Largo Cantabile
Melodious and Deep
Largo cantabile refers to instrumental music that is slow, languorous, and song-like. This gallery presents images that are expressive, places that are timeless, and depictions that inform our perceptions of and passions for the natural world.
Winter Storm at Dawn, Grand Teton National Park, 2022
by Michael Piraino
Three decades after our last visit here, we celebrated our 46th anniversary in the Grand Tetons, with Tenaya of course. On the morning of the day, the heavens welcomed us back with a beautiful snowfall. We spent the morning photographing and showing Tenaya the sights (she of course had to stay with one or the other of us in the parking areas, but as usual, she made no complaint; she knows her park rules). Pastels of alpen glow in the pre-sunrise, mountains peaking out from the mist, and the glory of unimaginable blue sky above white snow fields.
Landscapes like this often bring music to my mind. What I heard this day in May is best described as largo e spiccato. Broad, leisurely but spikey. It is the third part of Vivaldi’s Concerto number 2 for two violins, cello and strings.
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Swamp Plant and Trees, Florida , 2020
by Michael Piraino
Cypress Swamp, Big Cypress National Preserve. A profusion of epiphytes, including orchids and bromeliads, decorates the cypress trees growing from the clear freshwater of the swamp. The place was full of color, fragrance, the soft song of the water and the chatter of birds as we waded around. A bit to the north, oil and gas exploration in a large swath of the preserve threatens this delicate and beautiful environment. It makes no kind of sense to me, to take a place of such peace and despoil it.
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Paradise Valley, Kings Canyon National Park, 2016
By Michael Piraino
This is the trail leading to Upper Paradise Valley along the south fork of the Kings River. Ansel Adams photographed here in the 1930s. I’ve camped where he camped. Adams’s photographs, which were exhibited in Washington DC at the invitation of the National Park Service, were instrumental in the 1940 expansion of the park to encompass the astoundingly beautiful and remote landscapes in the Sierra mountains.
I find it thrilling to retrace the steps of those I consider heroes in the protection of wilderness, but how sad it is that we know the names of so few of the Indigenous people who were part of the history and meaning of the place.
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Sunrise, Eastern Sierra from the Owens Valley near Bishop, , 2016
By Michael Piaino
Gliding free in the light. I was driving back to town after spending a couple hours photographing the sunrise from a vantage point above the Owens River. These clouds and the light on the mountains caught my eye and I quickly took several photographs out the window of the car. The light was gone before I could get out and explore more closely.
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Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, 2018 (infrared).
By Michael Piraino
Island In The Sky; such an appropriate name for this large mesa in Canyonlands National Park, looking out over the meanders of the Green River. The clouds were busy sweeping away the day while the sunlight still worked its way onto the land. Infrared again, which created some surprising highlights over Soda Springs Basin and along the river 2,200 feet below. The view from here extends out for 100 miles, and it feels as though it is all blessedly unoccupied wildness.
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Slot Canyon, Arizona, 2018
By Michael Piraino
This scene revealed itself in a little room-like section of a slot canyon (it’s not Antelope Canyon). Wandering through a slot canyon is like meandering through the galleries of an art museum; play of light, color, design, abstraction. Once, in a different remote canyon, I heard quiet flute music flowing around the walls. It reminded me of the Gregorian chants we heard over 30 years ago at a ruined abbey in England. Deep peace is available if we look for it. A dose of it is much needed in these fraught times.
Music: “Peyote Chant,” Primeaux & Mike
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Kalaloch Beach (k’–E–le–ok, Good Place to Land), Washington, 1997
By Michael Piraino
Memories from the Washington shore. The feather was already in place just waiting for someone to walk by and notice it. I did.
As so often in nature, glorious scenes can be hidden in plain sight, with the larger more iconic scenes taking attention away from tranquil little ones like this.
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Murden Cove, Bainbridge Island, Washington, 1999
By Michael Piraino
Soft Sky. The afternoon light was intriguing, and I was surprised it produced as much color as this. The cove was named in 1856 for someone who lived on the beach here. Taken with 35mm film.
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Wild Iris, Eastern Sierra From the Owens Valley, California, 2011
By Michael Piraino
Rhythm of Mountain and Meadow. We were staying in Bishop, California, in anticipation of another day of hiking and picture taking in the eastern Sierra. As we walked to breakfast, the clouds and sunlight on the peaks drew our attention and we quickly jumped in the car, drove less than a mile, and found this meadow full of iris. The scene looks quite peaceful, but what you can’t see are the semis on the highway just behind me. The mountains to the west include Mount Humphreys (the highest in the Bishop area) and Basin Peak.
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Aspen, Lundy Canyon, Eastern Sierra Nevada, 2013
By Michael Piraino
The Forest Is My Cathedral. The mingling of yellow aspen leaves, white bark, and the red of the forest floor create quite an artist’s palette in late September. We have spent hours along the canyon, stopping to admire the many stands of aspen along with beaver ponds and lush meadows.
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Panamint Mountains, Death Valley, 2016
By MIchael Piraino
This difficult to access spot is named for Pete Aguerberry, a miner who worked a nearby mine. Badwater, the second lowest point in the western hemisphere, sits off in the distance below this point, located at 6,433 feet elevation in the Panamint Range. The name “Panamint” comes from the Southern Paiute Indian words for water and person.
