David Howell Travel Photography and Map Blog

Dawn on the Deschutes River, Oregon, USA

Oregon is world famous for its stunning Pacific coastline. Lush, dripping forests thrive in the high rainfall. The surf pounds on dramatic rocky cliffs and beautiful beach towns huddle against the wind.

Fewer people outside the western USA  know the dramatic beauty of the volcanic Cascade Range that separates the coastal forests and inland valleys from the extensive arid eastern part of the state. As Pacific storms lift eastward over the massive Cascade peaks most of the moisture is condensed and dropped. This creates a classic arid ‘rain shadow’ inland of the mountains. Even fewer people know the deserts on the east side of the Cascade Range.

In reality the area is certainly not deserted. Central Oregon is a very popular recreation and retirement area. Although the current economy has slowed growth. But further to the east away from the mountains it is easy to find quiet and deserted deserts.

The Deschutes River passes through the area surrounding Bend, Oregon. It drains the melting snow on the east side of the Cascades and is the main river in Central Oregon. Downstream there are challenging rapids. In Bend the river is more tame.

This photograph was taken in Bend. I walked down to the river before dawn. Actually there was more stumbling and scrambling than walking. The brush and rocks along the bank were difficult to get through or over in the dim light.

I found this little niche next to the river and set up my tripod. I was experimenting with lenses, exposures, and shutter times as the light increased. During the several hours that I was there I took hundreds of photos. It was a beautiful clear Oregon morning. This blue sky dawn would be rare on the foggy coast, but here they are the norm.

Oddly enough this was the first photograph I took. Even with all the experimenting and the changing light this is the one I like the best. The other hundreds of photos were not a waste of time because I learned and enjoyed a beautiful morning on the river. But it still surprises me that the first photo after setting up turned out.

A long exposure is a common way to show the effect of moving water. This was a 4 second exposure at f/22. The small aperture also provided a long depth of field and kept the basaltic rock next to me in focus as well as the forest in the distance. But I also tried fast shutter speeds to freeze water splashing up from rapids. And some of those were interesting, especially after dawn when shafts of sunlight shone through the forest to spotlight little violent stretches of rapids.

It was a great morning on the banks of the Deschutes. This forest and narrow band of water don’t look like a desert, but they were deserted at dawn. And it was a visual treat, like dessert.

Trailhead, Mont Blanc, Chamonix, France

Are you brave enough to take the first step on this trail?

And then the further you go the more extreme it gets.

Most trailheads are flat areas beside a road or at the end of an access road. The trail usually starts out gentle or moderate as it leads to terrain that the road doesn’t or can’t reach. There may be several hours of walking along a stream before you reach the big climbs to a peak or a mountain lake or a waterfall. The challenging terrain is usually found after a long walk from the trailhead, in general.

This trailhead is a gutcheck.

The trail leads to climbing and skiing routes. The trailhead is reached by cable car from Chamonix, France up to the top of Aiguille du Midi which is a sheer granitic spire. The elevation is about 12,638 feet (3842 meters). Everywhere you go from the top of the cable car leads to dramatic and dangerous terrain. Too many lives have been lost in these mountains.

As you can see the first few steps over this boot-width trail on the jagged rock are not for the casual hiker. Mont Blanc provides the dramatic backdrop.

A spirited competition among early climbers to reach the summit of Mont Blanc lead to success in 1786. Chamonix became a mountain destination for vacationers but did not have rail service until 1901.

My daughter and I rode the cable car to photograph Mont Blanc on the first sunny morning during our stay. Clouds still filled the valley below. My wife and other daughter chose the comfort of a flat and safe village restaurant terrasse. We weren’t prepared for this kind of hiking/climbing so we stayed on the observation decks of the cable car building. I don’t think I would be able to take that first step on this trailhead anyway. The dropoffs were very intimidating.

There are more photos of the Mont Blanc area in the Photo Gallery of my website: www.earthmapphoto.com

Train Station, Chamonix, France

Great travel writers like Graham Greene and Agatha Christie wrote of long train journeys. 

Greene’s Stamboul Train (1932)  told the intersecting stories of carefully crafted characters travelling from France to Constantinople. (This book was also published with the title Orient Express.)

The mystery of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express(1934)  unfolded and was solved (by Hercule Poirot) as the train made the journey in the opposite direction. Actually it was stuck in a snowdrift during the most suspenseful part, but it was headed toward France.

Train travel is ready-made for interesting stories. A group of people who would not know each other under other circumstances spend time together enclosed in small rooms traveling across vast distances.  Proximity provides opportunity for introductions and there is time for interaction. It is natural to get to know your neighbors even when language is a barrier. So if you are creating fiction it is a great way to mix people together to produce any kind of drama, intrigue, or romance.

