Kim Baker's Photography Blog

The U.S. Drought Monitor lists Oklahoma in the exceptional drought category .

I have been documenting drought conditions as they affect Oklahoma’s lakes and rivers.  On a recent trip to Chandler’s Bell Cow Lake, the trees in the lake drew my immediate attention.

I previsualized the picture and made plans to return during the best light to get the shot I wanted.

Many trees were not removed before filling the lake, and now with low lake levels they stick out above the surface more than usual and have a very strong visual appeal – like a weird ancient forest.

I spent a few hours there this past weekend getting pictures of a particularly interesting dead tree near the shore at a swimming area.

The fantastic shapes of the trees make great silhouettes at twilight. A long exposure captures the fading light as twilight reflects in the still water.

Later I used a low exposure to capture a scene near a brightly lit dock that threw directional light onto trees near the bank.

The place is so interesting that it is the location I chose to meet with Craig Day, a news reporter from News 6, the CBS affiliate in Tulsa, who wanted to interview me about my work. The segment should air in the next week. Check back for more details and a link when it comes out.

When I first started taking nature and landscape pictures, I did not have a full appreciation of Oklahoma’s beautiful landscape. I felt that the best subject matter was in the western United States and that is where I needed to go to succeed as a professional nature photographer. My views changed over time as I explored and found out for myself the photographic opportunities Oklahoma has to offer.

A photographer does not have to travel far at all to capture truly beautiful images; in fact, you can find dynamic images in your own backyard.

I like to utilize my local lake, Meeker Lake to both engage in creative pursuits, but also to capture images I may not be able to get otherwise. When you are close to home, you can get away on a moment’s notice to capture images that reflect rapidly changing weather conditions or unique and vibrant light.

I think of Meeker Lake as my very own Walden Pond, if you will. The lake is as red as Oklahoma dirt, but in the right light, anything is beautiful. The lake is small, only 211 acres, but it has 5 miles of riparian–rich shoreline that is all public. I love the concept of public land – I read a quote somewhere; public land “belongs to nobody, therefore it belongs to everybody. Most Oklahoma lakes have miles and miles of public land that you can explore to your heart’s content – even small local lakes usually have a radius of land around it available for exploration.

I often say one of the best things you can do is to get to know a river. The same is true for your local natural area. Take advantage of public land near you for honing your skills as a photographer. Oftentimes, you can capture awesome photographs of nature at its most glorious at your local lake or park because it is so handy when awesome weather and light are happening.

I am very happy to write that I am a recipient of an Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition grant, specifically, the Community/Artist Partnership (CAP) grant. I collaborated with Save the Illinois River (STIR) a grassroots environmental organization out of Tahlequah on the Illinois River Survey. A conservation photography book will be released soon highlighting photography from eleven photographers, including myself and the work of Oklahoma authors, with a special foreword by former Oklahoma Attorney General, Drew Edmondson, a river advocate. Check back soon for more details about the books release.

OVAC CAP Grant Announcement

Next weekend, July 29-30, 2011, I will be presenting at the Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s Picture My Weekend Photography Show and Workshop. My presentation is titled:  Near and Far: Macro to Landscapes, and “So You Want to be a Freelance Photographer?” together with Mark Nault, also an Oklahoma Today Freelancer, and Brody Schmidt, an AP Freelancer.

For more information, registration, and workshop schedule check out the link below.

http://www.nwosu.edu/picture-my-weekend

I started taking pictures when I was in high school back when digital photography was unheard of. When I was young, my father did a little freelance photography on the side and I used to sit beside him as he developed and enlarged B&W work in a makeshift darkroom in our bathroom. When I was a sophomore in high school, I took a home economics type of class and the teacher asked students what we were planning on doing after graduation. I had no intention of going to college and no one really encouraged me to do so. My philosophy was that if I did not have to go to school I wouldn’t.

