Winter has a way of transforming even the most recognizable places into fairy-tale fantasies almost overnight. Just turn down the temperature a few degrees and the lush greenery of Oregon's famous Multnomah Falls suddenly resembles a scene out of Norse mythology. Photographer Janis Miglavs captured this frosty image with his medium-format Mamiya 645 camera, using Provia 100 film, during an unusually cold winter in the Portland area. "This is one of the most visited, most photographed tourist spots in the whole state of Oregon," he says. "But on that day, I was the only one around. I never saw any footprints. It was just this wonderland of snow and ice."
Miglavs is a well known adventure travel photographer who has seen some of the most exotic lands on the planet. His traveling exhibition, "Africa's Undiscovered Myths," will be making the rounds this fall and winter at The White Gallery and Linn-Benton Community College in Portland, and the Old Redmond (Wash.) Schoolhouse Community Center.
Yet Miglavs, working out of a studio in a converted barn next to his home, is still fascinated by the scenery near his own backyard. Living in the rural town of Sherwood, Ore., at an elevation of about 800 feet, he gets plenty of opportunities to see how winter changes the landscape around him.
"Every time it snows, I go out to take a look at the waterfalls in the area," he says. "I love to watch the snow and ice try to encroach out on the flowing water. One thing I like to do is get the falls when they completely freeze over, so you see this amazing wall of ice."
Currently, Miglavs is working on a new project that may involve more Oregon scenery. "I'm working with a publisher on a couple of books about vineyards," he says. "I have some great shots of snow-covered vineyards near my home, so I'm trying to sell him on the Pacific Northwest."
For more information about Miglavs' work, visit his website at jmiglavs.com.
