Postcard from Goblin Valley

By now you have probably heard about the three boy scout leaders (AKA idiots) who toppled over an ancient rock formation in the Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. They were leading a troop of Boy Scouts on a weekend campout. They also photographed themselves destroying the rock formation, then put it on Facebook. (See the video they took on CNN Website)

They claim to have done it as a public service as the rock was supposedly loose and they were worried that it would fall and kill somebody. They probably would have gotten away with it if they hadn’t posted their video. As a result, they may face felony charges…and are definitely being thrown out of the Boy Scouts of America.

I thought it would be interesting for you to see one of my photos from that incredible area. I spent a day there a couple of years ago and this photo is of my favorite rock formation. There are hundreds of balancing rock formations throughout the park, one of which these clowns destroyed.

Despite these idiots, the park is still full of amazing rock formations that date back to the Jurassic period of earth’s history (200 million years ago). The park sits in the middle of nowhere, and visitors are encouraged to walk down into the valley and explore the oddly shaped rocks and even climb on some of the bigger ones.

The park was only discovered less than 100 years ago. The guys who found it called it “Mushroom Valley.” Goblin Valley State Park is a showcase of geologic history. Exposed cliffs reveal parallel layers of rock bared by erosion. Because of the uneven hardness of sandstone, some patches resist erosion much better than others. The softer material is removed by wind and water, leaving thousands of unique, geologic goblins. It became a state park in 1964.

The photo is in black and white as the rocks are all one color…brown. I purposely used a filter to darken the sky so the rock formation would stand out.

Even though the men destroyed one formation, there are still hundreds of other fascinating sculptured rocks to see.  You should make it a point to visit the park if you are ever in that area.

Postcard from San Francisco

One lovey San Francisco day, after hanging out at America’s Cup Park, down on the Pier 26, I grabbed one of those famous “F” Line streetcars and rode it all the way down the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building, then around the bend and down Market Street to Powell.

Powell and Market is where you pick up cable car that goes up and down the hills of San Francisco all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf. By the way, there is another cable car run that begins on California and Market Streets and doesn’t have long lines like the Powell Street line. The two lines meet up on Nob Hill where they cross paths in front of the Mark Hopkins Hotel and the Fairmont Hotel. Just a hint for your next trip to SF.

But on this day, the object of my excursion was not to ride a cable car (nor to photograph one), something I have done many times in my life, starting when I was a small boy. Nope! I wanted lunch, but not just anywhere, I wanted to eat at Lefty O’Doul’s Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge up on Geary Street near Powell, very close to Union Square.

Lefty O’Doul’s is a San Francisco landmark…just as Francis Joseph “Lefty” O’Doul is a San Francisco sports legend. The restaurant and bar opened in 1958 when I was a young lad…and is still going strong. The story goes that Lefty opened the place so average folks could hang out with great sports stars. It may be one of the first sports bars ever opened. I wanted to go there on this trip because in all my years of being in and out of San Francisco, I had never been inside.

Now, I said Lefty was a legend and it is quite true. He played baseball originally for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. Later, he moved up to the majors and played for several teams over the years, including the New York Giants. In 1929, he hit an amazing .398 for the Philadelphia Phillies.

After retiring in 1934, he eventually became manager of his old team, the San Francisco Seals from 1937 to 1951. Over the years, he became the most successful manager ever in the Pacific Coast League.

But he wasn’t done, not by a longshot. He introduced baseball to Japan, serving as the sport's goodwill ambassador before and after World War II. The Tokyo Giants, sometimes considered "Japan's Baseball Team," were named by him in 1935 in honor of his longtime association with the New York Giants; the logo and uniform of the Giants in Japan strongly resemble their North American counterparts.

So Lefty left his mark on baseball and on San Francisco. I had a very nice lunch as the restaurant now resembles a Hof Brau. The roast beef was outstanding. But, the highlight for me was looking at the hundreds of sports photos and memorabilia that cover the walls of this old-time San Francisco establishment. One could spend hours there just looking.

Sports, especially San Francisco sports, have been intertwined with my life since I was a young boy, barely able to walk. While they don’t dominate my life as they did in my youth, I still have great nostalgia for the days of baseball and football, when they were just games. If you are old enough, you may remember those days, long before money became the driving force of all sports.

And while I still enjoy baseball and football games, today’s players are not my legends nor are they so intertwined with my life as the people in the photos on the walls of Lefty O’Doul’s.

Postcard from Lee’s Ferry

You may notice from my blogs and other places that the Southwest is filled with interesting rock formations, all shaped by forces of Nature. It goes hand-in-hand that this same area is filled with great photo opportunities.

This formation is located just above the small (and I mean small) settlement of Lee’s Ferry, right on the Colorado River. Located just 9 miles south of the Arizona/Utah border, it has the unique distinction of being the only spot within hundreds of miles where one can easily access the Colorado River. Naturally, it is the starting point of all rafting trips down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon. 

To get to it, you take Highway 97A, off of Highway 97 (97A is the highway to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon). Just go a few miles down 97A until you see the sign to Lee’s Ferry. This rock is near that turnoff.

Lee’s Ferry gets it name from  John D. Lee, who built a ferry across the Colorado in 1873. But there is much more to this story…much of which the LDS Church would rather forget.

In 1857, Lee took part in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, in which a group of Mormons and Native Americans attacked a passing non-Mormon wagon train from Arkansas, killing about 120 people. The ill-conceived attack was the result of animosity toward Arkansans after the murder of Mormon apostle Parley P. Pratt near Van Buren, Ark. Years after the massacre, the LDS church sent Lee to the remote Colorado River crossing to shield him from the law as part of an attempted cover-up.

Lee was eventually tracked down and arrested by the U.S. government and tried for his role in the massacre. He was found guilty and executed by firing squad on March 28, 1877. He was the sole scapegoat for the more than fifty Latter-day Saints and Native American men that had participated in the massacre. It is strongly suspected that the highest officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints pointed the way to find Lee to minimize damage to their reputation.

The ferry continued operation until 1928, but was shut down after the federal government build the Navajo Bridge above the river on Highway 97A. Many years later, they built a bigger bridge and today the two bridges now exist side-by-side above the Colorado.

Postcard from San Francisco

So, I can hear you asking, “What the heck is this?” Well, I am here to tell you it is a sculpture of a bow and arrow. See? You were right…it is a bow and arrow.

But not just any bow and arrow. Oh no…this one is special. This is Cupid’s bow and arrow. It is located in Rincon Park, a very small park located along the Embarcadero in San Francisco…which means it is right next the bay.The sculpture is 60 feet high and about 143 feet long and was designed and built by two Swedish sculptors (I omit their names as they are long and would drive my spellcheck crazy).

If you walk around and away from it, you will notice how "Cupid's Span" changes aspect with viewing angle and distance. Up close, its taut bowstring and vertical arrow relate to the cables and towers of the Bay Bridge.

From a moderate distance, the bow, arrow and string suggest the hull, mast and rigging of a Spanish galleon…the vessel of the colonizers. But what does that have to do with San Francisco? Well you should ask.

In doing a little research, turns out that San Francisco is the home port of Eros, the Greek god of love (his Roman name is Cupid). I was born and raised in this city and I never knew that. Must have been before my time.

But, I think it is proper that The City pay tribute to Cupid and love. Why? Because Cupid’s arrow of love is designed to pierce your heart. And where did I leave my heart? In San Francisco, of course. Just go with it!

(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 Central Washington

This is one of many views, high above Dry Falls, in Grant County, Washington. 20,000 years ago, this was the site of one of the largest and greatest waterfalls in history. The lakes you see here are all that’s left of this incredible event. It is quite a story…and the best way to tell it is from this excerpt from Wikepedia:

“Dry Falls is a 3.5 mile long scalloped precipice in central Washington, on the opposite side of the Upper Grand Coulee from the Columbia River, and at the head of the Lower Grand Coulee. At five times the width of Niagara.Dry Falls is thought to be the greatest known waterfall that ever existed. According to the current geological model, catastrophic flooding channeled water at 65 miles per hour through the Upper Grand Coulee and over this 400-foot (120 m) rock face at the end of the last ice age. At this time, it is estimated that the flow of the falls was ten times the current flow of all the rivers in the world combined.

