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 In Arizona, the traditional sleigh is replaced by a stagecoach and the reindeer are superseded by horses.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

Postcard from Bryce Canyon

You are looking at the only waterfall in Bryce Canyon National Park. And, believe it or not, it does not have a name. Truth be told, it isn’t really that big. And, if you really want the deep, dark secret about it, it is was formed by the hand of man.

Let me explain. The falls and its creek are located below the main portion of Bryce Canyon…you know, the one where are the tourists are (here is another secret…Bryce Canyon isn’t really a canyon!).

But back to the nameless falls. Back in the late 1800’s, this area, and all of Utah for that matter, was settled by Mormon Pioneers. They built farms and ranches below Bryce, in an around the towns of Tropic and Cannonville. Well, as you can probably guess, Utah is not blessed with an abundance of water, especially below Bryce Canyon.

So, some very clever and hard working pioneers dug a 3-4 mile long irrigation canal from the East Fork of the Sevier River (which is west of the Park) and connected it up to the canyon you see here which is called Water Canyon…and the water flowed. There just happened to be a nice drop in the canyon where a waterfall fit in very nicely.

The canal that flows into Water Canyon has the gawd-awful name of Tropic Ditch, something best left off of the tourist brochures. If you pull up a the National Park map of Bryce Canyon, you can see how the canal runs from the river to Water Canyon. Its one of the very few places where you will see the name “Tropic Ditch” in print.

To get to the falls, you leave the tourist section of the park and drop down towards Tropic on Highway 12. Soon you will reach the Mossy Cave Trail parking area. Park there and hike up Water Canyon about 1/2 mile to the falls.  

As you might guess from looking at the photo, the walk offers some spectacular views of another section of Bryce Canyon. It is an easy walk to the falls, although if you want to go all the way to Mossy Cave, it gets fairly steep (really not worth it either).

I have no idea why no one ever gave a name to the falls. Maybe we should hold a contest. How about Tropic Falls, or Water Canyon Falls? Being a simple person, my favorite is Water Falls. Now that would be unique.

Postcard from the Cascades

AUTUMN CAME

By ripping cheeks,
with cold breeze,
with twitter of sparrows,
Autumn came!
Autumn came to cover
shivering earth
with colorful leaves carpet!
Autumn floats like
sun's epitaph
Autumn echoed like
farewell song of birds
in the evening!
Autumn touches the
breath of last leaves
on the verge of falling
with warmth!
Autumn challenges the
confidence of the tree
who hides buds in the heart

Mula Veereswara Rao

(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 Southwest

Here is another recently completed painting of desert Spring flowers here in the Sonoran Desert. If you are not familiar with how the Sonoran differs from other desert types, let me explain.

While most deserts are somewhat barren and covered in sand, this desert is alive with plant life. Here is where you find the famous Saguaro Cactus, those beautiful very tall cactus with arms that form in unusual shapes. They live to a ripe old age numbering in hundreds of years. The arms don’t even form until they are at least 100 years old.

But there are many other types of cactus and desert flora that thrive here. I live in the western foothills above Tucson. Our hills are green all year around with trees and flowers (and cactus). Here it is in November and some of our plants and bushes have flowers on them. 

The key to the Sonoran Desert's climate is the amount of rainfall. More rain falls on the Sonoran Desert than any other desert. When it does get rain, the desert is damp, and the air is cool. The plants and trees here thrive. 

The seasons are similar to where you live, with some differences. Spring is a time when flowers bloom if the winter and fall had enough rain. In summer and we have lots of rain, courtesy of the monsoons that form in the Gulf of Mexico. With the arrival of autumn comes cooler breezes, which lets the deserts summer heat wear away. Winter brings snow to the mountains and colder air to the desert valley.

The Sonoran Desert is mostly in Southern Arizona and Mexico, with some parts of it reaching into southeastern California. But the best part of it is in and around Tucson, especially the western section. Saguaro National Park is here and is a great place to see what the Sonoran Desert is all about.

