Featured Artist Michele James

Through use of light and composition, photographer Michele James brings landscapes, waterfalls and historical sites vibrantly to life. Visit her website to learn more.

 

 

I have always joked with people that my photography is far less expensive than conventional therapy!

 

 

Photography is not my full time job. It has been placed on the back burner numerous times due to raising children as a single mom and working full time for a state government agency. To escape from those daily stresses, my children and I ventured into the hiking and backpacking world. It was cheap entertainment for us and allowed us to spend time together.

 

 

As time went by, the majority of the trips were based around specific sites and places that not many people would go to.

 

 

When I first started photographing I fell in love with the movement of water in nature. There was a cleansing property of it that I couldn’t put my finger on. I later realized that after coming back from photographing a waterfall or creek that I almost felt as if the water had cleansed my soul of all the problems that had tormented me!

 

 

I was an avid waterfall chaser. So much so, that a person who used to hike with me all the time in the beginning told me she wasn’t going to hike with me anymore because all I did was photograph waterfalls. She said that I needed to photograph other subjects.

 

 

I was crushed. I didn’t photograph another waterfall for months. After a lot of persuasion from my family, I have started photographing them again. I did heed her advice, however, and started photographing other scenes.

 

 

I became infatuated with things of historical interest or that were unusual or scenes that are captured with a different perspective.

 

 

A lot has changed over the years. My children have grown up and started lives of their own, and I met an amazing man that shares a lot of the explorer mindset. We try and travel as much as we can to capture the beauty that surrounds us. There is so much in my own back yard that day trips can be planned to satisfy the wanderlust!

 

 

I love going places and seeing things that not many people have a chance to see. My husband and I decided last year to start blogging about our trips. We found that so many people were living vicariously through our adventures!

 

 

Along the way, we have made friends, seen some amazing sites and have been blessed with numerous accomplishments. Two happened near the end of 2017. The first was making the cover of the 2018 NOR-CAL Think Pink Calendar with our shot of Redding’s iconic Sundial Bridge at night. This photograph, entitled “Play Time” was a complete fluke. I had gone to photograph the bridge, but that mission was interrupted by people doing shadow selfies in the spotlight.

 

 

The second accomplishment was being chosen as the 2018 Whiskeytown National Recreation Area yearly pass with our shot of “Brandy Creek Marina.”

 

Artist Michele James invites you to follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

 

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