Fairhaven Environmental Photography

  This photo was taken at Marine Park during our second-to-last field trip. This photo stood out to me because of the many elements it captures. One being the wind, which can be seen by the flow of hair. The second being the sunset. The colors of the sunset, I feel, set the energy of the photo. I waited till it was less bright because, as much as I wanted to capture the sunset in its prime, I personally love the purples and blues that emerge just as the sun is about to disappear on the horizon. I think what I was trying to invoke from viewers was a sense of calm, stillness, yet not relaxed. Also, a dazed sense is what I was aiming for. Dazed yet gloomy. Honestly, I feel like there's a lot someone could feel from looking at this. Maybe a sense of loneliness, being alone with oneself. To focus, though, on the theme of loneliness, I feel that people often negate the idea of being alone. I think people negate it because they often fear being alone. I personally think the world and peop...

 

  I really like this photograph, and I think it shows the change that animals are forced into through human development. At first, your eye is directed to the seagull near the middle, then to the surrounding docks and warehouses. Thinking about how animals such as the seagulls photographed, or the sea lions that were swimming around near the docks, are forced into this man made world is something that evokes emotion. I do believe that this photograph contains a more lighthearted, hopeful side too. Many places, even in Bellingham, have much more visible human interaction and pollution, leading to a very biodiverse ecosystem. On the other hand, this photo shows a rather diverse area, and it must have been a good area for feeding as there were so many birds in that area. I'm hoping this photo shows how we as humans coexist with nature, and must take care of it going forward. 

 

It was difficult for me to choose a single photo that stood out above the rest because there were so many I was excited about/proud of, so I just chose a few that I liked. In the sunset photo, there are a couple of specks of sand from the beach but I don't have an editor that could remove them unfortunately, but I was still happy about getting the sun-rays to show up so I decided to add it anyway. 

 

 

  The first photo is Valee perched on the cobblestones, holding their camera steady for a shot. I liked the bright contrasting colors of yellow and orange in their hair and waterbottle, with the blue background of sea and sky. I used the rule of thirds when framing this photo, placing the subject in the bottom right third of the frame, with space in front of Valee to imagine what they are photographing. I also like the diagonal line made by the small breaking waves that contradicts the two horizontal lines created by the other side of the bay and the horizon. To me, this photo encapsulates a feeling of serenity; appreciating the grandness of open spaces by immersing ourselves in the documentation of them.  The second photo I sneakily captured of my sister and her boyfriend eating lunch, but I was not sneaky enough when taking it. They are both mid-chew and mid-laugh, staring directly at the camera. I really like the framing of this photo; they way they are both sitting showcas...

  I chose these photos and took them for the same purpose: to show humans as they are. Untouched and unprompted. I find it beautiful to capture people in their element and display the simple beauty of their presence. 

  For this assignment, I wanted to document a lovely day in the Baker backcountry with my friend. With the first photo, I really wanted to make the viewer think about perspective. With such a wide shot, it's easy not to even see my friend in the air, and when the viewer's gaze reaches that bottom corner, it makes the viewer understand how big the scale is in the photograph. With the second one, I wanted my friend to be slightly out of focus, with Shuckson looming over. The third is taken looking down, as my friend scouts out his line, the viewer also directs their gaze downwards. I wasn't trying to represent any major emotions when taking these photographs, but more of the feeling of moving around big spaces, carefully yet freely. We have the privilege to play in these wild natural places, and I tried to evoke the feeling of that in these photographs.

  Photo 1: Shutterspeed - 1/125, ISO - 800, F/11 Photo 2: Shutterspeed - 1/125, ISO - 800, F/11 I don’t feel the most comfortable taking pictures of random people without their permission, so I decided to go out with a friend to take some pictures with her posing in various positions. I got some pretty good images of my friend posing next to trees and looking out, but I preferred the more subtle images with something other than a human posing as the subject. I got very lucky during this photoshoot because while taking pictures a small bird (I believe it’s a Dark-eyed junco) sat on my backpack so I quickly tried to take as many shots as possible. Because my lens can’t zoom in close enough to make the bird perfectly in frame as the primary subject, but this is still my favorite photo I was able to capture because it was so perfectly representative of nature interacting with human made creations. I also liked the vines climbing the building around the window and the reflection of the ...

