gifts

Commercialism has made the Christmas season a time of unbridled gift giving, particularly in America.  But gifts comes in all shapes and sizes.  Like children playing with the box in which a particular gift came, adults revel in time spent with family and friends, and cooking, creating, and growing things for later presentation. I, personally, love it all - giving and receiving - and as you know, spend time photographing these special gifts.

Nearly thirty years ago, a friend gave us some delectable morsels called bourbon balls.  In the years since, I have adjusted the recipe in a number of ways, and quadruple the recipe in order to make multiple batches.  Here are early rum balls in progress.

This year, my sister gave the gift of challenge and imagination to my husband with the adult version of Legos.  One of Lego's architectural artists Rok Zgalin Kobe brought architect Frank Lloyd Wright's blueprint of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo to life.  I just noticed on the website that it took a 14 year old six hours to build it.  It took my resident architect ten hours to complete, which I (totally lacking the geometry part of the brain) thought was excellent.  He says "The next time you need a problem solved, call your local 14 year old!"

Big Al had a bumper crop of fruit and brought some to New Mexico from his home in the Palm Springs, California area.  I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see and eat grapefruit and lemons grown in someone's yard and brought directly to northern New Mexico.  It is a little like receiving gardening catalogs at this time of year.  Aren't they beauties?  

I cannot end 2013 without thanking each and every one of you for reading my blog, and commenting throughout the year.  May 2014 be filled with good health, creativity, joy, and love! 

until next Monday (and next year)

DB

a passion of the image

Santa's reindeer?

Although their noses may be similar to Rudolph's at one point or another, and they are in the same family (Cervidae), Rocky Mountain elk or Cervus canadensis nelsoni, are probably not suitable for pulling a sleigh.  Wapiti, as elk are also known, occupy a broad swath of the western United States, and unlike deer, are grazers because of their four chambered stomachs.  They are alarmingly large animals.  The cow elk weigh roughly 500-530 pounds, and a bull elk's weight ranges between 710 and 730 pounds.  Bull elk need that extra weight for many reasons, one of which is the tremendous racks or antlers they grow and shed each year.

From pure observation, the groups of elk within a given herd might contain a bull and a harem of perhaps 10 cows.  But last week a fairly large herd wandered through the sagebrush.  We counted four bulls, several spikes (yearling bull elk), and as many as forty cows.  It is somewhat unusual to see a group that mixed during the winter months, when the bull elk seem to be more solitary.  They have already done the job of extending their blood line, and can frequently be sighted ambling alone.

...and finally, a demonstration of why they are called Wapiti.  According to Wikipedia, the word is derived from Shawnee and Cree, and roughly translates as "white rump".

Merry Christmas and to all, a good night!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

 

Solstice

Those of us living in the American Southwest are spoiled.  We are blessed with massive amounts of sunshine.  So when it is overcast for any length of time, frequently, there is whining.  Little wonder why the ancients celebrated the lengthening of days, building structures that played with sun and shadow in such a way as to pinpoint the solstice.  For many, particularly those in more northern climates, the solstice celebration is more significant than any other during the winter months.

This year's solstice is Saturday, 21 December, and thus, here is my photographic toast to the season and the kinds of sunsets that only happen as longer nights envelope the daylight with mystery and hope.

Below is Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Taos with farolitos on the parapets 

a peaceful solstice to you

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

snow puzzles

It has been quite the weather week all over the United States, not to mention Scotland, Germany, and Denmark.  Snow, ice, wind, hard freezes in the valleys of California (which comprise a large part of our nation's grocery carts), combined to keep people talking about the weather in not so positive terms.  Technically, winter has yet to arrive.  But try saying that to people in Texas who were without electricity due to ice storms, or those in more temperate climates with heat pumps that are not quite working as prescribed.

As a photographer, it is always tempting to tease and show images of tropical islands or lush gardens during this time of year in the northern hemisphere.  But there were some fascinating designs were created on the mesa this weekend from the effects of wind on snow and graupel.  I call them "snow puzzles" because the slight changes in elevations which make the surface look more three dimensional look like pieces of a puzzle.  If you click on the photographs, you will see a larger image as well as some of the details.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

complexity

Some years ago, I photographed scientists at the Santa Fe Institute and many, if not all of them, regardless of discipline, worked on chaos and complexity in natural and human-produced systems.  Nature is extremely complex and I love it when I stumble upon and am able to photograph "in your face" examples of it.

