October 31-Nisqually Wings

I predict a 500mm lens rental in my future. Nisqually is a wildlife refuge, so where the bird drama happens is too far away for my wimpy 300mm lens. Here are some favorites nonetheless. A lone cormorant sailed down the river through the raindrops and hordes of Canada geese made the rounds of the refuge.

Photographs from spring and summer at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge are in my Nisqually gallery.

Coming soon: two 2011 calendars - "Wings" and "Northwest Seasons."

Great blue heron strides downstream in search of lunch

Red-tailed hawk makes sure the big bird steers clear of his lunch

October 30-Nisqually Autumn

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is beautiful anytime of year. Here are some favorites from an excursion today. I'll post more tomorrow of birds.

October 27-Nisqually sunrise

It was a glorious morning in the Nisqually valley.

Mount Rainier from DuPont

 

Nisqually National Wildfire Refuge

Canada geese

October 23-Magical mushrooms

It's no wonder we call them toadstools. I can imagine a toad sitting on one of these. Or maybe they are gnome tables. With the rains returning, the variety of mushrooms and moss is incredible.

Photographing them is challenging though. The best way is to lie down on the ground at 'shroom level. That's also helpful because, with low light, being able to sit the camera on the ground to keep it steady is a plus.

Padme the wonderdog is losing patience with my frequent stops.

All photographs © Kate Lynch.

© Kate Lynch

© Kate Lynch

October 21-Gossamer webs

Spiders are very busy here in the fall. We all speculate that spiders are more active than usual because of a predicted cold snowy winter.

In the morning fog, this little tree outside my office is covered with glistening webs. Tiny spiders come out later in the day to catch what flies by.

October 20-Two points of view

Point UP

© Kate Lynch

Point DOWN

  

Any questions?

October 17-Sparkling Sequalitchew

Sequalitchew is a Lushootseed (dialect of Salish language) word that means either extensive sand banks over which the water is shallow or long run out tide or big tide. At low tide, sand was exposed for a great distance. The Sequalitchew Band of the Nisqually Tribe lived and fished here for thousands of years.

Those of us who live near Sequalitchew Creek Canyon and the Puget Sound beach at its delta know it as a beautiful respite filled with birds, ferns, trees, and a gentle babbling brook.

Padme and I introduced our friends Ann and Ken to a sparkling Sequalichew. I will post more images later this week. In the meantime, images from other journeys in the canyon can be seen in my DuPont Nisqually gallery.

October 15-Nisqually colors

Delta Glow © Kate Lynch

Sunset is a guilty pleasure. Guilty? Yes, indeedy. Anyone who has weathered art school comes away with an internal bias about shooting sunsets. Everybody does it and it is so easy to become a cliché. I realize that I'm starting to push the cliché envelope with my favorite spot to photograph spectacular sky over water - in this case, the Nisqually delta. I'm driven to get to the bottom of the hill so I don't miss the changing colors. It's like an incredibly decadent visual chocolate that I can't stop eating. When it's gone, I'm a little sad but heartened that the next day could be even better.

Misty Isle © Kate Lynch

I am thankful that I am not the only photographer who succumbs to this guilty pleasure. A photographer friend of mine and her photographer husband spent a week at a favorite spot in Hawaii where they have been many times. They decided to leave their camera equipment at home and have a true vacation (photographers are never really on vacation). They figured they had captured all the spectacular sunsets they could ever need, both film and digital. I was amused, though, that my friend had (count 'em) 30 sunset images on her phone! Most were identical.

I share her addiction. Hi everybody...my name is Kate and I am a sunset addict.

October 14-Sky Glow

The middle of October is glowing sky time in Washington state. When I look back on photographs I've captured over the past six years, the most spectacular skies caught my attention in October.

October 12-Something about the Moon

Bella Luna © Kate Lynch

Sunsets, moon rises, and moon sets are breathtaking in October in western Washington. I noticed a crescent moon low in the sky last night, but the sky was hazy. Tonight on our walk, Padme insisted that we walk our favorite trail although it was getting dark. The sky colors over the Nisqually delta were amazing. I knocked off a few shots but at the overlook, where I would really like to whack back some of the scrubby trees that compete with the delta view.

Moving from the trail to the street, I really liked the juxtaposition of the streetlight and the moon. I would like it better with the moon lower in the sky. That happened about three hours later. As I was heading upstairs, I glimpsed the moon low and orange near the horizon. I popped on my 300mm lens, set my camera on a tripod, and set up just outside the front door.