So, kiddies, that is your lesson today about the Sonoran Desert. I hope you will come down here sometime and see it for yourself. It is worth it (except in summer).

Have a Happy Thanksgiving. I will be back next week with more photos and stories from around the world. 

(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 Zion

As Autumn now fades into Winter, I can’t resist showing at least one more Autumn photo, this one from Zion National Park. With its towering peaks and narrow canyons, Zion National Park is a unique place to enjoy the fall extravaganza. I’ve shown a few images here before, but not this one.

There are no towering peaks in this photo, only 4 different examples of Autumn leaves, all in one place. Maybe one shouldn’t count green, but that would be splitting hairs. 

This photo was done in the north part of Zion Canyon, up in the area known as the Narrows. I found that the greatest variety of fall colors are in this area. Don’t get me wrong…almost all of Zion Canyon features spectacular colors. But usually its mostly yellow, except in a few areas where red and orange abound and are mixed in with yellow….like the narrows.

I didn’t go back there this year and I understand I missed a really colorful year. But, the same can be said of last year, which is when I took this photo. I am thinking about going back next year, maybe a little earlier to capture the fall colors in the high country. We shall see. 

Postcard from the Desert

I had a hankering to do some painting recently and got out the old digital paintbrushes and came up with this little gem. Those of you who know my work in this area know that I use my own photographs, then use specialized computer software to create a painting. I use many different brushes and digital mediums to come up with a final painting.

I took the original photo out in the desert in 2010, a year when we had a wildflower extravaganza. It doesn’t happen every year, but when the rains and temps are just right, the flowers bust out all over. It’s quite a site to behold. We had some flowers last spring, but not as spectacular as 2010. In 2011, if memory serves, we had no spring wildflowers at all.

Not long after I took the original photo for this painting, I had occasion to drive from Tucson to Yuma and back…about a 4 hour drive each way. It was non-stop flowers the entire way. It really made for a spectacular drive, which is amazing as that trip is desert the entire way and can be quite boring (the key to surviving this drive normally is audio books).

I often look at original paintings of the impressionists and wonder if the painting would have made a good photograph. Mostly, the answer is no. But when they applied brush to canvas, a normally mundane scene came alive with their interpretations of light and color.

It was this idea that originally got me started creating digital paintings from my original photos. Over the years, photography has developed its own aesthetic criteria…in other words, what makes for a good photograph. And those same criteria may or may not work for paintings. Try it sometime at an art museum. Try to imagine a landscape painting as a photo. You just may discover what I mean.

Then try looking at a great artistic photo and imagine it as a painting. You may find that the scene is much better captured by the photograph. Ah, creativity! It can be quite a mental challenge.

(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 Salt River Canyon

Just above the canyon floor I found this old, broken down wild west jail. It made for an interesting photo, especially after I did a little doctoring in Photoshop. I made it into an old west-style photo. I did some research and could find absolutely nothing about it.

So since I don’t have much to write about, I thought I would take this space and print a cowboy poem. It has nothing to do with the photo, other than it is about an outlaw who might have spent time in a jail such as this, if he had not met a violent end. Enjoy.

Little Dick West
Jeff Richards

What made Little Dick West go bad?
He was a homeless waif.
Rolled up his blankets under the stars.
He was a hard working cowboy
when he met Bill Doolin.
Maybe that’s what made him go bad.

Maybe he was uncomfortable in his skin.
He appears porky in his photograph.
barrel chest, fat face,
pig eyes full of cross-eyed anger,
black eyebrows,
that stretched across his forehead,
thick black beard and moustache,
hairy as Sasquatch.

Maybe the ladies lowered their parasols,
the kids crawled under the boardwalk,
and the dogs snarled as he lumbered by.
Maybe he was lonely, angry at the world
or maybe simply unlucky

To run with the Doolin-Dalton Gang,
rob banks and trains until Doolin
was felled with 21 buckshot wounds
to the chest.