Although it is one of those pesky imports and invasive species, the many types of eucalyptus trees never cease to enchant me.  This particular tree near Morro Bay is a huge puzzle and portrait of life as the tree lives it.

Human made complexity is everywhere.  Barbed wire was created out of necessity to keep cattle enclosed in a small or large areas.  According to Wikipedia, Lucien B. Smith of Kent, Ohio, invented what many open rangers viewed as the bane of their existence in 1867.  To the uninitiated, the wire produces a powerful bite and lasting scars if encountered at the wrong angle (almost any).  It seems benign coiled in the snow, but it will be very interesting getting it untangled after the thaw.

Embrace the complex nature of life.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

studies in monochrome

Winter storm Boreas brought the Southwest a nearly unprecedented period of overcast, featuring grey skies, fog, and snow.  The feeling and look seemed deeply monochromatic, which of course, is false given the meaning of the word.  The Oxford English Dictionary definition is: "containing or using only one colour" or "...light or other radiation of a single wavelength."  Monochrome is defined as "reproduction in black and white or in varying tones of only one color" and is closer, but perhaps it is the human brain and eye teaming together to give the landscape uniformity when an overcast sky combines with the snow-covered earth.

I will be out shooting later after the temperature warms above 20 degrees fahrenheit, but for the time being, the photographs here are, in my mind's eye, monochromatic.

No wonder the best-selling "novel" features multiple shades of grey.  They are everywhere.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image 

this time of year

November is a limbo month.  A time when autumn is quickly becoming memory, snow is falling in the mountains, and dry leaves cover the river banks.  Below 8,000 feet, it can be wonderfully sublime or completely mad.  This year, it has been stunning, with high temperatures in the 40s and 50s fahrenheit and lows in the 20s.  The complete absence of significant wind during periods between storms is extraordinary, leaving me enchanted but warily curious as to what the winter will bring.

Coastal California, naturally, doesn't really have winter, so harvests there and in the Central Valley continue.  Our friends Sara and Chuck in Santa Barbara, sent us home with avocados and pomegranates from their yard.  Yes, from their yard!  Naturally, I had to photograph the pomegranates, one of my favorite subjects.

Back on the mesa, the strawberries, happily housed in their cold frame, are becoming comfortable in their fall fashions.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

More ways to photograph wedding flowers

Continuing the theme of last week's blog, here are more images which show how the art of flower arranging and decoration can be photographed.

There is nothing like a room with sheer white curtains to diffuse light, and to reflect and bounce light back into a subject.

The signs on the table are a nice touch, but notice the business card on each napkin.  Attached is a flash drive containing all the songs the DJ played at the reception.  A Silicon Valley trend coming to New Mexico, no doubt, in the not-too-distant future.

The "roundness" of the arrangement below is made so much more intriguing by the types of flowers and greenery used, reaching out to just about everyone at the table.

Amidst the beauty provided by Mo Wilson of Perfect Parties by Mo shown in this blog, it is good to remember what this date in history means.  This text was included in a recent Veterans for Peace blog.

"Congressional Act (52 Stat.351: 5U.S. Code, Sec.87a) approved May 13, 1938, made November 11^th of each year a legal Federal Holiday,“A day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day’.”

The ceasefire on the, “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918 along the European Western Front was such a relief to all those involved as the world had never seen such horror and carnage as World War I. The horrible conflict that had come to be known as the “War to End War” brought the bulk of humanity to contemplate abolishing war."

Thanks to the veterans of any conflict, and those veterans of peacemaking, who are frequently one and the same. 

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Let me count the ways....

Elizabeth Barrett Browning in the Sonnets from the Portuguese wrote "How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways."  Flowers have come to represent love - the many ways in which they are arranged, the types and colors of flowers used, and their placement in any given scene - speak volumes.  Arranging is an art form, and an enormous part of the personalized wedding plan.

At our niece's October wedding, I photographed the decorations and flowers.  The bride, her mother, and Maureen Ward, owner of Perfect Parties by Mo in Auburn, California, collaborated to create one of the most stunning wedding backdrops I have seen or photographed.  For the next couple of blogs, I will feature some of the photographs, as I try to count the different ways arrangements and decorations can be created and photographed.

The colors the bride chose are eye popping and worked stunningly together, and the use of paper lanterns complimented the existing architectural elements brilliantly.

The bouquet in the bride's hand, featuring a grandfather's pin and her ring.