For most people though, train travel is routine and uneventful. Modern train travel in Europe is comfortable and clean. There is much more room for you and your luggage than on a plane. Trains are usually on time and they are more affordable. It is relaxing to sit back and watch the countryside roll by. The scenery is interesting although you do also see the back sides of buildings and lots of graffiti that you would not normally see if you were walking around a town. On high speed trains you are only able to see flashed glimpses down streets of the villages that you pass through. But there is no worry about rental car damage or driving stress. And you can get up and walk around whenever you want to-no fasten seat belt sign!

Our longest train trip so far was a full day journey from southern France deep into the Alps. The distance was not great, but because of the route we followed it involved five different trains and transected many different kinds of terrain. We were travelling with our daughters which made it an enjoyable and memorable adventure. We started early in the morning on a local train from Villefranche-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean to Nice. The next train stopped in Marseille for an engine change to convert to a high speed configuration. We stayed on the train during this work and learned about the engine change from the French couple across the aisle from us. The longest segment was to Lyon but as we flew through the countryside we enjoyed snacks from the food service in the next car. There weren’t any mysteries or secret agents on our train (that we knew of) but it was a great time together. From Lyon we travelled to Annecy at the edge of the Alps. As we stood on the platform waiting for the next train I could feel the anticipation building. I love travelling by train in the Alps. Our next train took us through beautiful mountain villages and provided huge and beautiful vistas on our way to St. Gervais les Bains. Now we were really in the mountains. And finally the last train took  us to my favorite alpine village – Chamonix.

Chamonix was the home of the first winter Olympics and is at the base of Mont Blanc. It is surrounded by intimidating extreme rock and ice and exquisite mountain scenery. The village is beautifully maintained and is filled with classic stone buildings, colorful shutters, and hanging flower baskets. It is a climbing and skiing center, but you can also take the cable cars to the summits for sight-seeing and hiking. I have written about Chamonix in other postings in this blog so if you are interested you can enter Chamonix in the search box above and see other photos and read more about it.

Now even though we didn’t have any mysteries on our long train ride we did have a little intrigue when we tried to leave Chamonix. On our departure morning we rolled our luggage up through the village to the train station. All four of us had packed into one small backpack and one rolling carry-on each, so we were pretty mobile. When we reached the station it was deserted. We had our passes so we didn’t have to worry about buying tickets, which was a good thing since there was nobody working at the station. Eventually we found a sign on an office door which included the words “Grève Nationale”. We figured that that meant a national strike, but we weren’t sure if it meant all trains were cancelled or how long the strike would be.

We waited for our train to Geneva but the appointed departure time passed and there was no train in sight. We talked to a few other passengers who were trying to figure out how to get to Geneva also. We finally decided that we would have to take a bus later in the afternoon if no trains arrived, IF the buses were running.

We stayed close to the station just to make sure we didn’t miss an opportunity. We were getting a little frustrated as the time approached for the next scheduled train to Geneva. But a few minutes before the departure time a train rolled into the station, the train number was correct and it was on time. So we got on, found seats, stored our luggage overhead and left the station on time. It was as if nothing had happened and we were never given an explanation. There was a national strike, except for when there wasn’t. In our experience this was the only train that was significantly late or cancelled.

When we got to Geneva the train stopped at the French-Swiss border. Everyone was asked to disembark and were told this was the end of the line. We had made a reservation at a hotel by the main train station, but this train didn’t go there. So we had to buy a local tram ticket to get across town. Our hotel was a block from the station as advertised, but we didn’t know the other train stopped at the border on the outskirts of town miles from the main station. But that is the adventure of travel. If we had known more French we would have probably been more aware of what was going on.

We thoroughly enjoy train travel despite these two little episodes. Most of our experiences have been trouble-free and very relaxing. The European transportation system integrates airports, national trains, local trains, city trams, subways, buses, and ferries across lakes. Most of the time they are connected or are only separated by short walks and if you pack light it is easy to change from one mode to another.

You don’t need to have mysteries or espionage to make train travel memorable. But they sure make for good reading. Happy trails!

Rochefort-en-Terre, France

After days of gray drizzle on the coast the inland hills were bathed in afternoon sunshine.

The picturesque medieval village of Rochefort-en-Terre, France is perfect for strolling or sitting on a café terrasse.

We had driven from Pénestin on the southern coast of Brittany (France) across the Vilaine River and through rolling farmland to reach Rochefort-en-Terre. The clouds slowly opened up and eventually the village was in full sunshine. The village has been restored for tourism but was not too busy in September.

