Monday, February 6, 2012

Four Seasons

I love photo series that capture the same location, landmark, or landscape in winter, spring, summer, and fall. As days go by, each one easing slowly and seamlessly into the next, we often fail to notice the changes going on around us. But when we spend just a few short months, weeks, or even days away from and then return to the familiar, that which has changed in our absence seems drastic.

A perfect example of this type of gradual but dramatic change can be seen at the breath-taking Multnomah Falls, outside Portland, OR.  Stunning on any day, the splendor of the Falls is magnified when they can be seen throughout all four seasons at one time.

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall


We visited the Falls last August, and were, as expected, awed by this naturally-occuring architectural gift.  The gift shop sold a beautiful seasonal photo series of the Falls, and if I'd had the money for both the purchase and transportation of the art from Oregon to Texas I'd have snapped it up.

I've attempted to create my own seasonal photo series in the past, but I never made it through an entire year for one reason or another - my camera wasn't high enough quality to capture the images I wanted, I forgot where I'd taken the previous season's picture, the location where I'd taken the previous season's picture had been altered or was unavailable, or I misplaced the pictures I'd previously taken.  This is all quite unfortunate, because seasonal photo series turn out best when created in regions of the country that actually experience four distinct seasons (like Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, and New York, all of which I've called home) and not in Texas, where there are only two seasons.  In case you're wondering, the two seasons in Texas are "Mild Enough to Wear Pants" and "Hot Enough to Fry Eggs on the Pavement".

I knew a Texas photo series might not turn out as well as one created up north, but I decided to give it a try last January when we first arrived here.  I selected two locations at a local park, and started snapping.  I returned to the exact same locations (or as close to the exact same locations as I could remember and access) at the park in April, July, and October to complete the photo series.

Here is location #1:

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall


Here is location #2, view #1:

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall


And here is location #2, view #2:

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

As you can see, my description of the seasons here was pretty accurate; there wasn't a whole lot of visible change between winter, spring, summer, and fall because those seasons don't exist here. I'm sure you can also see that, in general, my photography needs a little work. I should have placed myself more accurately after January's round of photos so the shots matched up exactly in April, July, and October, and I'm still trying to understand lighting and all that aperture, F-stop, and depth of field mumbo jumbo. There's always room for improvement...

Perhaps next year I'll take a photo duo instead, photographing a particular location in the middle of August ("Hotter than Hell") and the middle of February ("Mild").  Maybe we'll actually see some contrast there.  If not,  I may just give up on photo series until the day I once again reside in the land of four seasons.


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