Although none of these photos were necessarily intentionally posed, I really enjoyed the variety of moments I captured of people interacting with the environment in different ways. Throughout these individual moments, the overarching feeling that is captured is a sense of peacefulness and admiration for nature. There is a feeling of connection in these photos that comes from sharing the experience of nature's beauty with others. The first photo was taken during an incredible sunset that I could not stop photographing. I was so enamored by the sunset that I hadn't realized how many people had gathered on the beach since we had arrived there. The photo captures just a few people admiring the sunset, and I find it so wonderful that people gather to marvel at nature together. There's something very special about collectively seeing something so beautiful and sharing that moment. One of the best ways humans can interact with the environment is by admiring it.  In the second phot...

       I took some other posed photos for this assignment, but again and again I returned to this spur of the moment snap of Ziggy. I am so struck by it. There is such a sense of longing in their reach, the soft positioning of hand. They had ventured quietly into the cattails, reaching slowly to feel its softness. There is a magical air to the photograph, the fog in the background serves it very well. Their hand reaches across the horizon line, from the world of us to the misty world of reeds. It guides the eye so clearly to their focal point that we come to share it.  The colors of this scene serve the photo well. The grey haze of the sky matching the tones of their keffiyeh, the focus on the pink hues of their skin and the yellows of the dried grasses. It all adds to this misty and dreamlike feeling. An ankh peaks through. It points from  Ziggy's wrist to the plant they so tenderly grasp, and I am reminded of the potential that lives within seed. Being a ...

While I didn't plan this (I was actually annoyed they walked in front of the shot I was trying to get lol) it turned out to be an excellent shot with a gorgeous view of the sunset. I had fun exaggerating the hues in the sky and the reflections in the water -  I used the mac photo app again.  It's really interesting playing with color balance in photos. It's just so cool seeing where the hues pop from when you mess with the sliders! I didn't expect the shoreline in the distance to have much definition, but the cyan really made it pop!  I also am just totally in love with this entire image. It's just got such lovely shapes all around. The bird is in the perfect place in the wave's curvature. The water, essentially now existing on a 2D plane, reaches for the couple. The couple happened to be standing with the taller of the two on the edge of the frame, which just feels right for some reason with the mountains in the distance doing the opposite, shape-wise.  Looking...

  March, life's familiar whispered melody I love sunny days because there's much more activity to observe when peoplewatching. This guitar player is enjoying the early evening sunshine on the Old Main Lawn, a subtle celebration of springtime. Although it's only March, WWU students get so excited to bask in the sunshine, and many flock to this particular spot. From my window, I watch people read, color, do homework, slackline, hammock, throw frisbees, play games and instruments (usually guitars), and soak up the glow of our old friend, the sun, often forgotten in cloudy winter.  It's well known that Bellinghamsters love the outdoors, but days like this in early spring remind us as a collective that we've missed spending time outside. All at once, seemingly the entire population sprawls across the Old Main and Communications Lawns. Every picnic table is full of happy students in sunglasses, and wheels fly across campus carrying bikers, roller skaters, skateboarders, a...

  Here is a photo of the train tunnel I took on one of our field trips. I wanted to capture the contrast of the scene, and I believe having this photo in black and white highlights that. I am also quite fascinated by the concept of a place’s memory being represented physically, and I think this photo is a really beautiful way to show the different imprints left over time. Each artist left their mark on this tunnel built over a hundred years ago in 1913. Bellingham was founded in 1903, only ten years before, when Whatcom, Sehome, Bellingham, and Fairhaven consolidated into one city. So many people and seasons have passed since this tunnel’s construction, and as a firm believer that space holds memory, I am curious about what this tunnel would have to say. What kinds of trains run this line? Who has been on those trains?  I am very proud of this photo. I think it captured the haunting element I was looking for, but not in a way meant to disturb — just hinting at nostalgia and me...