burnt embers

These are long exposures of the Friday Harbor laboratories taken at dawn. I like the black and white version because it reminds me of old photos, probably in the family collection from when I was a kid staying here. I remember watching as the land was cleared for the construction of the main lab, it was pretty exciting to see all that change at a place that was not known for much change at all.

The colour version below is so warm. This was a pretty early start to the day (I set off prior to 6am) and I did not see another person out and about for the first half hour or so that I was taking pictures. The dock is a focal point of activity, and always has been, though when I was really young it was located closer (the remnant piers can be seen in the picture above). My siblings and I used to catch jelly fish at 1 cent and eventually 2 cents each for a research team that ultimately won the Nobel prize for their work. But I think my strongest memories are to do with the night light, inserted in the water from the dock in the dark to attract small animals, some of which were collected for research. It was amazing to see so many different species of swimming and drifting creatures from the tiniest visible to long sinuous ‘worms’, hungry fish and even seal lurking around the edges, making their own research collections.

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Canon 5Dii, Canon 50/1.4 lens, ISO 100, top: f-16, 30 seconds, bottom: f-16, 20 seconds, Cameron Fader ND filter at ca. 7 stops density.

This post was scheduled in advance as I am out of town and completely off grid for the first two weeks of June. Naturally I won’t be answering any comments until I get back – but please, don’t hesitate to comment, I will do my best to respond when I can.

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