The 25th Photographers' Lounge Salon Challenge: Photo series

Okay, I'll bite (metaphorically speaking). My 'Series' entry is a series of photographs taken over a period of 4 years, with 3 different cameras, all at the same location, a place I keep coming back to and 'seeing' in different ways every time. The place is "Boiling Springs Lake", in Mt. Lassen National Park, in northern California - it's a lake fed by underground geothermal hot springs whose average temperate is, indeed, boiling. The lake itself is also composed of and surrounded by other geothermal 'features' including 'mud pots' whose bubbling, boiling temperatures nonetheless support a bewildering variety of strange sometimes almost microscopic flora, as well as fauna.

This first image, from June, 2012, shows some of the ghostly mist/s that always rises from the lake surface. Taken with my wonderful old Pentax K200D which has since moved on to a new home.

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Boiling Springs Lake
by MiguelATF, on ipernity

The second in the series, also from the same date and by the same camera, reveals the self-indulgent tendency of the photographer to document his own presence in the landscape he is photographing -

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Selfie in volcanic boiling lake
by MiguelATF, on ipernity

Jumping ahead to July, 2013 and a different, smaller camera - my old Olympus E-PL5 which, too, has moved out of my life - are some closer images of portions of the lake whose colors and mineral-like textures (with mud and stones and water and strange growths) always remind me of what I imagine to be alien landscapes -

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Boiling Springs Lake
by MiguelATF, on ipernity

From the same date, time, and camera, another view - which in my mind used to give new meaning to the adjective 'ethereal' -

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Boiling Springs Lake
by MiguelATF, on ipernity

And finally, last in the present series, jumping ahead more than two years, to August, 2015, and a different camera, my Ricoh GR, I come back to one more image of myself intruding upon the lake -

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Feet at geothermal Mudpot
by MiguelATF, on ipernity


Addendum: the series is ongoing and I suspect there will be more entries both this year and in those to come :)
 
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Bakerloo line this afternoon. iPhone , Hipstamatic, effects on shuffle.
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Thank you for all your submissions.
The salon is now (with a tiny delay) closed and I'll take a day or two to look through all of these wonderful series again and find the outstanding winner of this month. :)
 
Thank you again for your submission to this challenge. I was quite busy the last days and didn't had the time to decide for a winner. Well, all are winner anyway, but I had to find a final winner.

Here is a short and highly subjective feedback for everybody:
  • pictogramax: Lovely londscapes. The first two and the last two pictures are a good combination, but between them seems to be a small break in the style. I really love the person riding the horse on the third image.
  • BillN: Never saw Highland games before. Seems to be fun. Thanks for the insights.
  • Richard: Interesting series. Would have loved to see it with the same perspective to get a better feeling for the change.
  • Petach: The series starts with great images, but sadly there are some missing. The second shows great details, the last one a bit "unorganized", the left part doesnt add to the image and could be croped.
  • Lightmancer: That's a great series that tells intuitively a story about life. Well done. The last image is not real b/w like the other images, that's the only image that distracts me a bit.
  • Luke: Cute dog, seems he is well prepared for the summer now.
  • donlaw: Individually there are some really good images in the set, but unfortunately there is some kind of connection/story missing for me.
  • Woody112704: Interesting combination of images, I laughed about the last one.
  • MiguelATF: Beautiful scenery in the photos. The first photo is the best, but I would crop the empty area at the bottom of the first image though. The shadow in the second is distracting.
  • theoldsmithy: I'm usually not a fan of these effect apps, but despite the frame in the first image they suit the images well. Really creative series!
And finally... the winner of this challenge is due to the strong story and creative images:
Lightmancer
Congratulations!

Close by: theoldsmithy

Thank you!

Cheers,
Matt
 
Thank you all, and thank you particularly to Matt for a challenging theme and a great bit of thoughtful curation.

The gear-head in me feels compelled to list the kit used, in order of posting: Ricoh GR, Leica IID, Fuji X10, Fuji X-Pro2 and Leica IIIc which I think just goes to show that although the technology has evolved, the human condition has remained the same.

I shall start a new challenge by and by. I shall run it for a snappy three weekw, so get yourselves ready! ;)
 
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