I love photographing the moon. I have my first moon image (circa 1974) - a double-exposure of the moon and a baby possum - hanging on my studio wall, along with two favorites both photographed in DuPont. Rainier Moon and Hunter's Moon.

October 11-Favorite trail

Padme the wonderdog leads me up this trail at least once a week. I suggest another route on our daily walk when it's too dark to be in the woods sans flashlight.

We have been seeing a wonderful variety of mushrooms, mosses, and ferns on this trail that parallels Ridgeview Drive in DuPont.

10-10-10 Change in Weather

Japanese maple © Kate Lynch

Sunday, October 10, 2010, changed from gray overcast skies to brilliant blue - a perfect 10 for 10-10-10. The woods were bathed in golden light that lasted until sunset.

Red maple © Kate Lynch

October 9-Purple passion

Purple passion - Gynura aurantiaca - names a plant that adopted me more than 15 years ago. I named her Corcra Anam - Gaelic for Purple Soul. Corcra Anam is one of three plants I brought to Washington from Arizona in 2000. She has been with me through seven household moves. Last year, I began to notice parallels in Corcra's physical health that seemed to mirror my emotional health - my passion or lack of it.

For a couple of years, the plant was plagued with white flies. I sprayed so much insecticidal soap that the furniture around it was sticky.

Last year, I reconnected with an old friend I lost track of for 38 years. I told him about the plant. My friend asked when I last repotted Corcra. I told him that it had been at least five years. He suggested that maybe the plant's lackluster passion was a metaphor for mine.

Now Corcra lives in a much larger pot with organic soil. I also cut her stems back drastically because insects were attacking her weak parts and affecting her healthy parts. She has been transplanted and reshaped - much like me. I am cutting back and cutting out what no longer works for me. And adding in what is good for me.

Since the spring, Corcra's growth has really taken off - much like mine. I have been growing as an artist and growing into my soul. I am healing the connection between body and soul, finding the passion for my art, and the compassion for who and what surrounds me.

 Recently, I cut some branches from Corcra's tremendous growth and planted a new pot that lives in the front window. What is the metaphor for my life's front window?

October 8-Fall at the Falls

Tumwater Falls gallery © Kate Lynch

Autumn is just starting to paint Tumwater Falls Park. Most of the salmon have returned to the fish hatchery. We spotted a random youngster trying to summit the first set of falls. 

  © Kate Lynch 

October 5-Sky, Water & Trees

© Kate Lynch - Anderson and McNeil islands and Olympic Mountains

I managed to get home a few minutes earlier, so Padme and I made our way down to the perimeter trail below the golf course, where we walked with Ann (one of her very favorite humans) on Saturday. We had fog earlier today, then the sun melted that away to blue skies. It is still pretty dark in the woods at 6 p.m. The red squirrel we have seen the past few days was really tough to photograph at anything lower than 1600 ISO.

© Kate Lynch - Nisqually Delta and Madrone

© Kate Lynch -Glowing madrone trees

The sun and multi-hued sky playing on the water was phenomenal. These were photographed between 6:20 and 6:45 p.m. More images can be seen in my Nisqually and DuPont galleries.

Two more views of the Olympic Mountains are in my Mountains gallery.

To order framed and unframed prints, visit my Sky Water gallery.

October 4-Rainier

© Kate Lynch

Sunset is arriving earlier and earlier. I photographed Mount Rainier at 6:30 this evening from DuPont. When I created a folder for today's shoot, I rediscovered another view of Mount Rainier from the east side of the Cascades that I photographed October 4, 2009, from White Pass at midday. More photographs in my Rainier gallery.

© Kate Lynch

October 3-Mushrooms & Moss

I have seen more varieties of mushrooms and moss here than in any place I have ever lived. Well, ok, I did spend almost half my life in the desert, where these things don't grow. I don't remember seeing anything like the variety we see here in Vermont or New Jersey. These were all photographed in low light at 1000-2000 ISO without a tripod.

October 2-Nisqually Delta

Pacific madrone and Garry oak trees glow above where the Nisqually River meets Puget Sound. My friends Ann and Ken came over for dinner. Ken and my son pulled the air conditioners out of the windows for the season while Ann and I walked the dog down the ridge trail below The Home Course. More Nisqually area images are in my online gallery.