Rudy Owens Photography

The St. Louis Arch, inside looking out
I stood under the Arch in May 2013 and snapped this shot during a fast-arriving spring storm (2014).

The Gateway Arch, in St. Louis, Mo., is one of the world’s greatest monuments. I grew up in its shadow, always in awe. The 630-foot steel structure, designed by genius architect Eero Saarinen, stands on the banks of the Mississippi River, as a monument to the country’s historic expansion into the West. Beneath the museum one can explore that story, including the impacts on Native Americans, at the National Park Service-run Museum of Westward Expansion. If you do not take a long elevator trip to the top, you can stand underneath it and gaze at is beautiful form. Surprisingly, I have yet to see this great structure destroyed in a Hollywood blockbuster by marauding aliens, large monsters, or natural disasters. One day the Arch will get a starring role, I know.

I published a black and white version of this photo on my black and white photo gallery.

Port of Seattle icon
A former cement kiln stands guard near the Port of Seattle (2014).

The Port of Seattle is surrounded by light and heavy industrial facilities, including a former cement kiln seen here. There are endless forms, shapes, and typologies to photograph and document in this area. I could spend days in these spaces and still never tell their story.

Cemetery, Vik, Iceland
You can see how Icelanders’ naming traditions are expressed on these headstones (son of and daughter of). I snapped this in June 1998 during my first trip to Iceland.

I stayed in Vik for a night way back in 1998, and I enjoyed the location on the windswept North Atlantic, facing the sea. Lots of great opportunities for photographic moments in such a small place. (Click on the photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

You never forget the first time you step foot in Greenland

 

I took this shot in June 1998, on a beautiful Greenland morning.

Yesterday I discovered some nice photos taken of east Greenland, in fjords near the air hub of Kulusuk. This is the sparsely inhabited region of Greenland, a home rule territory still within the Kingdom of Denmark. I landed in Kulusuk in June 1998. I will never forget this flight, from Reykjavik, Iceland. I flew on the very tough Bombardier Dash-8 prop plane, and my captain was a wonderful Greenlander who I then hired to charter a boat trip up a fjord near Nuuk, the capital, to find Viking archaeological ruins. The air when I stepped off for the refueling stop was crisp. Those arctic low hanging fog clouds shrouded the mountains. My fellow passengers were all delighted to be back home. I was in heaven. This trip changed my life.

You can see more of my photos shot in 1998, 1999, and 2000 on my Greenland picture gallery. (Click on photograph to open a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Rain falling on blue heron
Taken in Portland, April 2014.

Blue herons can be seen in areas in urban areas like Portland and Seattle because of protected habitat where they nest. I snapped this one in Portland on the last weekend of April, wandering through Portland’s amazingly beautiful Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, very near where I once attended college. Many poems can be written about these elegant avians.

Marine life revealed with Puget Sound’s low tide
Taken June 12, 2014.
Taken June 12, 2014.
Taken June 12, 2014.

This week, low tides are giving area resident excellent views of the diverse marine life in tidal areas just off West Seattle at Constellation Park. Volunteer guides offer tours and information to residents and young school kids. If you live in Seattle, you definitely should add this to your to do list and be prepared for getting your feet wet. It is well worth it.

I have a huge soft spot for cowgirls
The Omak Stampede showcases some of the best horse riding cowgirls of the Pacific Northwest and western Canada every August (2013).

Cowgirls. Now what’s not to like about genuine, boot n’ jeans wearing cowgirls? Absolutely nothing. I love ’em, and they put on an amazing show every year at the Omak Stampede, one of the funnest rodeos in the West. You can see scenes I filmed last year. If you are in driving distance, mark your calendar and plan to go, and be sure to give those fabulous horse handlin’ ladies and cowboys some big cheers during the rodeo contest. It is a fabulous show. (Click on photo to open a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Everyone has a story, even if some are pure malarkey

 

Taken in Sisters, Ore., in June 2014.

I used to work as a newspaper reporter. But even before that I learned that everyone has a story. Everyone. I did not have time to get this guy’s tale, unfortunately. He was remodeling his patio in front of quirky old house in Sisters, Ore., and I had miles to drive still that evening. He was a really nice guy, but, well, busy fixing things up.

On the other hand, sometimes we may not want to know folks’ stories. But it is usually worth the effort to listen, even if what you are hearing can be full-on malarkey. For the record, I love malarkey too, ’cause the best stories tend to be tall and stretch the truth on the edges, and even the middle–just listen to people run for office and you find good examples. Or just talk to a the proverbial fishermen, or perhaps barfly.

(Click on the photo to open a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Fly fishing in Newberry Caldera, Oregon
Can anything beat this? (Taken in June 2014.)

 

I visited Oregon’s Newberry National Volcanic Monument last week. This was one of my favorite finds in a long time. The area includes one of many volcanic peaks in central Oregon, Newberry Caldera.  But on this one, there are two pristine clear, blue lakes (Paulina and East lakes), scenes of volcanic explosions, cool temperatures, and some of the prettiest camping spaces I can recall. Trout and one species of salmon are stocked in the lake, and some fish swim off into some pools that tumble off Paulina Lake into a creek that crashes down Paulina Falls. That’s where I captured this, no doubt, blissful fly fisherman, who bore a striking similarity to noted fly fisherman and current Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber. Made me think of the Norman Maclean quote: “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.” (Click on the photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Sherars Falls, Oregon, a historic Native fishing ground

 

Anglers cast for spring Chinook on the Deschutes River, at a spot managed by the Warm Springs Indian Reservation (2014).
The Deschutes River smashes through a fishing ground managed by the Warm Springs Indian Reservation (2014).
Anglers cast for spring Chinook on the Deschutes River, at a spot managed by the Warm Springs Indian Reservation (2014).
Platforms erected by tribal fishermen line the Deschutes River, at a spot managed by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (2014). When I visited the first week of June 2014, spring Chinook were running.

For those who have never lived in the Northwest or fished, the significance of fishing to the region historically cannot be underestimated. Fishing is a unifying force among many diverse groups, a source of economic development for many small communities, and a cultural and historic legacy for Native Americans.

Fishing rights granted in treaties signed by the U.S. Government with tribes in Oregon and Washington remain in legal force. So-called “fishing wars” and “fish-ins” involved nonviolent and at times near-confrontational encounters among Native fishing activists seeking to reclaim fishing rights granted to them in treaties. These disputes attracted national attention. All of this culminated in the 1974 Boldt Decision that restored those rights in Washington State, and earlier with the Belloni Decision, in 1969, in Oregon. (Click on the Boldt Decision link to get a quick dose on this complex Northwest issue from a paper I wrote a few years back.)

Today, there are fewer fish, mostly salmon, because of decades of hydroelectric dam use on the Columbia River water system and development, but there is also shared management of the fisheries. Sherars Falls, on the Deschutes River, is a historic fishing area managed by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, as provided by treaty rights. I saw lots of tribal fishermen here this week, along with sports fishermen, who pay a daily fee to the tribe. Though developed, with a major railway, power lines, and roads, it is still wild, and the thrashing of Chinook caught on a line is one of the greatest things to experience. And this was really one of the most beautiful places I have visited in a while.

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