The opening of autumn in northern New Mexico defies description. Perfect days with crisp blue skies, dotted with a fleeting cloud or two, and nights occasionally bringing the closing acts of thunder and lightning, trying to wring out what little moisture is left in the atmosphere. It is magnificent. Responding to precisely the right conditions, the...

We have heard a lot about aliens lately - in reference to people not in the country legally, and those which might be associated with UFOs - but not much about those residing in the garden. I realize this might not be the most desirable photographic theme to some people, but the big green grasshopper residing on a basil plant caught my attention....

The rain fell gently during the night, leaving behind evocative water droplets, revealing easily missed details in the natural landscape. As you have read here many times before, rain in New Mexico is a spectator sport. Particularly after extended stretches of dry weather, which has been the case in the last couple of weeks. Although the dryness ma...

Just when the amount of daylight in any given day is changing radically as the autumnal equinox approaches, and the morning temperatures become cooler making more mellow days, animal activity (including human) actually increases. Migratory birds are preparing for their trips to warmer climates. Hummingbirds and seed eaters are feeding on everything...

The monsoon rains bring nature's culinary specialties when just the right conditions present themselves. Mushrooms and fungi emerge from the forest duff and debris, and it doesn't take long for animals of all stripes to discover them, including humans. It was always a wonder to me when those who were experts said they were going mushroom hunting i...

1972 was a good monsoon year. Thunderstorms punctuated almost every afternoon and evening. A particularly rousing storm shook the travel trailer and another camper in which at least ten of Fred's relatives drove to Albuquerque. Mind you, coastal areas on the west coast are not known for thunderstorms. Earthquakes, yes, but this particular storm has...

On a very rainy August day fifty two years ago, our plan was to camp at Hyde Park in the mountains near Santa Fe. But because of the rain, we checked into the El Rey Court, and then drove to the Plaza. Little did we know when we ventured into the Plaza that the 50th Indian Market was in progress. Then, as now the first response to the hundreds of b...

Reading my blogs this summer, you might think that I have a keen interest in insects. That is not really true, although they are fascinating in their own ways. And for some reason, I keep seeing them, which means they become photographic subjects. To me, many of them have a real creep factor. One of these is the praying mantis. The bright green bod...

During summer in the Rocky Mountains, early mornings are normally lovely and cool. This year, the mornings have been a good deal warmer than normal but given lower light and a bit of moisture in the air, it is a pleasure to step outside, smell the air and view one's surroundings. You may recall, we had been on chrysalis watch after seeing the cater...

Musings on art, artists, and craftspeople are endless. What, when and where we do our work and why. The process. The goals. It is different for every person but usually there are several common reasons - the personal need to create, coupled with the need to make a living, along with the desire to improve and reach a pinnacle in the work you are doi...

During a week, a month actually, when Americans and many in the world have been on a political roller coaster ride, life in nature continued, as it does. I discovered a chrysalis on a lavender plant and am awaiting the butterfly's emergence. If you look carefully, you can see how it is attached to the lavender stem. It is also the height of the...

The heat of summer 2024 continues to break records throughout the northern hemisphere, as does the number of people traveling. And just as many were settling into well-deserved vacations, the breaking weekend news brought the United States to an abrupt halt. Now it is Monday and the beginning of the work week. Life will proceed, as it always does,...

Several blogs ago, I indicated that there would probably be more hollyhock photographs featured. Since the flowers are "time sensitive" and I need to take the photographs while I can, today's blog is the vehicle for a few more shots. With this year's early monsoonal activity in New Mexico, there may be additiional blooms later, but one has to strik...

The unusual, the slightly weird, or odd attracted my camera this week. Matter of fact, I had intended the entire blog to be devoted to another agave or century plant that is blooming in the neighborhood. It seems odd to me that two different plants around the corner from each other would bloom in successive years. But they did. Mind you, because I...

A fly on the wall is widely thought of as a person who wishes to be or actually is witness to something without being seen or heard. It is what I try to be as a photographer during a wedding, or in public places or events. The expression has also been applied to a type of filmmaking '...fly on the wall documentaries' which are films of real life si...