Life as Art

Osprey above Willow Springs Reservoir

I’ve been reading Guy Tal’s latest book, Be Extraordinary. His books are dense and philosophical, so I generally read just a chapter or two at a time and let things soak in.  During last week’s trip to Arizona’s Mogollon Rim, I read a line which has resonated since.

“Make your life your best work of art,” he writes, among musings on a variety of aspects of art.  His words feel like nothing less than a unifying theory of life.

The view above our campsite, Canyon Creek area AZ

I’m in a place to contemplate the profound these days, having lost a friend in a car accident and just learned that another friend is under the care of Hospice. As I age, I know more and older people and there’s more loss. There is no antidote to bereavement, but a life lived well is the best we’ve got.

My husband and I say that we try to live without regrets, balancing time with friends and family, in the wilderness, and finding ways to help.  We’ve been making it up as we go along and that’s been working well since I’ve stopped caring so much about what others think.  All this is a work in progress.

Don’t get me wrong, I still waste time with things like games on my phone and binging Netflix. Maybe that’s part of the balance.

Tal’s philosophical musing resonated through my recent photographic adventures.

Canyon Creek AZ

Last week’s trip was unusual. Rather than a planned excursion, it was an exploration of a new place. I was mostly just walking around seeing what I could find and going where my husband wanted to fish. I stumbled on this section of Canyon Creek and played with it for some time.

I’m also working on underwater fish shots with a GoPro (though I suspect I’ll upgrade the equipment eventually).  There’s quite a learning curve here, so I feel a little vulnerable showing this shot.  Better work is coming, I hope.

Doing photography is life’s art for me whether I’m striving to communicate emotion or promote conservation; support nonprofits or enjoy time alone or with loved ones.

Yesterday I was the photographer for a community clean-up near home. No great art emerged from this project, but the work helps with community connection and supports the sponsoring church.

With friends at Taliesin West

Many of you know I’m a contributor to Arizona Highways Magazine.  Last week I was honored to attend a celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the publication.  I’m privileged to have made a small contribution to this exemplary publication.  The party was held at sunset on the patio of Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Winter Home and school in Scottsdale.  It was so fitting that the light was spectacular in honor of a publication known for photography.

I was in the company of many friends, some of whom I’m in touch with regularly and others with whom I joyously reconnected after many years.  I also met some folks from the magazine with whom I’ve only connected by email.

This is fun – I won this large, mounted print of the 100^th anniversary (April 2025) magazine cover in a raffle.  The image was made by the legendary David Muench, who was in attendance and was kind enough to sign the print.

I’m still thinking about life as art.  I don’t imagine I’ll ever stop.

A Little Diversion

Flagellum in the Dunes, Mojave Desert, California

We had a Spring weather preview a couple of weeks ago and kind of jumped the gun on our planning, intending to head to the Rim Country Lakes to camp last week.  Then the weather turned in the other direction with snow and high temperatures there in the 30s.

We decided instead on one more trip to California’s Mojave Desert.

Afton Canyon, Mojave Desert, California

The first night was windy, so we tucked into Afton Canyon, an odd little campground in the Mojave Trails National Monument.  A site runs $3 with Marco’s Senior Federal Pass (I’m not quite there yet). 

Afton Canyon Trestle, Mojave Desert, California

Why odd?  It’s a common starting and ending point for a drive of the Mojave Road, a historic unpaved route mostly through the Mojave National Preserve.  The Mojave River flows through Afton Canyon as well.  It does have many charms, but doesn’t quite meet its moniker, “Grand Canyon of the Mojave.”  Some campers there are troubled by train noise.  Because I’ve lived in several places near the tracks the frequent freighters coming through Afton don’t even wake me up.  Besides, I appreciate the trains and trestles for their photogenicity.

We stumbled on a burned-out truck during our travels, and I enjoyed geeking out on the patterns formed in several layers of scorched automotive paint.  I wondered about the story here and I wonder still.

Soft light on the dunes, Mojave Desert, California

The next night we scooted over to our favorite dunes in the Mojave, which we don’t name in hopes of keeping them pristine.  This won’t make everyone happy, but if you know me and want to go, you can ask.

Sunrise, Mojave Desert, California

There’s been a good deal of dune photography this year.  The last trip was a workshop with Jerry Dodrill and Todd Pickering.  Since then, with their encouragement, I’ve been shooting long focal-length images (which are impossible to make sharp with a single image) with focus stacking.  This technique requires shooting multiple images of the same scene, focused at different depths.  The images are combined, using the sharpest part of each.  Generally, this is done with specialized software but can be done manually in Photoshop.  I use Helicon Focus, and there are others.

Dune Detail, Mojave Desert, California

The photography was good, and the solitude was sublime.

Watching Gypsy the Wonder Dog’s joy was perhaps the best part.  It was certainly worth slogging up the dunes with the big wildlife lens.

There’s more on the website in the Spring 2025 Gallery. So far, it’s stocked with two trips through the Mojave.