following the bloom

There is so much happening in the garden and landscape right now that I hope you will indulge me in one more blog featuring flowers.  Despite the year's relative lack of precipitation, which to date is just above three inches, some of it fell at the perfect time for wildflowers to take note and make a grand appearance.  Along with the blue flax, gaillardia seeds were part of a wildflower mix used to recover areas along New Mexico highways.

The gaillardia are making quite the splash and butterflies have taken notice.

The spits and spats of rain that have fallen also helped the garden flowers, such as this bloom on a clematis vine.

Although the blue flax is on the wane, there are still some jewels in the mix.

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

flying circus

It was bound to happen.  If nothing else, I am persistent and a bit too predictable, so it won't surprise any of you that the camera came out of its bag to be pointed in the direction of the flying circus of hummingbirds at our feeders.  These amazing birds arrive around income tax filing time, with male broad-tailed hummers leading the pack.  The rufous are the last to depart for points south, in mid to late September.

Comparing notes with friends, we realized that there weren't as many anywhere in northern New Mexico this year, and their presence seemed to fluctuate.  On the 4th of July, just in time to represent the orange-red part of the color spectrum, the Rufous hummingbirds arrived, but it was not until the last two weeks that we saw a dramatic increase.  The population blasted from around 250 birds to roughly 360.

How do we know the number of birds?  Here is the formula -  8 ounces or one cup of liquid consumed in a 24 hour period represents 40 birds.  According to a documentary film on hummingbirds, they need to feed every fifteen minutes.  Imagine the traffic surrounding four, one quart feeders.  It is a non-stop flying circus, with creatures relentless in their pursuit of C&H (California and Hawaiian Sugar Company with the added irony that the chemical composition of sugar is C12H22O11).  After the rufous join the mix of broad-tailed, black-chinned, and calliopes, one feeder is guarded by the ultra-territorial rufous, making it more difficult for the other birds to get to it.  Occasionally, the numbers of others are so great that it becomes impossible to guard, but the rufous don't let it happen too often.

ever diligent...

...and in action!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

teenage bird brains

The blog title for today's piece was not meant to oxymoronic, as some might think.  I don't know the origin of the expression "bird brain" but it certainly does NOT apply to the Corvid family.  This intrepid bird family includes ravens, crows, jays, and magpies, and every last bird in the group is brilliant.  Since it is fledging time, we are seeing some outrageous behavior from the latest ravens to leave the nest as they become part of the outside world.

Like most birds that survive the fledging process, new ravens look almost exactly like their adult counterparts with exception of shorter tail feathers.  I like to call them teenagers because there are definite similarities to human teenagers.  Seriously.  Several summers ago, we saw two ravens playing soccer with a rock.  There were lots of rocks around but they were passing the same rock back and forth to one another, not missing a beat.  And like human teenagers, ravens are starving - constantly - and do not hesitate to make the fact known to parents who are keeping watchful eyes on their young.  They are insatiable!  And because they have a real sense of play and curiosity and have not yet learned to be completely leery, they are easier to photograph.

I mentioned their shorter tail feathers.  But the feathers on their heads sometimes give that just shaven, "buzz cut" look.  Check out the punk do on this raven.

And another view....

By now, you know I cannot resist details, and ravens' feathers are some of the most beautiful.  The color almost becomes an iridescent blue.

And finally, what a wild, abstract image they make.  There are endless layers of rhythm and design here.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

 

nature's backbone

It is more often referred to as the life blood of the earth, but water takes myriad shapes, sizes and forms.  The intermittent, seasonal stream known as Medano Creek that runs through Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in southern Colorado definitely has its time and shape, depending on runoff.  The warm, summer day on which I made these images, demonstrated how water can literally and figuratively be a backbone.

Already, ice is changing form and becoming water, which will flow, as is its nature.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Not what they seem

Whether you believe in global climate change or not, most people seem to be in agreement that the weather has not behaved normally this year.  Things are not what they seem.  When photographing details - plunging into the midst of a person's face, an animal, flower, or tree - an image can be rendered in such a way that it may not be what it seems either.

I love these two images.  They are very different but part of the same palm tree.

Most eucalyptus tree species in California originated in Australia, but the rainbow eucalyptus tree is the only native eucalyptus found in the northern hemisphere.  We encountered this one in Hawaii. 