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Olympic Mountain Foothills, Washington, 2019
By Michael Piraino
I have passed by this scene in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains many times. Eventually, I realized it would be an interesting and tranquil pastoral photograph. The setting is in the Dosewallips area. That name is from the indigenous title of a chief who was turned into a mountain near the source of the Dosewallips River
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Moonrise and Windmills, Kinderdijk, Netherlands, 2019
By Michael Piraino
This place, Kinderdijk in the Netherlands, was a place of beauty when I was there, and I had it all to myself for several hours. This is the largest concentration of original windmills in the country, all in working order and all dating to the 1700s. Such human ingenuity makes me feel we could lick climate change if we put our minds to it.
I also love the story behind the place name. A flood in this area in 1421 led to both the name (meaning “children’s dike”) and the story “The Cat’s Cradle” (not Vonnegut’s book). A cat made sure the cradle carrying a baby stayed afloat in the flood.
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Windmill and Row Boat, Kinderdijk, Netherlands, 2019
By Michael Piraino
This UNESCO World Heritage Site, located not far from Rotterdam, has 19 windmills. The oldest was built in 1640, with the other 18 dating to between 1738 and 1854. Amazingly, they still operate.
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Dawn at Pyramid Lake, Canadian Rockies, 2018
By Michael Piraino
I spent several hours around this lake, exploring the outlet stream, but was especially enchanted by this canoe anchored offshore. The ripples came and went, and the turned this way and that, while the mountain slowly started peaking out.
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Sunrise, Glacial Lagoon Icebergs, Iceland, 2019
By Michael Piraino
We were able to visit this lagoon several times, and never encountered more than one or two others, due to both our choice of time and location for our visits. It’s an awe inspiring place, with the colorful ice, seals passing along the surface, and the clink of the icebergs as they shift.
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Sunrise, Alabama Hills, Eastern Sierra Nevada, 2023
By Mchael Piraino
Sun, fog, frost, rock formations, mountains; nature’s visual harmonies are on stage for us every day, one way or another. We spent several hours starting before dawn, watching the light hitting the icy foliage, then lighting up the drifting fog banks. Magical. You only have to step outside with an open mind to join the audience.
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Sunset, Puget Sound from Bainbridge Island, Washington, 2010
By Michael Piraino
End of Day. Taken from a small shoreline park on the southeast shore of Bainbridge Island. I went there to photograph Seattle, and just ran across this serene view of a sail boat returning to Eagle Harbor.
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Sunrise, Dead Horse Point, Utah, 2018
By Michael Piraino
Sunrise here unfolds gently, slowly revealing the dramatic scenes 2,000 feet below, where the Colorado River has carved out huge S curves. There was no one else here for this dramatic sunrise.
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Braided Channels, Waimakariri River, South Island, New Zealand, 2017
By Carin Piraino
This photo, taken on approach to Christchurch airport, shows the many branches of the Waimakariri River shortly before it empties in Pegasus Bay. The river’s name is a combination of wai, “water,” and makariri, “cold.”
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Canyon Entrance (Feather River Canyon), Iceland, 2019
By Michael Piraino
Though it has become a massively popular place for visitors, this beautifully lush canyon still holds great peace and tranquility.
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Snow, Ice and Fog Merced River Yosemite Valley, 2020
By Carin Piraino
We found this very quiet spot along the river and kept returning here to see how the snow had enlivened the scene. With just enough ice on the river and remnants of fall foliage in the trees, it became a tie and place of enchantment.
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Merced River Canyon, 2020
By Carin Piraino
I know there’s a poem in one of my Chinese poetry books that would be perfect with this — but I’ve neglected my zen poetry and can’t find the book. Never mind; I’d call this “Zen Along the Merced River Canyon.” We enjoy passing through this canyon west of Yosemite, but it holds treasures that are easy to miss if you don’t park the car for awhile. Redbud blooms along here in the spring, along with many temporary waterfalls in the section closer to the park.
We love stopping along this canyon before and after visiting Yosemite Valley. Especially in the fog, moody scenes come and go, requiring some patience to capture them. The time is full of mindful appreciation. I know there’s a poem in one of my Chinese poetry books that would be perfect with this photo — but I’ve neglected my zen poetry and can’t find the book. Never mind; I’d call this “Zen Along the Merced River Canyon.”
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Mist and Trees, Merced Wild and Scenic River, 2020
By Michael Piraino
Trees are among the most artistic of nature’s forms. Sometimes grand sometimes subtle, often expressive of life, of time, and of survival. For several days, I kept passing these trees, until I finally stopped to admire them with greater attention on a foggy morning. They seemed to speak of strength, endurance and survival under difficult conditions. The trees had survived one of the most virulent wildfires in California history. And there they remained, attached to their slope, striving for the light.
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Lighthouse, San Juan Islands, Washington, 2020
By Michael Piraino
Lime Kiln Light Station was the last major lighthouse built in Washington State. Disappointingly, its original Fresnel lens and rotating beam were replaced by a flashing electric bulb, and its foghorns no longer operate. But it’s a beautiful and peaceful spot to watch the sunset, looking out to the Olympic Mountains and Vancouver Island.
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Sunrise Glow, Mount Rainier National Park, 2018
By Michael Piraino
Sometimes an uncomplicated sunrise makes for a great start on the day.
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Salt Creek Falls near Willamette Pass Oregon Cascades
By Michael Piraino
286 foot-tall Salt Creek Falls, the second tallest in Oregon, located near Willamette Pass in the Cascades. It was created over 11,000 years ago by the retreat of glaciers during the last ice age.
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