Nearly twenty thousand years ago, as glaciers moved south through North America, an ice sheet dammed the Clark Fork River near Sandpoint, Idaho. Consequently, a significant portion of western Montana flooded, forming the gigantic Lake Missoula. About the same time, Glacial Lake Columbia was formed on the ice-dammed Columbia River behind the Okanogan lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. Lake Columbia's overflow – the diverted Columbia River – drained first through Moses Coulee and as the ice dam grew, later through the Grand Coulee.

Eventually, water in lake Missoula rose high enough to float the ice dam until it gave way, and a portion of this cataclysmic flood spilled into Glacial Lake Columbia, and then down the Grand Coulee. It is generally accepted that this process of ice-damming of the Clark Fork, refilling of Lake Missoula and subsequent cataclysmic flooding happened dozens of times over the years of the last Ice Age

This sudden flood put parts of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon under hundreds of feet of water in just a few days. These extraordinary floods greatly enlarged the Grand Coulee and Dry Falls in a short period. The large plunge pools at the base of Dry Falls were created by these floods.

Once the ice sheet that obstructed the Columbia melted, the river returned to its normal course, leaving the Grand Coulee and the falls dry. Today, this massive cliff can be viewed from the Dry Falls Interpretive Center, part of Sun Lakes State Park, and located on Route 17 near the town of Coulee City.”

(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 America’s Cup Park

I first saw these magnificent boats while riding a streetcar back from the Giants/Red Sox game at AT&T park. At the time, I was only vaguely aware that the America’s Cup races were being held on San Francisco Bay. After seeing them from the streetcar, I was hooked.

I watched most of the races on TV from the comfort of my temporary home in Walnut Creek.  The TV coverage was amazing as they used computers to show you who was ahead, how the current was running, distances and wind velocities...plus they had on-board cameras and microphones on both boats. You couldn’t ask for any better coverage for any sport. 

On two occasions, I watched the races and pre-race activities from America’s Cup Park. It was a special time for me, and it turned out to be one of the most monumental comeback wins in any sporting event in history. If you weren’t following it, let me fill you in.

When I first arrived in the Bay Area, the Emirates Team New Zealand boat was racing the Luna Rosa Challenge boat (Italian) for the Louis Vuitton Cup and the right to face the defending champion Oracle Team USA boat, built and sponsored by billionaire Larry Ellison of Oracle computing fame.

The Kiwi boat handily beat the Italian boat in every race I saw. It was almost no contest as the 72’ New Zealand Boat flew up and down the course reaching speeds approaching 50 miles per hour.

These boats are more akin to airplanes as their twin catamarans often come out of the water, leaving only a pair of small foils touching the water.  I still don’t understand how these boats can go twice as fast as the wind that powers them. Amazing designs, I guess.

But back to the races…I thought the Kiwis had an excellent chance to beat the Americans… and my feelings turned out to be true for quite awhile. Without going into great details on all the rules and the two race penalty suffered by Team Oracle, the first boat to reach nine victories and wins the cup (because of a penalty imposed earlier in the year, Oracle had to win 11 races).

The Kiwi won eight races and led the American boat 8-1.  They were beating the pants of the Americans, especially on the upwind third leg and were on the verge of total victory. But, even though the Kiwis were within one race of the win, the Americans never gave up. They changed their on-board boat tactician and made some small design changes.

Next thing you know, team Oracle USA started winning races and were suddenly much faster than the Kiwis…and before you knew it, the score was tied 8-8. It was down to a one, winner-take-all race.

It was an exciting race with the lead going back and forth for the first part of the race. But, suddenly, the Oracle boat took charge and wound up winning the deciding race by 44 seconds…capping off one of the most amazing comebacks in sports history…and I was there for part of it.

Competing in this race is not for the faint of heart or those with lightweight wallets. These boats cost millions to design and built and supporting facilities and crews in SF also runs in the millions. I wondered if it might be cheaper for Larry Ellison to buy an NFL team. But he is a born sailor, and although he was not on board for any of the races, his money and enthusiasm made it all possible.

For me it was an exciting time to watch the races and to use my new Sony NEX-6 camera to record the images. The photo here shows the two boats side-by-side just before a race. If you would like to see more of my photos from the America’s cup, just click on this link.

(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 San Francisco

It’s hard to get back into the swing of things when one has been out-of-town on an extended vacation…especially an enjoyable one. But here I am, back, mentally refreshed (almost) and back on my feet after a being under the weather shortly after returning.

Today’s photo is from the Green Bay Packers/San Francisco 49ers game I attended a couple of weeks ago. Undoubtedly, this was my last visit to Candlestick Park as it will be imploded after the end of the 49er season. I’ve been coming to this place since it opened in 1960 to see the Giants and the 49ers (I missed the final Beatles concert here). And while I have some nice memories of time spent here, I will not miss the stadium. It is an old ballpark by today’s standards and it shows.

Over the years, I spent as much time in traffic trying to get in and out of the park as I spent actually inside. That was true again on this visit…thank God I rode a Muni bus to and from the stadium.

In fact, the stadium should have never been built. It was one of those political deals where friends and money overruled common sense. The stadium is situated at Candlestick Point on the western shore of the San Francisco Bay, a few miles south of downtown San Francisco. Due to its location next to the bay, strong winds often swirl down into the stadium, creating unusual playing conditions (that is a nice way of saying it could be miserable for fans and players).

Once during an All Star game, I saw a pitcher get blown of the mound (he was charged with a balk). Two years later, wind picked up the entire batting cage and dropped it 60 feet away on the pitcher’s mound while the New York Mets were taking batting practice.

And remember the big earthquake of 1989 a few minutes before the start of a World Series game. The stadium, to its credit, withstood Mother Nature’s onslaught, but I will never forget the sight of players leaving the stadium in their uniforms to drive home.

My own memories go back to my 40th birthday when friends treated me to a champagne tailgate party in the parking lot before a 49er win over the Philadelphia Eagles. I also remember one year in the 60’s when I went to a Giants doubleheader game (remember when they played those?). I could not take enough clothes off in the first game and did not have enough clothes to protect me from the wind in the second.

As I said, the memories are varied, but the stadium can go the way of the Dodo bird for all I care. I wish they would sell name tags to put on the dynamite that will be used for the demolition. I would buy one.

The Giants left in the year 2,000 and moved into beautiful new AT&T park in downtown SF, right on the bay. It may be the most beautiful park in all of baseball. Next year, the 49ers will play in their new stadium now under construction in Santa Clara…right next to their offices and practice fields…and Great America Park.

As for the game pictured in the photo, it was a fun, nerve wrenching game that was still in doubt with only a couple of minutes left…but the 49ers pulled out a 6 point win and most of us fans left the park happy. As you can see from the photo, I had a darn good seat and was lucky enough to have a large portion of the game played right in front of me. It was also a good chance to try out my new Sony NEX 6 DSLR camera using a telephoto lens for most of the shots. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

I have a few more shots from the game that you see by clicking on this link.

Post Card from San Francisco

This is definitely not one of my most artistic photos. In fact, it is almost a snapshot. I took this photo on my first visit to AT&T Park last July to see the Giants beat the San Diego Padres. It is a beautiful stadium in a fabulous location right on The Bay…and it is a great place to see a game.

As I write this on 7/14/13, just wanted to let you know that I will be back at this ballpark one week from today. It’s a day game this time with the Giants facing the Boston Red Sox in an inter-league game.

So, as you might guess, I am headed north to the Bay Area…this time to housesit (and dog sit) for a month for my close friends the Millers. They are off to Hawaii again, this time to housesit for one of their friends. I suggested we simplify things and I go to Hawaii to housesit, but they didn’t buy it. Can’t blame them. It’s OK, I am going back home where I was born and raised. You know that famous Tony Bennett song, “I Left my Heart in San Francisco”…well in my case it’s true.

The Giants game will not be my only sporting event while in the City…besides buying me a Giants ticket, the Millers also bought me a ticket to the opening day of the NFL season…49ers hosting the visiting Green Bay Packers. It’s the final year that the 49ers will play at Candlestick Park. Next year, the Niners will be ensconced at their brand new stadium in Santa Clara.

