Americana Atmospherics

I seek out unusual environmental conditions, using atmospherics and the meager range of light conditions in my art photography to evoke mood and feelings in my images. While such conditions can significantly impact an image’s overall look and feel, I’m more focused on the depth, mood, and emotion they add to the visual narrative by creating a dynamic and engaging visual experience for the viewer.

The soft, diffused light of fog, mist and low clouds can create a dreamy, ethereal quality that is enhanced in post-production to express the mood and messages being spoken to me by the landscape. Soft transitions and overlays remind me of the impermanence and flux of life. Often these moments occur just before the first and last light of day, and the feelings inspire raw wonder and a sense of humility and gratitude for the beauty of life.

I usually work alone— me and my camera— and my response to the setting in front of the camera goes beyond the lens. Atmospherics usually shroud but sometimes reveal reality, offering moments when I can capture a sense of mystery and uncertainty, evoking feelings of fear, unease, or wonder. At times blue hour light stirs the fog, and suddenly the scene blasts open with drama and energy, occasionally surprising but always well worth my efforts.

Breaking Light in the Redwoods I captured this award-winning image deep in the wilds of Redwoods National Park as evening light breaks through the afternoon mist. The light signals the path to take just as its ephemeral nature also signals the end — **Breaking Light in the Redwoods**
I captured this award-winning image deep in the wilds of Redwoods National Park as evening light breaks through the afternoon mist. The light signals the path to take just as its ephemeral nature also signals the end of another magical day.

Breaking Mist Deep in the Olympic National Park, snow-fed streams create an atmospheric mist that wraps the evergreens in white cotton puffs, offering a glimpse of what may lay beyond. The sun attempts to shed its wonderous light on the landscape, — **Breaking Mist**
Deep in the Olympic National Park, snow-fed streams create an atmospheric mist that wraps the evergreens in white cotton puffs, offering a glimpse of what may lay beyond. The sun attempts to shed its wonderous light on the landscape, but only as soon as the gently swirling fog gives up its soft embrace.

Emerging from the Mist .. — **Emerging from the Mist**
..

Evergreen on a Turquoise Fog A lone evergreen tree pokes through a turquoise fog as I patiently stood with the cold to capture a landscape shrouded in a blue chill. Just what lies beyond, hidden in the swirling fog, I do not know. Do I want to? — **Evergreen on a Turquoise Fog**
A lone evergreen tree pokes through a turquoise fog as I patiently stood with the cold to capture a landscape shrouded in a blue chill. Just what lies beyond, hidden in the swirling fog, I do not know. Do I want to?

First Light on First Frost There is a magic moment, a fleeting morning light that reveals the crystalline structure of autumn’s first frost. The seasons are changing, yet life goes on. — **First Light on First Frost**
There is a magic moment, a fleeting morning light that reveals the crystalline structure of autumn’s first frost. The seasons are changing, yet life goes on.

Hidden in the Mist .. — **Hidden in the Mist**
..

O' Sun The sun is the most precious gold shed on earth, and the morning atmospherics of the Bumpass Hell Steam vents cast an uplifting glow for a day of positivity and hope. That is if we are only willing and bold enough to reach out and claim it — **O' Sun**
The sun is the most precious gold shed on earth, and the morning atmospherics of the Bumpass Hell Steam vents cast an uplifting glow for a day of positivity and hope. That is if we are only willing and bold enough to reach out and claim it as our own.

Red Dawn Moving Atmospheric Conditions launched a special morning across a land emerging from the night, heralding the promise of a new day. What light have we been given, and what will it portend for the new time of this landscape? — **Red Dawn Moving**
Atmospheric Conditions launched a special morning across a land emerging from the night, heralding the promise of a new day. What light have we been given, and what will it portend for the new time of this landscape?

Reverence The uplifting fog drifts into a low cloud deck and steams into heavenly skies. Landscape atmospherics presented this scene as a moment of reverence, a moment of conscious tranquility, a moment not soon forgotten. — **Reverence**
The uplifting fog drifts into a low cloud deck and steams into heavenly skies. Landscape atmospherics presented this scene as a moment of reverence, a moment of conscious tranquility, a moment not soon forgotten.

Sea Mist of the Hidden Arch Sea Spray and an Atmospheric Mist tinted by sundown light swirl through a Pacific Arch on the Washington Coast. Waves slowly lap at the exposed rock formations, ever-flowing, never-ending, like the seasons in time. — **Sea Mist of the Hidden Arch**
Sea Spray and an Atmospheric Mist tinted by sundown light swirl through a Pacific Arch on the Washington Coast. Waves slowly lap at the exposed rock formations, ever-flowing, never-ending, like the seasons in time.

Silica Winds on Blue I waited on the atmospherics to reward me with this special moment of wind lifting the sand from the edges of a Kelso Dune in the Mojave National Preserve. The knife-sharp edge of the dune demarks the boundary beyond which the — **Silica Winds on Blue**
I waited on the atmospherics to reward me with this special moment of wind lifting the sand from the edges of a Kelso Dune in the Mojave National Preserve. The knife-sharp edge of the dune demarks the boundary beyond which there is no return.

The Blue Rain A soft blue rain advances over the sundown atmosphere and gently stirs the sea along the lonely Washington coast. The band of atmospheric gold, its existence such a precious moment in time, slowly fades to a lasting memory. — **The Blue Rain**
A soft blue rain advances over the sundown atmosphere and gently stirs the sea along the lonely Washington coast. The band of atmospheric gold, its existence such a precious moment in time, slowly fades to a lasting memory.

The Pastel Forest Shimmering atmospherics hang as a veil over the forest, allowing me to peek into the reticent pastels of this landscape. What might be revealed, I wondered? — **The Pastel Forest**
Shimmering atmospherics hang as a veil over the forest, allowing me to peek into the reticent pastels of this landscape. What might be revealed, I wondered?