On the spot, I told the class and my teacher I was going to be a photographer, my reasoning was you did not need a college degree to be a photographer. This was not entirely accurate, but you could not have convinced me of that at the time. However, this announcement set the course for me to be a yearbook photographer and to take photography at the local Vo-Tech my junior and senior year. Even though I went on to work in a field unrelated to photography, I never gave up what had become a passion for me – photography, in fact, photography was something of a salvation.

A lot has changed in photography since I first started – particularly the advent of digital cameras. I am something of a dinosaur – I still shoot film. For my serious work, I still shoot positive film with my Mamiya 645 medium format camera. I have a Nikon D-200 digital camera, but I have never been satisfied with the quality over my medium format camera.

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These shots of Pennington Creek near Tishomingo in south-central Oklahoma are the first digital photographs captured by my Nikon D-200 that I was satisfied with the quality.

I will continue to shoot film until they stop making it and developing it, because nothing matches the fine grain and saturation of Fuji Velvia.

I guess I am a purist at heart. I hope there are enough of us out there that film photography never entirely goes away.

One of the most magnificent sights in Rome is the Roman Coliseum, built in 80 A.D.  It was a place of unspeakable atrocities put-on for the enjoyment of Roman citizens. Particularly gruesome was the 100-day festival marking its inauguration involving the slaughter of 2,000 people and 9,000 animals. Daily, Christians, animals, slaves, and gladiators met their deaths before a crowd of 50,000 excited Romans.

I tried to imagine the scene. You would think that with the Coliseum’s horrific history there would be a tangible bad vibe or atmosphere of death about the place. I guess during broad daylight with hundreds of tourists milling it can be hard to imagine and get a feel for the fear and death that occurred there; perhaps the ghosts come out at night.

On a recent trip to Rome, I had the opportunity to visit Vatican City and the Vatican Museum. It was a real thrill to see one of my favorite sculptures I have read extensively about in Renaissance art classes. Located in the Belvedere Garden, the statue of Laocoön and His Sons, influenced the course of the Italian Renaissance.

Laocoön was a Trojan priest from Troy, who warned the Trojans that Trojan Horse was a dastardly ploy; the angry goddess Athena sent sea serpents to strangle Laocoön and his sons. The magnificent sculpture captures their agony and fear in striking detail.

Parts of the sculpture were missing, including Laocoön’s arm, Michelangelo suggested the arm was bent behind Laocoön’s body, other artists disagreed.

Pope Julius II held a contest, judged by the great artist Raphael, and a heroic outstretched arm became part of the sculpture.

Later, the original arm turned up and the sculpture was restored, coincidently, Michelangelo had been right about the placement of the arms position.

Here are a few additional pictures from that day.

(Below)

At the top of the St Peter’s Basilica. A little shop on the right sells religious and Catholic souvenirs.

(Left)
A close-up view of the dome of St Peter’s.

(Below left)
A view from the top of St Peter’s Basilica down to St Peter’s Square.

(Below)
The double helix, spiral staircase in the Vatican Museum is breath taking in its elegant beauty.

One of my favorite locations to photograph in Oklahoma is the Glass Mountains, also known as the Gloss Mountains. Gypsum encrusted flat top mesas dot western Oklahoma, but the concentration of low-lying hills west of Fairview and Orienta marked on most state maps is the location of the Oklahoma Glass Mountain State Park.  

A small park with a picnic tables and a covered pavilion is located right off Highway 412. Visitors can climb a metal flight of steps to the top of Cathedral Mountain for an amazing view of the surrounding countryside, the Cimarron River in the distance, and experience for themselves the rugged badland type of typography of the region, also called Oklahoma’s Painted Desert.

I have been visiting the area for many years and have captured many pictures, but the area still calls to me to return. Lone Peak, just north of Cathedral Mountain is my personal favorite and I have spent many hours wandering around its base and summit seeking that perfect shot.

I have always wanted to visit the area when there is snow on the ground, but the three-hour trip in hazardous conditions always stops me. I have never visited on a really good cloud day either – you know the kind, big fluffy white ones that would be striking against the red mesas. Once, I was there the morning after a good rain and had nice atmospheric conditions, clouds and fog, for a few hours to work with.

