SnakeMedicine_Book1

C o n v e r s a t i o n s w i t h t h e A r t i s t
We drove from my cousin’s house in Ottumwa, Iowa for two hours. When I asked
him if there were any sacred Indian sites in Iowa, he remembered hearing about a
park with Indian mounds. We located the Bear Mound park on the map.
The drive gave us a chance to catch up on our families’ activities.
When we arrived, I immediately caught site of the Bear Mound. This shot was
taken shortly after arriving. I liked the framing by the trees. After taking many other
angles, I realized they were all boring. Unless you are taking an aerial photo, it’s
hard to get a sense of the mound. This is the center of the energy of the area,
I thought. It is also the only place where there are trees. There is new growth here.
The focus is the middle of the mounds, where the grass is. There are different textures
because the grass has not been cut but is the same type of grass surrounding
the mound.
I would crop closer into the mound, cutting most of the trees out of the picture.
The dark green of the trees lets the viewers see the mounds without being distracted
by the intensity of the green. I want the viewer to really see the mounds.
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