P A N O R A M I C Palouse
As spring moves into summer, I continue to explore and improve my understanding of the Palouse landscape. (Previous installments were titled Springtime in the Palouse and Palouse Contours.) Finding the most aesthetically pleasing framing of a scene can sometimes be challenging, but the more I photograph the region, the more often I find that the most satisfying choice for me is a panoramic composition. I think that an appreciation for the rhythm of the landscape, characterized by long undulating hills, can best be achieved by creating a horizontally expansive canvas. This is not the most convenient format (it doesn't fit neatly onto standard sized paper or computer screens), but it is a format that I often feel compelled to use. (Viewing these in full-screen mode will show them to the best advantage.)
The first three panoramas below were produced from images taken from the same location over a period of ten minutes (before, during, and just after sunrise). The fourth panorama was taken from the same spot on a different occasion approximately 1.5 hours after sunrise.
The remaining pictures in this set were taken during the early morning from various vantage points on Steptoe Butte (all relatively low on the hill to better compress the landscape).
Even without the pleasure of photographing the Palouse, my early morning visits in June would still have been immensely enjoyable due to the profusion of wildflowers and the sounds of singing birds.
I hope you enjoyed these panoramas of the Palouse in June. I look forward to continuing my exploration of the annual cycle of the Palouse landscape.
