Is It Stealing If I Bring It Back? I Need More Island Culture

Something about this picture makes me want to get lost for a day.  These canoes are near Agate Beach on Lopez Island in northern Washington State.  This is found on my website (www.douggraybealphotography.com) in my gallery of inspiring places.  I took this a few years ago when I was just starting to get interested in photography and it has been one of my favorites, since.

Lopez Island is one of 743 islands in the Northwestern corner of Washington.  Of all the islands, only 4, including Lopez, are accessible by ferryboat. The rest are available by private boat or private plane and some are completely off limits to humans.  Each island has it’s own character and reputation.  Lopez is fairly flat so it is good for bike riding.  There really isn’t a town on the island but it does have a small village with a general store and, well, that’s about it.  Most people have vacation homes but there is a small group that calls the island home year round.  Lopez is the kind of place where a celebrity can have a hide away home next door to a hippie who rents from an artist who makes a living selling her artwork to the tourists.

To me, Lopez Island is the kind of place where once I walk off the boat, the hustle and stress of daily life is instantly replaced with easygoing island culture and contentment.  Which brings me back to these canoes.  No matter what calls you to the island, one thing is for certain:  it is time to chill out.  Whether you are hiking a trail on the coastline, scouting for bald eagles or whales, seals or sea lions or taking a nap on a hammock in the fresh air, riding a bike across the island, fishing, crabbing or boating or canoeing, it’s all about chilling out.

The canoes in this picture are actually for the guests staying in a bed and breakfast across the street.   I was strolling the beach, looking for rocks to hit in to the water using a piece of driftwood as a bat (one of my favorite things to do at the beach) and stumbled upon these canoes.  It was all I could do to not help myself to one of them for an hour.  I settled for a photograph, instead, but every time I see this pic, I feel like I’m right back there on the beach, wondering if anybody would mind if I just…..

More to Life Than Fighting for Food, Shelter and Sex

I’ve said before sometimes you just get lucky.  I also believe that the harder I work, the luckier I get.  This pic was taken at a wildlife animal farm in Sequim, Washington.  (For those of that are not from the Pacific Northwest, Sequim is pronounced “skwim”.)  This is on my website (www.douggraybealphotography.com) in the gallery under Wildlife.

Things are crazier in the animal world.  You basically have to get up and fight for food, then find some food.  Then fight to be kept from becoming someone else’s food.  Then fight for a mate.  Then find a mate.  Then, fight for more food.

I don’t know what these prairie dogs were fighting over but I’m sure it was one of those things.  I love the hands in the air right before an attack while the other is on defense as if he is pushing his opponent.  The third is coming in to get in the action.

This picture was taken just at the right time.  To get this shot, I had to be patient and persistent.  I waited and waited and watched for a long time as they were running all over the place.  I also took a lot of pictures until I knew I got one right.  Then, surprise! Prairie dog action!

I really don’t take many photographs of animals.  I have some and you can see them on my website but most of my photography has been either landscapes or people.   No particular reason but that just seems to be the way it works out for me.  I’ve got a photo shoot later this week with some new themes in mind.  Stay tuned for that.  Meanwhile, I’m glad that I have more going on in my life than fighting for food, shelter and sex.

Sometimes Pictures Tell The Story Better

Sometimes pictures tell the story better than anything written. This was about as scary as it looks and keep in mind, I took this with my zoom lens.  He’s probably about 30 feet off the ground at this point.  This, and a few other pics from our trip to Enchanted Rock State Park will be posted today in my gallery of inspiring places on my website.

Every Junkie Needs A Fix - Or Should I Say, Everyone Needs A Passion

So, on Friday I wrote in my blog that it was time to get back to nature.  We certainly did just that this past weekend.  My son, Gavin, and I hiked throughout Enchanted Rock State Park, near Fredericksburg, Texas.  This photograph is not Enchanted Rock but it is one of the many rocks to climb in the park.  I’ll be posting this and several other new pics from the trip to the gallery on my website later on this week.

Enchanted Rock State Park is known for its rock climbing.  The main rock itself stands more than 1,800 feet above sea level.  Then there are countless other rocks sticking out of the ground every where you turn.  Any and all are open for climbing.  I haven’t done much rock climbing but after exposing Gavin to countless activities trying to help him find a passion, we put him in a rock climbing camp this past summer.  He loved it.  Walking around this place with him was like walking with a junkie in to a crack house.  He kept repeating over and over, “I just want a rock to climb” and “how about this one, Dad…or that one”.  Of course, we hadn’t even found a camp site yet and taken the packs off our backs.