In 1898 Dick was currying his horse
on a ranch outside Guthrie,
when three lawmen crept up.
He dropped the curry comb,
flashed twin Colts,
but before he could fire,
he was chiseled full of holes.

Poor Little Dick West, I found out later
wasn’t fat at all.
He was as gangly as a coyote.
Already dead in the photograph,
He was ripe for burial.

 

(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 Hearst Castle

Here I was, in this magnificent library in Hearst Castle, surrounded by over 4,000 books…and I couldn’t find anything to read. Thank God I had my Kindle with me. Just kidding (as if you didn’t know). Somehow I can’t image William Randolph Hearst using a Kindle if he were alive today.

Regardless, Hearst build this incredible library for himself and his guests. Unlike the private Gothic study, where only few guests were allowed, this room was open to anyone. Sadly, only part of the library is pictured here. In fact, it is 80 feet long…and the ceilings…WOW!

Besides the books, many of them quite rare, the library also contained one of Hearst’s most treasured collections: 150 ancient Greek vases, all over 2,000 years old. You can see one of them on the table on the right. Most of the others line the walls above the bookshelves. Some are visible in this photo (click the photo to enlarge it). Because of the current laws regarding antiquities, it would be impossible to amass such a collection today (well, legally anyway). 

With a room such as this, one would never consider taking any physical exercise here…well a normal person anyway. However in his autobiography, Harpo Marx talks about doing somersaults in here with Marion Davies, Hearst’s long time paramour. Now, that would have been worth seeing.

Flash photography is forbidden anywhere inside the castle, so thank God my Nikon is equipped with an anti-shake lens or I would have never captured this image. But I think I prefer this natural light rather than artificial lighting. It gives the room a more natural warm feeling, perfect for a library.

I wish I wasn’t on a tour so I could spend hours in here wandering around, looking at the books and vases at my leisure. Much better than wandering around a Barnes and Noble.

(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 Chinatown

Did you know that San Francisco’s Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside of Asia? I bet you didn’t. I also bet you didn’t know its gets more tourists every year than the Golden Gate Bridge. Probably because its easier to get to.

Here is a shortcut to Chinatown for you tourists that requires no automobile…unless you enjoy paying outrageous car park fees in a big city. Leave your car at a BART station anywhere in the Bay Area. Take a BART train to the Powell Street Station. Get out, go up the stairs and look for a cable car. They are at the corner of Powell and Market. You can’t miss it as you are right there.

Then walk right past the long lines of tourists waiting to ride the cable car and continue up Powell St. for 3 blocks. On your right will be the famous Union Square. Grab a Starbucks and sit in the square for a few minutes and enjoy the scenery (this part is optional, but worth it).

The walk across the square to the next street which is Stockton Street. Turn left. Up ahead you will see a tunnel. Walk two blocks to the tunnel and continue on through it. When you emerge, you will be in Chinatown. Easy, huh? Enjoy the view all along the way (I admit the tunnel is boring).

It is ironic that when you walk into the tunnel, you leave Western Civilization behind and emerge in a whole different world. It’s the stuff of science fiction.

Chinatown is not built to attract tourists, even though it does. No indeed. It was originally established in 1848 as a community for Chinese immigrants so they could retain a semblance of the life they left behind. Chinatown is an enclave that continues to retain its own customs, languages, shops, places of worship, social clubs, and identity. One can quite easily become immersed in a microcosmic Asian world, filled with herbal shops, temples, pagoda roofs and dragon parades.

As I said, it was not built for tourists, but of course, we come there in droves. But don’t expect shops and restaurants that have a western feel to them (although there are a few). This is Chinatown, the real deal.

When I was there, I visited a few shops and other locals with my camera, like this more modern Chinese market. But I ate lunch at a whole-in-the-wall restaurant that offered dim sum and other Chinese delicacies that were wonderful. It was a bit of a dump inside with cheap bench seats equipped with soy sauce and not much else. But that is normal here. Had to look around to find western-style utensils and napkins (never was any damn good with chopsticks).

