Fairhaven Environmental Photography

When looking for a landscape to photograph, a specific landmark caught my eye because of how the fog was rolling into the mountain before a storm. I chose the location because I saw how the fog was reacting to the mountain as it was covering half of it, and I knew it would look ominous. In Colorado where I am from, we do not get much heavy fog compared to Washington and its islands, and I thought it was fascinating. As it was raining, I pulled my Zoom lens out and clocked my first few images to adjust my shutter speed, aperture, Izo, and set my main settings to cloudy. I experimented with different shutter speeds to get my lighting correct and allowed my aperture to move around willingly, but the aperture settings did not go too high. My Izo was set to auto because I did not want my images to be grainy. The first photo was captured with a shutter speed of 1/125 and aperture of f4.0. It allowed the tree elements to pop more because of the lower amount of light being let into the shutter...

  I took these photos during a winter hike I took this week in place of our field trip ( I am absent ). In general I feel these photos are relatively good in terms of the scenery and landscape, but the major flaw I see is that the landscape itself carries these photos and is what makes them ‘good’ photos. My lens does not zoom, so trying to accurately capture what the mountains look like in the background and also capturing the colors of the sky behind them was difficult. The second photo I like a bit more, though I think that the details of the mountain ( Mt. Baker ). Are missed because the photo is more focused on the tree off to the side. If I had moved more into the snow in the center and shot the mountain with less of the tree in the right third of the image I think that I could have captured those details more, even without a zoom lens. This also means I would have had to increase my f stop because of the excess of bright whites around me. The third image I had focused too mu...

  Photo 1 - Shutterspeed - 1/10, ISO - 3200, F/16  Photo 2 - Shutterspeed - 1/250, ISO - 100, f/5.6 Photo 3 - Shutterspeed - 1/640, ISO - 3200, f/5.6 Photo 4 - Shutterspeed - 1/60, ISO - 160, f/5.6 I chose a few photos that stood out to me that I’ve taken over the past few weeks of field trips. I focused a lot on framing and the rule of thirds while taking these photos. I grew up near Seattle, so being near water and rain is very near and dear to my heart and the long awaited rain in fall following a hot summer is a welcome event for me as the rain makes me feel at home. I grew up near Lake Washington, and had a yearly tradition of visiting Lake Chelan at the end of summer, so Lakes have always been my favorite body of water. I find them to be incredibly relaxing, especially during the hot summers. I don’t think I’d ever choose to live in a landlocked state or somewhere far from water, as it helps flourish the plant life around it leading to such beautiful areas to discover.

             What is water? In a word: water is life. ʔəshəliʔ ti qʷuʔ . Along with "when the tide is out, the table is set," that is one of the main mantras that really defines life in the Pacific Northwest. For thousands of years, water has been a defining force in the lives of humans living here. The salmon live in water, as do other fish, and the seals, whales, shellfish, amphibians, and many birds, all the bounty of water. And other creatures rely on it for drinking and for keeping the lands green and healthy for grazing or for farming. Not only does it have the power of life, but also destruction. It brings floods, tsunamis, blizzards, hurricanes, and all manner of destruction.  It isn't only important to this region as well. Entire religions of the Old World, such as the Greco-Roman pantheon, were dominated by a god of rain. Even the Abrahamic god, long before being worshipped monotheistically, was Yahweh, a god of storms. The po...

When I think of water, I immediately think of the concept of life- which is what I imagine many others think of as well. If I remember correctly, it's the origin of life- and necessary to keep any living being functioning. Trying to think in a more personal sense, water to me is associated with cleanliness but also work. Remembering to take care of myself is work- drinking enough, showering, stuff like that. Cleaning dishes or rinsing other dirty things is hard work too, but it's satisfying, and water is central to that.   

  Growing up in the pacific northwest I have constantly been surrounded by water. I have always had a great appreciation and comfort to this fact. While many others hated days of nothing but rain, I always loved it, made me feel so comfortable. Everything hit better during a light rain the dirt would smell fresh, and the reflection in the puddles were always so mesmerizing. I love seeing days of showers in the forecast it brings such great excitement and happiness to see. It’s on my opinion reductive to call the wet days “bad weather” when it brings so many miracles and prosperity to the land, the region we reside in wouldn’t work without all this rain we see.

 Water is a source of life. It is admired. It stimulates growth. It provides safety. Water is essential. It can take the form of powerful waves, soothing rivers, icicles hanging off the roof of your family home, or be a symbol of hope. Many do not have access to water, let alone clean water. Clean water is essential to life. It comes from the sky to paint the land. It carves mountains, homes many creatures. Water is a a need. It is a necessity that gets abused daily. It gets taken from people, is poisoned, is profitable, and wasted. People act like it is a commodity that has no end. It sacrifices survival for profit, community for capitalism. 