The rock in this picture is on the main trail and medium difficulty to climb.  He shot right up there like a cat.  I grunted and groaned my way up.  Once we were on top, I saw our shadows painted on the neighboring rock.  This is where the junkie in me gets a fix.  I checked out the remaining sunlight we had left and realized we didn’t have much time.  We quickly (or not so quickly, for me) climbed off the rock, hiked the half mile back to our campsite and grabbed my camera bag.  Then, back to the rock.  I was concerned that the sunlight had change by the time we would get back and the shadows would be gone.  They weren’t.  He was grinning from ear to ear  because he got to climb this rock twice.  I was grinning from ear to ear because I got the shot I wanted.

I suppose most people would simply hand a stranger their camera and ask them to take their picture.  After taking this shot, I didn’t feel like that would be necessary.  We climbed more rocks and hiked about 12 miles total on Saturday, alone, plus about 2 miles Friday and 2 miles Sunday.  My body hurts today – his doesn’t – but I feel like a million bucks.

Get Out and Enjoy Mother Nature Today

I’m going backpacking this weekend so I wanted to use a hiking picture of some type in my photo blog today.  This is the Quinault Rain Forest in Olympic National Park in Washington state.  My hike today will be in a very different place –the Hill Country of Texas.  You can find this pic and others from both Washington State and Texas in my gallery on my web site.

I’ve been hiking in Olympic National Park since I was a kid and I can say without a doubt, there is no place like it anywhere else in the world.  I could write a different blog everyday about the park and never run out of material. The Quinault Rain Forest is a narrow stretch of land that sits on the Pacific Coast.  Other than its remote location, 140 inches of rain a year, massive contribution to the world’s ecosystem and abundant wildlife of bears, cougars, deer and other animals, it also has some of the tallest trees in the world.  In fact, there are 6 “champion” trees in the rain forest including the largest Mountain Hemlock, Western Hemlock , Sitka Spruce (over 1,000 years old), Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir which is the tallest of any tree in the world at 302 feet.  Just walking and camping among these giants is an awesome adventure.

This weekend’s trip will be very different but equally enjoyable.  I’ll be hiking in enchanted Rock State Park in the Texas Hill Country.  While the trees are barely 30 feet tall, the park has it’s own natural beauty.  Enchanted Rock is one of the most popular parks in all of Texas for camping and rock climbing and it has it’s own unique characteristics.  For example, the Tonkawa Indians used to say they could see ghost fires flicker at the top of the rock and could hear weird creaking and groaning.  Geologists now know this actually comes from the rock’s heating during the hot Texas days and cooling at night.  Whether you’re hiking in the cold, rainy climate among the tallest trees in the world, or in one of the largest underground rock formations uncovered by erosion, getting back to nature is all part of the journey.

Tulip Fields Are One Stop Along the Journey

Flowers are the most photographed subject in the world.  Anyone around them with a camera wants to capture the images forever.  For good reason, too, since you can almost never go wrong with a flower pic.  This photograph was taken at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Washington State.  You’ll find it in my gallery at www.douggraybealphotography.com under Inspiring Places.

Most people don’t know this but Washington State grows more tulips than Holland.  Just an hour’s drive north of Seattle, farmers enjoy the perfect climate and soil for growing tulip bulbs and tourists enjoy the perfect climate for taking some very colorful pictures.  While this picture shows a mixed variety, most of the fields are solid red, yellow or even black as far as the eye can see.  Some people go to take family pictures among the tulips.  Others go every year just walk around the fields and take in the never ending color.  Some people use the tulip fields as a rest stop in the middle of a long bike ride while others take in some wine tasting or a cold microbrew at a nearby winery or brewery.  Even though every one approaches the day differently, they are there for the same thing – the tulips.

The thing I like about it is watching the people.  You’ll see all ages enjoying the fields from the very young to the very old.  It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor or where you come from.  This is what I like about all festivals.  It is a time for everyone, for one day or even just a moment, to share something in common and taking in the tulips is just one example.   Every community has similar events.  Here in Austin, Texas, we just wrapped up the Austin City Limits Music Festival.  Yes, the music was fantastic but the people watching was incredible.   Thousands of people with one thing in common – good music.   It doesn’t matter if it is music or colorful flowers – or something else.  It’s just cool being around thousands of people – all enjoying the journey together.

