Buddha Reflection
Here is an image of two of the Buddhas at the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas in Arlee, Montana. If you have read my previous post, you will know that the Garden has 1,000 Buddhas laid out in spokes around inside a circle.
This focus of this image is the detail in the front and back of each Buddha’s head. If you have the time, there are lots of great detail shots to be had in the Garden. Because this was a drive-by stop for us on our way to Glacier National Park, I did not get to spend as much time here as I would have liked.
If you are in the Missoula area, the Garden is definitely worth a detour whether you are a photographer or not.
Garden of One Thousand Buddhas N47 11 29.84 W114 05 22.25
A line of Buddhas from the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas, Arlee Montana (click to enlarge)
Here is an image I captured at the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas in Arlee Montana. When driving from Missoula to Glacier National Park, the Garden is half a mile or so off HWY 93. As you can see from the Google Earth image below, the Garden is arranged in a series of eight spokes inside a circle. Each of these spokes consists of a double row of Buddha statues. The circle around the spokes consists of spires which also make for a good image of the repeating subject type.
The image above was taken from the center of the circle looking outwards along one of the spokes. The original image has a lot of background clutter that causes the eye to wander aimlessly. During processing I painted over the background with black to focus the eye on the line of repeating Buddhas. When looking at the image my eyes want to start at the foreground Buddha on the left, slide down the Buddha line to the far right, and then slide back to the foreground, and then repeat this pattern again and again and again…
This eye movement reminds me of following the ball at a tennis match.
Google Earth Garden of One Thousand Buddhas
Garden of One Thousand Buddhas N47 11 29.84 W114 05 22.25
Sunrise over Lost Goose Island (click to enlarge)
Here is my take on the iconic image from Glacier National Park. Sunrise at Wild Goose Island is the image taken by every photo tour group at Glacier National Park. There is an overlook beside Going to the Sun Highway that provides a great view of the island and Saint Mary Lake.
I recommend visiting this overlook during the day and looking at various compositions to determine where you would like to set your tripod for sunrise. Should there be a photo tour group in the area, they set up at the top of the overlook in a tight group. It is slightly humourous to see 10-15 photographers crammed together taking identical images.
Based on my scouting the overlook area the day prior, I setup to the left and slightly down from where the photo tours set up their tripods. As the sun rose, I moved around to other spots I had looked at the day prior.
I arrived well before sunrise. The photo tours seem to arrive 30 minutes or so before sunrise. So if you want that spot at the top of the overlook where the photo tours normally gather, get there early!
My wife and I stayed just outside the park in West Glacier. My wife chose to drive that morning, departing about 0330. It was a very dark drive, and not for the faint of heart. Don’t think about the drop-offs just over those stone walls.
This would also be a good daytime image if there were clouds in the sky. Too bad for me, there was not a cloud in the sky during my daylight visit to the overlook.
Wild Goose Island Overlook: N48 41 30.15 W113 31 53.44
