Postcard from Virgin

Yes, my friends, there really is a town called Virgin, and its in Utah (of course). This small town, located near Zion National Park, has less than a thousand people, and is known for two things…first and foremost, the town passed a law that requires every homeowner to keep and maintain a firearm, which includes ammo for it. There is a $500 fine for not complying with this law. The town council passed the ordinance in the year 2000 after residents expressed fear that their Second Amendment right to bear arms was under fire (no pun intended).

Exceptions have been made for the mentally ill, convicted felons, conscientious objectors and people who cannot afford to own a gun. I for one am happy about those exclusions as I passed through Virgin several times in November when driving to and from my hotel to Zion Park.

The second thing that makes the town interesting is this old west village just outside of town. I think it is a museum of sorts. What you see here is just part of it…these rather strange-shaped buildings that make you think you are in the Twilight Zone. There is very little info about it on the Internet…even the town’s official Website doesn’t even mention it.

In some shared photos, tourists have incorrectly identified it as a ghost town. I don’t think there ever was a town in the old west that looked like this! Some of the buildings have signs on them like,”Undertaker,” the “OK Corral,” “The Wild Ass Saloon,” and, of course, “The Virgin Jail.” 

Sadly, I never went in to explore the place…the only time I stopped was to take a few pictures. It looked like a tourist trap to me.

As a side note, I hope someone someday will explain the obsession that Utah folks have with the term, “Virgins.” There is the town Virgin, located on the Virgin River, which runs by the Towers of the Virgins mountain formation inside Zion Park. With no disrespect meant to any religious faith, its just a little eerie…that’s all. But each to their own.

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com.

Postcard from Glacier

This is Avalanche Creek, a lovely, normal creek that flows out of beautiful Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park. It’s normal, that is until it hits this rocky narrow canyon, then it becomes what is commonly called “rapids” as it rips through these narrows on the final part of its  journey to Lake McDonald.  

To get to this lovely view spot, just take the trail to Avalanche Lake. Shortly after leaving the parking area, you will see a bridge off to the left of the main trail. Just walk over to it and enjoy the beauty you see here.

But, if I were you, after viewing this lovely scene, I would rejoin the trail and keep going until you come to Avalanche Lake. It’s only about 3 miles round trip and well worth it. I showed photos of it here some time ago…it is a beautiful lake surrounded by steep high mountains with several waterfalls pouring into the lake. It is spectacular! And the scenery along the trail (and the more quieter parts of the creek) are also very enjoyable. Take your time and breathe it all in. Its well worth the journey if you are ever in Glacier National Park.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com.

Postcard from Lassen

This is Mt. Lassen as seen from Kings Creek Meadow. The creek meandering through the picture is (surprise!) Kings Creek. This meadow is at 7,400 feet elevation and about 4,000 feet below the Lassen Summit.

Nothing tricky about getting here as this scene was shot from alongside the road that traverses Lassen Volcanic National Park in California.  But it will involve a substantial drive, elevation wise. It is not far from the road’s highest point. But it is worth the drive as there are many rewards along the road including some lakes, meadows, rivers, steam vents, and of course, some tremendous views of this magnificent mountain.

It was pretty evident when I shot this photo that I would render it in black and white. The scene was perfect for it as it rendered the visual elements far more persuasively than if I had left it in color. Being so high in altitude, the light was crisp and clear of any negative elements like haze.

For your information, Lassen Park is in Northern California and is part of the Cascade Range, not the Sierras. The Cascades run from just north of Redding, California into Oregon, Washington, then on into Canada. It is a range of volcanoes, many of them considered active. Besides Lassen, the mountains include Shasta, Hood, St. Helens, Adams, and, of course Rainier… to name a few.

Of all the volcanoes in the Cascades, several of them are classified as active. We all know about St. Helens, but did you know that Lassen erupted during the years 1914-17? In all, 11 of the 13 volcanoes in the U.S. portion of the Cascade Range have erupted at least once in the past 4,000 years, and 7 have done so in just the past 200 years.

It would be a major catastrophe if a Rainier or Hood blew their tops as they are so close to major cities like Seattle and Portland. Vancouver, BC would be devastated if Mt. Garibaldi blew. In all, over 10 million people live around these three volcanoes.

But, after eruptions, over many years, and long after they quiet down, Mother Nature heals the damage, leaving behind some spectacular scenery…such as Kings Creek Meadow.

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com.

Postcard from Quartzite, AZ

Colors Colors Colors

Colors colors colors
Give them to me
Full sky and spaces
My longing to see
Fill every dream way
Of its inside food
Let harp strings play
Their songs hued

Colors colors colors
Come here to be
Vast as the ocean
Tinctures explosions
The rivers of dreams
Inside their reams
Calling out the fire
Of spring come desire

Colors colors colors
Never be empty
With shading in places
Their tone so free
With nature in bright
And greenery lay
And in summer's night
With coming of May

Peter S Quinn

 

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com.

Postcard from Chicago

I’ve talked about the “El”, aka the Elevated Railway that runs throughout the great Chicago area, but I don’t believe I‘ve ever shown a photo of it. To be more precise, this section of the El is known as “The Loop” in downtown Chicago.

