Showing posts for 'nature'. Clear search
the beginning of the end
June 09, 2025 - It was 6 June 1944 - D Day. In almost the same way that "a date which will live in infamy" - 7 December 1941 - became sy...
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spines and blooms
June 01, 2025 - The winter of 2024-25 did not offer much in the way of moisture across New Mexico. There was a huge flood near Dexter in...
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flower of the day
May 25, 2025 - Memorial Day 2025. Flags are flying everywhere and flowers lay on the graves or headstones of those who died fighting fo...
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masters of the air
May 18, 2025 - Living in the sagebrush biome for over twenty years tends to fine-tune one's senses. It is extraordinarily mesmerizing i...
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nothing like it
May 05, 2025 - As far as tulips are concerned, the slot in my brain's drive of early memories that includes flowers is vacant. However,...
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blooming
April 28, 2025 - Despite the wind and dust that is typical this time of year in the southern Rocky Mountains, nature's bloom cycle contin...
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a beautiful planet
April 21, 2025 - Tomorrow, Tuesday, 22 April, is Earth Day. This year's celebrations world wide will be the 55th anniversary of the event...
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fragrance remembered
April 13, 2025 - There is something to be said about fragrance and its impact on memory. From year to year, I photograph the seasons as t...
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breaking through
March 31, 2025 - Spring and March presented themselves in earnest last week with warm winds and sunshine. And all of nature knows this is...
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the wild wind
March 16, 2025 - It is perpetual, breathing life into every entity on this planet. The wind - whether we appreciate it or not, whether it...
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spring gifts
March 09, 2025 - The vernal or spring equinox arrives on 20 March this year, but meteorological spring arrived officially on the 1st of M...
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art for art's sake
March 03, 2025 - In 1818, Victor Cousin wrote in Cours de Philosophie "We need religion for religion's sake, morality for morality's sake...
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thinking white
February 16, 2025 - A long-time friend and professor for whom I worked at the University of New Mexico (do not ask how long ago that was) em...
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further adventures from the Albuquerque Botanic Garden
January 26, 2025 - Bright and colorful bulbs, flowering fruit trees, and deciduous trees and shrubs in full leaf are not prominent during w...
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a long time coming
January 19, 2025 - In 1998, I wrote an article for Rocky Mountain Gardener magazine titled "Garden Jewel of the Rio Grande - Rio Grande Bot...
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the mighty acorn
January 12, 2025 - Given the massive, very nearly unstoppable fires burning in California, my guess is that some of you have been directly...
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renewal
January 06, 2025 - Today is the first Monday of a new year - 2025 - a time of emergence, renewal and reflection, hope, and sometimes appreh...
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new year, new hope
December 30, 2024 - Wednesday is the beginning of a new year, 2025 to be exact. Cultures around the globe celebrate the new year in many way...
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fuchsia faces for any season
November 10, 2024 - Frequently, when a photographer ventures forth into the world, whether near or far, surprises await. They could be part...
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autumnal accents
October 13, 2024 - Autumn and the whole of nature moves at its own pace. The aspen color in the mountains is working its way from higher al...
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fur face
October 07, 2024 - Another Santa Fe Wool Festival is behind us, and as tends to be the case, it was a learning experience on many levels, i...
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Nature's switch
September 29, 2024 - The opening of autumn in northern New Mexico defies description. Perfect days with crisp blue skies, dotted with a fleet...
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alien in the garden
September 22, 2024 - We have heard a lot about aliens lately - in reference to people not in the country legally, and those which might be as...
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revelatory rain
September 16, 2024 - The rain fell gently during the night, leaving behind evocative water droplets, revealing easily missed details in the n...
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bun ready
September 01, 2024 - The monsoon rains bring nature's culinary specialties when just the right conditions present themselves. Mushrooms and f...
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the creep factor
August 11, 2024 - Reading my blogs this summer, you might think that I have a keen interest in insects. That is not really true, although...
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a lucky morning
August 04, 2024 - During summer in the Rocky Mountains, early mornings are normally lovely and cool. This year, the mornings have been a g...
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sacrificial parsley
July 15, 2024 - The heat of summer 2024 continues to break records throughout the northern hemisphere, as does the number of people trav...
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mallow family, otra vez
July 08, 2024 - Several blogs ago, I indicated that there would probably be more hollyhock photographs featured. Since the flowers are "...
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oddities
July 01, 2024 - The unusual, the slightly weird, or odd attracted my camera this week. Matter of fact, I had intended the entire blog to...
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a fly on the wall
June 23, 2024 - A fly on the wall is widely thought of as a person who wishes to be or actually is witness to something without being se...
