Along the Housatonic River

I recently visited this protected area along the Housatonic River in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, called Housatonic Flats. The area is a floodplain. Here, trees and other plants do not just survive, but thrive, when the river overflows its banks. This tree is at the edge of the riverbank, and it apparently toppled when the eroding bank could no longer support it. I marvel at how this tree has adapted to being partially uprooted and how it continues to put out new growth.

Although I don’t often come across a tree with a horizontal trunk and vertical branches, that is not the reason I decided to make the photograph. Instead, I was intrigued by the pattern of lines made by the trunk and its branches, and I thought that they made an interesting design.

Playing Around with Multiple Exposures

Lately I have been looking for ways to stay fresh creatively, to try to see subjects in new ways. So I decided to attempt working with multiple exposures in the camera. Many digital cameras have the ability to make several different exposures and record one on top of the other before moving on to the next frame. Results are hard to predict, and serendipity plays a big role in the outcome.

In the picture above, I shot the same scene a few times, repositioning the camera ever so slightly with each exposure. This gave an effect similar to, but not quite the same as, intentionally moving the camera while the exposure is being made. In the picture below, I exposed different scenes and let the camera blend them together.

These are first attempts. It’s a lot of fun and it helps me to think differently and imaginatively.

Innisfree Garden

I recently visited Innisfree Garden in Millbrook, New York. I had gone there earlier this year, but the light was not to my liking (too sunny with deep shadows). This time there were clouds that softened the sunlight without blocking the sun completely. There were few other visitors, which was fortunate because Innisfree is a place that invites reflection and contemplation. The grounds are large enough so that it is not difficult to find a place within it to be alone. It is beautifully designed and well maintained, with many landscape features added to enhance its already natural beauty. As I wandered around, I could not help but admire its many attractive attributes, such as a magnificent grouping of stones, carefully placed so to be in perfect balance with their surroundings, or a terrace of informally placed plantings of trees and shrubs, all neatly pruned. These garden highlights are what make Innisfree unique, but there are many more—but equally sublime—areas of the garden that can easily be overlooked.

Near the end of my visit, after I had taken in most of the highlights, I noticed this tree branch overhanging the marshy shoreline of the lake, and I felt the urge to make this image. If I had come upon this scene at the beginning of my visit, I suspect I would not have felt the same way. But after spending the afternoon here, I was in a calmer state, and that allowed me to see beyond the obvious to capture something more deeply felt.

Beth Moon and That Juniper Tree

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A friend emailed me about the cover story in the Summer 2021 issue of Sierra, the magazine of the Sierra Club. The story is about the photographer, Beth Moon, who has photographed ancient trees around the world. I had discovered Beth Moon’s photographs a few years ago, and she has been a huge inspiration to me ever since. The article in Sierra includes several of her stunning tree portraits, some of which I had not seen before.

One of her images that was new to me was the juniper tree on the magazine cover. If the tree looks familiar, it may be because you remember one of my recent blog posts about this same juniper. Quite a coincidence!

Snowfall in May

I have been living in western Massachusetts since March, and that has allowed me to witness weather and the progression of the seasons on a daily basis.. One day in May there were several short snow storms, each lasting no more than 20 minutes. After each storm, the snow quickly melted. When a storm arrived in the early evening I decided to go outside and photograph it. About 10 minutes after I made this exposure, the storm ended.

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Eyrarbakki, Iceland — 1973 and 2019

Icelandic Fishing Village, 1973

In 1973 I visited Iceland, driving around in a VW bug and camping. Back then I found that the roads were not paved after leaving the Reykjavik area, and driving on gravel roads slowed me down and prevented me from reaching some of the farther destinations I had hoped to see. However, I did see some of the south coast, where I came across this picturesque fishing village and made some photographs, including the one above.

I recently traveled to Iceland again, but before I left home I decided to try to find out about the village I had visited 46 years earlier. I did not remember its name or its location, but I had a sense that it was not too far along the south coast. Using the internet I discovered that even today there are very few villages along that stretch of the south coast where I had traveled earlier. The village of Eyrarbakki is on a road that seemed like one I would have taken on my first trip, so I searched some images and found a recent picture taken near the same location as my older photograph, confirming my hunch.

I visited Eyrarbakki twice on this recent trip and was able to photograph the same scene at approximately the same location as my earlier photo—see below. The fishing boat is long gone; utility wires have been buried underground, and the streets are now paved. Although fishing is no longer an important part of the community, Eyrarbakki has retained much of its charm, and it is a popular destination for Icelanders and tourists alike.

Eyrarbakki, Iceland 2019

Spencertown Academy Juried Photography Show

Two of my photographs have been selected for this show.

Yoshino Cherry Trees

Yoshino Cherry Trees

Opening Reception
Saturday, June 22, 4 PM – 6 PM

Exhibition Dates:
June 23 through July 14, 2019

Spencertown Academy
Arts Center

790 Route 203, Spencertown, NY

Gallery Hours:
1 PM – 5 PM
Saturday and Sunday

Driftwood, Bandon Beach

Driftwood, Bandon Beach

Four Intimate Landscape Photographs in Juried Show

I am fortunate to have four of my intimate black and white landscapes chosen in a juried exhibition art at the Meeting House Gallery in New Marlborough, Massachusetts from June 23 - July 22. 

“Each of Backer’s black and white digital photos captures a scene of the natural world, cut into vivid shapes where rigid lines of rock, sand and wood collide and intersect....One photo titled Driftwood at Bandon Beach, taken in Oregon, features a large piece of driftwood set against a sheer rock face. Without color to provide definition for the eye, the driftwood appears almost alien, the husk of some otherworldly creature washed ashore on a beach of some distant planet.”
— Berkshire Record, June 22-28, 2018