My dad's mother (Ruby Wrye) was born in Ruby near Okanogan in the 1890s. Her family ran a general merchandise store in the silver boom town until the price of silver dropped near the turn of the century.

    So it's no surprise that I travel up Salmon Creek through Ruby whenever I am going that way. There are several swampy areas with cattails just past the now-ghost town, which is where I found this image.

    I especially liked the reflection of the aspen, the cattails and the way the trees stood out on the far embankment.

    What's interesting about this image is that I saw it while traveling, slowly, with a Bach Fugue playing on my pickup's stereo. I was experimenting, trying to see if music influenced how I saw images. If music can be used in a movie to set a scene, to give a feel to something, why can't music be used to help see photographically?

    I own a photograph of a canyon wall created by photographer Don Kirby, who liked to show the image straight to students, then show it while playing classical music. The feel of the photo changed, dramatically.

    I often do the same thing in the darkroom, play certain kinds of music to create a mood in myself that can help bring out something I want others to see in an image. The music often is classical, but can also range from popular (Alanis Morrisette to Nine Inch Nails) to blues to obscure, like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.