As there were numerous Chinese people inside eating lunch with me, that’s a tipoff that the food is good. Here is a tip: before eating at any restaurant in Chinatown, look inside to see how many Chinese are eating. That will give you a clue as to the food quality. And before you ask, there are no Panda Express joints in Chinatown.

To use the bathroom, I had to borrow a key from one of the cooks. The key was on something resembling a bent tire iron and had two rolls of toilet paper on it. Quite unique. But that is Chinatown.

When you visit San Francisco, be sure to make Chinatown a destination. It’s the real deal, as compared to Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39, and other such places there that are built to take your tourist dollars. And make sure to find a real hole-in-the-wall restaurant for lunch or dinner. You will love it.

Postcard from Fredericksburg, VA

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.

These rebels were camped right on the river (you can see it in the background). Just across the river that day was an encampment of Union troops, which was how it was back in 1862. 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. It looks easy to cross, and at times, it is. 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 both in town and 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.

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

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 Salt River Canyon

The day started out to be a search for autumn leaves. Not an easy task in southern Arizona, especially in October. But we do have mountains here, some of them pretty high. So I decided to take trip northeast, up into the White Mountains.

This was new territory for me…and you know how I love seeing new places. From Tucson I drove nearly 100 miles to the town of Globe. I didn’t expect to find any leaves here as it is only about 700 feet higher than Tucson. But I turned left onto Arizona 60 and headed up into the heart of the mountains. My destination was another small town called Show Low, about 90 miles further east from Globe.

Well, I climbed and climbed into the mountains…then all of a sudden, started heading down again. Down, down, down I went until I came to the bottom of the Salt River Canyon. I heard about the canyon from a friend who said it was a miniature Grand Canyon. Well, in places, it really is quite spectacular.

This photo was taken at the bottom of the canyon where these two bridges cross the river. By using a wide angle lens, I was able to achieve a twisty, roller coaster look to the nearest bridge. I did not use special effects here to achieve the look. The lens did it for me. Ain’t photography grand?

From the canyon floor, I continued my trek eastward and upward to see some autumn color…and I found it, a few miles west of Show-Low. It was nice to see some trees with that special yellow glow on the leaves. Even saw a handful of red leaves. It wasn’t great compared to the Northwest, but I got what I came for. There is Autumn in eastern Arizona.

By the way, Show-Low sits at 6,400 feet. And where did the name come from, you ask?  According to legend, the city was named after a marathon poker game between two local residents. They decided there was not enough room for both of them in their little town.

The two men agreed to let a game of cards decide who was to leave town. According to the tale, one of them said, "If you can show low, you win." The other then turned up the deuce of clubs and replied, "Show low it is." At stake was a 100,000 acres ranch.  PS: Show Low's main street is named "Deuce of Clubs" in remembrance.

Now, aren’t you glad you asked?

(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 Walnut Creek

Can you see the image in this photo? It is not a trick question, just an optical illusion of sorts. What you are looking at is a two story sculpture created by Christian Moeller, a UCLA design/media arts professor. It sits in the Walnut Creek, CA Library. I was on the second story of the library when I took this photo.

Here is the tricky part: when you stand where I stood, or even on the first floor, all you see are books…3,960 books with spines in 12 different different shades of gray from pure white to pitch black.

The only time you can see the actual image (in case you haven’t figured it out, it’s a librarian giving you the “shhh” sign) is when you photograph it. Each book spine represents one pixel of the entire image. And, as I found out when I played with it in Photoshop, the bigger the image the less clear the face. So if you use a digital camera and take a picture, you will see it clearly on your camera’s screen.

It is quite a trick of light. By the way, the colors you see on the face are created by sunlight coming through the windows.

There are plenty of extra books to purchase…the idea being for Walnut Creek residents to fill out their stories in a book…then it is put into the sculpture, replacing a blank book. In time, it will be filled with the memories and histories of the people of Walnut Creek. Pretty great idea!  