I was there that first year in 1960 when Candlestick opened its gates. For a long time, only the Giants played there…the 49ers were still at the old Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park (I went to several games there also when I lived in the Bay Area.) In 1972, they moved to Candlestick and the park was remodeled to accommodate a football field.

Do I have fond memories of Candlestick? Yes and no. I went to many baseball and football games over the years. I saw great players, many in their respective Hall of Fames now. I celebrated my 40th birthday there, thanks to some good friends, with a tailgate party followed by an Eagles/49er game featuring Joe Montana and other greats of 49er history. I could go on and on with memories, but I won’t. Maybe later.

But, Candlestick was a miserable place to see a ball game of any sport. They could not pick a worse place in the Bay Area to build a ballpark. The wind would come through in the late afternoon and you would just freeze to death. I once went to a Giants doubleheader game. In the first game, I could not take enough clothes off…for the second game, I didn’t have enough clothes to put on. It was freezing! It was better after they remodeled for football, but it still can be a miserable place. So I won’t miss that.

One of the worst parts is the traffic getting in and out of the park. I once went to a Giants game with 4,000 people and it took an hour to get on the freeway. A few months later, I went to the AFL Championship football game across the Bay in Oakland. Stadium was full, and after the game it took five minutes to get on the freeway. Go figure.

For this upcoming 49er game, I will take BART in to SF, then get on an express Muni bus direct to Candlestick. Maybe the driver will have to fight the traffic, but I won’t. Besides, game parking at Candlestick is $30. Forget it!

For the Giants game, I can take BART to the Embarcadero Station, and from there take an express trolley direct to AT&T Park. They got that all figured out.

So what will happen to Candlestick? It will be imploded right after the last 49er game of the 2013 season. Many long-time San Franciscans say it should never have been built in the first place. But that is a story for another day.

As for this blog, it will continue while I travel the Bay Area. After all, I have a new laptop and a new camera, so you will be hearing from me…just maybe a little more sporadically. Go Giants!!! Go Niners!!!

Postcard from London

Westminster Abbey may be the most amazing historical sites in all of Great Britain. It is nearly 1,000 years old and has been the center of English spirituality for nearly that long.

Inside you will find the tombs of most of the famous people in British history. From Winston Churchill to Isaac Newton to Laurence Olivier, to most of the kings and queens who ruled over this land. I remember taking a walk through rear of the church where many of the royalty of English history are interred in amazing sarcophagi . I was struck by the irony of Queen Elizabeth I interred next to her arch enemy Mary, Queen of Scots. It was Elizabeth who ordered Mary’s beheading. 

Many of the memorials to the greats of British history are just that…memorial plaques and statues. The people themselves are buried someplace else. But many are indeed buried here.

The Abbey has witnessed coronations, weddings and funerals. Most recently, it was here that Prince Charles and Prince William were married…and was the site of Princess Diana’s funeral.

High above the west entrance of the church are 10 statues of 20th century martyrs. The four you see here are Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero, and Dietrich Bonheoffer. All were killed for their faith and what they believed.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. While educated in Britain, she married into the Russian Royal Family and became deeply involved in the Russian Orthodox Church. She eventually sold all of her expensive possessions to help the impoverished, with a special emphasis on women. To make a long story short, she was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks and was executed the day after the Czar and his family were killed.

The story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is well know to all of us, so I won’t repeat it here. I will say that it wasn’t until I read about these statues that I learned that it was Dr. King. Frankly, I don’t think it looks much like him.

Oscar Romero’s legacy is tied to El Salvador. Romero committed himself to the poor and the persecuted of El Salvador. As the brutal governmental regime sent death squads out into the countryside, he documented their atrocities…and in 1979, presented volumes of information to the Pope. He was murdered in 1980 in his church while celebrating mass.

Finally, the legacy of Dietrich Bonheoffer is tied to Nazi Germany. He was and ardent opponent of Hitler and his Nazi regime. He actually escaped to Britain and later America, only to return to Germany just before the outbreak of the war. He felt that a victory of Nazism in Europe would destroy Christian civilization. Again to shorten the story, Bonheoffer was eventually put into a concentration camp and executed a few days before Germany’s surrender.

I have linked each of their names to a short history of their lives on the Westminster Abbey Web site. They are all very interesting to read and one can’t help but admire their courage against injustice.

(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 the University of Arizona

Before you ask, I have no idea of the name of these plants. All I know is they are beautiful and a joy to photograph.  I love how the cactus almost seems to spin. Every time I look at this image, I swear I can almost see it going around in a circle. What a great optical illusion.

These plants are located near the Bio Research Building on the north side of the University of Arizona campus. If you have not visited this campus, you don’t where that is. But trust me, if you ever visit Tucson, make a point of visiting this beautiful campus. But be aware, it is quite large, so plan to spend a few hours here.

In past blogs, I have shown you some of the beautiful architecture around the campus. I have even shown a handful of flower photos from here. But, let me tell you, the colorful landscaping around the campus is something to behold all year round…one of the advantages of living in Tucson.

They do a special job planting beautiful flowers, not only from the desert, but flowers you see in gardens all over the world. There is a special garden located in the center of the campus that features only desert flora including trees and large cacti. They even have a large, but rare Organ Pipe Cactus.

But the flower beds all over campus offer a variety of beautiful surprises. There are actually two schools on campus that specialize in flowers and landscaping: the School of Architectural Landscaping and the School of Plant Sciences. There is also a herbarium located in historic Herring Hall. There you will find over 400,000 specimens of herbs and related plants from Arizona and Mexico.

By the way, if you ever head down this way, there is a walking tour map available with details of all the plants you will see on the tour. So come down and see just how beautiful the university campus is.

(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 the Cascades

Sunrise

O rising Sun, so fair and gay,
What are you bringing me, I pray,
Of sorrow or of joy to-day?

You look as if you meant to please,
Reclining in your gorgeous ease
Behind the bare-branched apple-trees.

The world is rich and bright, as though
The pillows where your head is low
Had lit the fields of driven snow.

The hoar-frost on the window turns
Into a wood of giant ferns
Where some great conflagration burns.

And all my children comes again
As lightsome and as free from stain
As those frost-pictures on the pane.

I would that I could mount on high
And meet you, Sun--that you and I
Had to ourselves the whole wide sky.

But here my poor soul has to stay,
So tell me, rising Sun, I pray,
What are you bringing me to-day?

What shall this busy brain have thought,
What shall these hands and feet have wrought,
What sorrows shall the hours have brought,

Before thy brilliant course is run,
Before this new-born day is done,
Before you set, O rising Sun?

Frederick George Scott

Photo by JR Corkrum

(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 Chiricahua

This maybe the best photo I could find that shows what Autumn is like here in the deep Southwest. I took this at Chiricahua National Monument, about two hours southeast of Tucson.  This is one of those National Monuments that is not near anything. Still, I highly recommend you go there if you are in the area.

This is also another photographic lesson in “looking down”…something I’ve mentioned here a few times, including the last blog. You would be surprised how many people never do this and how many great photographic possibilities they pass right by.

Very early in my photographic career, I was influenced by several of the great masters of landscape photography including Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter…Adams for his great work in black and white…and Porter for his color work. Both photographers made breathtaking images of large natural landscapes, but it was Porter who made me aware of the profound beauty of small scenes in nature.

Shooting magnificent landscapes like Yosemite, Zion, Bryce, and other is very rewarding, but finding beauty in just a few square feet of nature, like the picture here also has its own artistic rewards.

In terms of commercial dollars, this photo would not be a best seller as compared to, say, a sunrise winter shot of Bryce Canyon. But, I don’t care. A small natural scene like this one makes me feel just as artistically fulfilled.

I think you would find it quite rewarding to search out Eliot Porter on the net and take a look at some his photographs.  

Postcard from Tucson

Back in my college days, as a homework assignment, I was instructed to just go outside my front door and start taking pictures. Over the years, I have done that more than once…including this photo. I literally opened my front door, looked down, and shot this photo.

A little background: on this day, my new Sony NEX-6 camera arrived via UPS. As I unboxed it, and, of course, I wanted to start shooting immediately. But, the battery needed charging and I needed to learn just a little more about the camera.

