morning, a jovial park ranger and I speak of Colorado 550,
“yeah, highest passes, drop-offs, most difficult maintained road in the state.
Maybe in the country. You drive that, you drive anything.”
Perhaps he was being kind in his attempt to legitimize my feat of courage.
I smiled and nodded. I accepted his announcement as truth.
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. A cross-country traveler by day, and an occasional poet. This is a poem in nine parts, because the trip lasts nine days.
Stripes on Benches ©2013 Bo Mackison
“In photography there are no shadows that cannot be illuminated. ” ~ August Sander
While visiting Casa Grande National Monument, I found plenty of opportunity to play with surfaces striped with light and shadow. And so that is what I did. I played!
Stripes in Corners © 2013 Bo Mackison
Photography means ‘light writing’.~ L. Ron Hubbard
I took these photos at the visitor center and the outside ramada where Park Rangers give talks about the ancient ruins of a Hohokam-era farming village and a four-story Great House.
Stripes on Roofs © 2013 Bo Mackison
The camera captures light, our minds capture images. ~ Anonymous
Blue skies, an Arizona hallmark, show through the slatted ramada.
Stripes – Casa Grande National Monument ©2013 Bo Mackison
Photos have no narrative content. They only describe light on surface. ~ Garry Winogrand
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She explores the desert with her camera, and is mesmerized by the stripes of light and shadow.
Saguaro National Park Visitor Center © 2013 Bo Mackison
The Red Hills Visitor Center offers information to visitors at Saguaro National Park’s western unit, stands watch over thousands of saguaro cacti on the adjacent mountains, and presents an astounding photo opportunity working with light and dark.
Before I even got my boots dusty of the trails, I spent an hour playing with different camera angles, patterns of light and shadow, and composition. I finally had to stop because first, I did want to go hiking, and second, I was getting darn dizzy!
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Bo discovers beauty and inspiration, even when exploring the light play at Saguaro National Park.
