Camera Obscura on Wheels

September 27, 2019 / Jet Eliot / 76 Comments

Camera Obscura Front View

I found another Camera Obscura this past summer. We were driving down Highway 1 and happened to see it beside the road. Stopped the car immediately. I never miss an opportunity to steal away from the real world and escape into a Camera Obscura.

This one is a mobile unit, and was parked at Russian House #1, a restaurant where the Pacific Ocean and the Russian River meet in Jenner, California.

From the outside it looks like a psychedelic tool-shed. The inside is small, but has all the essential ingredients: completely dark with a parabolic screen, a tiny ray of light, and the rotating lens and mirror on top. I found it charming and curious, and appreciated the ingenuity it took to build it. It rests sturdily on a small flatbed trailer, with steps built for visitors.

Camera Obscura Side View

Camera Obscura Lens

Camera Obscura means “dark chamber” in Latin. They date back centuries; and are the original idea behind the pinhole camera, where light passes through a pinhole and provides an inverted image in a dark chamber.

The oval photos are what we saw from the inside of the unit. These are real time images, as reflected by the lens onto the oval concave screen.

Camera Obscura Screen Photo of Russian River and Bridge

And this is the wheel, inside, that you turn, moving the lens for 360 degree views.

Crank for Turning Outside Lens

As we hand-cranked the lens, the Russian River, bridge with passing cars, and restaurant appeared on the screen.

There are 23 public Camera Obscuras listed as existing in the world today. In addition, there are private ones. This one we came upon is both. The owner, Chris de Monterey, built it and owns it; he transports it and shares it with the public.

Camera Obscuras date back to the 5th Century, B.C. Over the centuries, scientists, scholars, and artists studied the phenomenon. By the 18th century, it had become a resource for education and entertainment. Then photography pioneers built portable Camera Obscuras, and the camera was born.

As portable cameras became popular, the Camera Obscuras fell out of fashion, and most were demolished. Fortunately there are still some in the world.

Camera Obscura Wikipedia — including the list of Camera Obscuras with public access.

In San Francisco there is a Camera Obscura: The Giant Camera, on Ocean Beach behind the Cliff House. It was built in 1946 and is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

I’ve been here dozens of times, and taken many loved ones here as well.

I wrote about it in a previous post: Camera Obscura San Francisco.

San Francisco Camera Obscura

Camera Obscura, San Francisco

I have seen another one at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, but it’s always been closed when I’ve gone there. The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles also has one; there are about two dozen open to the public around the world. A list of their locations is provided in the Wikipedia link above.

Today we all walk around, rather cavalierly, with a telephone/computer/camera in our back pocket.

I suppose one day our back-pocket-phone devices will become quaint antiques, too.

But for now, we can take pleasure in all the different versions of any sized device that records the beauty and magic of our surroundings.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexanader.

More info:

The Magic Mirror of Life, a website about the world’s Camera Obscuras by Jack and Beverly Wilgus.

Cruising the Columbia River Gorge

September 20, 2019 / Jet Eliot / 63 Comments

Columbia River Gorge

Located in the United States Pacific Northwest, the Columbia River is the largest river in this region; fourth largest, by volume, in the United States. We enjoyed a two-hour cruise on this historic waterway last month.

This is the vessel we were on.

Columbia Gorge Sternwheeler

About an hour’s drive east of Portland, between the border of Oregon and Washington, the Columbia River Gorge is a unique 100-mile section of the river.

Columbia River Gorge, Bridge of the Gods in center

More info:

Columbia River – Wikipedia

Columbia River Gorge – Wikipedia

The river is very wide, and the water is both roiling and sparkling.

We didn’t see many pleasure-craft boats here, no doubt because of the fierce winds; but every day we saw windsurfers and hydrofoil surfers. It’s known as the Windsurfing Capital of the World.

