Postcard From Tombstone

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Southern Arizona. Santa shows up in different ways in different places. In Arizona, the traditional sleigh is replaced by a stagecoach and the reindeer are superseded by horses.

This is my last Postcard for this year as I am taking off for the holidays. Will be in Yuma, another famous name from the Old West, to visit my son for Christmas. I should be arriving there on Sunday at 3:10 (Get it?).

My Christmas shopping is all done (finally) and is even wrapped. Sadly, I already know what my son is giving me for Christmas, thanks to some very stupid people at Verizon. They sent me e-mails announcing my gift, an iPhone 5, then proceeded to wipeout my current phone’s voice mail password. Brilliant!

Still, I am excited about getting the iPhone as it has arguably the best camera on any phone…and by now you know I love to take pictures. I’ve already downloaded some great photo apps for both my iPhone and iPad. Will share some of the better photos here.

Anyway, I hope your Christmas will be wonderful, filled with family, friends, and great gifts…not to mention Peace on Earth, and Goodwill to Men (and Women).

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com

If you subscribe to this blog by e-mail and wish to purchase a print or send a free e-mail greeting card using this image, click this link to the main Postcard Blog Site. Don’t forget, e-mail greeting cards are free.

Postcard from Chicago

In case you don’t recognize this interesting reflective sculpture, it is, “The Bean.” Located in Millennium Park, on Michigan Ave. in downtown Chicago, it is a major tourist attraction. You can’t tell from this photo, but it is shaped like a bean…hence the name.

So, if it is a reflecting sculpture (meaning it’s a curved mirror), why can’t you see me taking this photo? Actually, I am in the picture…you just can’t see me. No, it is not a trick of Photoshop…I am there. Way, way off in the distance, and I mean way off, is a bridge with a balustrade just like the one in the lower art of the photo. Wait…it is the same one as in the lower part of the picture. It just appears to be way off in the distance.

The explanation is simple. The Bean is like a wide angle lens, similar to a so called fish-eye lens…so everything appears farther off than it is. And I used a longer lens to close the distance between me and the Bean. It’s like a double lens trick with not real trick involved. I got lucky with the bird.

Trust me…just go to Chicago and see for yourself.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com

If you subscribe to this blog by e-mail and wish to purchase a print or send a free e-mail greeting card using this image, click this link to the main Postcard Blog Site. Don’t forget, e-mail greeting cards are free.

Postcard from Tucson

I wish I could tell you I took this picture yesterday and that it is always spring here in Tucson. But, that would be a fib. I took the photograph in April…and our winter has actually begun.

It is around 50 outside with intermittent rain showers. My shorts are temporarily put away and am now wearing jeans. I still wear a t-shirt, but usually there is a hoodie on top of it. It will be like this for a few more days, then we will get back into the 60’s.

Now, I know some of you are already mired in winter with temps often below or at freezing for the entire day…and that you don’t feel the least bit sorry for me or my fellow residents in southern Arizona. That is fine. But don’t be angry at me for my suffering this cold weather.

The people you should be angry with are your friends and neighbors who desert your towns and cities to enjoy the mild autumn, winter, and spring that we enjoy here…the ones we call Snowbirds.

They leave you behind to endure your harsh winters alone, while coming here in their RV’s to make our cities even more crowded…to fill up our parking spaces, make our grocery store lines longer and fill up our baseball and concert hall seats. I have never seen all the handicap parking spaces completely filled at Wal-Mart and Costco until I moved here.

Guess what? We don’t like them very much either. They fly south for the winter when it gets to cold…and head back north when it gets too warm. They are fraidy-cats for all seasons.

But, they do spent their dollars here which helps our economy. But what they don’t know and is Arizona’s deep dark secret is our state only charges sales tax when they are here. As soon as they leave, the tax is lifted. We only let them temporarily occupy our land for as much money as we can squeeze out of them…kind of like Las Vegas.

So the above photo is for all of you who endure harsh winters and dream of the return of Spring…and for us local Arizona residents who long for the carefree days of Spring when the snowbirds are gone and we again find close-in parking spaces and shop tax-free in our stores.

PS. The above soliloquy was written while sober, but with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Just me and my keyboard having some fun.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com

If you subscribe to this blog by e-mail and wish to purchase a print or send a free e-mail greeting card using this image, click this link to the main Postcard Blog Site.

Don’t forget, e-mail greeting cards are free.

Postcard from Chiricahua

This is another example of the amazing rock formations you find at Chiricahua National Monument in Southeastern section of Arizona.

I show you this picture because I was there again last week. My friend and fellow photographer Dave from Wenatchee was down here to do a couple of art shows. As he had never been there, we drove to Chiricahua and spent the day exploring.

We took no pictures, so this photo is from my last trip to this wonderland of rocks a couple of years ago. The light was not very good last week and there were no clouds. For Dave, it was a scouting exhibition to see if he might want to comeback sometime in the future to take photos for his shows.

Chiricahua is one of the most remote National Parks/Monuments in the continental US. From Tucson, it is a 2.5 hour drive. The Apaches called it “The Land of Standing Up Rocks.” There is the lower part of the park where you first arrive. After an 8-mile drive, the road eventually climbs up to the high country.

Up there are 3 main sites with fantastic views of these standing rocks: Sugarloaf, Echo Canyon, and Massai Point. This photo was taken along the Echo Canyon Trail, my favorite trail in the park.

There are several points of interest with such exotic names as Echo Canyon Grotto, Organ Pipe Formations, Cochise Head, Sea Captain, and China Boy. If you go there, be sure and stop at the Visitor Center to learn more about the park.

By the way, the park gets its name from the Chiricahua Apache Tribe. 

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com

Postcard from Oakland

This painting is a revision of painting I did almost two years ago (I also shared it here around that same time). One of the nice things you can do with digital painting is start over again or rework an existing image.

And, that is what I did. I kept looking at the original and wondering if I could do better. So I started experimenting…and eventually I came up with this new version. I like it better as it emphasizes the brush strokes (click on the image to see a larger version and you will see what I mean). One of the many advantages of a digital painting software is that it contains hundreds of different kinds of brushes that can be customized…leaving one with a nearly infinite number of brushes to choose from.

This can be an advantage…or it can be overwhelming. In this instance, I created a special brush, then saved it so I can use it again. If I lived another hundred years, I could never become a total master of Corel’s Painter software. It just supplies you with so many possibilties!

Anyway, I’ve always enjoyed digitally painting flowers. I guess it has to do with my innate love of nature and beauty. And there is no better place to capture the beauty of spring flowers that the northern climates of California, Oregon and Washington.

These particular flowers, called Pelargoniums, reside at my brother’s home in Oakland, CA. He is the consummate gardener, growing flowers of all kinds outside, and a wide variety of orchids inside his hothouse. It’s a nice hobby that yields some beautiful results. Each of us have our own ways of enjoying beauty. Mom and Dad would be proud.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com