Rudy Owens Photography

Scene from a gun control rally

 

I took this photo of a small group of firearms advocates who were counter-protesting a rally to raise awareness of firearms violence in January 2013. I took this photo at one of downtown Seattle’s major public squares.

Washington state will have two competing ballot measures on the November ballot. One would require criminal background checks for all gun purchases including unregulated gun shows and individual sales, and the other would limit those checks and have somewhat limp federal standards be the prevailing regulation in the state. From the public health perspective, we have a major problem in this country with firearms. You can read the previous link for more details. I will vote in favor of the initiative supporting basic background checks, though I believe we can and should do a lot more to promote public health and reduce harm and injury. I took this picture at a rally in January 2013 in Seattle in support of greater controls over the sale of firearms, and advocates against any new regulation came to event to show their opposition, wearing handguns openly in Westlake Plaza in downtown Seattle. (Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Father and son

 

I took this as part of a series I was working on with black and white film. I still miss the drama of loading film in a dark room, and always feeling excited by the drama of waiting for the results. There is something about the grain of silver halide crystals.

More than a decade ago, I was enmeshed in world of black and white portrait photography and enlisted friends, coworkers, and strangers into my open air studio–meaning anywhere outside. Here is one from that time period, and both father and son today are doing just great. See more of my portraits on my web site portrait page. (Click on the photo go see the picture on a separate picture page.)

Before she leaves for college, moms and daughters (black and white)
This is from my latest shoot of mothers and daughters, in black and white.
This is from my latest shoot of mothers and daughters, in black and white.
This is from my latest shoot of mothers and daughters, in black and white.

 

This is the second of my portrait series of mothers and daughters, of F and her daughter K, but this time in black and white. I captured this just as K gets ready to leave home next month to pursue her new life at a four-year program. This is a wonderful time to capture the final moments of a full nest. All smiles here. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Before she leaves for college, moms and daughters

 

This is from my latest shoot of mothers and daughters, in color.

This is the second in my series of moms and daughters pictures. I wanted to capture F and her daughter K before K left home to begin her four-year university program. Today, I will share a color photo from that set. Tomorrow, I will publish black and white photos. I really enjoyed this shoot. (Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

 

The lower Ballard whiskey loon shoot
Remember, folks, stay off the loon.

The once industrial area of Seattle’s lower Ballard neighborhood is changing, much like the area around it. Ship and fishing businesses, tied to Salmon Bay, are now competing with yoga and karate studios. A few creative enterprises can be found, just below and near the Ballard Bridge. Here are a few of those businesses I spotted as I took a walk with my camera on a beautiful summer evening. (Click on each photograph to see a larger photo on a separate picture page.)

Steptoe Butte, the power mountain

 

Wheat fields surround the highest point in the Palouse, Steptoe Butte.

Steptoe Butte is the tallest natural feature in the Palouse region of southeast Washington. Today it is a state park that provides a spectacular view of the wheat and other fields of this mostly agricultural area north of Pullman. According to some sources, this more than 3,,612-foot-tall peak, was sacred to indigenous groups, going by the name Eomoshtoss. Native residents reportedly visited the location to engage in vision quests. It is well worth a visit. And all that crop you see? That is wheat-miles and miles of wheat, just before harvest. (Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Grain Silos in the Palouse

 

Silos like the one seen here just of Highway 195, dot the landscape between Spokane and Pullman, Wash.

Washington’s wheat, barley, and lentil country is dotted with silos that hold the crops til they find their buyers on the national and international markets. Some of that grain eventually arrives where I live, in Seattle, and is moved onto ships that sail off to faraway ports, in China, Japan, and wherever the market dictates. In many ways these silos serve as landmarks to the global trade upon which nearly all of these farmers and this state are dependent. (Click on the photography to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Washington wheat, the golden grain

 

The sun was setting in Lincoln County, Washington, one of the state’s main wheat growing areas, when I snapped this photo near Wilbur.
Wheat fields are a golden yellow, stiff, and dry when they are harvested for the global commodities market, in this case from a farm in Lincoln County.

Washington state is famous for many crops. We produce about 80 percent of all beer hops in the nation (yes, bow before our hops growers, please). We produce fruit of all kinds, from wine grapes to cherries. We grow many grain crops too, including wheat, particularly in the middle and eastern half of the state. Right now, harvesters are running night and day, grain is filling silos, and farmers are calculating their earnings. You can learn about the different varieties of wheat grown in the state, including durum for pasta and hard red wheat for Asian noodles and general flour, from the Washington Association of Wheat Growers. This is the fourth most productive wheat-growing state in the country, and yes, the golden wheat definitely does have golden rewards, relative to other crops on the global markets. As for me, I think I would be miserable without my pasta, bread, and cookies. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Mothers and daughters … the backyard shoot
From my series of mothers and daughters

About two weeks ago I saw a mother and daughter holding hands and walking together at a local farmer’s market. I thought about the many mothers and daughters I know, and have known, and also have photographed. I realized that some of my best pictures have been through this pairing, which sheds light on this special relationship. Yesterday, I shot the first of my new series. It was a good learning experience for me, and I found some things I can do better. I would do better if I had an underpaid or unpaid intern, but hey, you sometimes cannot have such luxuries. I also can shoot a little slower, but at times it is in those fast and spontaneous moments when the truth of the love between a mother and her daughter are revealed more clearly and captured in pixels. There definitely will be more to come. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture in a separate picture page.)

A monument at Hangman Creek
This monument was erected in 1935 by Spokane residents at the location where the warrior Qualchan/Qualchew and six other Indian warriors were hanged by the U.S. Cavalry in 1858. Today it is a tourist attraction for history buffs, which I count myself among.

About 20 miles south of Spokane stands a monument to one of many sad stories of the subjugation of American Indians by the U.S. government. In 1858, the U.S. Cavalry was engaged in open military combat in eastern Washington with numerous Indian bands, despite treaties having been signed three years earlier that ceded much of the state to the United States. Led by Col. George Wright, the U.S. forces had all but defeated five tribes in the region, which included the killing of 800 Indian horses. Facing overwhelming odds, the indigenous forces decided to end the conflict.

A Yakama Nation warrior Qualchan (also called Qualchew) surrendered to Wright’s forces on Sept. 25, 1858, at a spot near an open meadow and a small creek the Indians called Latah. Though Qualchan/Quelchew surrendered while bearing a white flag, he was hung within 15 minutes from a tree. That was followed with the hanging of six Palouse warriors the next day. The incidents, brutal in their boldness, typified the period of conquest in Washington. The killing of the Qualchan/Qualchew was not the only hanging incident of tribal leaders during these turbulent years.

To honor the significant event in the settling of the region, local leaders in Spokane erected a granite monument at the spot where it is believed the hangings took place. The creek today is called Hangman. It flows into Spokane. There is even a Spokane golf course, Hangman Valley, bearing the name of the incidents that took place in the mid-1800s. You can read an informative 1997 story about the creek’s name  that was published by the Spokesman Review newspaper.

The day I visited the marker, a half-dozen other visitors, some American Indians, also had pulled over to photograph the spot. The location today is marked by a nondescript historic location sign on the rural road with no description of the events that took place here. The only information is what is inscribed on the stone. Given Americans’ love of Western history, I believe this location will grow in popularity in coming years, creating opportunities to tell the story of this state and the West. Perhaps this spot could benefit from an additional cultural interpretive sign and a little slick marketing by the city. History can be good for business, after all. I can point to hundreds of examples making this business case.

(Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)