Size: 36”x25” with a 1” white border on Hahnemuhle 300gsm cotton rag paper

Signed & stamped in verso

My wife and daughter are farther along the trail, playing their own forest game. For the time being I’m in solitude and it’s easy for me to lapse into mindfulness. I am warm, and fed and am making an image. I don’t know if it has to be more than that, but for right now it works for me and I am happy.

The eastern flanks of Mt. Hood are carpeted with a dense wet forest more akin to the west side of the cascades than the east. Moist air from the Columbia River feeds this lush growth of fir trees and moss. With the mountain looming overhead, Cold Spring Creek flows from unseen snow and ice above and meanders through this hidden northwest wonderland. In these forests, life’s web is traced through and around everything and one cannot help seeing it as an intricate prose poem.

The foreground logs created a natural whirlpool that was moving slowly in circles. Counting the time it took for this circle to complete a full revolution I knew I needed at least a minute exposure to get this whirl effect. I waited for the light, which was peaking in and out of the clouds to softly illuminate upstream and I made my exposures, four in all, to create this panorama.

Location: Eastern flanks of Mt. Hood

Nikon D810, 1 min, Voigtlander 40mm lens, no filtration, 4 frames