Crater Lake National Park, located high within the Cascade Mountains, provides visitors with knowledge and beauty the way her volcanic eruption produced lava 7700 years ago—steadily flowing with periodic bursts of insight and wonder. Her indigenous allure aroused deeper exploration, so I detoured off the grid and slowly trudged into the forested abyss. Just beyond the icy caldera rim, America’s deepest lake mirrored the prodigy of the night and created a liquid snapshot of man versus nature.
The eerie figurines called Tufa’s, jetting from the salty floors and casting reflections off the shoreline, not only made an interesting composition for this shot, but gave the viewer a sense of an ecosystem struggling for survival. The entire night was still except for the water rhythmically slapping the shoreline, mosquitoes buzzing for a bite, or the occasional click of Brad’s timed shutter, patiently capturing what the eye cannot see.
The lone archway provides a portal to our imaginative experiences, curiosity, inquiry, and interpretations of the night sky. In the far off distance, the photographer renders a reality that includes everything that is and has been. His art is based upon his world view, experience, and perceptions of man’s search for meaning.