Finally there was enough of a charge on the battery and I had enough knowledge just to be dangerous. So, it was time to step outside and start taking some experiment shots. But, just as I got the camera ready to go, one of our almost daily monsoon storms arrived. I wasn’t going anywhere as it was pouring rain. But I did stand under the porch overhead and take a couple of quick shots to make sure the camera worked.

Then I looked down and saw the landscaping rocks were soaking wet, and they were giving off great color, like never before. That is something most rocks of color do when they get wet, with a little help from some great light. So I just pointed the camera down, and took a couple of shots.

A little post processing in Lightroom and Photoshop, and here is the result. So maybe I boosted the colors a little, but that is the fun of making one’s own photos. So let that be a lesson to you all…just step outside and look down. You might get lucky.

PS: The sun is currently shining and these rocks are just plain ugly right now. But wait…more rain is in the forecast for later. Grab your camera and come on down!

(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 San Jose

Welcome to the library on the campus of San Jose State, my alma mater. If you recall from previous posts, I visited the campus with my camera last summer when I was in the Bay Area. It’s always interesting to return to one’s college or university after so much time has passed.

The official name of the library is the Martin Luther King Jr. Library. This library did not exist when I went to school there, but it does sit on the same site as the library I knew and loved all those years ago. I thought that library at the time was the biggest one I had ever seen. I remember getting lost in the stacks a couple of times. Ah, the innocence and ignorance of youth!

This photo was shot looking almost straight up from the entry lobby. I just love how the lines converge from the left and right into the center area of each floor…and how that area has its own shapes within shapes and its own set of intersecting lines.

Of course, black and white is the only good choice here as it’s the lines and shapes that count, not the color. I think that is true for about 90% of the architectural photos I make.

Believe it or not, I got my jump start in photography here at San Jose State. Although I was a journalism major, I took one required class in photography. That got me hooked! I wound up taking every photography class they offered and was even a student assistant for a short time.

I think the advantage I may have over most over today’s crop of photographers is the countless hours I spent in the darkroom working mostly in black and white. Photography is both a craft and an art form…it may be the only art form that uses both sides of the brain.

The work I did at SJSU prepared me for the digital darkroom I use today…and all those classes gave me a start point to become a creative photographer…to see with my heart and soul, and to see the final composed image before I even snapped the shutter. Maybe it’s fitting that I took this photo at my university and processed it in black and white…a kind of tribute to all I learned there.

I loved photography as an art form back then and still do today. What a good feeling that is.

(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 Tucson

It’s the monsoon season here in Southwest Arizona. Our skies look like this almost every day. Around 5:00 PM, the darker thunderheads roll in and the gods let loose with with their thunder and lightning, a bit of very heavy rain and often some high micro-burst winds.

Then the sun comes back out and all we are left with is high heat and humidity. Yesterday I compared our weather to Tampa, FL and found our temps to be the same, but we had a much higher humidity. So much for the expression, “But it’s a dry heat!” Bull!! Not this time of year.

Anyway, I took this photo yesterday with my brand new Sony NEX-6 camera. Its one of the first pictures I took with this remarkable camera. Those who know me know that I have been using Nikon equipment for many years. And I still use and love my Nikon. But is is big and heavy and sometimes I just hate carrying it around.

Enter a new breed of camera…a lightweight mirror-less single lens reflex camera with interchangeable lenses and most of the other goodies you find on their bigger cousins.  Remarkably, the digital sensor on this new Sony is the exact same size as the one on my Nikon. But, yet the camera and lens will fit in the pocket of my shorts (but not in jeans or other tight fitting pants).

I did a lot of research before I plunked down my cash, and the reviews on this baby were fantastic. Even DP Review, whose reviews run for 25 pages or more, raved about this remarkable camera. After I bought the camera, I read that the godfather of HDR photography, Trey Ratcliff, is making this Sony camera and lens system his primary photographic equipment…and like me, relegating his Nikon equipment to a backup roll.

The photo is the Bioresearch building on the UofA campus. Beyond the photo to the left  is the Medical Research facility, almost a mirror image of the Bioresearch building. The unique canopy you see is a 300-ft. long, 87-ft. tall steel shade structure that covers a large rooftop courtyard area between the two buildings.

The canopy consists of 240 4-ft. wide by up to 37-ft. long mesh panels, stretched between stainless steel cables…assuring maximum sun filtering while allowing free airflow between the panels. The mesh panels were installed on an angle to allow for optimized shading in the rooftop courtyard area, which turned a heat island into usable space for the students to gather. That is why you can see the clouds through the panels.

This turned out to be a good day to experiment with my new camera and lenses…at least before the rain hit. After looking at this image and some of the others not seen here, I think I got my money’s worth.

Postcard from the John Muir Trail

This is Vernal Falls in Yosemite National Park. It is not in Yosemite Valley, but you get to it from the Valley via the first leg of the famous John Muir Trail that runs from the Valley to all the way to Mt. Whitney…some 210 hiking miles to the south and an elevation gain from around 4,000 feet to over 13,000 feet. That’s only part of the story as a hiker must go up and down 7 mountain passes on his way to Whitney.

This first part of the trail from the Valley to Vernal Falls is 3/4 of a mile in length with an elevation gain of 400+ feet. After hiking it the last time, I felt like I had climbed 4,000 feet. It is uphill all the way to the falls. These old legs and lungs ain’t what they used to be.

I did this hike in May, meaning the falls were overflowing with snow melt water from high in the Sierra’s. That year set a record for snow fall, so this photo shows the falls as full as you will ever see them. I took this photo with a 300mm lens as I was back a ways from the falls…but I could still feel the mist of the falls in my face.

If you look to the top of the falls on the right, you will see two hikers. This gives you an idea of scale (click on the image to see a larger version of this photo). The falls are 317 feet high. There is a wonderful trail that takes you up to the top of the falls, aptly named Mist Trail. It is not a trail I recommend in Spring when the falls are this full.

If you stay on the John Muir Trail for another few miles, you will come to Nevada falls, almost twice as high as Vernal Falls. On this day, I did not have the energy or time to continue on to Nevada Falls.

Frankly, one of my life-long dreams was to do the entire John Muir Trail, but it never happened. Oh well.

PS…you can see both Vernal and Nevada Falls quite clearly from Glacier Point, high on the south side of Yosemite Valley...and you can drive up there. Thank God or would have never seen Nevada Falls.

PPS…the John Muir Trail joins up with the Pacific Crest Trail for about 160 miles. That trail runs from Mexico to Canada. I never did that one either. 

(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 Washington, DC

There are two things I remember clearly about my visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum: the first being the two aircraft you see here hanging from the ceiling like 2 model airplanes in a little boy’s room.

Of course, the airplane in the foreground is the famous Spirit of St. Louis…the very first plane that flew non-stop from New York to Paris in 1927. Flown by Charles Lindbergh, he and his airplane were instant celebrities, not only in America, but around the world. The plane cost $10,580 to construct, but Lindbergh won $25,000 for being the first to fly non-stop across the Atlantic. So the investment paid off!

By the way, the gold-colored nose panels you see here are not the way it looked on the historic flight. Not long after the museum took possession of the Spirit, conservators applied a clear layer of varnish or shellac to the forward panels in an attempt to preserve the flags and other artwork painted on the engine cowling. This protective coating has yellowed with age, resulting in the golden hue seen today.

The aircraft hanging in the background is the Bell-X1, the very first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound, AKA Mach-1. It did this on October 14, 1947…piloted by Chuck Yeager. For me, it was quite special to see these two historic aircraft hanging side-by-side.

Oh, and the other thing I remember about this day…it was the first time ever I was asked if I wanted to buy a senior citizen discount pass. That’s a milestone moment in a person’s life when they are viewed by others as a senior citizen. The previous milestone was when they stop asking to see your ID when you purchased an alcoholic beverage. Time marches on.

(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 the National Gallery

I’ve been fortunate to visit many of the great art galleries of the western world…the National Gallery and the Tate in London; the Louvre and the Orsay in Paris; the Uffizi and the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence; the Guggenheim in Venice; the Chicago Institute of Art; just to mention a few. Some of them I’ve visited more than once.