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Las Varas de San José
June 17, 2024 - Life long learning, in its most simple form, can be achieved by watching, regardless of where you are. A week without it...
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into the rarified air
June 09, 2024 - With high temperatures predicted in the mid-90s, it seemed like the perfect time to head to the mountains and inhale tha...
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He called me a "penstemaniac"
June 02, 2024 - Years ago, when Santa Fe Greenhouses had a thriving business on Siler Road, where gardeners from around the state would...
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evolving spring yellow
May 19, 2024 - It has been a banner year, despite less than normal moisture, for all blooming things. So after a brief period of photog...
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spurred on
May 05, 2024 - "The genus name Aquilegia comes from the Latin "Aquila" or "eagle"; this is in obvious reference to the spurred, "hook"...
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more spring abundance
April 28, 2024 - Despite the temperature roller coaster ride in northern New Mexico this week, nature continues to surprise and amaze. Ne...
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an abundance of spring
April 21, 2024 - Many mornings last week, before the wind began its daily grind, I stood beneath ornamental apple, pear, plum, and peach...
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deadlines and arrivals
April 14, 2024 - In the United States, 15 April is traditionally the deadline for submitting one's income tax forms/payments to the gover...
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little things
April 08, 2024 - Spring in New Mexico is unfurling at a faster pace each day. The recent frost in parts of northern New Mexico was not de...
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of blossoms and bees
March 24, 2024 - Taking a break from rendering the photographs I had shot of the first daffodil of the season, I walked to the window and...
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a bit of the green
March 17, 2024 - Given that St. Patrick's Day celebrations have been going on all weekend, Major League Baseball games begin mid-week in...
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signs of spring
March 11, 2024 - Signs of spring are everywhere in this second week of March. The amount of daylight is becoming longer at an ever increa...
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turn, turn, turn
February 19, 2024 - As I long as I can remember, the month of February always offered a spring thaw, sometimes brief, sometimes a week or tw...
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a week of love
February 12, 2024 - If one starts a week with Sunday, this week has something for everyone to love. For American football and sports fans (n...
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aged roses and new snow
January 15, 2024 - We have been lucky this week. Snow has fallen during the night and throughout the day on several occasions. Almost any l...
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The New Year
December 31, 2023 - The New York Times online had a wonderful feature yesterday titled "Your Best Advice for 2023". Many of us make lists -...
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Christmas 2023
December 25, 2023 - A bright blue sky is greeting us this Christmas morning, as crows and ravens circle the sky to the accompaniment of "The...
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all about the light
December 18, 2023 - In photography, light (or lack thereof) is everything. Humans and all animals recognize, on some level, the effect of li...
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shutter work 101
December 04, 2023 - Nature gifted us heavy, wet snow last week. You could have built an igloo with it. It was the first really substantial s...
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not letting go just yet
November 12, 2023 - After a week with a taste of winter, our part of the world has been given a reprieve, and stunning autumn days have retu...
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the mad curator strikes again
October 29, 2023 - Given the events of the past couple of weeks in the Middle East and the United States, and in political arenas here and...
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first impressions
October 21, 2023 - Those of you who have been following my blog for years know that autumn is my favorite season. It is also one time durin...
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mysteries of flight
September 17, 2023 - I am fascinated by birds in flight. Some birds spend a lot of time on the ground, scratching with their bills and feet f...
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labor of love
September 03, 2023 - It is Labor Day, 2023. Although 1894 was the year the U. S. Congress declared the first Monday in September every year a...
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Valles Caldera
August 27, 2023 - There is a very large hole in northern New Mexico. A circular depression in the earth that covers some 13 miles in width...
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this and that
August 06, 2023 - As the summer heat continues here and in many places around the globe, and beads of sweat roll down my brow, I still fin...
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the power of nature
July 24, 2023 - Nature is part of us and we are part of nature. Sometimes we notice it more than others, especially when nature reflects...
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following the blooms
July 09, 2023 - Since I have been immersed during the last month in flower photography, specifically photographing peonies, it seemed ap...
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time sensitive
July 03, 2023 - There are many eminently photographable things that are more or less static - mountains, meadows, trees, buildings, scul...
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mountain refractions
June 25, 2023 - From certain points in the city of Santa Fe, one can look up and see the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. In that first glanc...
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paper or poppy
June 11, 2023 - At the risk of becoming known exclusively as a flower/plant/garden photographer, which is not the case, I, nonetheless,...
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equal time
June 04, 2023 - On 14 March 1927, House Bill # 371 officially declared the yucca (Yucca glauca) the New Mexico state flower. I am the fi...
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inside, out, and all around
May 21, 2023 - In between the most delicious and welcome rain showers this week, my camera and I were photographing numerous columbines...
