The Intimate Embrace...

   My first foray out onto Little Clemons was a revelation.  I was finally able to photograph the pond from "the inside out" rather than just "the outside in".  I was able to engage with the pond in a whole new way.

   As our canoe slowly moved through the water, the surface responded with soft, undulating movements creating lovely tones and patterns.  There was a subtle shimmer to the water not unlike the light on dark satin. The lily pads too waved with the passage of our canoe.

   I could reach in and touch the water and it did seem like a mutual embrace.  I've entitled these images "Intimacies".  It seemed appropriate to the encounter I had that day.

   The stems of the lilies seemed very calligraphic as they rose out of the depths and responded to the movement of our canoe.  The submerged pads seemed ghostly.

   Now that summer is winding down the pads are turning colors ranging from yellow to a soft red.  After a season of uniformity, they now assert their independence and break into a riot of diverse color.

    We will journey out on the pond again in early October and it will be a totally different experience I'm sure.  Every moment on this pond is unique, fleeting and ethereal...each reveals another dimension of the poetry inherent in this landscape.

We need the tonic of wildness...At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.

- Henry David Thoreau

A Star Island Epiphany...

   An artist's duty is rather to stay open-minded and in a state where he can receive information and inspiration. You always have to be ready for that little artistic Epiphany.
- Nick Cave

   Epiphanies are unexpected.  You think you are going in one direction and then, BANG, you find yourself going in an entirely new one.  That is what happened to me on Star Island.  

   I hadn't thought seriously about the monochrome image for over a year, since I was out on Monhegan Island in June of 2013.  When I first got to the island I bought Alexandra's de Steigeur's beautiful book, Small Island, Big Picture.  She is the winter caretaker on Star from November through March.  She is also an accomplished photographer who works exclusively in black and white.

   After attending her lecture I was convinced...it was time to re-visit the monochrome image.  The photograph above is my Icon of the Star Island Experience.  I had first worked on it in color but after her lecture I tried it in black and white.  

   There was the haunting quality that first attracted me to the monochrome image all those years ago.  There are some things you simply can't say with a color image and it is a conversation that I needed to have again.

   The second image has many subtle nuances that would be lost in a color version of the scene.  The tiny seagull's shadow on the cottage in the foreground, the white lace curtain blowing out of the window, the early morning light on the grass, all were lost in the original color image.  Only when I desaturated the photograph did these elements pop out for me.

   Now, I don't intend to turn my back on color, not at all, but I will work in tandem with the monochrome image now.  Some subjects lend themselves to, no, require the black and white translation.  Below is a link to my album of Star Island monochrome images...

Star Island Monochrome

A Few Thoughts on Intention...

   I knew there was to be another Super Moon on August 10th.  I'd gone to see the one in July but it
rose behind the trees.  Besides, I didn't have my tripod with me so my feeble attempt to render the moonrise was a complete failure.

   This time I did my homework and dusted off my tripod.  I quickly realized my 200 mm lens would be insufficient to render the lunar detail.  They recommended a 500 mm lens.  Well, I wasn't about to run out and purchase one so I had to think a bit about my intention for photographing the moon at all.

   What I decided was that it wasn't the moon itself that interested me.  I could see the spectacular results of those who did have the proper equipment and technical knowledge to render the craters and lunar landscape with incredible detail on the internet.  That wasn't what fascinated me.

   What sparked my poetic imagination was the moon's relationship and interaction with the pond.  That was what I wanted to photograph...the light on the water and the lily pads, the soft glow as it broke over the hill.  I wanted the evocative feeling of the experience not a scientific rendering of the lunar surface.

    I have never claimed to be a technical perfectionist when it comes to my digital photography.  Frankly, reading the technical issues involved with photographing the moon made my eyes cross.  I figured out what I needed to do to make this image and it satisfied me immensely.  This time, the moon rose over the hill but there was only a few minutes in which everything came together and I was able to make a photograph that captured my emotion while I sat on the shore witnessing this beautiful event.  It soon rose too high and was again obscured by the tree branches and the light on the water changed and the lily pads sunk into shadow.

   One has to be clear about one's intentions otherwise one will surely be disappointed.  My trial run the night before showed me what I needed to do to make an image that would work for my Poetry of Place project.  I worked with what I had and it was enough...it always is if you understand yourself and your intentions.

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Footnote:
    I shared this photograph with a friend and he called to my attention the fact that three planets can be seen in the photograph.  Tiny pin pricks of light, I was thrilled to see that Saturn, Venus and the red planet, Mars, can be seen if you look very closely.  See if you can find them! It is a bit like a planetary "Where's Waldo" exercise.  Clue: they are are to the left and above the moon and Mars, the red planted is in between the leaves.

Tonight is the last "Super Moon" of the year.  Although not as large as August's moon, it still is worth venturing out to see with or without a camera.

More Breadcrumbs from Star Island...

You can find sanctuary in the most unlikely places...

Don't forget to look back...

The Oceanic Effect...*

   The wonderful photographer and winter caretaker on Star Island, Alexandra de Steigeur, used the term "Oceanic Effect" to describe the sensation of vastness that overcomes her when she is sailing or alone on the island during the winter months.  It makes one feel incredible small in relation to the immense expanse of the water and sky.  It puts one in one's proper relationship with Nature...

Gathering Breadcrumbs on Star Island...

What's Holding You Back?

Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

When the Student is Ready the Teacher will Come

More Than Words Can Say...

  Lately, I have discovered that as I sit on the shore of Little Clemons Pond, journal in my lap, pencil poised, I find I am a loss for words.  Now this is not a common occurrence for me.  I usually find the words flow in abandon.  I believe I am becoming mesmerized by the pond and it has silenced my normally prolific pencil.

   This particular day, I was sitting on the western shore on a part that is very close to the road.  Just a mere twenty feet away cars, and an occasional logging truck, pass by but I tune them out completely.  This is also another side effect of the pond's hypnotizing ability.

   I think I have more completely merged with the landscape here than I ever have before, anywhere, and I'm not quite sure why this might be true.  Perhaps it is a benefit I am now enjoying after spending the last nine years immersed in contemplative photography.  Perhaps it has taken me that long to open myself up fully to the act of pure experience.  Whatever the reason, I am so profoundly enjoying this experience that I must, again, urge you to find your own "Walden".  A place nearby that you can visit repeatedly over a long period of time.  A place where two souls can merge in an embrace of understanding and appreciation.

We must not cease from exploration.  And

the end of all our exploring will be to

arrive where we began and to know the

place for the first time.

- T.S. Eliot

The Essence of Star Island...

...is the many Random Acts of Spontaneous Joy you can find here.  Kim Manley Ort asked the participants in our contemplative photography retreat to ferret out the essence of Star Island.  I chose this image which I made on Saturday evening of a couple dancing in the gazebo at sunset. 

   You see lots of these moments here on Star.  Like people sitting down at one of the two pianos and playing for the sheer love of it.  Or listening to soft voices singing long after chapel services were over.  You can witness these spontaneous moments every day.

   Finding the essence of a place is vital if you truly wish to say you know a location.  Summertime Star is this to me.  Wintertime Star is, of course, a whole different place as I've come to know through the photographs of Alexandra de Steiguer, more about her next week.  Seek connection to the landscape by searching for the essence of the place and you will begin to understand...