But, I visited the National Gallery in Washington DC only once, I am sad to say. It’s an absolute treasure house of art from around the world. When one visits a museum such as this, one becomes overwhelmed with the magnificent works in front of your eyes. You want to go back again and again to see them all. If it were possible, I would go every day and take in just one painting per day.

On this day in DC, I came across this well-loved painting by James McNeill Whistler…originally titled “The White Girl,” but later changed to “Symphony in White.” It is arguably his second most famous painting…the other being the painting we all know as Whistler’s Mother (I’ve seen that one also as it hangs in the Orsay Museum in Paris).

The White Girl was painted when Whistler lived in Paris. The model was his mistress, Joanna Hiffernan. He submitted the painting to the Royal Academy in Paris for inclusion in the famous annual Salon exhibition. It was rejected by them along with paintings by Manet, Monet, and several other famous Impressionist painters of the time. You see, the Royal Academy was quite conservative and did not consider most of these new works as being good art (read Ross King’s excellent book, “The Judgment of Paris,”to learn more about the end of neo-classism and the rise of the Impressionists and how the establishment fought this new kind of art).

Now about the photo: I call this one “Transitions,” as your eye must go through three rooms to arrive at the painting…each room transitions to the next. But, if you look closely, you will see I changed the second room to pure black and white. So you transition from color, to black and white, then back to color where the painting hangs. The beautiful doorways make the transitions even better. This is one of my most favorite works. Believe it or not, it was shot on slide film, then later scanned into my computer for post processing.

Some don’t, but many museums allow you to use your cameras while viewing the artworks. But be warned, you will not be allowed to use a tripod or flash in any of the museums. If you get caught doing it, you will be kicked out. So my advice is to bring a camera that has built-in anti-shake so you can capture those beautiful paintings. Be sure and take several exposures as even anti-shake cameras are not perfect, especially in low-light conditions.

What is somewhat amazing is that the camera that took this image did not have anti-shake (wasn’t invented then), nor did I use a tripod…the shot was hand-held. Sometimes you just get lucky.

(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 35,000 Feet

A few years ago, my friend Susan and I flew from Spokane, to Calgary, to London on an overnight flight over the pole. The first leg of the flight was on an Air Canada puddle jumper to Calgary. Then we boarded an Air Canada jumbo jet for the long journey to London. However those big planes ever get off the ground is beyond me…but am just glad this one did.

We got lucky as they put us together in the very last row of the plane…which had only 2 seats instead of the usual 3. So we had a great time back there…and the flight attendant liked us and kept bringing more wine and drinks whenever we wanted. We both imbibed more than usual, hoping it would help us sleep before we arrived in Great Britain. It sort of worked, but sleeping on any plane is never easy.

The sunrise woke woke me up and I managed to grab this shot. For once, I got a sunrise above the clouds. You can just make out the Air Canada Maple Leaf on the tip of the wing.

They schedule many of the London flights from North America to arrive in the morning. After landing at Heathrow, we took a hotel shuttle down to our hotel right at the very edge of Hyde Park, near Marble Arch. Our bodies were totally confused as to the time of day…and we were not ready for a nap.

So we walked across the park, right in the middle of an anti-American protest. Our goal was to visit Harrods in Knightsbridge, have lunch, then head back across the park…which is what we did, dodging protestors all along the way.

I think we managed a small nap in the late afternoon, but of course our body clocks were so messed up at this point that a good sleep never happened. In the evening, we took the Tube down to Trafalgar Square to attend a concert at St. Martins in the Field.

It was wonderful…except both our body clocks kicked in to tell us it was night time and that we were totally exhausted. I think we both slept through most of the concert. We managed enough energy to get to the Tube and get back to our hotel…where slept like the dead. But the good news was our bodies were now on European time.

(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 Seal Beach

There are a few places along the California coast where elephant seals gather off and on during the year to molt, to choose the dominate males, and to eventually breed. These seals are big…the males reaching up to 20’ long and weighing in at 8,800 lbs. Elephant seals take their name from the large proboscis of the adult male which resembles an elephant's trunk. I think their rather large size also might have something to do with it.

Now, I don’t pretend to be an expert on seals of any kind. But when I visited this beach near San Simeon with my camera, I saw many of them throwing sand on themselves with their flippers. This photo is of one such event. I was lucky to get the sand in full flight…and in case you didn’t notice, the seal’s head is partially obscured by the rock on the left.

Curious about the sand throwing, I did a little research. Based on the time of year that I was there, this seal, and his companions were probably in the midst of loosing their skins. If so, they use the sand to stop the itching that results from molting. They also use wet sand to cool themselves off on hot day…this was not a hot day.

The State of California has set up parks along the coast where the seals hang out. This helps maintain the seal’s security and allows tourists to safely watch the seals in their natural habitat. Colonies of seals are very loyal to a particular spot, so these seals and their predecessors all use this beach.

You can read more about the elephant seals by searching the Internet…or even better, find a seal beach the next time you are on the California coast and observe them in their natural habitat.

(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 Gettysburg

If you never have been moved by being at a historical site, you may have never been to Gettysburg. It may be the most important and revered site in all of American history.

I write this on July 1, 2013. It was 150 years ago this very day that the battle of Gettysburg began. It was a three day battle. On the first day, a small expedition of Confederates marched toward Gettysburg, ostensibly looking for supplies and shoes for their veterans. They had just made the long journey on foot from Virginia to Pennsylvania to bring the war to the North.

Meanwhile, Union cavalry had approached the town from the South and saw the Confederates were approaching the town. The cavalry’s commander, General John Buford made the bold decision to dismount his troops and fight. He new he had to defend the high ground and delay the Confederates so the rebels could not have it before the nearby Union Army arrived.

His troops fought hard, and the rebels started bringing up reinforcements. Then the first contingents of Union infantry came into town and the battle kept escalating. Before the end of the day, it turned into a major battle. The Union Army was driven back, through the town and up into the hills. You could say the rebels won the day, but they did not get the high ground.

That was crucial to the final outcome of the battle. On the second day, the Southerners tried to sweep around the very end of the Union lines at Little Round Top. They almost succeeded, but were eventually driven back. The Union troops had the high ground and could not be dislodged.

On the third day, General Robert E. Lee made the fateful decision to marshal his troops and attack the center of the Union line. To do that, his troops had to march a mile across open ground, and be subject to intense Union artillery and rifle fire from Union troops lined up by the thousands behind a stone wall.

One part of the Confederate troops made it to the fence, but were cut down or made prisoners. The majority were killed or retreated back to their own lines. This third day of battle is known as Pickett’s Charge as it was led by Confederate General George Pickett.

The next day, the rebels started their long march back to Virginia. For some unexplained reason, the Union Commander, General George Meade, did not pursue. Had he done so, the war would not have continued for another two years.

There is more to this battle than I briefly talked about here. If you go to the Wikipedia Site, you can get more detail. But to summarize, the battle was costly to both sides, with a total casualty figure of around 50,000 soldiers and civilians.

I was able to spend two days in Gettysburg and visited most of the major battle sites. I even walked partway across the open field where Pickett’s Charge took place. My hotel was next to General Lee’s headquarters. Trust me…it was all very moving. I am so glad I got to make the trip.

The photograph, made to look like it was taken back in 1863, is of a Union Captain re-enactor. He and his company of Union soldiers gave an interesting demonstration of the Union line of battle, how the troops marched in formation then changed in battle formation…even firing muskets. It was all very interesting…and loud. Thank God for the re-enactors who keep the history of the civil war alive for all of us to appreciate and understand.

PS: If you have not seen the movie “Gettysburg,” you need to. It may be the most accurate movie Hollywood ever made…Pickett’s charge and other scenes were filmed where the real events took place. Thousands of re-enactors were used as troops. There is a new Director’s Cut of the movie out and I recommend you see that one.

Postcard from Washington, D.C.

You might call this the spiritual capitol of the United States. It’s the National Cathedral, located, of course, in our Nation’s capital…or to be more precise, it’s the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington.

For a long time, I thought it was a Catholic church…but I was wrong. It belongs to the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. Construction began in 1907, when Theodore Roosevelt was President. Believe it or not, the last piece of construction, the last finial, was placed in 1990.  Congress has designated the Washington National Cathedral as the "National House of Prayer".

