Bees

Arch Rock, Joshua Tree National Park

I wanted that beer. 

I'm not a big drinker, but I'd been hiking into the hills around my campsite at California's  Joshua Tree National Park to photograph an arch rock at sunset and on the way back I was thinking about beer.  Before I left I took the cooler out of the car and put it in the shade with a wet towel over it.  I was aiming for evaporative cooling, river-trip style.

I forgot to consider that, in a dry environment, wildlife wants refreshment, too.  I came around that last corner and saw that the cooler was adorned with hundreds of bees.  I used an extended tripod leg to lift and move the towel, but most of the bees remained.

Not an irrevocable tragedy, I know.  It got fully dark, the bees went away, I ate and drank in the moonlight.

Cholla Garden Sunrise, Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree, otherwise, was fabulous.  I spent a fair amount of time rock climbing there in the 80s and so was excited to come back with my camera and to have some shoulder season solitude in a magical place.  I got all that and giant granite boulders, otherworldly vegetation and sweet light.

Joshua Tree and Granite Slab

I got what I needed, just like the bees did.

More JT images are in the Desert Gallery on the website (the last nine).

PS - I didn't plan two posts "the Bird" and "Bees."  Really.

The Bird

Let me get this out of the way first; the seagull image is real.  Its almost too good to be true, I know, that the bird is centered in the window in the rock, especially when you consider that I was shooting with the 2-second timer on my camera.  Don't get me wrong; this is exactly what I was visualizing.  It just happened before I had a chance to really work on it.

My long weekend on the Sonoma County coast was full of magical moments.  The terrain is particularly varied, with rugged coastal scenes, sweeping ridge views, vineyards, and dark green forests. 

I have to give some of the credit, too, to the guys who put this trip together.  Jerry Dodrill lives locally, is a tremendously talented photographer, and is the kind of guy who is followed around by a cloud of serendipity.  Justin Black, also an accomplished photographer and teacher, organizes these trips (he put together the Grand Canyon Raft trip, too) so well that he makes it look easy.  We know better, though.

Of course the adventure included sleep deprivation, cold feet from standing in the ocean (Bowling Ball Beach, above), attack of the killer blackberry bushes, and dodging poison oak (wait, maybe its NOT poison oak...)

This is my idea of a fabulous trip; Even if you don't count the seagull.

More images are in the trip gallery.

Sprinkled

 Sunrise, Watson Lake, Prescott

People often ask me "how many pictures did you take?"  Sometimes the question gets me thinking about how my workflow has evolved.  As time goes by, I take fewer.  Mostly.

Photographing wildlife is the exception.  It's all about high-volume bursts of activity, and a low ratio of keepers.

 Horse Ranch, Southern Yavapai County

In the past few weeks, in a attempt to escape the steamy purgatory we call Phoenix in August,  I've been on the road.  A little here, a little there.  Prescott, the Sierra Anchas, the Mogollon Rim, Flagstaff and near our second home in Southern Yavapai County.  It's been raining all over Arizona and at altitude, rain is pleasant.  Magical, even. Terrain is green.  Flowers are blooming.

You might think this would lead to scores of images but, in fact, I might have just one gem a day (sometimes none, in truth).

 Gathering Storm, Forest Road 418, North of Flagstaff

So, there are few, widely "sprinkled" images of my love affair with the high-country monsoon this year.  A monument to many things, one of which is knowing when NOT to shoot.

My favorite images of  summer wanderings are at www.skylineimages.net.

Friends in High Places

August in the Phoenix metro area is uninspiring, or worse.  110s this week and humid.  Mosquitoes.  Perpetual air conditioning.

I have a very kind friend who issued an open invitation (last November, no less) to come up and photograph with him near his home in Pine, AZ (5500 ft elevation).  I accepted.  Sunday night I camped in 50 degree temps, and Monday we had a delightful day.

We shot sunrise at Woods Canyon lake, explored Tonto Falls and Tonto natural bridge, and he generously let me play with his infrared camera.  No great works of art there during my first attempt, but I had a good time doing it.

It was still hot when I got home, but my attitude was better.

Hey, Bear

That's  the suggested phrase, to be intoned in an authoritative voice, when a bear seems to be coming too close.  I have to say that once I saw the claws, teeth, and running speed of the Coastal Brown Bear (which is a well-fed and therefore larger Grizzly), my personal space with regard to the bears got a whole lot larger.

Fortunately, they're occupied with fishing for salmon; putting on weight for the coming winter.  They're not too interested in us.

We were, however, fascinated with them.  Four of us flew (I'm in love with float planes) each day to sometimes isolated places in Katmai National Park to photograph the majestic animals.  We were accompanied by an Alaskan Guide as well as our leader, pro photographer and bear expert Stan Cunningham.  The pilots didn't count, since they left us on the lake's beach and took off.

I'm guessing we saw 100 or so individual bears over four days.  In addition to being decidedly beautiful, they have easily distinguished personalities and complex social hierarchies. That is, they're interesting to watch.

There were some other fabulous opportunities as well, including images of eagles and osprey in flight, and an elk cow dropping a calf at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.

Alaska has gotten under my skin.

Hey, Bear.

More images are on the website.

Mental Health Day

I had a much-needed adventure yesterday.  Much needed.  Really.

I hadn't done any serious shooting in weeks and, my husband claims, I was getting cranky.  This is the closest thing I have to PMS, and it's not pretty.

I don't see patients on Mondays, but more often than not I spend them doing computer work, phone calls, and meetings.  Yesterday was a clean slate.

Road trip.

I had an early start and hiked the Kachina Trail in Flagstaff.  Never mind that the altitude (the trail head is at 9500 feet) hit me pretty hard; there was dew and a morning temp of 55 and there were wildflowers.  After lunch I heard a tornado warning (I couldn't make this stuff up) on the radio and decided to head down 89A to Sedona.

The clouds just got better and better, and I shot the redrocks with clouds from one of my favorite overlooks.

It was a terrific day and the crankiness is all gone...

Black & White

There are lots of reasons I've been revisiting some old favorites lately. 

Friends have suggested it, great old images have come into my mind, and I've been fiddling around with black & white conversions.  I don't think I'm quite obsessed, but that might just be denial speaking.

A number of these are images I've loved for years that never seem to have reached their potential.  They are eclectic to be sure; portrait, macro, wildlife, and landscape.

I'm thrilled to breathe new life into them.  If you enjoy these, there are more on the website.