There is an important lesson here. You can return to the same location repeatedly and get different photographs every time – different time of day, seasons, and conditions make for drastically different pictures. I very seldom get great pictures the first time I visit a locations, it is only after repeated visits, after I get to know a place, am I able to capture in photographs the true essence of a place.

I am naturally drawn to water. Nowhere am I more relaxed and at home than around water, especially moving water such as rivers. It took about 15 years of photography before I eventually gravitated to photographing water, intentionally seeking out, and including components of water in my photography. Essentially, about the same time I began to gain an in-depth understanding of the true nature of humanity’s dependence on the precious resource, and the extremely critical nature of the future of water.

A farmer and his two sons during a dust storm in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, 1936. Photo: Arthur Rothstein

This iconic image (left) taken by Arthur Rothstein in 1936 of a farmer and his two sons during a dust storm in Cimarron County, Oklahoma during the terrible days of the Dust Bowl is unfortunately, what many people around the world associate most with Oklahoma.

Today, western portions of the state are facing the same magnitude of drought condition seen in the 1930’s, but thanks to farsighted efforts of farmers, conservationists and government programs since those times, we are not experiencing the same effects. Crops are ruined, farm ponds are empty, and the situation is dire for many people and communities whose livelihoods depend upon agriculture, but we are not experiencing the same ecological damage as seen back in the Dirty Thirties.

The future of water around the world is critical. Millions of people do not access to clean drinking water. In the US, we use about 100 gallons of water each day, while millions of people in the world scratch out an existence with less than five gallons.

Climate change is heating Earth and glaciers continue to melt at an increasing rate. The seasonal run-off from glaciers in the Himalayans are the source of Asia’s major rivers such as the Ganges, the Yellow River, and the Yangtze River, the water source for over 3 billion people. The threat is real. A person would be gravely mistaken if they thought what happens a half a world away will not affect them. Our world is a global society, in 15 years 1.8 billion people will live in regions of severe water scarcity – a third of the world’s population, the results of which will have catastrophic consequences for world security.

The Oklahoman has a series about Oklahoma water in the Sunday, June 5 edition. Too often the Oklahomans Editorial staff slams those who do not wish to sell water to Texas as being misguided in their concerns – everyone should be concerned. Oklahoma’s future depends upon our water. Selling water at this point is not wise or in the best interest of the state. Every water basin in Oklahoma will experience significant population growth in the next decades, and water is one of the most important components of that growth. In spite of what some would have you believe, water that flows into the Red River is not wasted, there are abundant downstream users and major ecological impacts could result from significant withdraws. Any plans to sell water should be put to a vote of the people, and only after studies conducted upon good science, should there be any consideration of selling water to Texas, but it must be the right plan that will benefit the entire state not just a few select entities.

Resources:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/utilities/2791116/Water-crisis-to-be-biggest-world-risk.html

National Geographic Magazine. A Special Issue. Water. April 2010.

http://www.newsok.com/

http://www.newsok.com/supplying-oklahomas-water-needs-will-be-difficult-costly/article/3574023?custom_click=lead_story_title

I just returned from a quick trip to western Oklahoma and a visit to the Selman Guest Ranch. I attended a workshop organized by Sue Selman and conducted by Larry Ditto about enhancing your land or ranch for commercial wildlife photography. I am a board member of a new group formed in Oklahoma that hopes to create a dynamic new alliance between private landowners and photographers interested in wildlife and nature photography. The newly formed Oklahoma Private Lands Photography Alliance is an initiative modeled after the Texas Images for Conservation organization, which brings together landowners and photographers to help preserve wildlife and create economic opportunity for large ranch and landowners.

Western Oklahoma is in an extreme drought, with no rain for months.
This is the Cimarron River south of Freedom, Oklahoma. There is no water, except for a very small pool along the bank, but plenty of salt.