Funerals for three presidents were held here…Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Gerald Ford. Memorial services were also held here for five other Presidents. In addition, funerals were held here for some of the most prominent people in US history. So it is indeed part of our history and our national legacy.

Architecturally, its design shows a mix of influences from the various Gothic architectural styles of the Middle Ages, identifiable in its pointed arches, flying buttresses, a variety of ceiling vaulting, stained-glass windows and carved decorations in stone, and by its three similar outside towers, two on the west front and one surmounting the crossing.

The high alter was made from stones quarried at Solomon’s Quarry outside of Jerusalem, the the pulpit was carved out of stones for Canterbury Cathedral in Great Britain. In the floor directly in front of that altar are set ten stones from the Chapel of Moses on Mount Sinai. So this mighty cathedral is indeed part the history of the U.S. and the world.

Photographically, I shot this photo on film…and without a tripod or any anti-shake mechanism (hadn’t been invented yet). Pretty amazing that it came out at all. But, with the help of some enhancements in Photoshop to spruce it up a bit, the photo is alive and well.

Postcard from Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg, VA, about 50 mile south of Washington, DC, sits on the west side of Rappahannock River and was the site of a major Civil War battle in late 1862. I photographed this scene several years ago on the Memorial Day weekend. For those three days, the town was full of re-enactors, both Union and Confederate. I remember sitting at an outdoor restaurant on the main street having lunch, and seeing Union and Confederate soldiers walking up and down the street. Very strange.

The rebels here were camped right on the river.  They were kind enough to put on an exhibition for us on loading and firing the exact same kind of single shot muskets used back in 1862. An experienced soldier might be able to load and fire his musket up to 3 times a minute.

Just across the Rappahannock that day was an encampment of Union troops, which was how it was back in December of1862. The rebels held the town at the beginning of the battle.

The river played an important role back then…it is a tidal river which means it goes up and down on a regular basis. Sometimes it is easy to walk across…other times it is to high. But the Union commander, General Burnside, refused to cross the river until pontoon bridges were brought down from Washington, DC. Those bridges were delayed, giving General Lee time to fortify the town and the heights above the town.

The Union headquarters, on the other side of the river, was high on a bluff overlooking the city. The house once belonged to George Washington and his family, and, ironically, is where Robert E. Lee proposed to his future wife.

When the bridges finally arrived and were set up (at no small cost of life and limb to those Union engineers who did the assembly), Union troops crossed into the town and eventually occupied it. They then preceded to unceremoniously loot the town. The rebels retreated from the town and moved up to the higher ground, mainly to the high ridges on Marye’s Heights.

The not-so-brilliant General Burnside, then sent waves of infantry up the long sloping heights. They were met with an incessant hail of gunfire and canon shot, killing thousands of troops. But he kept sending them, wave after wave, until it became obvious he would not achieve his objective.

On my trip to Fredericksburg, I spent time  down on the river, in town, at Union Headquarters, and of course, up on Marye’s Heights. It was a sobering experience, to say the least, thinking about what happened here. The re-enactors made it all the better experience.

A few months after the first battle, another battle was fought just a few miles out of town at a place called Chancellorsville. Once again, Robert E. Lee won the day with brilliant field tactics. The Union army again suffered another embarrassing defeat, but the rebels also suffered a major loss…Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by his own soldiers and died a week later.

In the fading light of day I visited the Chancellorsville battlefield and found the spot where Jackson was shot. Another sobering experience and a chance to appreciate what happened back in 1862 and early 1863 and how it shaped our history. Living out west, you don’t get to experience this kind of living history. The re-enactors bring it back to life.

With the heady success of the Confederate army in Virginia, the southern leadership decided to send Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia north into Pennsylvania, to attack the Union in their territory for once…and, with luck threaten Washington DC. But, in Pennsylvania, they met a different Union general in the summer of 1863, at a place where the most important battle of the war was fought. The town…Gettysburg. 

(Click here for more information on the battle of Fredericksburg)

(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 Chicago

It’s 106 outside my window today, so it seems like a good time to talk about hockey. Specifically, about the Stanley Cup finals. They are going on right now…in fact, game 4 of the series is tonight.

Two things make this one special for me…first the finals are between two of the original six NHL teams…Chicago and Boston…and I am old enough to remember when there were only six teams.  Second, I was in Chicago a couple of years ago when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. So, I guess they are kind of my adopted team.

I watched some of the games inside Harry Carey’s Tavern, right across from Wrigley Field. I may have been the only one in the place not wearing a Blackhawk shirt or jersey. But they let me stay anyway.

Harry Carey’s Tavern is my favorite sports bar in Chicago. Of course every bar around Wrigley Field on Chicago’s North Side is about sports. But Harry’s place is the best of the bunch. I’ve been in there for baseball, football, and hockey. When I first arrived in Chicago, I asked a local what was the best sports bar in Chicago. He laughed and said they are all sports bars! You see, Chicago is a drinking town with a sports problem.

Anyway, back to hockey. When I was there, and I think it was my very first trip, the whole town was revved up for the Stanley Cup. They put large Blackhawk hockey helmets on the two landmark lions outside the Chicago Institute of Art. A famous statue near City Hall was draped with a Blackhawk Jersey. I even saw a large dinosaur statue draped in a Blackhawk jersey...and this year, the statue of Michael Jordan has a Hawks jersey on it.  As I said, its  a city with a sports problem. You gotta love it!

Hockey is a very fast, intense sport, especially during the playoffs. The hitting is harder, the shots on goal are faster (or so it seems), and the goaltending has to be superb, or you will not win. Having your name engraved on the cup is the goal of every kid who ever strapped on a pair of hockey skates.

Many years ago, I went to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and got to see the cup. I will always remember that day. What’s fun is to see is the winning team skating around the arena with the cup, each player getting a chance to carry it once around the arena.

Even better, each player gets to have the cup for a day during the off-season. There are many stories to be told here. One player once lost the cup after an excessive drinking binge. It showed up again a couple of days later. Stories about the cup would fill up many a blog.

I took the above photo during that trip to Chicago. The store is on Michigan Avenue in the heart of the Magnificent Mile. I love shooting store windows as you get to see not only what is in the store, but what is reflected in the windows. They sort of blend together to create a different reality. Almost as fun as watching a hockey game. Go Hawks!

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

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

Postcard from British Columbia

Photo Title – Pollock on a Rock by J.R. Corkrum

LICHEN

We lichen are small

We lichen are tiny

Sometimes we look dusty

Sometimes we are shiny

We come in many colors

red, black and tangerine

yellow, brown and silver

but most of us are green.

We grow where it is wet

and  where it is dry as a bone

near the equator

and in the arctic zone.

We are found on boulders

We are found on stumps

Sometimes alone

Sometimes in clumps

We can drape down

We can grow up

We can be flat, or

Shaped like a cup

We grow on the soil

or up high in a tree

out in the desert

or on rocks by the sea.

Hummingbirds use us

when building their nests.

We are tasty to reindeer

who like us the best.

We lichen are all over,

and are magical to see,

but since we grow so slowly

please just let us be.

Author Unknown

Postcard from the Desert

There is some magic in this photograph. It’s the magic of the long life of the Saguaro Cactus. I have no idea how old this cactus is, but I call this picture, “Senior Citizen.” Just by the number of arms you know it is an old dude.

These cactus are found exclusively in the Sonoran Desert, which includes southern Arizona, a very small part of southeast California, and the state of Sonora in Mexico. So when you see a western movie with Saguaro Cactus in it (like several John Wayne movies), you know it was filmed around here…in fact there is a movie studio just a few miles from my home where many westerns have been filmed.

Anyway, these cactus are very slow growers…a ten-year old cactus may be just 1.5” high. They don’t grow arms until they are 75-100 years old. The life span is anywhere from 150-200 years. The really big ones are mostly found here around Tucson because we get the most rain (those damned summer monsoons). The arms are used to store water.

But what is wonderful about the Saguaro is they are all different. Just wander around our deserts and you will see what I mean. No two look alike. A good place to look is the Saguaro Cactus National Park here in Tucson. There are actually two parks…one on the very east side of town up against the Rincon Mountains…and the other on the west side.