Wind surfers, Columbia River Gorge

Hydrofoil Surfer, Columbia River Gorge

Atmospheric pressure conditions within the Cascade Mountains create a wind-tunnel effect in the Gorge, regularly producing 35-mile-per-hour (56 km/h) winds.

The Columbia River has been a crucial corridor in North America for centuries, providing westward passage that avoids perilous mountain treks.

It is 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, starting in the Canadian Rockies. It cuts west through the Cascade Mountain Range, empties into the Pacific Ocean.

Map of Columbia River. Courtesy Google.

In 1803, President Jefferson commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the western territory of the country. Also known as the Discovery Corps, they travelled the Columbia River to the coast, and again on their return trip.

Oregon Historical Society Essay on the Lewis and Clark Expedition

In the 1800s this Gorge section of the Columbia River was raging. It was rocky and turbulent, with precipitous drops.

Lewis and Clark, in their dugout canoes, journeyed through the treacherous Gorge. They recorded the Gorge as a “…great number of both large and small rocks, water passing with great velocity forming and boiling in a horrible manner, with a fall of about 20 feet” (October 30- November 1, 1805).

The rapids then were ferocious, later estimated to be Class V–violent, risky, and dangerous.

It was so dangerous that the resident Native Americans never took boats through this section. In fact, they came by the hundreds to watch the crazy explorers navigating their canoes through here.

In some places of the Gorge, the Corps would portage around the rapids; i.e. transport their vessels and gear over land.

Fast-forward over a century; locks and dams were built in this section. Today the Bonneville Dam has tamed the waters, and uses the river’s energy for hydroelectric purposes.

Bonneville Dam and Beacon Rock, Columbia River

Roads and railroad tracks have been built on both sides of the river, still utilizing the river’s path for passage to the coast.

Freight train bisecting through center of photo, beside the Columbia River

And tourists like us ride on a triple-decker 119-foot paddle wheeler, a replica riverboat built in the 1980s. The Columbia Gorge Sternwheeler is propelled by two internal diesel engines; and has a single paddle wheel on the stern (rear), and a large, flat bottom.

Columbia Gorge Sternwheeler paddle

We watched an osprey on its nest.

Lewis and Clark spotted California Condors here.

Osprey with nest on the Columbia River

Native Americans have fishing nets and platforms along the water’s edge. They catch salmon and other fish here, like their ancestors did centuries ago.

Fishing Platform, Columbia River

This small island is where the Lewis and Clark Discovery Corps camped.

Lewis and Clark Island

Thanks for joining me on the Columbia River Gorge, yesterday and today. A wild and wonderful place.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander except aerial photo, below.

Columbia River Gorge aerial at Bonneville Dam. Courtesy Wikipedia, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Powell’s Books

September 13, 2019 / Jet Eliot / 84 Comments

Powell’s Entrance, 10th and Burnside

I recently had the opportunity, and privilege, to visit Powell’s Books in downtown Portland, Oregon. It is a pleasure to share with you this Oregonian institution, the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world.

Powell’s Entrance, 11th and Couch

The main store, photographed throughout this post, is called “Powell’s City of Books.” Their flagship store, it has one million books for sale. In addition, there are several other smaller Powell’s bookstores in the Portland vicinity.

Originally founded by Walter Powell in 1971, it is now in its third generation of Powell owners.

Powell’s Books, inside

For more history and information:

powells.com

Powell’s Books Wikipedia

The ONE Thing You Must Do in Every State by the Huffington Post

Their retail and online inventory combined: over four million books.

The City of Books takes up an entire city block, and covers 68,000 square feet (6,300 sq. meters). Four floors, two elevators. It is so big they offer a Store Map and color-code the different main rooms, for ease in navigation. Information booths and friendly staff abound.

It is easy to get lost in the seemingly endless catacombs of towering bookshelves…which, to a bibliophile, is the next best thing to heaven.

Powell’s Books

One of my favorite parts is the Rare Book Room. It was quiet, like a library; and filled with a fascinating collection from around the world.

