From the first visit to The Palouse, I have made at least one stop at the old church. Smaller than a one-room school house, it sits on a knoll on the prettiest little stretch of landscape you can picture. Every visit is different, from the trees and grass to the weather and lens used to tell the story and where I stand to make that story. This time the breaking storm saw me with the Z8 / Z14-24f2.8 in Dark Monochrome. If you look closely at the lower right-back corner of the church, you’ll see “the facilities.” This is the first time the sky worked to tell their story. It’s another part of our heritage to celebrate!

On our way back from an amazing time with the Steller’s Sea Lions in the Shelikof Straits, I happen to see this tug. With the makes naked, it was pretty cool but when I put the 600mm to my eye, wow, now the mountains looked as big as I knew they were (I was on the water in skif)! Mt Katmai reaches over 6k’ in the sky so though we were some fifty miles away, we could clearly see a lot of rock (though not nearly all of it). Sea-going tugs are BIG boats but up against them mountains, they look truly small. In comparison, that “little” tug makes them appear massive. It’s a simple thing but really makes a difference, oh the scale!

Site of an American Fur Trading rendezvous and Lewis & Clark route east, Sula is a small spot on the map filled with coolness. The wide open space is great for landscapes, wildlife and requires a stop at the old school house. When you walk up to it you’ll find the door closed but a sign inviting you in. Once inside, you’ll find what you see above. Like any good school room, the blackboards have the days lessons, in this case facts from 1908. And just like days past when in school, I’ve already forgotten the lessons other than they were about the president of the day and the population of Montana in 1908.

When you arrive at the school house, it might look different then the photograph below. That’s because the massive electrical pole / relay / wires are missing from the photography. The modern array was visually just too much so I took the liberty of putting Generative Fill to work to take me back to the day. The B&W is right out of the Z 8 and the clouds, that’s why I stopped in the first place. New lessons, old lessons, it was fun going back to 1908 school.

There are certain things that are a must when you go out fly fishing, rod, flies, net, license and for Jake and I, the camera. The main goal of the camera is to get shot of the other as they are playing and landing that great fish. Then there is that other thing, photography in general. I have no doubt that other fisherman saw me out in the water fishing with a camera on my back thinking I was nuts. I’m sure I am but when you’re offered up views like this, well, I just gotta click. For me, views like this make it hard to concentrate on the fly!