Hint: you will find the highest number of cactus on the west side. Here they are thick as thieves, even outside the park. I should know as that is where I live. I can see hundreds of them every day when I take my morning walk. I hope I never take them for granted.

On another related topic, as this photo is done in black and white, I thought I would direct you to a great article on black and white photography entitled, “When a Lack of Color is the Perfect Answer.” It was written for photographers but it does give a some good explanations as to why black and white is still an important medium. Give it a read. 

Postcard from Monterey

One of my favorite attractions in Monterey, besides a great downtown British pub, is the Monterey Bay Aquarium…and my favorite part of aquarium is the section devoted to jellyfish. They nicknamed this section, “The Jellies Experience,” and often you will see photos from this section in their ads.

These jellyfish are known as the Pacific Sea Nettle. They are small, about the size of a small hand, and obviously quite beautiful. But, they are also quite deadly. They use their tentacles which contain thousands of barbed stingers filled with a paralyzing toxin, to catch their dinner. They don’t chase their prey, rather they catch food as it passes by. They are carnivores so they eat small fish, as well as zooplankton, small crustaceans, and other jellyfish.

While their toxin is not deadly to humans, you don’t want to be stung by one. They are quite common in the ocean off of Oregon…in fact their population is growing, much to the consternation of Oregon fisherman. They clog up fishing nets on a regular basis. But they do have their enemies. Despite having a potent sting, the Nettles are prey to many marine birds and large fish.

But you cannot deny that they are quite beautiful, especially in motion…thus making them a favorite for aquariums. I am glad my Nikon was able to capture them while moving in low light.

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

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

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Postcard from Kaslo

Kaslo is a colorful small town on the western shores of Kootenay Lake in eastern British Columbia. You couldn’t ask for a better place to spend some time. On a few occasions, I stayed in a cabin just south of town, so I got to know it well.

There is a 28 mile road that heads west from Kaslo up into the magnificent Selkirk Mountains. Eventually, the road ends in another small town…New Denver, on the eastern shores of Slocan Lake. The views here are amazing as the Valhalla Mountains rise up on the west side of the lake. They are aptly names as they look like something out of Norse mythology where the Viking gods live.

But, I digress. On the way to New Denver, you come across two lakes…Fish Lake and Bear Lake. I got up early one morning before sunrise and headed up to the lakes. I got there in time for sunrise and was able to capture this image.

To be honest, I don’t remember which lake this is. But, I guess it doesn’t matter. There is nothing better than being high up in the mountains at sunrise and seeing a beautiful site like this. I took this photo somewhere around the turn of the century (doesn’t that sound weird), which mean is was done on film. Thanks to my scanner and Photoshop, I was able to recreate the scene as I saw it. Even though this photo is at least 13 years old, it is still one of my favorites.

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

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.

Postcard from Grant County

Yes, I’ve been fooling around in the digital paints again.  But, don’t worry Ma, I didn’t get any on my clothes. I wear a digital apron these days. And if I do get any on my hands, it washes right off.

Don’t mind my humor today. I am a little off my rocker with the heat…we are in the 100’s these days, so I get a little sun stroke if go outside. But, that is Tucson for you. One learns to adjust one’s life to the weather. I went out for my usual morning walk at 5:30 this morning when it was a cool 74. As you might imagine, I have a lot of indoor projects planned for this summer.

Back to the matter at hand. Of course this painting is from a photo I took back in the late 20th century. I’ve been digging up some of my old pictures that I have stored on CD’s. I found this one and it looked like a good subject for a painting. It’s somewhat impressionistic and I enhanced it by putting it down on a digital cloth canvas. If you click on the image, you will see a larger version and the canvas will become more noticeable.

This image is a hay shed, located somewhere between Ephrata and Soap Lake. Locals who read this blog probably know exactly where this is…if it is still standing.  There were certainly some beautiful clouds in the sky that day.

Don’t be surprised if some more digital paintings turn up here in the future. I like to think that my paintings are what stand me apart from other photographers. I believe all artists want to be unique in some fashion.

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

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.

Postcard from Tucson

It’s me again, just playing around. Am back from an extended visit to see my son in Yuma.

As you know from a recent post, he and I recently visited the Pima Air and Space Museum and  took photos with my iPhone. Such a great little camera. Well, there are other fun photo tools for the iPhone (and iPad). One of them is called My Sketch.

So, one day out at the pool, I took the original photo of this seaplane and did a quick sketch with My Sketch. And with some small finishing touches in Photoshop, I created the sketch you see here. Trust me when I say not all the sketches turn out this well, but I got lucky here. I like it which is why I am showing it.

If you would like to see the original photo…well, here it is.

For your information, this is a Columbia XJL-1 seaplane. This particular aircraft is only one of three ever built. All three were built in 1946, just after the end of WWII. The Columbia XJL-1 was intended as a replacement for the Grumman J2F Duck amphibious bi-plane for the United States Navy. The plane bears a strong family resemblance to the Duck and has often been referred to as "a single-winged Duck."

This aircraft was assigned to Patuxent River Naval Air Station for testing. However, the plane did not live up to the expectations of the Navy with repeated structural failures of various parts reported during testing. So, it never went into production. This is the last surviving aircraft of the three.

As I’ve stated many times here before in many different ways, its fun to try different experiments with your photos, like sketches and paintings. Give it a try and see what you can do…expand your horizons. If you photograph with your smart phone, no matter what brand, there are many photo applications you can experiment with. So, what are you waiting for…go for it!

Postcard from Grant County

Here is an oldie, but a goodie: I took this photo back in the year 2000, maybe even a year or two earlier. The waterfall is called Summer Falls, the lake is named Billie Clapp Lake, and the rocks have no name.  Of course, being so dated, this shot was done on film…slide film to be exact.

This lovely scene was only a few miles from my former home in Ephrata, WA…a town of almost 8,000 people. I lived there for several years before leaving and coming south to Tucson.

The name Summer Falls derives from the fact that the falls only run in summer. And not to take the romance out of it, this is a man-made waterfall derived from runoff of irrigation water. There, I spoiled the photo. But, no matter it is still a lovely waterfall…when it’s running.

Billie Clapp Lake is named after Billie Clapp…a former resident of Ephrata and a bit of a local legend. William "Billy" Clapp (1877-1965),  was a lawyer in Ephrata. Clapp became convinced that whatever nature had done with ice in prehistoric times modern man could do with concrete.

But the best story about Billie comes from sometime around 1909. A little background first. Grant County, was created by the Washington Legislature in 1909, spun off from the rather large Douglas County. Shortly thereafter, the legislature chose 2 cities as finalists to become the County Seat…Ephrata and Wilson Creek. Both were to present their cases before the legislature in Olympia early one morning.

The Ephrata delegation was led by our friend Billie. He and some of the other Ephrata representatives came up with an ingenious plan. They decided to throw a large party for both delegations the night before the hearing. Billie paid off the bartenders to double up the drinks for the Wilson Creek boys, while the Ephrata reps stayed sober all night.

Well, the Wilson Creek boys were pretty heavy duty drinkers and they caroused all night, with the party going into the early morning hours. The Ephrata boys kept encouraging their rivals to drink up as Ephrata was paying for this party.

As you can guess, at the hearing the next morning, only the representatives from Ephrata showed up and the city was awarded the prize trophy…being named County Seat. Billie obviously new what he was doing.

That decision can be felt even today. Ephrata grew to a population of over 8,000 people, while Wilson Creek today supports a population of just over 200 people. Because it is the County Seat, Ephrata is mainly a government town.

Just to round off the story, there are only 91,000 people in all of Grant County. The biggest city is Moses Lake. The county, located in the dead center of the state, is still quite large in size. Its most notable asset is the Grand Coulee Dam, which supplies irrigation water to farms all over the county. It was the dam that turned Grant County into a thriving farming county instead of a barren, sandy desert.

I don’t know if it is true or not, but I just have a feeling Billie Clapp went back to Washington DC, got President Roosevelt drunk, then got him to approve the building of the dam. Grant County residents owe a lot to Billie.

(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.

Postcard from Rome

Ah, Rome. The eternal city. For a thousand years, it was home to the most powerful empire on earth…the Roman Empire. For more than 2,000 years, it has been home to another empire of sorts…the Catholic Church. Both empires offer much to see in this city of 2.78 million people.