We had seen several buildings being worked on in Tréguier the week before so we knew how much work it takes to refurbish the stone and mortar. Workers used sand-blasting, chisels, and an assortment of power tools to clean the stone and replace the surface mortar. Day after day they worked up on scaffolding and inched along the building. In Rochefort-en-Terre the buildings are all restored and the cobblestone streets have been repaired. Hanging flower baskets and colorful shutters accented all the buildings.

The hotel in this photo looked sunny and inviting. The shutters were wide open to air out the rooms and there was even a little shade on the bench out front. This lane was paved but most of the town’s streets are still cobblestones.

We explored and I photographed along several side streets. The sun gained enough force to lead us to shade. We found a shady vine-covered courtyard and stepped inside to sit and rest for awhile. It was a  salon de thé  so in order to enjoy a glass of wine we were forced to order food, but it wasn’t so bad to eat the delicious apple tort with our wine. (A salon de thé (teahouse) can not serve wine without a food purchase.) We were the only customers at first but eventually two regulars came in and we were treated to lively conversations and a friendly dog who the owners knew very well, probably from daily visits. This is also where we learned about the small doorways at street level in most of the old stone homes. These were the coal chutes which are no longer used. The courtyard was a very pleasant place to spend some time on a sunny afternoon.

The stone villages and cathedrals of Brittany are very photogenic, especially Rochefort-en-Terre. I have a feeling we will return to Brittany. It is rural and the people are friendly. There are more photos of Brittany in the Photo Gallery at my website:  www.earthmapphoto.com

Eating on the Terrasse, Paris

A warm evening in Paris. The air is filled with the sounds of conversation, the subtle ringing of glasses, and the clatter of dishes.

As you walk by another restaurant the hostess trys to get your attention and a cook calls for a waiter. The smells are enticing. The menu looks promising, but also produces anxiety. The language is still a challenge.

Walking along the busy narrow streets you pass many restaurants. Each one presents itself along the sidewalk. A colorful awning and crisp white tablecloths. A neatly lettered menu board and a warm greeting in French and maybe also English. The busiest places don’t need someone on the sidewalk to call you in, you have to wait to be noticed and seated.

The first decision is whether to eat inside or on the terrasse. Eating outside on a warm evening is pleasant and provides  people watching entertainment and the street musicians are close at hand to serenade. But you are also on display and you are a ready audience for street vendors. It is also the smoking section. But perhaps that has changed with new laws.

You make your choices and hopefully get what you thought you were asking for, but regardless it is reliably tasty. After a long dinner, coffee and dessert you are ready to walk on. Now you are free to ignore the invitations of the restaurants that you pass. You are just looking now but perhaps planning for tomorrow night.

The neighborhood in this photograph is on Rue Saint-Séverin near Boulevard Saint-Michel. There are many restaurants, perhaps too many. It takes on a carnival atmosphere on a busy summer night as crowds stroll along past the pleas of the restaurant hosts and tourist shop owners. But it is located very near the river so it is central for walking most of downtown Paris.

There are more photos of Paris in the Photo Gallery at my website: www.earthmapphoto.com

'Work', Still Life, Head Sculpture by Annie Howell

Day after day, week after week, during our working life we look forward to Friday.

Except for those who don’t have Saturday and Sunday off, but they designate another day to be their ‘Friday’.

We work faithfully each day, sometimes absorbed and fulfilled, sometimes frustrated by the tedium. We want our work to have meaning and accomplish something.

If you are reading this on a Monday, let me be the first to say, “Friday is just a few days away!”  If you are reading this on any other weekday, you are probably already thinking about Friday.

I am writing this on a Friday. This week I worked quite a bit on still life photography. I have many new images that I will review and perhaps exhibit. My wife has sculpted another group of clay heads for the Driftwood Dancer figures that she makes. Her sculptures are beautiful and have that eerie ‘a little too lifelike’ feeling. I arrange these clay heads in a darkened photo enclosure along with a variety of props. She has lots of miniature things for her artwork, so I use those in my still life photos. It is easy to become absorbed in ideas for these posed photographs and at times I am sure that I got maybe a little too creative.

As I have said before in this blog, still life photography is a good way to learn more about the camera and other equipment. I experimented with exposure, composition, and lighting. The photo enclosure was black and sat on a table to make it convenient to use a tripod standing on the floor next to the table. The black background lets me underexpose the image and makes the heads appear to be floating. The fabric on the base of the enclosure had some silver sparkle woven into it, and I used a variety of lighting effects to make it sparkle without adding enough light to reveal the fabric of the enclosure.

