Rain Forest Thoughts

Laurence · Expire: 2016-06-19

This is a repeat image, with changes made to bring out the shadows, and especially the Douglas Fir trunk in the
background, attempting to make it look like what I saw through my own eyes. This scene doesn't necessarily win
any awards for technical excellence, and isn't even very sharp. However, it is an image that resonates with my
feelings for the beautiful and mysterious rain forest here in western Washington State.

There is a prevailing sense of peace, tranquility, and ethereal beauty when I'm walking about in the glacially carved, flat
floored, valleys. On a human scale, the forest is ancient, approximately 10,000 years old based on the retreat of the
Cordilleran Ice Sheet. This represents about 15 generations of ecological stabilization into the climax forest of today.
Each generation averages about 640 years. The longest-lived trees are the Western Red Cedars which can thrive upwards
of 1500 years or more.

This particular late afternoon, I had been wandering around using elk trails that have interlaced the biome for centuries. It was
a typically warm late summer day, and there was a definite feeling of the day winding down and slipping into twilight. As I set
up my small tent and sleeping bag the bugling of the elk would stretch out for miles, finally being absorbed by the green
machine to become the barest hint of a whistling sound.

I was tired from a long day of hiking, so decided to go to sleep early in order to get up before first light the next morning.
As I was starting to zip up the mosquito netting door of the tent, a shaft of the setting sun permeated through the forest flora
and caught the leaves of a Vine Maple rustling in the light wind. The rest of the forest was quite dim, so there was a stark
contrast between the emerald green of the leaves and the darkened tones of the background. I grabbed my Pentax 645
and exposed for the light tones. F:8 and 1/60 on Provia 100 seemed about right to me.

Within a few more seconds, the sunlight was gone, and the scene melted back into the tones of the forest itself. I woke up a
couple of times to the bugling of the elk, and instantly the branch of leaves came to mind. I thought about the branch looking
like a sort of parasol of light shining like a lantern in the dusk, along with the almost imperceptible sounds of the upper canopy
swaying in the light winds 300 feet above me.

So, though it is not much at first glance, this image has codified everything I love about these deep forest valleys:
the shimmering greens, the mottled light, the life within, all contributing to the essence of the ancient valley.
This moment in time held me in an embrace that will stay with me until death. And even though I basically grew up in
this environment, there has always been these dioramas of peace and light which continue to surprise me.

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Very elegant work Larry, I always think that you compose your images like classic Japanese prints Smile

DigiChromeEd · Joined: 29 Dec 2009 Posts: 3462 Location: Northern Ireland

Beautiful Larry, as always, your words as well as your pictures! Smile

Minolfan · Joined: 30 Dec 2008 Posts: 3439 Location: Netherlands

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the beautiful picture!

Schnauzer · Expire: 2012-03-08

Simply beautiful. You sure have the eye to pick beauty out of a scene. I wish I was just half as talented.

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Laurence · Expire: 2016-06-19

Thanks much guys. Actually it wasn't ME who picked out this scene. The scene itself gave a strong invitation
for me to get the camera up to my eye. I wish I could better convey the 'hold' that the rain forest has on me,
but at least a picture can help.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Dang, Laurence, your writing is every bit as good as your photography! Oh, and that is yet another beautiful photo, but I've come to expect nothing less than that from you.

Laurence · Expire: 2016-06-19