hanging on

Many people around the world feel that winter has taken them on a most unwanted roller coaster ride - whether the conditions include snow, ice, rain, flooding, more flooding, drought, wind, or a combination - the winter of extremes has hit hard.  And the hits keep coming.  It has left some hanging on for dear life, wondering what is coming next.

These trees reflect the extreme conditions in which they have existed for probably hundreds of years.  They hang on because that is in their nature.  It is the way of nature.

The first survivor in the group is a bristlecone pine in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.  The image was made using Kodachrome 25 slide/transparency film, one of my favorites, and scanned.

A digital image of a Ponderosa pine in El Malpais National Monument

Finally, another slide made with Fujichrome Velvia film, of a Monterey cypress near Carmel, California. 

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

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

Cheers!

The wind is howling and filled with powdery snow flakes landing only fleetingly on the window as I write.  Thus far, winter has provided an enormous variety of opportunities and canvas for art.  The latest was the previous week's snowfall, some of which is amazingly still cradled in the pinon and juniper branches and needles.

The two photographs below, however, feature snow and frost on aspen trees.  There was dense fog in the area when these were made, and thus, the backgrounds are almost monochromatic.

Many of you are or will be on the road or in the air, to join family or friends for the holidays.  May your days be joyous, safe, and warm.  Merry Christmas.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

on fire

Nature on fire.  That is autumn in the Pacific Northwest, where hundreds of different species of Japanese and vine maples scream, sweet gums shout, and gingkos glow.  All strutting their costumes before taking a well-earned rest until spring.  They are very difficult to ignore and next to impossible not to photograph.  Thus, you are getting another dose of the extended season.

There were so many red leaves on the earth and in the water, that the leaf right in the middle of a water lilly was not a complete surprise but nonetheless, a visual treat.

And what can I say about this tree except "Bravo!"

Who knows?  Next week's blog may be filled with black and white, straight white, and tan images.  but...

until next Monday

DB

a passion for the image

a shameless post script.  Thanks to Visual Server from the Photo Eye Gallery and Bookstore in Santa Fe,  my new http://www.blackscrossing.com

website is up and running.  

There is still some work to do (involving more expletives on my part, no doubt) but I present it for your perusal.

ode to autumn

I can see snow in the mountains above Taos and on the Truchas Peaks today. Most of the veins of high country gold are now flowing into the lower elevation river valleys. The cottonwood - both Fremont and Narrow Leaf - are putting on quite a show.

To catch this photograph of the cottonwood trees along the Rio Ojo Caliente, I stood outside a fence and shot through two strands of barbed wire with the ISO at 100, shutter speed at 1/500 second at f8 on my Konica Minolta digital camera.

Cottonwood trees along the Rio Ojo Caliente

The shot of the narrow leaf cottonwoods was taken with my very first digital camera - a Canon Power Shot A10 that my sister and brother-in-law gave me. The image was made before I was taken kicking and screaming from the darkroom into digital photography.

Narrow leaf cottonwoods

Finally, another still life.  These red pears very clearly announce autumn, the harvest, and the coming holiday season.

  

Pears

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

ode to autumn

The first frost settled over the high mesa last Friday evening, and the cool, crystalline days of autumn have begun in earnest.  Days when the finest cello and oboe music combine in my head with the sound of leaves  hitting the ground around my feet.  Then there are the smells.  Much has to be left to the imagination but a few photographs say it all.  This is one of my favorites.  Hitting the high country after a dusting of snow a had melted and subsequent light rain had left what I call rain shadows on the aspen.

Aspen rain shadows

The aspen family demonstrates the pure delight and melancholy that is autumn.  Soon the gold will be gone, the trees will be at rest, and the trunks will reflect winter.

The shot below I categorize "just for fun".  This was part of a wedding portfolio I made a year ago in Taos.  It was in the middle of October and the day could not have been better for the event.

                                                                

                                                                            

                                                                             Dip into autumn

Last but not least, a detail of aspen near Hopewell Lake.  There is something about the soil here that, regardless of rainfall, drought, or disease, produces the most wonderful reds, oranges, and yellows in leaves.

Aspen detail, Hopewell Lake, New Mexico

Breathe deeply

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image