If you ever are in or near Walnut Creek, you should go see it for yourself. It is pretty amazing…and don’t forget your camera.

To see a smaller version of this photo so you can better see the librarian, just click on the image. To learn more about this sculpture, click here. There is also a short video showing how it was done.

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

Postcard from the Arches

This was one of those photos that was easy to capture. I got up early one morning, made a cup of coffee, then walked about 30 feet behind where I was camped in the Arches National Park, and shot the photo. Simple. The coffee was good and the photo turned out pretty well.

The Arches was one of many stops I made back in late 2008. Long time readers will remember I was on a road trip all over the Western United States, seeing places I’d never seen before. I left my previous home in North Central Washington and eventually wound up here in Tucson. But, I took a few months to make the journey.

I slept in my van most of the time, which was quite comfortable, even in 20 degree temperatures. I usually stayed in campgrounds, with the occasional stay in a hotel when I wanted a long shower, a comfortable bed, and a TV to watch some football.

It was a great trip with lots of memories…and a few good photos. I hated to end the trip, but it was late December, it was snowing in most places, and I felt it was time to put down some roots. December in southern Arizona is quite a bit more comfortable than up anywhere on the Colorado Plateau.

When I look at photos like this one, it brings back those memories of being on the road. It’s a special chapter in my life that I will never forget. To me, there is no greater thrill than to see and explore some beautiful place in our world that I’ve never seen before.

(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 Oregon Coast

One of the problems with being a professional photographer or even an avid amateur is one’s eye is always looking for the perfect composition in order to make a great image. So, you say, why is that a problem?

Because we photographers often don’t take the time to appreciate where we are…to take in the beauty of a place and see it for what it really is. We get so caught up in composition, light and the other elements that make a good photo that we can’t separate the forest from the trees, so to speak.

Places like this beach on the Oregon Coast are beautiful for the artist, but also beautiful for mind. In a place like this, you can experience the place itself, the beauty of it, and the sense of calm you may not be able to experience anywhere else. Here, you can contemplate such lofty subjects as who you are, how you fit in this world, and for that matter, the universe. All one has to do is open one’s mind. It’s hard to do that when you are focused on taking the perfect photograph.

I bring this up as I remember this beach very well…after I took my photos, I put down the camera and just sat for a short time soaking in the beauty and all it had to offer. It was a calming effect that made my day so much better.

As Emerson once said, “Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting.”

Life is full of beauty, not only in an exquisite photograph or painting, but in the places around the world where it abounds in glorious abundance. It’s not always easy to wake up your conscience mind and let it experience what it sees. But one must always try.

(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 Cascades

I was thinking this weekend how much I miss fall colors. It’s hard to think about autumn when it 95 down here in Southern Arizona. The hills around my home are as green as you can possible image. True, some of it is the Sugauro cactus, but there are are plenty of other desert plants that are green. Many have flowers on them. Not conducive to thought of autumn.

In Arizona, we do have regular autumn, but only at the higher elevations…places like the White Mountains, Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon and Flagstaff. And that happens in early November.

I remember my Washington State days when I would prowl the eastern portion of the Cascade Foothills and Mountains in October, searching for colorful photo opportunities. I usually had no problems finding them.

When I did art shows up in Leavenworth, WA, I had a 20’ travel trailer parked on private property about 2 miles out of town. There, some of the best autumn photos I ever took were just a few feet away from my trailer.  Now, that was heaven for a photographer.

Take this photo, for instance. I took it one lovely autumn morning about 30’ from my trailer…and I have more from the same vicinity. Lord, how I miss spending October in the Cascades…especially in October. Imagine, sitting at your table, drinking coffee, and seeing this view out your window.

Sometimes I would dawn a jacket and sit outside, just to be closer to the view. Ah, the good old days.