Even the humble aloe family can be pictured just enough out of the ordinary to violate all the rules of photography and produce interesting results.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

abstracts in ice

26 January 2013.  It rained.  In a "normal" January, precipitation comes in the form of snow here at 7,800 feet elevation.  Although it is not frequent, high country rain does fall in January.  This weekend, warm air off the coast of Baja, California pumped into New Mexico, and uninhibited by the Four Corners high pressure area that has been persistently blocking it, shed its moist cargo in the form of rain.  It worked its way into snow and ice that covered the ground, creating some fascinating abstractions.

Even in a confined space, rain water works its way under the ice, forming shelves, tiny caves, outlets, and wonderful bubbles. 

Undulations

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

fantasy in green

What turns an every day object or scene into a fantasy?  The human imagination can run wild with almost anything.  The grass at Point Reyes National Seashore in these photographs is heavy with moisture.  The clarity and transparency of the water beads can take you on a journey of their own.
  

But what is beyond the blades of green, in the shadows?  What surprises are hidden?  Do we dare part the grass?  Or is it just a fantasy?

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Bird photography kindergarten

Wildlife photographers are incredible.  I have always admired them and their abilities, regardless of filming location.

The wildlife shots I am able to wrangle generally are a matter of trying to place myself in the right place at the right time, and luck.

So this week, I decided to take a new piece of equipment in hand and make an attempt to photograph scrubs jays in flight.  Knowing something about jays, from observation and from having read the story by Mark Twain about the blue jay and the acorn, they respond almost immediately to anything that vaguely resembles food.  Matter of fact, some of the first photographs I shot appeared to have huge smudges of white and yellow in them.  A closer look revealed bird seed flying out of their bills as they departed the feeder.  Jays pack so much food in during each trip to the feeder that some seed is bound to be lost in flight.

But back to the photography.   Like a fledgling bird, experimenting with and then trying to perfect the specifics of flight, I am a fledgling photographer when it comes to photographing birds in flight.  I began "bird photography kindergarten" this weekend.  What I really wanted was to photograph the backlit curved flair of the wings.  Perhaps it is due to the long tail feathers, but the jay feather configuration seems much more dramatic than that of other birds of similar size.  As you can see in the photographs below (made during six different shooting periods), each landing is divided into parts, with its own critical and intricate moves.

Patience and the ability to sit on the ground (or wherever) is certainly helpful.  Good hearing, to determine the difference in the heft and frequently of wing beats among the assorted species of birds in residence is essential.  And timing is crucial.  I began by focusing the camera, holding it and waiting for a bird to appear in the viewfinder.  Eventually, I realized I needed to anticipate the direction or place from which the birds would be flying, look in the viewfinder with one eye and scan the landscape with the other.

It is quite obvious I have yet to wear the kindergarten mortar board.  The results are not as acute or focused, nor what I would hope to eventually achieve with a heavier lens and handheld camera.  But it is a start!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

What are you lookin' at?

If you participated in the advertising hypathon that has become grey Thursday, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, you probably wanted to say to someone you encountered "Hey, what are you lookin' at?"

In photography, that look of surprise from human or beast frequently is just that.  A look of astonishment from your subject.  Here are three of my favorites.

I hope you have the time to enjoy the season, and that it will be full of good surprise moments!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Hunting season

Regardless of whether your feelings about hunting are in the line of "Run, Bambi, run!", or you revel in the thrill and skill necessary for a successful hunt, there is no doubt this is hunting season.  Deer, elk, bear, and cougar are the animals being hunted at this time of year in our area, and hunters with massive amounts of equipment, including all terrain vehicles (ATVs), numerous coolers for packing the meat, as well as campers, tents, and stoves line the highways.  Each hunter has his or her favorite hunting spot within units designated by the state Department of Game and Fish.

Personally, I prefer hunting with my camera.  Below are two photographs I shot one morning of a mule deer.

The elk herds tend to gather later in the winter.  This shot was recently exhibited in the Taos Select section of the Taos Fall Art Festival.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Colors of autumn

Blogs sometimes are delayed when the writer/photographer is in drift mode, taking photographs.  I have been shooting the autumn, which in our end of the Rocky Mountains this year is spectacular.  So my duty for today is to lay color at eye level for your viewing.

Bizarre as it may seem, this little creature caught my eye near Taos Ski Valley.  Insects are absolutely not my area of expertise, but this one has distinctive identifiers called "lashes".  As far as I can tell, it is the caterpillar stage of a tussock moth of some sort.

No identifier on this one.  Just a splash of color.