"Mo" made sure each surface, even portico walls, were decorated.  Here, red carnations were placed in small containers holding banana leaves at the base, and separated by white votive candles.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

California rhythm

A family wedding is a good reason for a creative driving, photography, and food procurement trip.  Last week, we crossed the great Mojave Desert and central California on our way to Los Gatos and did all of the above.  I find it impossible to get over the fact that California must be producing a huge part of the world's food supply.  Rows of crops and trees creating what could be called California rhythm go on for hundreds of miles up the central valley, yielding to wine grapes along the coast and both west and east of the Pacific Coast range.  Cabbage, brussel sprouts, assorted lettuce, artichokes, tomatoes, and other things that we were unable to identify as part of fast moving traffic, are being harvested now.  The grapes have already been harvested, but that doesn't diminish the graceful rows of vines.  The nets which protect the grapes from bird predation are rolled on top and the length of the vines.  These vines and the wine tanks below are at Eberle Vineyards near Paso Robles.

Vina Robles wine rack

How do I photograph wedding flowers?  Let me count the ways for next week's blog.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

 

early autumn abstract

Anyone who uses a camera knows the feeling.  You are on a road trip - a weekend outing or an extended jaunt - with the camera close by, thinking "This is such a gorgeous day, I want to capture it to enhance my memory."  Perhaps you have a specific shot in mind, such as aspen or oak wearing their Sunday best, and your plan is to achieve that single shot reliving how beautiful the mountains are in autumn.

I have written about intentional luck here before and when I shoot, I try to think about specific places that "work" for me, look for a few more, or return to see how different the light and conditions are on any particular day.  Such was the case on a return trip from Tierra Wools in Los Ojos near Chama.  Highway 64 on the Tierra Amarilla (west) side of the pass has a small, almost hidden pond or catchment I find fascinating, despite the fact that I have been unable to photograph it the way my mind sees it.  That changed a couple of weeks ago when all elements aligned to create a near impressionistic image.  The time of day wasn't even "proper" according to the rule about shooting between 10 a. m. and 2 p.m.  But the breeze was gentle, creating a design-packed reflection of the still green aspen on at the pond's edge.

Click once on the image to enlarge and see the details nature left.  I can get lost in this image and hope you find some surprises as well!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Luminosity and color

Besides being a weekend of truly spectacular fall color in northern New Mexico, the first weekend of October brings vendors of fiber and fiber products from Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico to Kit Carson Park in Taos for the annual Taos Wool Festival.  In addition to vendors, people hailing from nearly every state of the union and countries around the world, plan their holidays around this festival.

I spent the weekend of the 30th Wool Festival in my husband, Fred's, booth showing his Navajo churro rugs, preaching the gospel of churro wool, watching other vendors, and greeting all the dogs that made their way into the park with their owners.

Here is one of those churro sheep now.

In an odd way, Wool Festival is a bit like Las Vegas.  Although there are no neon signs flashing, the masses of color jolts the senses.  Here are a few examples.

Some of the colors and designs in Fred's rugs

For me, other than lusciousness, the words that describes much of the fiber on display are luminosity and luster.

Thanks to all the truly amazing vendors involved in the festival - to Lisa Shell, owner of Kai Ranch, and Donna Coates, owner of White Rabbit Handspun - for allowing me to hang around their booths and photograph their work.  Of course, Connie Taylor, registrar for churro sheep in the United States, has and remains the energy behind churro sheep, and provides Fred with the lovely wool with which he produces his rugs. 

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Taos Fall Arts

A week ago Sunday, the autumnal equinox ushered in a new season.  In my humble (or not so humble) opinion, autumn is the best season.  The air is crisp, clear, and glorious, the days are a bit shorter, and nature takes a rest but shows off before winter settles on the land.  Although there are at least four hummingbirds (down from an apex of 360 in early August) still imbibing on sugar water and blossoms around our place, we know they will soon head for parts south.

Fred and I took a trip across the pass on Highway 64 between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla this weekend, and the aspen have not really started turning gold yet, but I suspect the real show may be in a week or so, presented by the scrub oaks.  There was a dusting of snow at the higher elevations, and as always, we wished we could bottle the rare mountain air.

Autumn is also harvest and art time in New Mexico, with numerous festivals and shows.  The Taos Fall Arts Festival opened Friday night at the Convention Center in Taos.  I had one piece in Taos Select, as well as a miniature, and two photographs are hanging in the Taos Open side.  Now that the exhibit is officially hung, I can publish these in my blog.

