Postcard from Sedona

A traditional Polaroid Transfer is used by a few artists and photographers to obtain interesting image results. I say interesting, because you mostly don’t know what kind of effect you are going to get. Often, it is a dreamy looking image just barely out the realm of reality.

How does it work, you ask? It is similar to a photo taken with a Polaroid camera back in the good old days…but there are some big differences. Thanks to Wikipedia, here is a description of  how a Polaroid Transfer is achieved.

“Using a camera, enlarger, slide printer or Day Lab, expose Polaroid film. You need pull-apart type film, such as Polaroid 669 (now discontinued, or Fuji FP100c, which is readily available). Develop by pulling the film from the holder. Wait about 10-15 seconds and quickly pull the film apart, not letting the two sides (the picture and the negative) touch. Put the pulled apart negative face down on paper (or other material). Place pressure over negative and let sit for about 20 minutes. Then pour hot water over each side of the negative/paper sandwich. Gently peel the negative from the paper. Allow transfer to dry, face up.”

The image I present here is a digital version of a Polaroid Transfer. Being digital, I have more control over the final image, but it does fairly well represent what you might get with a genuine Polaroid Transfer. I enjoy playing with this filter in Photoshop to see what I can achieve.  I don’t do it much, but I do occasionally find an image that it works for...such as the image you see here.

This image was taken in Oak Creek Canyon, a wondrous piece of nature that is a few miles north of Sedona, AZ. You can see more images from the canyon on my Web site.

Postcard from Zion

For a couple of weeks, I have been putting together a collection of my favorite photos to put on my Web site. Currently I have selected 60 of them, most of which have appeared here at one time or another. No doubt that list will grow.

It has been a labor of love, sort of, as I had to label and price each photo individually…a tedious job at best. But the first 60 are on line now, if you care to take a look.

In putting the first 60 together, I added this one just today…and realized it has never appeared on these pages…so I present it here for your approval.  I call it, “Autumn as in a Dream”…as it has a dreamy feel to it. Of course, it is by design, using a special filter that is part of my arsenal of digital toys.

As my headline says, I photographed it in Zion National Park a few years ago. I was fortunate to catch the tail end of autumn, so most of my photos from there have an “autumn feel” to them. I look forward to more photographic adventures this coming autumn…and, believe me, it can’t come too soon!

In the meantime, on these hot and muggy summer days, I continue to work on my Web site, making lots of changes and additions. More about them as they unfold.

Postcard from Bisbee

Bisbee, AZ is a town full of color and charm. It has been sometime since I wrote about this charming village and artist colony, southeast of Tucson and just barely north of the Mexican border. If you don’t remember my previous blogs on the place, just do a search on Bisbee in the top left corner of my blog home page.

Bisbee reeks with color and personality, from its buildings, offices, retail outlets and especially its homes. In my time there, I was also fortunate enough to find many colorful plants and gardens.  Case in point is this photo of a local flower, packed with vivid color and personality. I wish I knew the flower’s name.

You can also go to the special pages on my Website devoted to Bisbee. See if you don’t agree with me that it is colorful, charming, and very unique.

Postcard from Soap Lake

Over two years ago, I shared an image similar to this one of storm clouds over Soap Lake, WA. This is a different image, although taken around the same time.  Its not often you see such dramatic clouds like this (although some similar ones are over my home right now and are dropping a load of rain…Monsoon season is here).

I actually saw these clouds over my office in Ephrata and chased them to Soap Lake…about a five mile drive. The lake offered a much better location to photograph these clouds than my office…trust me. Off in the distance, you can see the small town of Soap Lake that hugs the east shore of lake. 

For photo aficionados, I used a split neutral density filter to adjust for the brightness difference in the dark clouds and the bright sky. It was obviously a photo made for black and white. Enjoy!

Postcard from Leavenworth

The other day, I opened a box of framed pictures that I once used used in my art shows. Inside, besides pictures, I found a few souvenir tiny seed pods from my days at Leavenworth’s Art-in-the-Park. These little pods were from the trees that grew in the park…beautiful trees (either Ash or Aspen, not sure which).

But when they seeded, oh my God, watch out. It rained pods by the gazillions. They were everywhere and even got behind the glass of some framed pictures. The trees were beautiful, but their seeds were a pain in the rear. And now, a few of these seeds are in Arizona. Good luck with our climate.

Anyway, this is a special photo of one of those trees, obviously at the beginning of Autumn. What made these trees so unusual was that all the leaves would hang straight down. When you photographed shooting straight up at them, it looks like they are all rushing right at you.  It is quite an effect that you really don’t see with your eyes. Another one of my many memories and souvenirs of Leavenworth and the Pacific Northwest.

