Tag Archives: fantasy

Goes To War

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Goes To War is a photograph taken at a parade at one of the Powwows held throughout the year. The original version of this image was filled with extraneous detail, people, vehicles, downtown street scene detail, everything that goes into creating an image you just want to delete that made the picture just another snapshot taken at a parade.

One of the things a photographer tries to do is see inside an image like that and look for the story or reason for taking the image in the first place. There needs to be a story, at least for this photographer. In this case the shot of a parade participant already past the point where you would normally take the photo suggested that this could be a warrior who is headed off to war. He has his bow, his quiver filled with arrows, his coup stick, his horse is fitted out for battle, he’s ready for whatever fate presents him. The only difference between this image and the original shot is about a hundred and fifty years. And some imagination.

After over four plus hours of editing in various photo editing software a new image appeared. Now he makes sense. There’s a reason for him being presented with his back to the viewer. Not all photography and the pictures taken have to be unflinchingly reality oriented. It’s up to the photographer to decide how he wants to present the information concealed in all those pixels. Some call it art but that’s for you to decide.

For me it’s another reality, one that could have happened. Does it matter whether it did or not. Not to me. Your mileage may vary.

Last Bridge To Rivendell

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Rivendell7811

Often reality and fantasy can overlap for those who wander. Sometimes in small ways, other times in huge overwhelming ways that wash over them as they suddenly see what they’ve only imagined from reading someone else’s verbal pictures.

Such was the case for me when I viewed Multnomah falls for the first time. It wasn’t just the slender falls itself with its graceful plunge of over 560′ into the clear pool  below. Or the bottom falls which fell another 69′ onto a rocky platform where the cool water gathered itself then rushed musically down the side of the cliff to empty into the Columbia river.

That alone would have been awe-inspiring in itself, but then to add the graceful bridge spanning the distance over the lower falls where one can stand and feel the cool mist drift across your senses had to have been done by someone who knew Elves and the magic folk personally. Or perhaps having traveled to those places and experiencing the beauty couldn’t bear to leave them behind.

As you approach up a wide stone staircase to a viewing area that allows you to see the entire scene at once, you are suddenly thrust into another place, another world where anything can happen, where you might meet creatures from a land of fantasy that you only thought was imaginary. A place where magic was possible and you might have powers you never dreamed of before. This could be a gateway that, if you allow yourself and can throw caution to the winds, you might just visit a land of wonder and adventure the likes of which you have never imagined before.

Multnomah falls is just one of the many waterfalls in the real world that you can visit while traveling along old highway 30, a scenic byway that parallels I-84 in the Columbia gorge. If you get the chance, go there, you might just get an opportunity to take a journey to a place you did not expect to go.