It's Friday - Time to Step Out of the Box

Starting a blog with a pic of a hot model is always a great way to get everyone’s attention.  This is Kelly Grace who I recently shot in Austin, Texas.  You can find Kelly and several other models under Creative Portraits and Glamour shots in my gallery at www.douggraybealphotography.com. 

Today is Friday, but not just any Friday.  It is the first day of ACL.  If that doesn’t sound familiar to you, you don’t watch much PBS.   ACL is Austin City Limits.  The TV show is actually filmed at a studio at the University of Texas but the festival  is at a park near downtown Austin and starts today and runs through Sunday.  Hundreds of bands from all around the world will play in one weekend, at one park, on a handful of stages for thousands of people.  To me, this is the best festival in Austin - and Austin has a lot of festivals.

Aside from the music (I’m looking forward to seeing the Eagles on Sunday night) my favorite part of ACL is the crowd.  In addition to the typical corporate promotional junk that we don’t like but secretly admit it helps pay for the festival, you’ll see hippies selling tie die shirts; Rastafarians selling pipes and bongs; artists showing off their talents and best of all, a crowd of people from virtually all walks of life.  This is the kind of festival where a young college group will be shoulder to shoulder with a group of over 40 yuppies and an even older hippy that doesn’t know and doesn’t care that the 60’s ended a long time ago.  I guess that’s because the crowd is a reflection of the music, which comes from all around the world and from all genres.  Whether you’re in to rap, country, heavy metal, adult alternative, folk music or classic rock, you’ll find it at ACL.

What does this have to do with the pic of a hot model?  Nothing.  But, I like the pic and wanted to use it today.  And, it’s Friday.  Time to step out of the box and get ready for a fun weekend.  See…if you don’t let people define you, you’ll find it easier to get the most out of your journey.

Street Lamps Are Part of the Journey

Street lamps.  They tell you a lot about a place.  They are a representation of a city’s culture, how they see themselves and how they see their future.  These lamps are in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  If you’re new to my blog, you’ll find these and many other pics of NOLA on my website in my gallery of inspiring places.  You’ll also find photographs of Texas, Washington State, California, Arizona and Hawaii.  What can I say – I like to travel.

I’ve written before about New Orleans.  My wife, Gayle, and I visited there this past summer.  Our kids were in camp so we drove down to spend a week there.  Our original plan was to volunteer for a few days cleaning up the oil spill.  After trying for weeks before the trip to get through, we finally realized there was more red tape than what we could peel off.  We were actually told, “we’ll call you if we need you.”   Undeterred, we still headed to New Orleans but took the time exploring the city and experiencing the culture as much as possible.  We never did make it down to the oil spill.

The French Quarter is truly amazing.  The architecture takes you back 200 years.  The narrow streets remind me of most European cities.  There is music on every street corner.  Literally, a 5-piece Dixie Jazz band showed up every night around 5 PM to  play on the street corner below our hotel.  Everywhere we turned, museums, art galleries, antique shops, boutique clothing stores, amazing restaurants and bars tempted us.  Yes, lots and lots of bars.

My blog has been titled All About The Journey because I think too often we are so focused on a destination that we don’t enjoy how we got there.  Life is all about experiences.  Good and bad.  In fact, the bad experiences teach us the most lessons.  And, those experiences give us the ability to appreciate the destination and not take it for granted.  A marathon runner appreciates completing a marathon because of the hard work and training the she put in to it, not because she finished the race.

I think back on my time in the Air Force.  My goal was to go to college.  Next thing I knew, I was in Germany.  I put all of my focus on taking classes and studying and when I was done with my tour, I had a bachelor’s degree in economics.  But when I look back on those years, I realize I got more out of traveling around Europe, the camaraderie with my fellow airmen, the ridiculous things we used to do at work to keep from getting bored and the ridiculous things we used to do after work because we just felt like it.  I think most people who went to college will agree; the experience of college was as much or more of a reward than the diploma.

I think there are 3 kinds of people in this world.  Those that focus on the journey; those that focus on the destination; and those with no focus at all.  By only focusing on the destination, we know that we’re missing many of the experiences that give life so much power.  Someone once said to me, “When you die, nobody talks about how big their desk was at the office.”  (I actually knew someone who measured his desk and complained because someone else lower on the totem pole had a slightly larger desk).  And those with no focus at all, well, they seem to be people who drift, and drift, and drift.  I know.  I’ve been all three of these people at various points in my life.

