I have finally spent some time catching up on some of my rock abstracts. This time I have added some Morrisonite photos to my gallery. Morrisonite is a particular type of jasper found in Oregon’s Owyhee desert. The story has it that it was originally on the property of an old hermit, James Morison back in the late 1940s. Once the colorful jasper became public knowledge, his land was flooded by rockhounds, commercial interests, and trespassers until ultimately it took blasting and heavy equipment to get to the jasper that was left.
I read no one knew what happened to James Morison, he sort of just disappeared. I find it fascinating that my photographs of today are somehow connected to this old hermit in the hills of Oregon who lived over 60 years ago. The area where this jasper is found is reported to be quite rugged. I saw a rugged landscape in this image, and the blood-red color symbolic of how man can rip at this planet’s natural treasures.
This image was captured wet, using a Nikon D700, 200 mm f4 macro lens, and cross-polarized Nikon R1C1 macro flashes to eliminate reflections and glare. Post-processing in Adobe Lightroom 2 and Adobe Photoshop CS3. More pictures of Morrisonite and other abstract macro landscapes can be found in my gallery.
This image is mesmerizing. I absolutely LOVE IT. And the background story is fascinating too, although sad… This would make a fantastic print.
Thanks Amber & Lana
So glad to find your beautiful blog!
Thank you Lynda!
Inspiring colors and pretty flowing lines. Looks like it would make a great print…
Thanks Tom. I hope I do get the opportunity to print this soon.
(FYI, added your FB page to my page’s favorites.)
Beautiful. 🙂
Is that ever beautiful, I love the colours and your take on how the red symbolizes man’s impact on the treasures of nature, so true.
Thank you Consuelo.
Wow, what amazing-looking rock! It looks like it could really tell a story (the red, I’m afraid, reminds me of blood, so it would tell a story of toil and working the land). Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you Heather, and thanks for visiting.
Thanks a lot folks, glad you like this one.
What can I say? Lovely shots, as usual, Mark! Add to that a cool piece of history, too.
I am another fan of your rock abstracts. Still, this is a favorite because it came with some history attached.
Beautiful Mark….you know how much I love your rock abstracts!
Amazingly beautiful — I love these abstracts set the imagination free.
Gorgeous colors & forms, Mark – I love your rock abstracts!
– Jack