Fifty Shades (and Colours) of Palouse

The problem is that at this time of year the hills and valleys in the Palouse put on an amazing display of greens and browns, enough to excite even the most demanding colour photographer. However, once you add the right lighting to the mix, you think you have landed on the set of the Alice in Wonderland movie.

At one point Kasia and I found ourselves on one of the hills and we couldn’t believe our eyes. Stormy skies allowed the sun to peek through, revealing an abundance of shapes and patterns, creating dream-like visuals. Already strong greens turn into fable-like greens and browns and yellows turned golden as if a child had coloured the land with an entire box of crayons.

It didn’t come easy. On the first day, the Palouse exhibited dull light and overcast skies. Although such weather, if persistent, could turn any trip into a non-event, we knew that cloudy skies could provide us with what we want – if the sun found its way to peek through – even for a moment.

So, we waited and waited – for three days straight! No, we didn’t stay in a hotel. Instead we drove 1,600 kilometres around the Palouse to search out the right spots – mapping them and preparing material for our upcoming book. We also tried to get creative with the available light (below please find my personal favourite from the entire trip – well done Kasia!).

Most importantly, each morning and evening we waited for this one moment of magic. On our second day we got it – for about five minutes – but it was enough. In fact, the lighting was so crazy that after looking at our images we were afraid we were just inches away from becoming “rainbows and unicorns” photographers. “So cheesy!” Kasia said.

On our last day we got a few hours of dark clouds and sun which was exactly what we wanted. These conditions provided us with an abundance of opportunities and an amazing visual experience. Indeed, truly fifty shades of colour! Thank you, Palouse.

We travelled with the Fuji X-Pro2 paired with the XF 50-140mm and Fuji X100S. We were debating which film simulation we should use and we decided to go all in colour-wise – Fuji Velvia it is! And yes, it was refined with the recent update (click each image for a larger view). We will be sharing much more material (not only landscape!) over the next few posts. Stay tuned.

and truly yours at work…

2016 © Kasia & Olaf Sztaba Photography. All rights reserved.