So what, you ask, does any of this have to do with street lamps?  Great question.  These street lamps in New Orleans are full of the same culture that emanates throughout the entire city.  The city has made a conscious choice to preserve a culture of music, food, history and nightlife and exemplifies this throughout everything, right down to the detail of the street lamps.  These aren’t facades like what you’ll see in Las Vegas.  This is the real deal.  Now, how many people walk right under them everyday and don’t even notice them?  How many people are so focused on their destination, or have no focus at all, and they don’t notice the detail of the street lamp?  I’m not saying everyone has to be “in to” street lamps. I’m just saying slow down and take in all the moment has to bring you.

Gayle and I still talk about our trip to New Orleans.  But it was the night we stayed at a smoky run down casino in Shreveport; stopping for lunch in Baton Rouge; touring a swamp outside of town, the museums, the food, the people, the music and, yes, the bars.  Lots and lots of bars.  I noticed these street lamps toward the end of the week and took this picture.  They, as much as anything else, represent New Orleans, to me.  And taking time to reflect on them is all part of the journey.

 

When it comes to photography, sunsets are irresistible to me . This one was on the Northern California coast near Redwood National Park.  It is actually hard to take a good picture of a sunset because you’re shooting right in to the bright sun, creating a sharp change in light from foreground to background.  I’ve taken many, but this is the only sunset pic worthy of making my gallery of inspiring places.

I think a good sunset is a signal to take a few minutes and reflect as well as look forward.  If you had a bad day, you can relax as the sun goes down and feel good knowing that tomorrow, everything starts fresh.  On the other hand, if you had a great day, it is a time to think about the good that came to you and plan to repeat it again tomorrow.  Either way, it is a time of closure repeated over and over again.  For some, it’s just the start as they leave their jobs behind and turn the darkness in to nightlife, excitement and energy.

If you think about it, sunsets are probably one of the biggest natural events taken for granted.  Everyone gets them.  They happen every day.  They are one of the few things in life guaranteed to us.  And yet, for most of us, they have to be truly spectacular in color for us to pay attention to them.  For something so common, it is so overlooked.  For something so overlooked, it brings us reflection, closure, peace, anticipation, hope and optimism, to name a few.  If you believe in the mantra that life is All About The Journey, then take some time to enjoy a good sunset.  I know I will.  After all, it is a big part of the journey. 

Next, maybe I’ll start working on that sunrise thing….but I’d have to get up early for that.  For now, I’ll stick with sunsets.

Hiking Olympic National Park - A 9 Year Old's First Backpack trip

Nothing like your first real camping trip.  This pic is of a popular hike in Olympic National Park in Washington State.  I have it on my web site in the gallery under Kids Being Kids and other pics of the park under Inspiring Places.  Olympic National Park has many great places to visit from the glaciers on Mt. Olympus rising nearly 8,000, to the Sol Duc Hot Springs to Hurricane Ridge where your view of the thousands of mountain peaks are visible in one place like nowhere else you’ve been.  My personal favorite, though, is the 3 mile hike from Lake Ozette, through the rain forest, to the Pacific Ocean.

After having gone there many times in my youth, I took my son there when he was just 9 yeas old.  It was his first rugged backpacking trip.  My thought was, if he could carry his own pack, he was ready.  About a mile in to the hike, he started unloading his gear on me.  Didn’t matter.  He was still ready.  (After all, turned out I was the one who forgot to bring fire starter. Didn’t matter.  We got a fire going.) We also saw countless animals close enough to touch, Indian petroglyphs and a beached hump back whale.

They’ve built the wooden boardwalk to keep people off the actual ground.  Rain Forests are very sensitive and vital to our world ecosystem.  This rain forest gets about 150 inches of rain per year.  It is so isolated, that it is home to many species that are not found anywhere else in the world including the Roosevelt Elk, named after President Teddy Roosevelt, who fell in love with the place and commissioned the park.

The best part of this trip, for me, however, was hearing my son Gavin tell the stories after we came back  He still recounts every thing we did on that trip, including stopping at an old diner for breakfast on our way home the last day.  He remembers building the tent on the beach, hearing the ocean waves, seeing the animals and loves to tease me about struggling with the fire.  Going back to a place you spent some time as a kid is fun.  Camping on the ocean next to a rain forest is very cool.  Getting quality time with your kid and building his memories that will last a life time – priceless.  Now that’s a great part of the journey.