December

S-curve in the Dunes

Try as I might, I’ve got no unified photographic or philosophical theme for this month. Some of you might be grateful for that, but since I’m here. I might as well put up a few images and stories.

 

ICM; road stripes and cottonwood leaves

We had one rainy day here in Yarnell, which saturated the late autumn colors and convinced me to go for a walk and play with camera movement.  ICM (intentional camera movement), like snow, can make scraggly things look beautiful.  Until we have some real snow this is what I’ve got. 

 

Harbinger of Winter, Yarnell

 

The absence of ice (always a favorite subject) inspired me to cheat a bit, collecting leaves and leaving them to freeze in a pan of water overnight.

Assay Office, Robson's Mining World AZ

 

The Barber Shop, Robson's Mining World AZ

Robson's Mining World AZ

I’ve recently juried into the Wickenburg Art Club (I’ll have work in two exhibits coming up, which will be fun; stay tuned).  We had the pleasure of a group trip to Robson’s Mining World, an odd and delightful amalgam of restored and purpose-built buildings and stuff near Aguila Arizona, which is not really near anything.  This is not the kind of photography I usually do but it's perfect for getting out of that rut.

 

Antique Balance and Pears

A friend has moved and is emptying out the storage units.  Plural. I looked through her boxes (donated stuff for the Yarnell Community Center Thrift Store) and found the balance scale, which she meant to keep.  As cool as it is, I’ll give it back, of course.  I had to play with it a little first, though, with the tabletop lighting and diffusion tent.

 

Sunset among the Joshua Trees, Mojave National Preserve

 

Our solstice trip to the Mojave Desert was odd and truncated this year.  We woke up on day 4 with increasing winds which made it difficult to get the pop-up camper top down.  The forecast called for continued gusts to 40MPH for two days.   This is supposed to be fun, we thought, so rather than shelter in the camper for two days with a very restless dog, we came home 3 days early.  I’m still a bit sad, but home is awesome, too.

 

Gypsy

 

G had her first experience with sand dunes. Running. It might have been the best part of the trip for us, too.  No worries, this is not one of the famous National Park dune fields in California and dogs are allowed.

 

Ivanpah

On the way home, I was struck by the odd light in a dust storm on the Ivanpah Solar Field.  There’s no shortage of weird in the Mojave.