• Black and White,  Candid Portraits,  Documentary/Street,  People/Portraits,  quotes

    Contrivance

    February 12, 2021
    New York City – 2008

    “Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.”

    Henri Cartier-Bresson

    Contrivance? Now that is a big word for me. So, I had to look it up. It means: “deliberately created rather than arising naturally or spontaneously.” For the image above, the microsecond after pressing the shutter button this scene was gone, never to exist as it was in that one moment of time. I see that as a gift given for a short period of time so I must accept it at that moment.

    It’s -1 degree right now. Not expecting it to be above 10 degrees until Tuesday. We also have a dusting of snow. Stay warm!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  sunrises

    Happy New Year

    January 1, 2021

    I spent some time last week creating a slideshow of favorite images from 2020 but I was not satisfied with it. And, just as I’ve not had any Christmas spirit this year, the mood for a slideshow was not there. Instead, I decided to greet the first sunrise of 2021 with a mocha, my journal and camera and post that image. I always start each day’s entry in my journal with the date. So this morning I smiled when I wrote 2021 because I have hopes for the coming year and the needed healing for our wounded world; politically, economically, environmentally, socially and spiritually.

    As I journaled a car pulled up beside me and a young couple got out and sat on the small bench. They wrapped themselves in a blanket and joined me in greeting the new year’s first sunrise. They agreed to let me include them in the photo. I hope and pray for any who read this post to have a wonderful year in 2021.

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  • haiku,  People/Portraits,  Portraits,  writing/reading

    Red Hair

    November 30, 2020

    red hair with freckles 
    on a dare and not for love
    innocent first kiss

    ms

    One perk of reaching 70 years of age is how many people I have encountered in life. Some I will keep as lifelong friends while some will only be a part of my life for a season or two. But, what I have from each of those encounters are memories and the awareness of how they changed my life in some way. I encountered a lot of people during my seven years working as flight attendant, both crew and passengers. And, I was lucky enough to photograph several of the flight attendants I worked with, both men and women. This young lady is Lori and the image was taken in 2009. Because she is outgoing and comfortable with herself we came away with some very good images. This is one of my favorites.

    Now about the haiku. I wrote the haiku this past week while reflecting on a few experiences of my childhood. I started a project a a couple years ago to write a simple memoir for my grandchildren. One of those experiences needs to be the first kiss. The first kiss I remember was with my red haired neighbor, Carolyn. I’m suspecting I was 8 or 9 and she was 6 or 7. Her brother, one of my classmates, put us up to it with a dare. I’m posting this image of Lori because she has the red hair and the perfect amount of freckles to go along with my haiku and story.

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  • Fujifilm X-T3,  Fujifilm XF16-80mm f4.0,  landscape,  mountains,  natural areas,  sunsets,  trees

    Nice Reprieve

    October 4, 2020
    An image of the sun about to set at a local park on Tuesday evening

    Thursday and Friday of last week were very smokey over the city. The smoke filters the sun and changes the colors and shadows of everything, bringing on an otherworldly look. It has an affect on peoples moods, adding stress to the pandemic and our countries unrest. On Friday evening I drove out to one of the natural areas because I thought I may find an image to show just how the smoke looks from here. The top image was taken about an hour before sunset, all is dark and gloomy and the sun has a deep red color.

    Thankfully, not everyday is like this. Saturday was a nice reprieve, winds blew in our favor so we enjoyed blue skies and not as much soot and ash falling on us. I’m wearing my mask practically all of the time and have my windows and doors closed just because of the snoke. It’s a good time to stay inside. Our Colorado sunsets are just not the same.

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  • Candid Portraits,  clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  People/Portraits,  photographers

    Visitors

    September 22, 2020

    Tom and Kathy Dills with breakfast smiles at the Chicken Coop

    No landscape images this morning. Instead I’m going to post a couple of images of Tom and Kathy Dills from the short visit we had.  Pretty impressive smiles from both of them considering the road miles they have put in. Driving from North Carolina to the northwest coast and back is not the same as a jaunt to the grocery store. And, include a pandemic and the fact most of the west coast seems to be on fire and you can understand the task they took on. This was yesterday morning at the newly opened Chicken Coop, a American Mexican restaurant nearby.

    Kathy checking out the uncomfortable rock

    They arrived Sunday afternoon. After connecting up we drove to the Pineridge Natural Area and then to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area where we took a short walk to the rock. This is a location I enjoy because of the quiet and solitude I can experience. At the present time it’s not as quiet because they’re using the open field south of the natural area as a staging area for the helicopters battling the Cameron Peak fire. Kathy tried sitting on the uncomfortable rock and agreed it’s purpose is not long term sitting. They left yesterday morning and expect to arrive in Charlotte on Thursday. It was a short visit but hopefully there will be more opportunities.

     

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  • clouds,  Fujifilm X-T3,  Humor,  landscape,  mountains,  Plants,  quotes,  sunsets

    Softening the Heart

    July 18, 2020

    Sun setting behind a sunflower at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area

    “The old Lakota was wise. He knew that a man’s heart away from nature becomes hard.” Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Lakota

    I’m  aware of how much more time I’m spending in nature. Seems the morning and evenings are always calling me. I took this image last night. But, this morning I took my latte, camera and journal to Red Fox meadows. A red fox scampered across Taft Hill Rd just as I turned into the parking area. Then as I parked the car a red tailed hawk rose up from the grass in the meadow but I did not see anything in its talons. I began to journal and listen. After about 5 minutes the fox came out a wooded area and into the grassy meadow. They were too far away to take a photo so I watched with my binoculars. They just sat there soaking up the sun and seemingly with eyes closed decided to lay down. Even I was enjoying the sun’s warmth. There were blue jays off to my right in a grove of trees having a rather loud discussion about something. I’m pretty sure it was not politics. I then watched a doe slowly walk out of the wooded area but staying close to the trees. I next had a short conversation with an elderly couple on a morning walk, both with canes. They lived nearby and said they were hoping to see owls. He was 88 and she was 83. Then as I started to leave a mother with two boys pulled up. I told them about the fox, deer and hawk which seemed to set expectations for some adventure. As they moved on the youngest told me, “Thank you Mr. Kind Man.” I believe, as does Luther Standing Bear, that nature can soften the heart!

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