Deep Roots by MichaelBollino

It’s a rare opportunity for me to shoot in the Appalachian Mountains, I place I explored endlessly in my late-teens/ early twenties before relocating to Oregon. My roots run deep there: it’s where I first lifted a backpack on to my back, slept in the open under a star-filled sky, and where my life long connection to the natural world first began. So it was really refreshing to find myself shooting this section of Shay’s Run under great conditions. Everything about shooting this place was visceral, from the deep earthy smells, to the rust colored waters, to the Appalachian twang of tourists. The place felt both strangely new and completely familiar at the same time, a reminder of a life I left behind, yet one which continues to impact and direct me to this day.

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Hood Dawn by MichaelBollino

Soft pre-sunrise color surround a craggy sub-summit of Mount Hood. Took a bit of effort to hike to this spot on the mountain but it was well worth it in the end.

I don’t post as much here as I do on other sites. Feel free to follow over there or pay a visit to my website for more information and a complete look at my galleries.

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With the Lights Out by MichaelBollino

A star-filled night sky rises over Mount Shuksan in Washington State’s North Cascades. I’d wanted to visit Lake Ann for more years than I care to remember. Luckily my family and I found ourselves with some time this past summer and quickly decided to finally make the trip happen. The trail’s four mile length and trailhead to destination beauty make this an ideal backpack for younger kids. Anyway, the image here made use of wide angle distortion to “pull” the mountain peak upward. Several exposures were used to complete the scene, all taken from the same spot within an hour and a half of each other.
Took some work to pull together in post but I’m fairly satisfied with the results. Hope you enjoy!

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Desert Apparition by MichaelBollino

Stumbled across this section of broken playa while hiking out of Death Valley’s Mesquite Dunes. How could I not shoot this as a night scene?

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Streaking at Elakala by MichaelBollino

First, I just want to say thanks to all of my new followers who have come onboard since my last upload. I hadn’t expected such a bump since I’ve been fairly inactive as of late, but I’m grateful. It’s been a busy summer so far: five weeks of travel along the east coast and throughout Ecuador, followed immediately by a backpacking trip into the Cascades. I’m just now weeding through and processing images which I’ll be releasing in the coming weeks.

Shooting along the east coast is both a rare and special experience for me. Even though virtually my entire adult life has been written in Oregon, my roots run deep in the Appalachian Mountains. This past June I finally had the opportunity to visit Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia, a place I’ve been hankering to see for years now. The first thing I noticed when I dipped down to Elakala Falls was the foam streaking downstream of the falls. It took about two dozen or so exposures before finally captured the triangle pattern you see here. The brownish tones in the water are a result of the high concentration of tannins in the water, as the creek drains bogs in the West Virginia highlands. My son aptly named it “Rootbeer Falls”…kind of works.

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