Postcard from Autumn

I took my morning walk around 5:45 this morning. It was 85 degrees with the humidity of 51%. I do this nearly every morning…and every morning, when it is over, I am greeted by the wonderful cool air of my A/C…and I am in for the day. Contrary to some misconceptions, the heat of Arizona in July and August is not dry…no, no, no…it is the monsoon season when we get rain, lightning thunderstorms, and humidity to accompany our heat.  As I have said before, it is the price we pay for 8 months of great weather.

But there is a positive side to this…I get spend more time creating new paintings. And it is only natural that I select subjects that reflect a cooler time of year. Similar to the autumn leaves painting I showed you last week, this is another painting with an autumn theme, this time on a slightly larger scale.

It is titled, “Path Through Autumn.” The original photograph on which this painting is based, was taken just outside Leavenworth, WA in October 2005.  I remember walking this path wearing a warm coat as it was quite cool that day…perhaps in the 40’s. That sounds so nice now, being that it is 106 outside as I write these words. 

I have such great memories of autumn in the Northwest, so it is only natural I continue to look for ways to enhance those memories through my creative abilities. Don’t be surprised if you see more autumn paintings in the future.

By the way, Leavenworth offers a wealth of beautiful autumn scenery and if you are ever in that area in October with your camera…or your paint brushes, definitely take the time to express your own creativity. I promise you will not be sorry.

Postcard from Leavenworth

This image brings forth memories. It is the gazebo in Leavenworth, WA, located in the park in the heart of the city. Leavenworth, if you don’t know, is a Bavarian-themed town on the eastern slopes of the Cascades.

For some years, I came here as the occasional tourist, poking my head in all its shops, dining at its unique restaurants…then, for five years, I came as an artist, displaying my art often in the weekly “Village Art in the Park” show on weekends.  I wasn’t there every week, as I did art shows all over the Western United States. But, I was there often enough that I developed a love/hate relationship with the town. Those feelings ring true today.

I loved doing the art show there, not because I made a lot of money, but because of the special relationships I developed with many of the artists who showed there also. We became a kind of family. It was always good to see them when I did the show, and occasionally run into some of them at other shows.

But, some of the worst shows I ever did financially were here. I remember one time I did a show in another town and made several thousand dollars. Then, the following weekend, did the Leavenworth show and made less than $100. You never new what was going to happen on any given weekend…completely unpredictable.  Not good if that is how one makes a living.

The gazebo itself holds many memories…the beauty of all the flowers…the weddings I photographed in the gazebo and all over town…and the incessant noise of polka-type music played on accordions week after week.  I know the tourists loved it, but the artists who were set up in the park right next to it hated it. The same musicians playing the same songs over and over again, year after year. And they are probably still doing it now.

As I said, it was a love/hate relationship.

I miss my friends and fellow artists, but do not miss doing the show…or any art show for that matter. But, it was a part of my life that I am glad I did.  

Postcard from the Sierra’s

Continuing with the Autumn theme I started in the last blog entry, here is a recently finished painting of some Autumn leaves.  In fact, it is titled, “Autumn Leaves on Rocks.”

I took the original photograph in October of 2008 while camping about halfway up the eastern slope of the Sierras, between Mono Lake and Yosemite (I recently showed you another photo of this area). It was so beautiful there in the fall, although I remember how cold it was at night, snuggled in my sleeping blanket inside a tent.

This was the time when me and my camera were traveling all over the Western US, before I moved to Tucson.  That was a great time, full of great memories, even if it was a bit too cold at times. I later figured out how to make it warm enough for me at night.  After a few months of that, I settled down in Tucson where it is plenty warm at night and I could sleep in a bed.

Anyway, I do love this image, both as a photo and now as a painting. I only wish I could make it larger here to show you all the brush strokes. Look for more Autumn paintings in the future. By the way, I have put together a collection of my newest paintings on my Website, although this one is so new it is not on there yet. Please take a look, if you like.

Postcard from Yosemite

Now that most of you have joined me in the heat of summer, maybe its time we look forward to autumn once again. It is not that far off, and right now it sure sounds good.

Frankly, there is no better place to enjoy autumn more than in Yosemite. It is so beautiful there at that time of year…lots of colors and cool weather.  It sure sounds good right now.

This image shows just a sample of color that you can find all over Yosemite. This photo was taken just above the valley floor along the Big Oak Flat Road. Actually, I don’t know if they still call it that, but that is what I know it as and it will always be that for me.

In the few days that I explored the valley in the Autumn of 2008, I took many colorful photos as I happened to hit the autumn season just right. I have shown you a few in the past and will from time-to-time, show you a few more. I hope you don’t get tired of them.  I only wish I could make them bigger here in this blog.

Postcard from Venice

I suddenly found myself in Venice today…well sort of. My body is here in over-cooked Tucson, but my mind and artistic talents were back in one of my favorite cities in the world as I reworked a few of my art pieces from that great Italian city.