Links:
http://climate.mesonet.org/rainfall_update.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/06/2011-drought-oklahoma_n_845419.html

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/04/06/135188594/oklahoma-facing-drought-comparable-to-dust-bowl-days

http://www.owrb.ok.gov/supply/drought/reports/drought_plan.pdf

I cannot help but to roll my eyes when I happen upon a story about people who think they see the image of Jesus in a pancake or the Virgin Mary in a grilled cheese sandwich, especially when the items sell on eBay for thousands of dollars.  As a photographer, my mind and eyes have a tendency to see images hidden in plain sight too, but never anything that I could sell on the internet.

However, last December, on a hike to the top of Sparrowhawk Mountain near the Illinois River, I captured an interesting image that has what appears to be a face, a man with his eyes closed, in the highlights of the river. It’s just a play of light, but every time I look at this picture, I cannot help but to wonder if others see it too – do you? This picture is an example of what I like and enjoy about nature and landscape photography – serendipity. The essence of nature photography is serendipity – the happy accident of being in the right place at the right time to receive the “gift” of light and the state of nature that translates into a unique, once in a lifetime photograph – a photograph that can never be duplicated.
In the case of this picture, I could never duplicate the conditions that made this picture possible.  Everything was aligned, the reflection and highlights and the shape of the river’s shoreline.

Yesterday, I wrote about the fact that in most cases, Oklahoma’s most beautiful places are tucked away, out of sight from major highways. Another exception to this general rule is the Wichita Mountains seen from a distance from the turnpike in southwestern Oklahoma.

Still, from the blacktop you only see a fraction of the real picture. The Wichita Mountains consist of two mountain ranges that trend east to west, parallel to each other. Within the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge, a great unbroken prairie lies between the red granite mountain ranges.

Three separate Oklahoma parks lie along the Wichita Mountains chain, the WMWR, the Great Plains State Park, on Tom Steed Lake, and Quartz Mountain, on Lake Altus – Lugert. You can travel between each park on major highways, but I enjoy traveling the back roads between each park, where you catch a much more fascinating look at western Oklahoma along the 50-mile long mountain range.

The Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge is one of those places where you could spend a lifetime exploring and never know a fraction of its secrets. If you have hiked in the refuge, you can understand the rugged and extreme nature of the environment there. Every time I go there the place teaches me a lesson – it can be an unforgiving environment – one that can lead to serious injury or worse, if you are not careful. Although I often go there alone to hike, it is not something I recommend.  Always let someone know where you are going and better yet, take a along a partner in case something goes wrong.

A relatively easy hike and one of my favorites is along the Dog Run Hollow Trail System. There are several different trails leading off from the main trailhead at Boulder Picnic Area. The trail I like runs parallel to West Cache Creek; a seasonal creek that often roars after a major rain, but during the summer is usually dry, except for a trickle. The creek drops in elevation creating some impressive waterfalls, including the waterfall at Forty-foot Hole. I camped at Doris Camp, once a mining community, and the same camp President Theodore Roosevelt stayed at during a wolf hunt with Quanah Parker and John R. Abernathy, aka the “wolf catcher”, as the President was passing through the area on his way to San Antonio for a Rough Riders reunion in 1905.

I stayed at the refuge in the height of summer, but a heavy rainstorm the night before suited my purposes just fine. Weather events make for great photographs, so do the effects, such as early morning fog that often occur after a cool night. The next morning everything in the refuge was rejuvenated, including West Cache Creek – what was dry the day before was now a raging stream.

Photo Tips:

Look for unusual vantage points. I tried to capture this waterfall from many different angles. One thing I have learned is that if something captures your attention and you move in to try to find a pleasing composition only to be frustrated because nothing seems satisfactory, go back to the original position, where the scene captured your attention in the first place. In the case of this large waterfall, it was from the ledge overlooking the scene, not down even with it.

In the second picture, the scene would have benefited from a person in the scene to give it scale. The waterfalls seem only knee high, not the large falls they actually were. The next shot of the entire gorge, I had to do a little rock climbing to get into position. Try to find interesting foreground material to give your shots a layered look. Different layers of interest in your photographs lead the viewer’s eye into your picture.

