Steptoe Butte and the Palouse
When I moved to the Palouse, I didn’t realize just how photogenic the landscape was. Then I saw ads for the Palouse in Popular Photography. It turns out, people will pay good money to come and photograph the region, and here I am living there not taking advantage of my home turf. I’ve only been on Steptoe Butte once before, and it was in the winter with not much snow on the ground. So I was quite glad when Simon came back to visit and suggested we go out and shoot the Palouse. We hit Steptoe Butte at the right time while it was covered with balsamroot and lupine, and the fields of the Palouse alternate between the green of new wheat and brown of a freshly plowed field. Simon also came with an arsenal of lenses that we shared. I knew I needed to get a nice long lens, but now I really know how much a long lens can complement landscape photography.
Good sunsets often occur after a day of rain and storms. The following Saturday, scattered rain storms swept through the area. I was in Moscow with Erin and Clara at the annual renaissance faire, which is more like an arts festival than a true renaissance festival. As evening approached, I noticed an end to the rain on the horizon to the west. I checked the radar and Steptoe Butte was clear. So we headed back up so I could show Erin the beauty of the floral displays, and to capture the sunset over the Palouse. It wasn’t quite as vivid as I wanted, but I got some color in the clouds and it was much better than the sunset on my previous visit.
