The blooms of Skagit Valley, are still a major attraction in the spring. Every year, thousands make their way to the wet and muddy fields of the various flower gardens to admire rows and rows of neatly planted tulips and daffodils.
It may be trite and banal, but I do visit it every year. But my last visit was a special one, as I got to take my parents to this beautiful location. Ever since they first saw photos of this array of flowers, they had expressed their desire to come here. And in the spring of 2019, I got to satisfy one of their many dreams. It is not easy, for they live on the other side of this planet, but in doing so, I felt more elated that I could have ever felt in simply taking photographs of this oft-visited destination in the Pacific Northwest.
To my parents, I thank you for all you have done to make me who I am, and for setting me on a amazing journey. I hope I get to meet many more of your dreams.
Skagit Valley
WA USA
Coral Dreams
When I first stepped on cobblestone shoreline, I was greeted by an amalgam of blue beach stones. But as I kept walking down the shore, I spotted a few white ones in the mix: a composite of different types of wave-smoothened coral rocks. It took me a while to realize the scale of this: a vast beach littered with thousands of these corals, and that meant I was seeing the remains of a rich coral reef ecosystem that over the years had slowly died off.
It made me realize the fragility of this ecosystem, which, over the last few years has slowly died off due to the direct and indirect effect of human activities. While snorkeling in different parts of the Virgin Islands, all I encountered were dead and dying reefs, and except for a few stragglers, the ocean floor was fairly barren, and sad. Seeing this all over the island, I wondered if this region would ever recover.
Virgin Islands National Park
USVI
Coastal Forests
The rugged coastline of Oregon is a road-trippers paradise. Smooth sandy beaches interspersed with steep cliffs where the coastal forests meet the rugged ocean all lie within arms length of small coastal communities. And on a crisp sunny day, these places are a delight to explore.
Along one such beach, the morning fog filtered through the trees, creating crepuscular rays that beamed down to the shoreline bedecked with mossy rocks, decaying deadwood and the occasional sea stacks.
Ecola State Park
OR USA
Seeking Solitude at Sunrise
The solitude of the morning spread over the land like the morning fog, its silence disturbed only by the calls of the waterfowl lazily swimming in the mist. The sun had just started to rise up, a great big ball of fire whose light pierced through the fog, setting it aglow over the tranquil wetlands.
I was just beginning to enjoy the serenity when it was marred by an approaching speedboat, its staccato engine noise engulfing the tranquility of the still dawn. I couldn't have cared less for it, but those were the cards I was dealt with. Hence I tried to frame it as part of the scene: a pastoral sunrise disturbed by a touch of man-made monstrosity...
Astoria
OR USA
Fleeting Time
During the dark days of winter, I often sit down introspecting my life that year, and get to question the ephemerality of time. This year has been a little different undoubtedly, and the pandemic has played a major role in it. Time seems to have flown a bit too quickly without much to show far, and yet the time spent in social isolation has gone far more slowly that I would have preferred. As much as I tried not to, my daily rhythm has certainly been disrupted.
This image was taken during a fall road trip two years in New England. And while I clearly remember the time I spent driving around the backroads of Vermont, I can't recollect even an ounce of what I had done during the indoor days at the start of the pandemic restrictions. Thankfully, I preserved some of the most memorable moments in my 2021 calendar created in support of the National Park foundation; you can buy it here: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/sathish-jothikumar/2021-photography-calendar/paperback/product-gpj74q.html
There is light at the end of the tunnel, and it can't come soon enough.
Woodstock
VT USA
Calendar of 2021
With the pandemic restricting travel in general in 2020, I focused my photography on the amazing landscapes in and around my home in the Pacific Northwest. And even when constrained to this rain-drenched corner of the country , I found so much diversity, from rugged mountains of the North Cascades to temperate rain-forests in the Olympic Peninsula, and from dry volcanic terrain at Mt St Helens, to the lush farmlands of the Palouse.
And all of these are public lands preserved under the auspices of the National and State Parks, Wilderness Areas and National Forests that cover vast swaths of the PNW. By limiting my travel to this home range, I have come to realize what a treasure this region has to offer. And I am sure such outdoor destinations all over the country, including the 61 National Parks, have been a welcome respite from the harsh realities of the pandemic.
Having visited 45 of those 61, I have come to realize the vital importance of our National Park system in protecting and preserving nature, culture, wildlife, and landscapes for the future. The National Park Foundation helps safeguard our national heritage, ensuring generations of national park enthusiasts can enjoy the parks we love. Hence, this year, I chose to raise funding for this amazing organization.
Purchase the 2021 Calendar, and support the National Park Foundation
Seattle
WA USA
A Walk in the Woods
For the last 6 years, I have been creating landscape photography calendars with the intent of raising awareness for charities that work in the conservation. My wanderings around the public lands of the Pacific Northwest have made me realize that our public lands and wilderness areas are the true treasure of our country, and it is a bounty that will keep on giving as long as we take the necessary steps to preserve, conserve, and nurture it.
A lot of that burden falls to two departments of the Government (Dept of the Interior and Dept of Agriculture), but they are plenty of shortfalls in funding and work whose gap is filled by organizations such as National Park Foundation. This organization, whose work I am extremely passionate about, are ardent park champions, and work tirelessly to preserve America's best idea. Hence, I am proud to state that I will donate all the proceeds from the sale of this calendar to this amazing organization.
Here is one of those images from the musky rainforests of the Olympics
Olympic National Park
WA USA
Golden Girls
Walking under a canopy of green can be rejuvenating for the soul. Walking under a canopy of gold, on the other hand, is exhilarating for the mind. And while I have experienced it in a few places in California and New England, the golden larches on the eastern slopes of the Cascades were an altogether different adventure.
I hope I get to experience it the next year as well.
Okanagan Wenatchee National Forest
WA USA
Gateway to Nature
My trip to Japan was a juxtaposition of contrasts: of the modern bullet trains and ancient rituals, of concrete jungles and serene nature, of crowded onsens and peaceful villages. And yet, everyone of them was connected by an underlying thread of humanity in a cramped country, that, at times, didn't feel as cramped.
I experienced a part of this while hiking the sacred Kumano Kodo, an ancient pilgrimage route winding through the mountains of central Honshu. I passed through ancient Shinto shrines freshly decorated with incense and along forest paths that wound through bucolic villages and dense woods. The study in contrasts was very apparent in those three days that I hope to repeat in my future, if only to revisit those seeming contradictions once again.
Kii Peninsula
Japan
The Short Summer
An early summer's hike into the alpine terrain of Mt Rainier revealed a landscape slowly recovering from winter's fingers. Melting slow slowly give way to undulating grassy meadows, drained by tiny creeks harboring the first generations of insects. Down in the meadows, tiny glacier lilies pop up en masse, the first flower to blossom in the short spring. They add a burst of yellow and white to the landscape as the rest of the flowering plants send out tiny shoots skyward.
The pressures of a short summer have led to many interesting adaptations in the fragile alpine ecosystem, and thanks to the well-preserved landscape, the flora and fauna grow and thrive right up to the eaves of winter. There are many such beautiful niches in Rainier, and one just has to walk around to find them.
Mt Rainier National Park
WA USA