Perhaps you can see some red sparkle in the bottom of  this photograph. It depends on how you have your monitor adjusted. The device is labeled Daily and Weekly, if you can read that. Again, it depends on your monitor. (The variety of monitors and how they are adjusted makes it challenging for photographic websites and blogs.)

This photograph is dedicated to TGIF for all of us. I will call it ‘Work’. It is supposed to suggest the obligation that we have to work each day, each week, and on and on. I selected a sculpted head that looks like an old man to add wear and fatigue. The chain connects him to the endless cycle, driven mechanically by the work machine.

This mechanical gadget was given to me by a work friend. I have no idea what it is for. It had a tag on it that said that it was  last cleaned in 1966.

It will be interesting to exhibit these still life photos in the months ahead. They are very different than the travel photos that I usually exhibit but I like the variety.

Community Forest Trail, Arcata, California, USA

Within the Community Forest of Arcata, California there is a small park. It is a park where trees have been cleared rather than planted.

The Arcata Community Forest is dominated by coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens(Lamb. ex D. Don) Endl.).  Some of the redwoods are quite large and in some areas the canopy is closed. Very little light gets down to the forest floor which is generally covered with ferns.

So if you want a place for children to play and for people to have picnics or just relax for a while, it is best to select a small area for clearing and for planting grass. This is different than many municipal parks where trees are planted and carefully nurtured.

The land that makes up this forest has been used for many things by many people. It furnished game and fish for the Wiyot people until the 1850’s. Most of the area was logged in the 1880’s. It was then used for grazing and other things until the city purchased the land over several decades.

It became the first municipally-owned  forest in California in 1955 and served primarily as the city water supply watershed until 1963. Since that time it has been managed for wildlife habitat, sustainable timber harvesting, education, but primarily as a recreation area. Small very low impact timber harvests help pay for the maintenance of the forest land and the trails.

Trail Marker

There are more than 10 miles (16 km) of named trails in the 793 acre (321 hectare) forest. These trails are used for running, walking, horse riding, and mountain biking. The area is hilly and provides challenging terrain, but the trails are treasured by the community. The Community Forest is adjacent to several neighborhoods and to Humboldt State University, so it is convenient for many residents to access the trails. They are a great place for a tough workout, a leisurely stroll, or for quiet contemplation. These forestlands and the trails are important defining characteristics of the City of Arcata.

The City of Arcata owns another forest of over 1,440 acres (583 hectares) called the Jacoby Creek Forest. But the Arcata Community Forest is the one that residents know the best.

See you in the forest!

Some information came from: http://www.cityofarcata.org/departments/environmental-services/city-forests

Pacific Ocean, Mexico

Travel is infrequent or rare for most of us. How we go about it is a highly individual choice, and an important one.

Of course we can choose different modes for different occasions.

Do you prefer to travel with a group with the itinerary planned and arranged by a knowledgeable guide, or do you consider planning and routing to be part of the adventure? Do you like to be independent and travel with just one or a few companions, or do you like to meet new people as part of a group? Is local knowledge of places and languages a service that you want as part of a package, or do you want to research out places and strive to learn new languages? Do you prefer to travel by plane, boat, train, car, bike, horse, bus, or by foot?

Do you want to relax and get away from figuring things out,  just rest? Or do you want to learn and think about culture and history? Are you striving for recovery or knowledge?  Perhaps you travel in order to be with distant family or friends.

Most travel is a blend of these and other goals. Whoever determines what the blend is, determines the travel mode. Some people feel very strongly about these issues, others just want to get away and go along for the ride.

Feel free to comment by pushing the ’Start Discussion’ link below.

This photo was taken on a cruise ship to Mexico. I have only been on a cruise ship once. I enjoyed the early mornings before dawn and right after. There was a running track on the top deck. It was short but it was good to get some air. My favorite time for photographing was also before there were people out on the decks.

This particular cruise ship had nine levels and held MANY people. There was onboard gambling and constant food service. These comforts and diversions are very important parts of what you pay for and are prized by most customers.

This photograph shows an early morning deck with a cloudy ocean view. On the left side of the photo you can see through the windows into one of the restaurants. It was ready for upcoming breakfast rush thanks to the crew who worked hard while we slept.

Since most of our travel is for photographic work my wife and I prefer to arrange our own itineraries and we don’t travel with a group. I need to have control of the locations, hotels, method of travel, and timing etc. My work would really not be possible if I was part of a tour group traveling by bus or cruise ship. I saw lots of happy people on this cruise ship, however, and I know that it is a favored mode of travel for some.

