The Narrative Image

The Columbia River Gorge 09/05/2017 at 3:00am (As viewed from the Cape Horn Viewpoint on SR 14. Phoca Rock visible in middle of river.) The Columbia River Gorge 05/31/2010 (from Cape Horn Viewpoint) I've aligned these images based on the positions of Phoca Rock and the navigational structure in the middle of the river to estimate what areas are burning. When I arrived at the viewpoint, it seemed I had missed the explosive advance of the fire's front. Still, as the wind gusted, and photographers scrambled to secure their tripods, one or another tree or other combustible item would explode like a solar flare. The smoke stung my eyes. The buffeting breeze reminded me of speeding through central Oregon on a 104 degree day with the windows down. Whenever the breeze lagged, voluminous, billowing smoke would hang briefly, as if in collusion with the ravenous flames, attempting to cover their sins of gluttony. Starting around 4:00am, I started receivin...

This is Yolanta (not her real name). She’s from Kazakhstan (No, she isn’t). I know what you’re thinking. “Poor girl!” you worry, “With looks like that, how will she ever acquire a husband?” Fortunately for Yolanta, they still have arranged marriages where she comes from.  When my car engine blew up, Yolanta was kind enough to give me a ride to and from work until I was able to get it fixed (we work at the same company). She refused to take money for gas but eventually agreed to take one of my photographs instead. This was the photograph she originally chose. It’s the punchbowl at Eagle Creek at the end of January in 2010. I immediately had an enlargement made. But when I picked up the enlargement, I found the image to be unacceptably grainy. In the figure below, the image on the left shows how the picture looked straight out of the camera. The image on the right shows how the picture (the one that Yolanta chose) looked after selective brightening and color satura...