  Writing about water in a way that doesn't touch on cliche is difficult and especially impossible for an amateur writer like myself. So when I describe what water means to me, I have no choice but to mention its role in life. Water is a chemist's dream. In both organic and inorganic chemistry water is one of the most important materials of all time, primarily due to its simulations stability while also being an incredible solvent, a surprising rare combination of traits. These two primary traits, as well as it being liquid between 0-100C in Earth's atmosphere make it extremely useful for earth life.  We are meat bags of chemistry, and with 60% of our body being nothing but water, it drives every single chemical reaction in the body. This is even more striking when looking at plants, whose biomass is made up of anywhere from 85-95% water by weight. Photosynthesis and its derivatives, the source of energy for nearly all life on the planet, uses water as one of three ingredie...

  I spent the first seasons of my live suspended in the water of womb, so no wonder it is of such reverence now. I adore the ocean and its inhabitants. Marine ecology entrances me and I follow that siren song into the water. Few things feel as free as being in cold water. I relish in its chill and feel cleansed anew. I float on my back and ponder the millennia of humans to do it before me. It is one of those things- like eating slow smoked jerky- that reminds me we are all the same in such carnal behaviors. Swimming reminds me of my boundless shape, of my shifting and roaring and calm.      I think one of the greatest sights is a close-up of plants holding a precious orb of water. I love to see droplets in the moss, a drip running down a long blade of grass. It was a great joy to go searching for that in this assignment, and a good reminder to mist all of my plants. 

I've always lived near water. Whether it was the Pacific Ocean, the Hudson River, various creeks, ponds, and lakes in the Adirondacks, the Gulf of Mexico (I will not be calling it anything else), and now the beautiful Salish Sea, I have been blessed by the presence of natural bodies of water.   1/100s //   33mm   //   f4.5   //  ISO 2500   My senior year of high school, there was an elective science class available called "Spheres of the Universe". We spent probably half the semester making bottle rockets (and failing), and for the rest of the time, we got to choose projects and experiments that interested us. I wanted to learn about what caused the different colors of the auroras and how binary star systems move through space, so I did. Another endeavor was a project I titled "Water = Life". Working in foodservice, I knew that there was something called "the danger zone", so I had the suspicion that sunlight (heat) would provide microor...

 I think that water is a quintessential aspect of us as humans, and it is certainly essential to me. I think that blue spaces are an incredible resource to us as humans, and have an incredible calming aspect to them. Water has been an invaluable tool to humanity as a way to cultivate our land and forage in the sea. I chose WWU specifically for its access to blue spaces, and love hanging out by the Bay, sailing in the surrounding lakes, and surfing on the Peninsula. My photos are from our most recent trip to Clayton Beach.

       Being surrounded by water is definitely one of my favorite parts of growing up in Washington and there are so many beautiful places to experience it. Water is truly one of earth's most vital resources and it's amazing how much life it can sustain. I've always been so in awe of how vast and powerful the ocean is, I love observing the movements of water and all the aquatic life it brings. I have always known that wherever I end up living throughout my life I will need to be near the water in some way. The beach has always felt like the most peaceful space to me and I hope I get to experience it forever.

To me, water is mostly about what lives within it. When I think about water, I think about all of the life that it supports, outside of being a resource for humans. Water creates environments for plants and animals to exist in, and I believe my pictures reflect the great impact that water can have. From the abundance of ferns and trees around the waterfall, to the effects of erosion on the landscape, showing water shapes, contains, and nurtures life. Water is and will always be changing, yet it will remain a constant necessity for all living things.      

  Water is what drew me to Bellingham. I was raised in Pennsylvania, a landlocked state, and while some count Lake Erie's 77 miles of Pennsylvania shoreline as a vague exemption to landlocked-ness, I do not. My entire life, the closest ocean was at least a full day's drive away in New Jersey. Those in Philadelphia had the luxury of making that drive in under two hours, but Pittsburgh is closer to the Midwest by a long shot, and I was significantly closer to Indianapolis than the ocean.  My mom was born and raised in University Place, Tacoma with constant access to the water. If it was nice out, she went to the water. If it was a special occasion, she went to the water. If she had free time or needed to breathe good air or had any excuse at all, she went to the water.   When she married my father, he brought her to Pittsburgh, where he grew up and where starter homes were affordable for a freshly married couple in graduate school with plans to raise two children. She was b...

       In these photos, water represents aquatic life and is the home for many living creatures. We all need water to survive because it is a natural source of energy, and roughly 70 percent of our bodies make up water. However, ocean water contains salt and is unsafe for human consumption because of the high salinity. Ocean creatures can survive in high salt water because they have been physically adapted to do so. The reason I took waterfall and ocean pictures of water movement is because in Colorado we do not have vast waterfalls or oceans. I found it to be enticing watching the water travel downstream and to the sandy beaches. I could watch the waves for hours. Since I didn't grow up around the oceans, I feel as if something is pulling me towards the sea because I want to see it every chance I get.