"Twirl"

"Lily detail"

Since the Taos Open side is not juried, I entered the Ranchos Church in winter image, as well as the Brugge walkway.

"San Francisco de Asis church, Ranchos de Taos"

"Brugge walkway and red door"

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

before and after

After all the incantations, prayers, rain dances, and other forms of offerings that were made in the Southwest for rain to replenish the water table, it came this week, in some places with a vengeance.  Although New Mexico did not receive the national press nor suffer the magnitude of damage that Colorado did, many areas nonetheless received impressive amounts of rain.  According to the Albuquerque Journal, Bandelier National Monument received 9.35 inches since Tuesday, and nearby Los Alamos had 7.22.  With a storm total of 3.16 inches, Albuquerque received almost half of its yearly moisture.  There is a huge sinkhole in the Interstate 40 median 20 miles west of Albuquerque,  a Phoenix man died when his vehicle was washed away near Elephant Butte, and the Rail Runner commuter train line was closed on Sunday due to a washed out bridge on Santo Domingo Pueblo land.

On our patch of the mesa, we received 3.42 inches as a storm total, and for the most part, the rain was quite civilized, without lightning or hail.  There were some impressive skies which offered the name of today's blog.

Here is "before" - a cumulus cloud formation, packed with moisture, lifting and building layer upon layer.

And just so that I can remember puddles when dryness returns to the land, here is my "after" shot of  rice grass sitting in a puddle that formed after one solid rain.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

nouveau or deco??

I have always loved the structure and curves of both art nouveau and art deco, as well as the broad category of illustration.  After meeting Braldt Brald and pondering the work on his website -www.braldtbraldsstudio.com - the genres were refreshed for me.  There is nothing like the pure design of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha,and Maxfield Parrish.  "Arts and crafts" and "prairie" design drifted in and out of the nouveau and deco movements, while incorporating Asian influences.  Frank Lloyd Wright and brothers Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene  furthered these elements in what has become known as American Arts and Crafts architecture.

This week's blog offers a challenge.  To me, elements of art nouveau and art deco are found in these photographs.  What are you seeing here?

Let me know where these take you!  For full effect, click on the images.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

The Gorge

Although it has neither been seen nor photographed by as many people or in as many ways as the Grand Canyon, the Rio Grande and its gorge is northern New Mexico's jewel.   The massive volcanic area through which the river carved and altered the landscape, some 242,5000 acres, was named a National Monument this March.  From south to north, there are multiple approaches and ways to view it.  Two overlooks along Highway 68 north from Espanola to Taos are stunning, but the second of these provides almost a roller coaster effect of rising and then sinking slightly, revealing the Gorge in a truly stunning way.  It literally takes your breath away, if just for a moment.

North of the Gorge Bridge, there are a number of overlooks and camp sites which offer totally different visions of the area.  

However you choose to view El Rio, I highly recommend this time of year.  It is a bit cooler, and the light is perfect for photographing the Gorge and the bridge as well.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Backgrounds and light

No blog last week?  Two words.  Jury duty.  This week, I was given the wonderful opportunity to photograph our friends' beautiful gardens.  More on that later, but the process brought me back to our vegetables, particularly a number of varieties of lettuce.  The colors and veins spreading from the main ribs across the leaves like arroyos across the land always lead to my camera.

What would be the best background to capture the intricate structure?  Is the "front" or the "back" of the leaf more interesting or is each simply different?  

I began with a linen background thinking it would give more of a "botanical print" look.  Lighting was furnished by nature from the southern exposure as well as a fill disc to bounce light on to the top of the leaf. 

Then, I held up a leaf to the sky, with white clouds.  This might work!

More back lighting reveals structure

The subjects then became lunch!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

 

August recess

President Obama is on holiday this week at Martha's Vineyard, members of Congress are on their August recess, and many are headed to the mountains or beach.  But some students are already preparing for the school year, and the plant world takes no holiday.  Some plants are just now joining the color parade.  Sunflowers line the highways, along with skyrocket gilia and assorted penstemons, and gaillardia.  Everyone who is growing greens and lettuce knows that this is their season in the high country.

So kudos this week to the miracle of nature and the edibles that seemingly pop out of the ground to nourish us and add beauty to the world.

Flashy trout's back lettuce

Sunflower

Basil

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image