And what would autumn in the Rockies be without an aspen or two?

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

A Tale of Two Flowers

Members of the Solanaceae or nightshade family are very familiar New World plants that, over the centuries, spread like wildfire to every point on the globe, thanks to the human need to explore and move. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplants, and tobacco are all part of this broad family, as are several hallucinogens and toxins, including Atropa belladonna or deadly nightshade.

Nightshades are grown all over New Mexico as crops (where would we be without chile?), but there are at least eight that I know of growing in disturbed or sandy soil, along roadsides and in fields.  One of them, sacred Datura (Datura innoxia), has large, impressive trumpet-like flowers.  The Datura below was exceptionally well-watered at Los Poblanos Historic Inn.  The pale lavender edges and "teeth" on the edges are distinctive characteristics of the datura flower.

Incongruous as it seems, the plant that produces such large, showy flowers, grows in the same area as Artemisia tridentata, or big sagebrush.  Most people see big sage after the sage green leaves have been rolled into smudge sticks.  But as a member of Asteraceae or sunflower family, it, too, has blossoms.  Unless the monsoon season is good, however, one might not even see the clusters of brilliant yellow-green blossoms that cascade and pop with pollen.

Two completely different plants, growing in what most gardeners consider unsuitable or junky soil but producing such stunning results.  

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Lotus dreams

Every day provides a learning experience.  Every time I have my camera in hand I learn something.  That is one of the great joys of photography.

On Friday morning, I did some shooting at Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm in the north valley of Albuquerque.  The inn was, at one time, the residence of Congressman Albert Simms and his wife, Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms.  Their home and accompanying buildings, including "La Quinta" sports complex and cultural center, were designed by architect John Gaw Meem.  He is credited with the revival of pueblo architecture, known now as Santa Fe style.  Built in the 1930s, the buildings reflect the care for quality and detail that is sometimes lacking in today's construction.  There are murals by WPA artists, and work by other artists, including carved doors and mantels by Gustave Baumann, a fresco by Peter Hurd, and photography by Laura Gilpin.  Photographs of the broad architecture and details will appear in future blogs.

But naturally, I gravitated first to the grand menagerie of peacocks, chickens, goats, pigs, and dogs that are so crucial to this working farm.  And then there is the lotus pond.  A dream world.  Lotus plants rise high above the water unlike the water lilly which rests on the water's surface.  Although the bloom had already occurred, the pods and leaves are works of art in themselves.

It is also interesting to see how the color of objects change almost immediately when exposed to brighter sunlight.  The first two were made under overcast skies.  In the image below, the morning sun came blasting through, accentuating the yellow in the leaves.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

remnant abstracts

Although the politicians and other powers that be in these United States of America desperately try to avoid the words "global climate change" or "global weather instability", and some still are quick to make jokes about "global warming", meteorologists ventured into muddy waters.  Quite a number dared to say that over 4,000 high temperature records were broken, in the quietest of ways indicating that something is amiss.  The record high temperature for March 21st in the town of Pellston, Minnesota, was shattered this week by 32 degrees fahrenheit.  In the high country of New Mexico, temperatures in the 70s made everyone feel that spring had indeed arrived.  We were enjoying it but feeling oddly uneasy.

Spring is always an unsettled season in New Mexico.  We had nearly the full bag of conditions this week - warm days, nights still be low freezing, spits of rain and snow, and naturally, wind and dust.  Despite the fact that mountain snow is melting quickly, there are still remnants of the winter season past.

These abstracts reflect all the weather of the first week of spring.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Ab work

Despite the fact that in 1998, I had a photography exhibit at El Gancho Fitness, Swim, and Racquet Club in Santa Fe entitled Strong People: A Face of New Mexico exhibit, this week's blog shows no abs.  The images below, however, required better abdominal muscles than I have, and sent me back to the floor for more crunches.  Some of the most interesting details in nature frequently requires me, as a photographer, to be on the ground, either on my stomach or back.

For the photograph below, I was on my back but had to lift my head, neck, and upper back roughly sixty degrees off the ground, which made my mid-section quiver like mad.  That does not help when one is trying to keep a camera steady!  My apologies, but not being a mycologist, I won't label this lovely.

This shot was made on my stomach, which is considerably easier.

Lichen and moss on trees are complicated and make equally complex studies.

While exploring our world, I do my best to take in the whole picture - at eye level, above me, and below me - and then look for the details.  It doesn't always work, but my eyes are always busy.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image