This is one of them…a sketch I did some time ago that I felt needed upgrading. You see, I am working on upgrading my Web site with new works and redesigned spaces…and as I look at some of my works from the past, I feel a few of them need an upgrade…or in one case a complete new beginning.  When I finish that one, you will see it here.

Never-the-less, I had originally done a color sketch of these buildings on the Grand Canal. But, it didn’t pass the test of time. So, as I looked at it with new eyes, I began to work on it again.  And work, and work, and work. It’s a bit different now than it was, and I like it much better. But will it pass the test of time? Who knows?

As you may have read here before, I love black and white sketches and engravings. In a short while, some of my old and new and reworked sketches like this one will pop up on my Web pages…I am organizing them and creating the pages in my air conditioned home while it remains too hot to go outside. I hope you like this one…and some of the ones you will begin seeing on my Web site soon.

Postcard from Sedona

In looking through some of my thousands of images today, it occurred to me that I’ve only shown one picture from my trip to Sedona in December of last year. My friend Dave and I spent three days there, shooting at sunrise and sunset…and we got some great images. In the middle of the day, we mostly just messed around in Sedona and Cottonwood, waiting for the light to get good again.

One morning we were shooting at sunrise on a mountain above the town with temps in the low 20’s…and we did not get one good shot. The next morning was better, but even colder.  What photographers won’t do for that one great photo!

The Sedona area is a photographers dream, red rock mountains in all kinds of wonderful formations, desert landscapes, blue skies and if you are lucky, some great cloud formations. It is especially rewarding in the so-called “Golden Hours”…around sunrise and sunset. Those red rocks get even redder.

This shot was done near sunset. The rocks on the left are part of Sedona’s most famous mountain, Cathedral Rocks. We were some distance away from them, so this picture was taken with a long lens. I remember I had to hold the camera as my tripod broke as I went to set it up for this shot. Thanks God for anti-shake lenses.

I was lucky to get sunlight on the rocks, but dark rain clouds in the sky in the distance. I must say the the larger I make this photo, the better it gets.  So even in this smaller size, I hope you like it.

Postcard From Eugene – Fireworks

Happy 5th of July, everyone! Yes, I know the 4th of July holiday was yesterday, but, according to federal mandate, today is also part of that holiday since the 4th was on a Sunday. Don’t believe me? Try going to the bank today or checking your mail box.  Today is an extension of Independence Day.

In keeping with the spirit of this 2-day holiday, I hereby present you with a photo I took in Eugene, Oregon a few years ago. For a couple of years, I did an art show there that always fell around the 4th of July. It was held in a park on the Willamette River, very close to the University of Oregon. After the show closed down on the evening of the 4th, they would hold their annual fireworks display in the same park…and it was a good one too. This one year, I set up my camera on a tripod to record as many fireworks explosions as I could.

I got some good ones. This particular image shows multiple explosions as one must leave the shutter open for some seconds to record these low light images.  It’s one way to get some interesting photos.

This actually is the second fireworks photo from the Eugene show that I‘ve shown in the last two days.  If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, hopefully you got to see the other one. 

Regardless, I hope all of you had a great 4th (and 5th) of July.

Postcard from Tucson

I must admit I am a bit of a military aircraft fan boy…not overly crazy, just always loving to see these marvels of aircraft engineering… old and new. I’ve prowled the halls of the Imperial War Museum in London looking at WWII aircraft hanging from the ceiling. I’ve been to several air shows on military bases to see more modern aircraft on display. I even found some great older aircraft on my recent visit to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

And, I am lucky enough to live in a city that houses a huge collection of great airplanes from our past. The Pima Air and Space Museum is a wondrous place for people like me…hundreds of aircraft from all over the world are permanently on display here, both in hangers and outside (not a place to visit in the summer).  As a bonus, the museum sits right next to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, where thousands of military airplanes are stored, some to be repaired, some to be salvaged for parts and others to be destroyed. The place is nicknamed “The Bone Yard.” You can take a tram car tour of the base directly from the museum. Well worth it.

I’ve shown you a couple of aircraft pictures before on these pages, and today I am sharing another one:  This is a B58-A bomber (nicknamed the Hustler), formerly used by the Strategic Air Command.  It could carry up to four nuclear bombs and was flown by a three man crew.  Here is more about the B58 from Wikipedia:

“The Convair B-58 Hustler was the first operational supersonic jet bomber, and the first capable of Mach 2 flight. The aircraft was developed for the United States Air Force for service in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) during the late 1950s. Originally intended to fly at high altitudes and speeds to avoid Soviet fighters, the introduction of highly accurate Soviet surface-to-air missiles forced the B-58 into a low-level penetration role that severely limited its range and strategic value. This led to a brief operational career between 1960 and 1969. Its specialized role was succeeded by other American supersonic bombers, such as the FB-111A and the later B-1B Lancer.”

In my much younger days, I always thought this was a cool airplane and secretly wanted to fly one. It never happened of course, but I still think it is a cool.