I found the library on this ship. It was a great place to read and look out at the seemingly endless ocean. It was deserted most of the time. Good thing there were options for many different interests. Most of the time you could find quiet, out-of-way spots. Of course, that would be boring to some people. What is your favorite travel mode?

Agate Beach, Humboldt County, California, USA

When you think of California beaches what images do you see?

Crowds, bikinis, surfers, smog, traffic jams, heat, noise, fun, in-line skaters, muscle builders, palm trees, sand, or what?

The far northern California beaches have the surfers, the fun, the sand, but the rest? Not so much.

On beaches like Agate Beach shown in this photograph you can spend hours walking, beach-combing, looking for rocks, enjoying the scenery, or just sitting listening to the waves wash across the coarse sand, without dealing with crowds.

This isn’t a beach where you can drive up and walk onto the sand. You have to work to get there down a trail and stairs.

In the summer the coastal areas of northern California are often foggy and cloudy, at least in the morning. So sunny times are to be celebrated. Several days may pass between sightings of the sun.

These beaches don’t have some of the ‘attractions’ of southern California beaches, or the vendors of Mexican beaches, or the seemingly endless volleyball and soccer matches of Copacabana, or the charms of the Côte d’Azur of France, or the ancient wind-swept stone villages of Brittany, or even the shells  and high-rises of Florida.

But when northern Californians have time they can enjoy dramatic and quiet beaches and find that there are very few other people out on the beach. Like other rural coastal areas it is hard to make a living in these small towns. And like tough Breton farmers, fishermen, and shop-keepers they find a way. They find a way to enjoy these beaches when they can. They don’t miss the ‘amenities’.

Ponderosa Pine in Bloom, Bend, Oregon, USA

Ahhh, summertime, and the livin’  is  careless.

We want to get away from our daily routine and see some new country. We need some air. We need some space.

After we make all the arrangements at home and pack up all those necessities for our trip we make the journey.

We won’t have very long to explore. We want to focus on fun and diversion.

Will we be as responsible and thoughtful at the vacation place as we are at home? Or is that contradictory to ‘having fun’? Will the people who live there grow tired of obnoxious vacationers or will they know us as temporary neighbors? Neighbors who take part in the community events and help clean up and keep things safe, as if it was our neighborhood.

It is fire season. As the inland heat builds thunderheads and spawns lightning the wildlands are under threat. These are the places where we sometimes go for diversion, for beauty, for air, for space. Will we add to the threat through careless fun-seeking? Will we enjoy the show the forest puts on, will we notice? Will we keep it safe so that it can carry on for the rest of the year when we are not there? Will our momentary diversion destroy what we came to see because of an unattended campfire or fireworks? Every year somebody does something stupid and causes destruction in these places. Will it be me this year?

Pardon me if this sounds preachy or sanctimonious. I think it is worth reminding myself and ourselves to make careful choices and to be responsible neighbors.

This photo of a blooming Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa C. Lawson) looks like a fireworks burst in the sky, to me. Maybe that takes some imagination. I had never seen these red flowers on a Ponderosa before. (The reference I consulted says they have yellow flowers. Perhaps I have mis-identified it. Yes trees have flowers!) And I spent many years working in forests with Ponderosa in them. Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention in the spring. My Father-in-Law, Jim Bennett, spotted this tree  in Bend, Oregon. We were having a family reunion and only had a few days to visit that area. It was a great family time. I also spent quite a bit of time photographing at the edge of the Deschutes River. But I didn’t really get to know the area very well. It was just a brief glimpse at one time of year.

One of my frustrations with vacations and travel is that I never really get to know the place I am visiting. There just isn’t enough time. And since our travel is now focused on photographic work I want to spend more time at these places and learn the rhythm and culture. But the expenses add up and there are things to take care of and other work to do at home.

When we travel we try to rent a house for a week or so when possible. Maybe a month would be better. That would still just be a snapshot and it is so difficult to do. But renting a house and meeting the owners has been a good way for us to be introduced to a community. Even a stay of several days at a hotel as a base camp for a larger area lets you get to know some local people a little better than changing hotels more often.

Having time to walk around the area day after day and see the routines and the variety of weather gives a better picture of what the place is like. It also gives you a better chance of being there for market day! And it provides a better background for photographing an area. You find the out-of-the-way interesting spots. You meet people and see how they live and find out what is important to them. All of these experiences help you photograph the character of a place. You get a sense of the place. A sense of place is what I strive for in my photographs.

By spending at least a few days in a place you meet some local people several times. It is human nature for them to assess your character, if they aren’t too busy. They can tell very quickly if you are a careless tourist or a responsible neighbor.