The Roman Empire has left remnants of itself all over town. The Catholic Church also has remnants, but it is mainly centered in the Vatican, a separate country of its own surround on all sides by the City of Rome. One day after spending some time in the Vatican, I decided to take a walk along one of the most famous rivers in the world…the Tiber.

I took this photo on that walk. The river at this point, flows very close to the Vatican and the famous Castel Sant'Angelo (Castle of the Angels, formerly the tomb of the Roman Emperor Hadrian). So it was quite easy to take a walk along the Tiber.

Obviously it was winter time, and I was fascinated by the shape of the trees along the river. It forms a natural archway along the walk…it must be something to see in the warmer months when the leaves are full. But, I like this winter look as you can see the basic skeleton of the covered walkway.

While I most definitely enjoyed seeing the monuments of both empires, I also enjoyed quiet, undisturbed moment like this where I could wrap my self in the history of thousands of years. What momentous things this city has seen and endured…especially along the Tiber River, the very heart and soul of this eternal city, no matter who was in power at the time. 

The Tiber was extremely important to Roman trade and commerce, as ships could reach as far as 60 miles upriver from the mouth of the river at Ostia. That city became a major naval base for the Roman fleet, both for commerce and war. Ostia is about 20 miles west of Rome, so the distance was important to any defense of the city in times of war.

Like the Roman Empire, the river has a very humble beginning about 230 miles north of the city. It consists of two underground springs, about 30 feet apart, high in the Apennine Mountains. In the 1930’s, everyone’s favorite dictator, Benito Mussolini placed an antique Roman column topped off with an Eagle there. Inscribed are the words, "Here is born the river / sacred to the destinies of Rome." Mussolini was heavy into rebuilding the glories of the Roman Empire. It didn’t work out too well for him, but the Tiber flows on.

(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.

Postcard from Tucson

This is another in my series of architectural photos, specifically of small elements that go into a structure. This staircase is from a building on campus at the University of Arizona. Over my time here, I found many such interesting architectural designs. Most look so much better in black and white. 

As I’ve explained here before, the distractions caused by color are removed in a black and white image. Now you can see all the intricate elements of the photo. See how the stairs go off in different directions…always up. The stairs are interlaced with bricks…and all are framed by the curved ceiling of the landing on the next floor. 

To be honest, when I do one of these photos, I am never 100% sure if it will turn out the way I want. Sometimes, it does not. When I am there, I am distracted by seeing in three dimensions, and, of course, by all the colors. I will admit, this photo turned out more provocative than I hoped. So, part of the credit must go to post processing. But, that is true for most photos these days.

(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.

Postcard from Venice

Only a few brave souls chose to ride a gondola on this rainy day in Venice…I was not one of them. I preferred to walk around this amazing city with my camera to find those once-in-a-lifetime shots that are hidden all over town. In a sense, it is like an Easter Egg Hunt.

Most of the gondolas were bedded down for the day in hidden harbors like this one all over the islands. The water buses and taxis were running, but it was not what you would call a heavy traffic day. But, no matter what the weather, Venice is a special gem on our planet.

I’ve been to Venice three times, this being the only rainy day I endured. Funny, but I have never felt the slightest inclination to ride a gondola. I would rather see the city on foot, traversing hidden streets and bridges with no particular place in mind. Just see where my feet take me. It’s the only way to explore Venice.

On this day, they took me to this safe harbor where about 25-30 Gondolas were tied up for the day. I got lucky with the way these 4boats lined up in a row.

And don’t worry about getting lost…there are sign posts all over town. If you make St. Marks Square your home base, you will never be lost. All signs point the way to that great landmark. And don’t worry about being run over by crazy Italian drivers…automobiles are not allowed here. Besides, they would not fit.

Venice is one of perhaps five places you should see before your time on earth is completed. Spring and Fall are excellent times to go…but never, under any circumstances, go there in the summer. It is hot, humid, and very crowded. OK…if you have to, you have to. Just go.

(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.

Postcard from the Desert

This is a Cholla Cactus…also known down here as a Jumping Cholla. Why? Because if you get close, a segment of the cactus will jump off and stick itself into the closest part of your body. And trust me, it hurts. Not only that, but they are very difficult to remove.

Just look at the hundreds of needles on the plant. When it “attacks,” there is no way to grab hold of it to get it off…and the needles go deep. Each needle is very sharp and has hundreds of microscopic scales. The scales work like a fishhook. They go into your skin easily, but the scales expand making it hard to remove.

Static electricity is enough to detach the spikes and stick them on a passing animals or humans. Also vibrations of someone walking close by can cause them to jump.

A couple of years ago, I was attacked by one. I don’t believe I brushed against one…believe me with those needles I would have known it. All I know was there was one of them stuck in by side and another in my leg. I used a handkerchief to get them off me as that is all I had.

Veteran desert travelers always carry a comb or a pair of needle nose pliers. Using a comb allows you to have leverage over the needles and they will come out…but you will feel it for several hours.

A couple of weekends ago, my son was visiting here and we saw a young lady get stuck. Eric is a Border Patrol Agent and he is quite familiar with the nasty cactus from his desert patrols. He used his shirt to wrap around the needles and remove them from her skin.  

So why do they jump? Believe it or not, it is their way of reproducing. When you pull a segment out of your skin, of course you throw it on the ground. In the winter months, that segment will grow roots and become another Cholla. That is why you will often see a forest of Cholla plants growing together. Clever, eh?

They do produce a lovely flower this time of year, but it is neutral…it is not used for reproduction like most other flowers.

So take a good look at this photo…memorize it. When you come down this way, make sure you don’t get close to these buggers as you will pay a heavy, painful price. You’ve been warned!

Postcard from a Washington Beach

After the Storm

After the storm
the sea is calm
Once dark clouds,
threatening and cold,
separate and
the light again
shines brightly
over now gentle waters

Peace surrounds us
Fears fade away
Chill winds that stirred
and left us cold and shaking
are now at rest.
Life again fills with light,
calming fears of life's storm
that rise within oneself.

Beyond the clouds
the sun is always shining
the sky is always blue.
Clouds change and waves
rise and fall, come and go.
The unchanging is eternal.
Storms are but awhile
and so with faith I wait!

Peace, serenity.
Tranquil seas.
Light overcomes darkness.
The gentle breeze
awakens my spirit.
My soul is ready for the new day.
Beautiful is God's creation and love
and I embrace the Eternal embracing me!

N. Ellsworth Bunce - 1998

 

(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.

Postcard from Tucson

To paraphrase an old Broadway tune, “Spring is bustin’ out all over.” When I take my morning walks, that song pops into my head as I parade past the flowering cactus here in the Sonoran Desert. And yes, my walks are getting earlier and earlier as the temps start to rise. It won’t be long before I walk around sunrise at 5:30 to escape the overpowering summer desert sun.

As mentioned before, I live in the western foothills above Tucson. so I just have to go a few feet to see a variety of blooming cactus. I love this time of the year! Right now, the blossoms are mostly on some of the smaller and medium size cactus. But, it won’t be long before the giant Saguaro Cactus show their stuff. Nature saves the best for last.

Just down the street is a hill covered with hundreds of Saguaro. It’s like a forest, with each cactus having its own personality. After the first 100 years, you never know how the arms will twist and grow. It’s quite spectacular, to say the least.

But, for now, I will be content with the smaller variety, like the one pictured here. I found this little gem in a neighbor’s yard. Remember this is the desert here…we don’t have lawns. We decorate with rocks and cactus. You won’t find many power lawn mowers on sale at a Home Depot here. The only lawns are on the golf courses. When I lived in the northern climates, I always wondered about all the efforts we put into our lawns. So much work to keep them clean, green and trimmed. On that score, give me the desert every time. A lot less work.

I was disappointed this year when the hills here did not yield any ground cover wildflowers. I thought we had enough rain for them to come forth. But alas, it was not to be.

I remember a couple of years ago when I drove the 3.5 hours from Yuma to home and the desert was non-stop wildflowers all the way. That was spectacular. So this year, we must all be content with this year’s crop of cactus flowers…and I am.

(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.