There are many misconceptions about Oklahoma, particularly, when it comes to the state’s physical landscape. Some people presume Oklahoma to be flat, barren, and mostly prairie-like. As an Oklahoma photographer, it is both my duty and pleasure to help dispel these negative impressions.

At heart, I am a landscape photographer, although professionally, I call myself a nature and conservation photographer. It is the land that inspires me. I seek to capture the essence of a landscape and accurately render it in a photograph. In my own way, it is an attempt to help dispel myths and show the world how beautiful Oklahoma really is.

The state is bisected by two major interstates, but an out-of-state traveler crossing from one end to another still does not get an accurate picture of what Oklahoma has to offer in terms of natural treasures. Oklahoma’s treasures are tucked away. They are places you have to go on purpose; you do not just happen upon them as you are driving the major highways. There are a few exceptions, for instance, the Arbuckle Mountains are right on I-35, but a person still has to exit the interstate and get on secondary roads to truly see the finer details.

The shot of the distant waterfall is of Turner Falls, a privately owned resort park, with one of the state’s tallest waterfalls. This view is from HYW 77-D from the scenic overlook. Taken in November, the shot captures the colorful autumn colors of the hardwood trees that line Honey Creek. You can hike back upstream from the campgrounds and see aspects of the clear running creek most people miss.

The shot of the smaller waterfall, called Price Falls on Falls Creek, is also on 77-D east of I-35. It is privately owned as well, by the Falls Creek Church Camp. It is right next to the road, and they do allow people to take pictures, but if you are caught wading with hip waders trying to get a better picture; you will be yelled at to remove yourself. If you continue on east, you will run into a road running alongside the Washita River. Turn south and you will eventually cross over a river bridge, seen here, near the town of Dougherty.

The Washita River for the most part, is a plains river, silt-laden with mud and sand, with a distinctive red color, however, as it winds through the Arbuckle Mountains, it takes on another personality. It becomes clear as it runs through the granite gorge and over the rocky features of the riverbed.

When you stay on the highway you never see the good stuff; you have to get off and explore the back roads. Buy a good detailed map, such as the Oklahoma Atlas & Gazetteer, found in most bookstores and at Wal-Mart near the checkout stands. You can discover a multitude of places to explore by examining Oklahoma mile-section by mile-section.

Photo Tips:

The first picture of Turner Falls is taken in the fall. Go back to a location to capture it in a different light or season. I will often repeat myself on this point: ALWAYS USE A TRIPOD! It is heavy, cumbersome, and real a pain, but if you are serious about photography it is a must. Foliage has a sheen to it; a polarizer filter will cut the sheen of water, leaves, grass, in addition to  darkening the sky.

The shot of Price Falls was shot in the summer when the foliage as lush and green. Again, go back at a different season for shots with an entirely different feel. Price Falls has a wonderful wooden waterwheel, it does not work, but it is great foreground interest. The photo to the right was taken in the fall; the rich colors of the leaves help add punch to the picture.  Below is Price Falls during winter. I risked life and limb to drive 150 mikes round trip to get pictures of the area in the snow. Always remember to be careful where you step; you do not want to have footprints in your perfect shot.

My conservation photography initiative, the Illinois River Survey was May 20-22. I started the project to help raise awareness about the need for conservation and preservation of the Illinois River, one of Oklahoma’s officially designated Scenic Rivers, along with Flint Creek, Barren Fork, Lee Creek, Little Lee Creek and the Upper Mountain Fork River.

The Illinois River is Oklahoma’s premier floating river, getting hundreds of thousands of visitors a year who float, fish and swim its cool clear waters. The Illinois River recently experienced a five-hundred year flood that drastically changed many physical aspects of the river, including downing streamside trees, removing tons of gravel from one location, depositing it to other locations, and sweeping many things in its path downstream, essentially cleansing the river. I understand many large propane tanks floated away during the flood – the consequences of that is uncertain to me.

