Today I’m posting a couple of photographs taken at Lake Natoma, Folsom, CA. This area is walking distance from where I live and is a great source of inspiration. It runs through nearby residential and commercial areas, but is removed enough to give the feeling of a more remote area. With a little effort it’s possible to make photographs that give no indication of how close civilization really is.
Sunset light catches on the edges of river rock. I believe these rocks were the result of work on the river during Folsom’s mining past. Still, they have a rough, natural quality to them and I’m attracted to their graphic shapes.
Another view of lichen-covered rocks. Here, I wanted to establish the warm-cool relationship of the light on the foreground and background. I find that contrasting light sources often make more compelling pictures. The rocks in the foreground are lit directly by the setting sun. The group of rocks in the distance are lit by indirect, overhead light which is very cool by comparison. The jagged edges of the rock ‘point’ toward the rocks in the background, leading the viewer into the photograph.
I found this branch nicely placed against the blue of the river. A bit of sunlight lights up the branch of leaves on the left-two kinds of light again. The sun also illuminates a small area of the riverbed and some rocks lying just below the surface-maybe hard to see here. I like the ‘zen’ quality of the image.
A trip to Lake Natoma is always good for recharging the creative batteries. I can settle in to traditional kinds of images-water, rocks, trees etc.-or I can stretch a bit and get more abstract, pushing my sense of design and composition. A place where you can go quickly, without too much time or effort, and create imagery when creativity is calling is a great resource for any visual artist. Lake Natoma is such a place for me.
