Uploads from Erik Hovmiller, with geodata

Like Old Times

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:48:29 -0700

I just returned from a vacation to New Jersey. Born and raised there, I went back to visit family and to admire the autumn season. Vibrant fall foliage is something I really miss living far away in Oregon (not to mention the quality bagels and wicked thunderstorms.)

This mill in the town of Clinton, NJ dates from 1810, older than any building found in Oregon by far.

Return to the Wallowas

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 20:44:25 -0700

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

J and I got back yesterday from a Wallowas backpack. This here is Arrow Lake in the southern end of the Eagle Cap Wilderness. We had total isolation from humans that day and the next.

I had missed the Wallowas. Real bad.

Meadow Showcase

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 22:02:31 -0700

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

Mount Hood's Elk Meadows harness some peculiar wildflowers and a picture-postcard view of the mountain itself. The flowers are Elephants head lousewort. I've never seen fields of them before and, en masse, they put on quite a show, especially with the morning light. There was also some variety of shooting star and a few white bog orchid mixed in. I'll see about posting some closer-ups of the lousewort soon.

I got up at sunrise for this (check that, the sun rising graciously got me up) and had to wait around for the light to conquer the foothills and creep down the meadow to illuminate the foreground. Not a bad way to kill a couple of hours by any means.

Isolation Idealized

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:43:08 -0800

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

Phantom Ship within Crater Lake at sunset.

The Veil of Winter

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:57:37 -0800

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

Exploring new areas is always enjoyable for me and when the weather plays along, the experience can be thrilling. So it was on this day.

The Beautiful Belly of the Beast

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:43:29 -0800

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

When I first traveled to Crater Lake, I hadn't realized that boat trips run to Wizard Island. I tried to fathom what it would be like to explore and climb the 316 acres of this volcanic cone. Delighted I was to discover when planning my return trip that one could not only take a boat ride around the lake, but one could get off at Wizard Island, only to be picked up later (what, no overnight camping?)

The boat tour is not cheap but I found it incredibly worth it, mostly because of the time spent on Wizard Island. There is the option of being on the island for either 3 or 6 hours. I was the only one out of 50 or so people that day to choose the 6-hour option (I received some quizzical looks,) but like I said, I had some exploring to do.

Part of my exploration included dipping in the turquoise blue waters in this photo. This is called Fumarole Bay on the WSW side of Wizard Island. I spent a half-hour in the notoriously frigid waters but found this area more hospitable due to the shallower depths. As far as frolicking in mountain lakes go, this was the pinnacle. Just thinking about swimming in the collapsed caldera of a cataclysmic volcano gives me shivers, oh, or was that the cold water?

I Don't Like Being Late

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:08:20 -0700

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

Almost. I almost missed the best sunrise of my time at Crater Lake. Something about forgetting to turn the alarm on even though I diligently set the alarm time for 5:45am. Anyway, I made it and shuddered the thought of possibly sleeping in even later and missing out on a good hour of taking it all in. Needless to say, the alarm was successfully set the following mornings. Yep, that's me.

Where?

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:06:12 -0700

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

I've been gone for a few days. Any guesses where?

Not Left

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:29:10 -0700

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

This image seems to be a bit out of the ordinary for me, but I like it nonetheless. It was one of those shots that I took to just see what happens in the camera. In other words, I wasn't expecting much or trying to capture anything in particular. I might have even taken it without stopping my walk.

Sometimes I have the most fun and feel the most contented when I'm not thinking about composition or light or focus or all those other things that agreeably make a photograph a quality one. You know, the pics that get the most comments and faves. Heh : ) The quest for that photograph is a bit of a devil in disguise. For me, while I enjoy capturing beauty with a camera, that process can deprive (and possibly deprave) the senses, the essence, of me being outdoors.

But what do I know? Perhaps it is possible to simultaneously experience both conditions of joy - to be in the natural element while deftly photographing it. Instead of feeling discord amongst two varying priorities, maybe one could (or should?) realize that they can be congruous, maybe even augmentative. Again, I don't know.

However, I do know many others who claim photography graciously forces them to pay attention to the world around them. But can it eventually go to the other extreme? Can one become so focused on "the shot" that consciousness of the external world is forfeited in favor of an attempt at mastery of an instrument of luxury?

Obviously, I have some exploring to do.

Don't Need Much

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:48:12 -0800

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

Spending a few days in the Wallowas back (way back) in August. Posting more photos from that trip means I get way behind on things here at Flickrland.

The Spooky, but Great, Swamp

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 17:51:43 -0700

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

New Jersey's Great Swamp, a national wildlife refuge.

The City's Last Haunt

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 06:28:16 -0700

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

Some embellishment here for Halloween -- I threw on some spooky texture with my crafty computer via a website named Picnik.

But the photo itself was taken in NYC's Chinatown. All over that city, the urban landscape has been pacified. During the 1990s, under Mayor Giuliani's stewardship, the city police cracked down on an array of petty crimes. The idea, at least in my view, was to make the urban jungle, put simply, more hospitable for money to be transacted. Not surprisingly, many people welcomed the changes. Others, like myself, find some bitter nostalgia for the time when New York City didn't feel so antiseptic. Don't get me wrong though. New York City is still a beast unto its own, worthy of all the superlatives it receives from residents and visitors alike. But it has distinctly mutated since the days I was a teenager, when danger, both perceived and real, felt like one was alive.

Behind the Shield

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:19:51 -0700

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

Being on the move
Yet behind the shield
I know so sweet
Yet the beat quickens

- - -

*Please don't read too much into these words. My efforts to write plainly and effusively is humorously futile*

Alpine Illusion

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:29:41 -0700

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

Sometimes it's as if nature doesn't compute. Our eyes don't match what we know. Our feelings transcend ascribed limits. And the humility rarely felt hits like a ton of bricks. This is how I seem to experience the Wallowas each time I'm there.

For those interested, the establishment calls this particular locale Eagle Lake.

Piece of Pie

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:55:34 -0800

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

A slice of Crater Lake at dawn.

The Dignity is in the Details

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:45:18 -0800

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

The character and dignity of age in this fallen log and its hungry lichen reflects back to me, via an acquired, yet plain view, the insignificance of my self. I find these moments profoundly restorative.

Adrift

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:45:01 -0800

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

I should be doing many meaningful things, one of which is perching myself on the precipice ahead. But I'm not.

Good Enough for Some

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:16:02 -0800

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

Crater Lake draws some serious and likely professional photographers, I think. Getting up early for a sunrise with Wizard Island in the foreground is apparently not that uncommon. There were about a dozen photographers waiting for this moment and almost all of them scoped out their territory in one crammed spot. I picked my own away from them. Most of them assuredly got a better shot than I did. But I like mine too. All of them left promptly after this moment. I stayed quite a while longer to embrace the scene. Some of them seemed dejected and/or disappointed as they walked past me to return to their cars. I'd say it was good enough for me. I just can't help to wonder if it was enjoyable for them too.

The Existentialists are Forlorn

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:07:46 -0700

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

Capitalistic determinations
Acculturated to the norm
Aligning ourselves with aberrations
The existentialists are forlorn

Foreign Entities

nobody@flickr.com (Erik Hovmiller) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:04:07 -0700

Erik Hovmiller posted a photo:

Sometimes Crater Lake felt really exotic, like I was no longer in Oregon, or even the US. Phantom Ship, the craggy island pictured here, had a part in that.