The El is Chicago’s Rapid Transit System, the second longest system in the US, smaller only to New York’s subway system. It began operations in 1892 and now consists of 8 separate lines, each designated by a color. It is run by the Chicago Transit Authority. All the lines, except the Red Line converge into the Loop, make a giant circle, then head out again on their various routes. The Loop is circular, but is actually shaped in the form a giant rectangle in the downtown area. This, of course, lets people from all over greater Chicago enter and exit into and out of the downtown area.

For instance, the Green Line starts way down on the Southside, comes into the loop, then heads due west to places like Oak Park. The Blue Line takes you out to O’Hare Airport while the Orange Line runs from the Loop out to Midway Airport.

This photo, looking north, shows the Loop as it runs on top of Wabash Street, near Adams. To get to a train, you would climb one level up from the street. The second level you see is just a bridge above the tracks to take you to the other side, if your train comes in there.    

I mentioned that the Red Line does not go into the loop. When I took this photo, I was standing on top of the Red Line as it comes into the downtown area underground. However, most of the Red Line is elevated above the city. FYI, the Red Line runs north and south and goes by both baseball stadiums…US Cellular Field on the Southside, and Wrigley Field to the North.  

In my trips to Chicago I rode on several of the lines and always found it to be an enjoyable experience. The El got me where I was going as fast as it could. I will never forget my first view of Wrigley Field was from the car of a Red Line train coming into the Addison Street Station. WOW! Chicago is definitely a very special place.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com.

Postcard from Tucson

This is one of those images that started out as one thing and turned into something entirely different. Let me explain.

My camera and I were wandering around the University of Arizona campus looking for different architectural elements. You have seen some of these photos in past blogs. I saw these interesting steps that were wide at the bottom and nearly converged at the top. I tried photographing them at different angles and thought I might find something of interest.

Later, when looking at photos in Lightroom, they were all duds! And I mean really boring duds. I almost erased them when I started playing with one of them and narrowed down the point of view to just the end of the steps and the rail. And for some reason, I liked what I had.

As you can see, there are lines that are straight, then take off in right angles and a rail rising up at and angle that gave the image depth. A little more cropping and some more Photoshop magic and I had a special image. Of course it is in black and white as there is no color to distract your eye (there was not much color to begin with).  So, you see the elements of the image as they are meant to be seen. 

Unlike some of my photos, I never tire of seeing this one. I hope you enjoy it also. If nothing else, it is a good lesson on the value of cropping and never giving up on an image until you have explored all the possibilities.

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com.

Postcard from Yosemite

Back in May of last year, I showed you a photo very similar to this one. In fact it was taken on the same day and nearly at the same time. In going through my photos the other day, I found that I had a better composition of this same scene.

This one has much more emphasis on the reflections in the water. I must admit I am surprised I missed this image when reviewing the photos from my May trip to this great National Park. I am glad I went back and looked again.

Like the previous one, this can be classified as an HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo. I shot 5 successive photos instantaneously at different exposures, then combined them into one shot in post-processing…plus a little touch-up in Photoshop. I must say I love experimenting with HDR as it puts one’s photographic skills to the test like none other. But, in many cases, like this particular shot, it is the only way to go.

Here’s why:

This was photographed at the last waning moments of sunset where only Half Dome and the sky are lit up. The Merced River and the surrounding forest are in deep, deep shade. There is no way a single exposure with today’s camera could capture this scene…even using graduated neutral density filters (that is a topic for another day). I would love to thank the person or persons who came up with the concept of HDR…it adds new dimensions to what is capable with digital photography.

For your information, this was taken on the bridge that leads to Yosemite Village, just past the chapel. Trust me…you can’t miss it. It’s a good place to bring your camera (and tripod if shooting at sunset) to photograph this wonderful scene.

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To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com.

Postcard from Ellensburg

There is a special little section of Washington State where I used to go every October to photograph when I called that state home. It is located just south of Ellensburg and yielded some wonderful Autumn images over the years. It had country roads loaded with trees, small farms, a river, ponds, nature trails and more. A few images from there became best-selling paintings and one photo even showed up on the cover of a music CD.

As I approached the area early one October Sunday morning, I saw a ground fog had enveloped the area and I knew some special images might just come my way. What you see here is one of them. The newly risen sun was filtered by the fog enough that I didn’t get any lens flare and the filtered light let me capture everything in the photo. I have a few more images from that morning that I will share with you in the future. As you might guess, the fog burned off fairly quickly so I had to move pretty fast to capture what I could.

Living here in the deep Southwest, I don’t get to see very much of Autumn. In November, I had to travel up to Zion to see those colors again. So I hope that those of you who live where Autumn shows all its glory can appreciate how special you have it.

On a personal note, I enjoyed my time away from blogging during the Christmas holiday, but am happy to be back. My wonderful son surprised me on Christmas day with a brand new high speed computer system with a large 23” monitor. Now, I can do my post processing and painting work at vastly accelerated speeds and they look better than ever before. I am a lucky guy.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com.