Powell’s Books, Rare Book Room

The room is 1,000 square feet, and closed off from the rest of the store. It has 9,000 volumes of rare books atop elegant polished, wooden shelves. The most expensive books, rare collectibles, are behind glass; but most of the collection is open for perusing.

Powells’ most expensive book is priced at $350,000.00; it is off-premises in a safe. It is the first public description of the journals of Lewis and Clark on their 1804-06 U.S. Expedition. The two-volume set is in its original binding and includes a map. Enticing photos of the book are displayed for interested buyers.

The most expensive book in the Rare Book Room is a two-volume set of the Lewis and Clark journals, published in 1814. It sells for $25,000.00, and is locked behind glass.

Lewis and Clark Journals, priced at $25,000.

Their oldest book was printed in Venice 525 years ago: The Works of Decimus Magnus Ausonius. Sells for $6,000.00.

More books from the Rare Book Room.

Gorillas in the Mist, Autographed by Dian Fossey, priced at $2,500.

The Red Book by C.G. Jung, priced at $295.

In addition to Powells’ new, used, and antiquarian books, there is a wide selection of book bags, tee shirts, greeting cards, and other sundries. There is also a coffee shop.

For years I have heard about the marvel of Powell’s Books; there is no other bookstore like it in the world. It was far more organized and elaborate than I had ever imagined.

Glamorous even.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Powell’s Books, Coffee Room

Blue-colored Friends

September 6, 2019 / Jet Eliot / 114 Comments

Ulysses Butterflies on Lantana, Australia. Photo: A. Alexander

If any of my friends in the Northern Hemisphere are feeling a little blue about the waning of summer, here is a panoply of blue wildlife to uplift your spirits.

Blue-gray Tanager, Peru

Blue-footed Booby, Galapagos. Photo: A. Alexander

Violet-crowned Woodnymph, Costa Rica. Photo: A. Alexander

Though there are many birds with blue, there are also insects and reptiles, and even a monkey.

Bluet Damselfly, Nevada. Photo: A. Alexander

Butterfly, Ecuador. Photo: A. Alexander

Western fence lizards have a bright blue belly.

Western Fence Lizard, California. Photo: A. Alexander

This skink we see in California has a dazzling tail.

Skink, California

The blue monkey. Not as blue as some of its fellow blue-named creatures, but a beauty nonetheless.

Blue Monkey, Lake Manyara, Tanzania, Africa

Birds this blue sometimes blend into the greenery; but I have spotted them from far across an opposite ridge…gasping from behind my binoculars, such stunning beauty.

Blue Dacnis, Peru. Photo by B. Page

We found these blue-headed parrots at a river bank in the Amazon. They were busy extracting minerals from the clay soil.

Blue-headed Parrots, Peru. Photo: A. Alexander

The color blue is a bit complicated when it comes to nature. Peacock feathers, for example, are actually pigmented brown, but their microscopic structure, through light reflection, expresses blues and greens.

Indian Peacock, Texas. Photo: A. Alexander

Birdnote.org explains it well:

“Unlike many other bird colors, blue is not a pigment but a color produced by the structure of the feathers. Tiny air pockets and melanin pigment crystals in each feather scatter blue light and absorb the other wavelengths. The even finer structure of the feather gathers the bouncing blue wavelengths together and directs them outward.”

I think the blue feathers on this Glossy Starling take scattering and bouncing blue wavelengths to a new high.

Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling, Africa

I’ve noticed some birds sporting blue always seem to be bright, like these two tanager species…

Blue-necked Tanager, Peru

Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Ecuador. Photo: A. Alexander

… whereas other blue-pigmented birds can sometimes look gray or black, depending on the light.

Little Blue Heron, Belize

Mountain Bluebird, Wyoming

Great Blue Heron, Ding Darling, Florida

These blue-footed boobies are performing a mating dance. The blue pigmentation in their feet comes from carotenoids in their fresh fish diet. The bluer the feet, the more healthy the bird.