I got involved in the Oklahoma water resources community by attending the Governors Water Conference and participating in Oklahoma’s 50-year plan for the future of the state’s water called the Oklahoma Comprehensive Water Plan (OCWP).
A constant theme in planning meetings was the need for more education about water conservation. This gave me an idea about a project combing my photography with the opportunity to utilize contacts I made through my work in the water community. I brought together photographers, scientists, land and river managers, river advocates, and conservationists in a three-day photographic survey. Events included a fireside chat/orientation meeting, a lunch and float trip and a hike into a local nature preserve. Heavy rain events ruined the fireside chat, and float trip, but the event was a success regardless. The next phase of the project is a conservation photography book written by collaborating Oklahoma authors, with photographs from the Survey and a photographic exhibition tour.

These are a few images from the event. Read more about the project at www.oklacps.com

Venice, Grand Canal

Ah, Venice.  I love Venice! I am already dreaming about going back. Its old world charm casts a spell over you and you begin to miss it before you even leave. This first shot is from the steps of the famous Rialto Bridge looking along the busy Grand Canal. We stayed in the Hotel Riva, a wonderful old hotel right on one of the main gondola routes. We could sit in our large open window and watch gondoliers deftly maneuver around traffic jams uniquely Venetian.

Gondolas and Grand Canal

The second shot is early morning on the Grand Canal promenade near St. Marco square. Other serious photographers were out with their cameras and tripods trying to capture the beautiful Italian light. The beautiful church across the lagoon in the background, the San Giorgio Maggiore Church, is a short Vaporetto ride across the Lagoon. The view from its bell tower allows you to see all of Venice’s terracotta roofed buildings and many of the islands nearby such as Murano, Burano, and Torcello – you can see the mainland Mestre, as well as the Alps beyond.

Venice, Italy

September in Venice is a beautiful time to visit, everyone thinks so, that’s why everyone was there. Leaving the immense crowds, we got off the beaten path and saw the real Venice. Exploring all the narrow backstreets and the areas that were less touristy was one of my favorite things about my trip.

Venetian canal

Recently, I presented a program for the Tulsa Digital Photographers Group. What a nice and enthusiastic group of people! I would highly recommend anyone who lives in the area to join if they want to participate in different types of fun photography excursions and instructional meet-ups. They meet once a month at the Hardesty Library in Tulsa and once a month for a photo trip. Check out their website and view members amazing photography.

http://www.meetup.com/Tulsa-Digital-Photography-Group/

I will be presenting a program for the Tulsa Digital Photography Group, Wednesday, September 22, at 7:00 pm in Tulsa. For more information about the Tulsa Digital Photography Group follow the link.
http://www.meetup.com/Tulsa-Digital-Photography-Group/

I will be presenting a nature photography program for the Oklahoma Camera Club Tuesday, October 12, at 7:00 pm. Follow the link for more information about the Oklahoma Camera Club. http://www.oklahomacameraclub.com/

Check out OKWaterLaw.com for information about Oklahoma water policy and other information about Oklahoma’s water. Check out the gallery of my water images too!

On a recent trip while in NYC, my husband and I made time to visited the Metropolitan Museum of  Art and the American Museum of Natural History. In both museums, available light for the most part is very low and subdued and tripod and flash use is not possible. I wanted to share a few images from my trip. In the main lobby of the American Museum of Natural History, a quote by Theodore Roosevelt about nature caught my eye.  A large panel of hieroglyphics at the Met is now one of my favorite desktops images, and I have always loved the setting of the Belvedere Castle in Central Park. I would have taken the time to capture better pictures, but my tripod was in my suitcase on its way to Venice, Italy and I was stuck in New York. Looking back, my time in New York was great; however, I look forward to returning and capturing more images.

                                    Nature

There is a delight in the hardy life of the open

There are no words than can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness that can reveal its mysteries its melancholy and its charm

The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value

Conservation means development as much as it does protection — Teddy Roosevelt