Bye Bliss

For years, Bliss Dance was one of my favorite parts of San Francisco. I loved bringing friends visiting from out of town to see her lit up at night. Last night, we did just that and found that she was gone. Only part of her right leg remained, and the area where she once stood was marked off with caution tape. As we stood shivering in the dark, we found out that she had been taken down only a few days ago.

I am glad that I got to take some photos with her a few years ago while on a night photography workshop led by Joe Decker. I was prepared with a thermos of hot tea and extra camera batteries. These were taken before she was cleaned of rust. I liked the rust. I liked the way it accentuated parts of her. I will add these photos to my Disintegrating Gargoyles gallery soon.

Goodbye Bliss.

To Rick Knepp

It's bittersweet getting ready for the Mono Lake "Forgotten Season" photo workshop, knowing that Rick Kneep won't be there. I don't think it'll really hit me until we're there and meet up at the Mono Lake Committee on Friday afternoon. 

I haven't had many photography teachers. Rick was one of the few. He passed away suddenly in December. The photo in this post was taken on one of the first of those Winter workshops I attended. Joe and Chris Decker invited me along with them on the ride to this magical place that felt like another planet to me. I've been there five or six times now and it is still magical and still feels like we're not on this Earth.

Rick was a great teacher. His workshops were full of fun and photos and food! Rick was very helpful with constructive criticism when I asked him for help with certain 'problem' photos I had. He told me that my photographs were very good in their own right (when I was worried about showing mine after those of a professional photographer in a slide show). 

I wish I'd gotten a chance to take more classes and workshops with him. I wish I'd bought one of his prints. 

Everyone who had been on this workshop before told me of this phenomenon called 'pogonip' which I had never seen until about two years ago. Every year before the Winter workshop, I'd ask Rick to 'order up some pogonip' and he's say he'd see what he could do.

Rick, I'll raise a glass to you when we gather for our dinner on Saturday night in Lee Vining. I miss you and hope you're at peace.

Spring Show at PhotoCentral from April 26 to June 14th

Hi everyone! Please come out and see some of my photos at PhotoCentral's annual Spring Show in Hayward. I have two pieces on the walls and one in the photo bin. On the wall, look for a photo of a deer called "Graceful" and one of Mono Lake called "South Tufa Meditation". In the bin, you'll find a photo called "Frozen Angel". I hope you enjoy them. I'm not putting them on the site yet to encourage you to come see them in person! 

New gallery of waterfalls and horses in Iceland

I just added a new picture gallery here called Iceland: waterfalls and horses.  That's what I went to take photos of in September 2012.  I was giddy about being able to get right up next to horses to photograph them so close.  I kept a safe distance from the waterfalls however.  I hope to go back to continue exploring.

 

 

At rest

This is a photo I wasn't sure I was going to put up on this site.  I found this bird, an Eared Grebe, on the shore near South Tufa at Mono Lake.  I couldn't stop taking pictures of him.  Some may say that's a little creepy.  

I took many photos on that trip but I also took little iPhone videos to send to my dear Aunt Viv, who passed the following month from Lung Cancer.  I wanted to show her some of the beauty I'd seen because I didn't think she'd get a chance to travel again and I was right.  My Aunt Viv was the biggest fan of my photography and I miss her every day.  

I find beauty in lots of things, even this graceful bird, who is at rest forever.

PhotoCentral Spring Show

 Come see the PhotoCentral Spring Show!  It's up til May 17, 2012.  I have three photographs in the show.  There are about 50 very talented photographers showing their work.  Let me know when you'll be stopping by and maybe I can give you a tour.

Bonus trip to Bodie

It's Winter but in the Eastern Sierra right now, there isn't much snow.  I'm here on Rick Knepp's Winter Photography in the Mono Basin workshop. I think this is the third time my friends have let me tag along with them to come to this workshop.  

Every year it's completely different.  This year, Tioga Pass is open.  We drove through Yosemite to get here.  And as an added surprise, the road to Bodie was open!  That meant I got to take photos of dusty books, peeling wallpaper and other gritty subjects through dirty windows.  This was all before the Winter workshop even began.  Having only been to Bodie once before, this was a real treat.  

 

 

Last chance to see the 2011 Alameda on Camera exhibit

The Alameda on Camera show ends in just a few days on May 26th.  Above is a sample of one of my pieces in the show.  This year, I chose a snow theme since the weekend we had to take photographs for this year's Alameda on Camera, it was supposed to snow in the Bay Area.  None of my work in the show is in a picture frame but they are all behind glass . . .