Indian Wells Art Festival

On a recent visit to Southern California to see relatives, I made a 400-mile side trip to Indian Wells to see the 10th Annual Indian Wells Art Festival. I wanted to get a feel for the “Art Fair” scene.

  Hundreds of these juried professional art events are held every year at outstanding venues throughout the United States, including more than 400 in the Western states alone. To find a show and see for yourself, check out Greg Lawler and his helpful Art Fair Source Book.

Indian Wells was bright and shiny on the gorgeous April day of my visit, an alternate-universe oasis dropped into the desert near several other, similarly lush enclaves -- Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, and of course, Palm Springs, the original desert hideaway for Hollywood’s elite.

The venue was the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the site only three weeks earlier of a major two-week international tennis tournament, the BNP Paribas Open, which drew more than 370,000 fans. I would love to have attended that event too, but this country boy can’t be hanging out in these environs for too long.

It was great to see the art, the array of exhibitors and the crowds browsing the tree-lined aisles of the Festival. About a dozen photographers’ work was on display, reflecting a wide disparity of styles and presentations. Landscape photography was the most prevalent form, including several artists who combined painting and photography in creative ways. Many really large pieces were on display, in hopes of attracting folks with some really large walls to fill. 

I had some great conversations with the artists, and left feeling I had learned a lot and met some top professionals. My favorite: Michael Gordon, a Long Beach, Calif., fine-art landscape photographer.  

Port Orford Headlands

Port Orford Head is the southern point of a huge sweeping arc of coastline bounded on the north by Cape Blanco. Looking south, the dome of Humbug Mountain emerges in the distance, as a new arc of Oregon coastline captures the imagination. Trails afford easy access to the entire headland, offering spectacular views in every direction. This photo was taken on February 2, 2012, on an idyllic winter day. Often its quite cold on these winter ventures but this day the temperature stayed in the mid-fifties till after sunset. It was quite unusual. Oh, you want to see the sunset?

The winter sky brings these shades of orange I don't think we see other times of year. The angle of the sun in relation to the earth, I think, creates some unique visual effects. The further north you go of course you experience the aurora borealis or northern lights caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere).

Logs to China

Logs are loaded on to the deck of the Sun Ruby out of Hong Kong. Up and down the West Coast, log exports to China are booming. Over the first six-months of 2011, the Port of Coos Bay shipped 56,000 MBF on around twelve vessels. It’s the most active year since 1996. 

My photo, "Logs to China," is making the rounds with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It is part of a photo story I did several months ago about massive exports of raw logs from forests in the Pacific Northwest, and the impact these huge shipments are having on local businesses, labor and the forest itself, whether privately or publicly held. 

I first posted the photo last year on the agency's State of the Environment website, and it was soon chosen as "picture of the day." Now, the EPA may reproduce it for a traveling exhibit. The power of storytelling in pictures is unbridled.

I'm working now on some "industrial photography" projects, to continue to highlight issues raised by the intersection of industry and the environment.  

Big Spray, Sunset Bay

Winter Surf is often impressive on the Oregon Coast. This day, I was perched on a narrow point on the south side of Sunset Bay, accessed by crawling through some bushes on a small animal trail. The coastal trails are extensive along the coast here, connecting a string of three state parks and the beautiful gardens at Shore Acres.

I met the guy on the point later on the trail and he showed me the spot through the bushes to get there. It was a grand view and my position, the wind whipping by, the waves exploding, lent a sense of adventure to my photo quest.
Sunset Bay State Park
2/18/12
See more photos at: http://jackkelly.smugmug.com

Golden Rocks

Wow! Sometimes when you go home from the shoot and you start to look at what you've got, you are just bowled over. The light on the rocks; I really like that, the quiet little mash of foam on the rock, the light, the grass. Believe me, I can't take credit for any of it. It's nature's creation and  I was lucky enough to catch the moment in time.

South from Cape Blanco, Oregon

One of Oregon's best kept secrets is the sometimes idyllic winter weather on the coast. This winter has been unusally dry, affording many photographic opportunities. This sweeping crescent of chocolate brown sand extends from Cape Blanco to Port Orford Heads in the distance, flanked by Humbug Mountain and the Siskiyou range in the far distance. Do you see even one person on this gorgeous streatch of beach? See more at: http://jackkelly.smugmug.com

1/12/12
Cape Blanco, Oregon

Sunset Bay Watercolor
The post sunset light blends ocean with sand with a water color like sheen. The end of another gorgeous sunlit summer day.

July 26, 2011
Sunset Bay State Park
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/conditions/sunsetbay