Last Autumn, my friend Dave and I did an Autumn photo trip to Zion National Park in November. And, you’ve seen some of the amazing photos here that I took on that trip. Our timing could not have been more perfect.

For this year, Dave and I are talking about a trip to the Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon for our Autumn photos. I hiked through Oak Creek Canyon in late November, 2007…and while I got some good photos, the best of Autumn was already passed. Am hoping for better luck this year. We shall see.

You might ask if I am sorry I moved to the Southwest when I could be enjoying all the colors I left behind. The answer is a definite NO!! My life is very rich and rewarding down here. After all, I am still wearing shorts and a t-shirt all day long. Are you?

For all you readers up in the Northwest, enjoy this season and take it all in. Who knows, you might wind up in Arizona in the future and miss it…like me.

Postcard from Los Angeles

While this photo was taken in San Francisco at AT&T Park (home of the SF Giants), this story is really about what happened in Los Angeles last night, at Dodger Stadium.

Here is the setting: The Giants are playing the Dodgers in the next-to-last regular season game of the year. The Giant clinched the Western Division of the National League many days ago and are in the playoffs. The Dodgers are in second place, but are only two games out of the last wild card spot to be in the playoffs. For them to get in, they need the Cardinals to lose and they need to beat the Giants.

The Cardinals lose…so the Dodgers and their fans still have hope. But the Giants stomp all over their hopes by beating the Dodgers 3-2. Except for a meaningless last game to be played today, the Dodgers’ season is over. And I say, "Hooray for that." I despise the Dodgers. I don't want them to win anything. My favorite baseball team is of course, the Giants. My second favorite team is anyone playing the Dodgers at any time.

And I think you will find that most Giants fans, especially those from the Bay Area, feel the same way. True San Franciscans loath all LA teams. It's something that is instilled in you at a very young age. And rest assured, the same feelings toward San Francisco teams are held by Angelinos everywhere.

The San Francisco/Los Angeles rivalry is like none other. For instance, Chicago and New York, each have two teams (in baseball)...and I found out on my recent visits to Chicago, fans of one team hate the other team. When the White Sox were in the World Series a few years ago, Cubs fans rooted for the other team...vigorously!

But there is a big difference in New York and Chicago rivalries. Those teams play in different leagues. The Giants and Dodgers are not only in the same league, they are in the same division.  Naturally, the rivalry is more intense, to put it mildly.

It was the same when the two teams were based in the New York area. New York Giants fans hated the Brooklyn Dodgers and visa versa. I talked to a woman recently who grew up in New York and whose whole family were intense Giants fans. She married another New Yorker whose whole family were devoted to the Dodgers. That marriage almost didn't happen.

In 1958, both teams moved...to San Francisco and Los Angeles respectively. The animosity was automatic as the rivalry between SF and LA had been long established by then.

Before 1958, there was an intense rivalry when LA had the Rams. San Franciscans, me included, despised the Rams. It was so wonderful when, in the 80's and 90's, the 49ers pounded the Rams, which they almost always did. I must admit, since the Rams moved to St. Louis, the rivalry lost its edge a bit. Rivalries are between cities, much more so than teams.

I was once an Oakland Raider fan and rooted hard for them. Then Al Davis moved the team to Los Angeles. That was the end of that relationship. You don't screw your local fans and move your team to the worst city imaginable! True, the Raiders are back in Oakland, but I don't care. Some sins are just not forgivable.

And just to put a final period on this, you must know that college fans of Stanford and Cal feel that extra surge of adrenaline when they play USC and UCLA...especially USC. We love to see them get crushed. Even here in Tucson, when UofA plays either team in any sport, I love seeing those LA teams go down to defeat. It feels so good.

Earlier this year, the Dodgers were here in Tucson to play a spring training game against the White Sox. Guess what baseball cap I wore? SF Giant...you betcha!! I don't hate the Dodgers or their players, I just despise all LA sports teams. Why? Because they are from LA and I am from San Francisco.

Sports just bring out the best in a person. Ain’t it 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.