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red dirt
May 14, 2023 - The human brain is an extremely complicated entity. And each human brain, although basically structured the same way, is...
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layers of memories
May 07, 2023 - Today's blog is courtesy of a question asked a month ago by friend and photographer extraordinaire, Steve Immel. In the...
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market bubble
April 30, 2023 - I heard a story some time ago about a stock market bubble in the 1600s (1636-1637) is the date given by multiple sources...
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a blog full of buds
April 23, 2023 - The buds are everywhere and in abundance. It is spring, which in New Mexico also means that either the wind or a late fr...
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all in the cup
April 16, 2023 - Spring really burst forth in this part of the Southwest last week, and with it, many more blooms of assorted types. So i...
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a nod to spring
April 09, 2023 - After fits and starts from nature, we are having some true spring days in the southern Rocky Mountains. To celebrate, to...
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hungry?
March 12, 2023 - Not that I am intentionally trying to make you hungry, but I spent what seemed to be an inordinate amount of time this w...
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splash of spring
March 05, 2023 - Since the 1st of March is the beginning of meteorological spring, and since we saw two honeybees yesterday despite patch...
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New Mexico not Fargo
February 20, 2023 - The past week, photographically, has been spent curating photographs for publications in a variety of media sources. Neg...
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gaggles and a flotilla
February 12, 2023 - As promised last week, today's blog features snow geese at the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, south of Socorro, New...
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for the birds
February 05, 2023 - Given the ten-day forecast and the clear weather predicted, it was time to head to another of New Mexico's jewels - Bosq...
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basic black and white
January 15, 2023 - A fresh, new year, and time to enter Shadow and Light Magazine 's Black and White 2023 photo competition. Actually, I en...
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new year, new lens
January 01, 2023 - It is a new year. And this first blog features my recent practice with a new lens, the Fujinon aspherical lens, 30 mm ma...
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gift bag of black and white
November 28, 2022 - Two photography gifts landed in my lap this week. The first was a compact digital scanner that my sister was kind enough...
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a tree for all seasons
November 07, 2022 - Beauty surrounds us every day, but it tends to be a little more vocal in the autumn months. Following the first snowfall...
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riparian mystery
October 31, 2022 - The human body is comprised largely of water. Depending on body fat and fitness, our bodies house between 60-75% water....
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autumn leaves as backdrop
October 16, 2022 - Nature provides the most enticing backdrops, and among some of them are autumn leaves. The ash tree leaves are turning y...
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aspen beneath nature's blanket
October 09, 2022 - Viewing fall color in the Rocky Mountain west is a spectator sport, as it probably is all over the world, because under...
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Snake Woman
September 25, 2022 - If you are currently in the Santa Fe area, an exhibit at the FOMA Gallery should be on your list of photography exhibits...
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the power of art
August 15, 2022 - The third Monday in August. A time when many students are headed back to school while some in the northern hemisphere ar...
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red enough?
June 12, 2022 - It is that time of year again to assemble entrants for Shadow and Light Magazine 's Color It Red contest. So this partic...
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crenation
June 05, 2022 - It was some years, probably decades ago (and I have no idea how long), that I first heard or read the word crenulation,...
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garden dancers
May 08, 2022 - I look at Columbine flowers and they make me smile. They are like little dancers in the garden, poised for anything, inc...
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spring opportunities
April 24, 2022 - Everything in nature is cyclic. Growing things abide by their own cycles, and in many cases, the beauty of the cycle is...
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and so it begins
April 03, 2022 - Suddenly, it is April, and seemingly, just as suddenly, many things have evolved from sticks to green or colorful buds a...
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on the rocks
March 28, 2022 - The days of "near spring" weather continue here in the southern Rocky Mountains. Last week, a wet, soaking snow fell, pr...
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color in winter
January 10, 2022 - There are places in the world, even in the northern hemisphere, where color doesn't wain during the winter months. Many...
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the opening chapter
January 02, 2022 - Today is the third page of the opening chapter of 2022. Although the snow tragically came a day too late for many reside...
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design magic in ice
December 13, 2021 - Instructions: Take one six gallon bucket, the likes of which can be found at a hardware store. Fill with water. Leave ov...
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comfort
November 28, 2021 - The weekly exercise of photography, for me, contains bits and pieces of what I do, see, or reproduce for publication in...
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the spirit of leaves
November 08, 2021 - Most deciduous trees, by their nature, shed leaves once a year. It is part of their life cycle. And the last hoorah of l...
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an autumn day
October 10, 2021 - Viewing the Sangre de Cristo mountains from the city, it is sometimes hard to see the stages of aspen color. One day it...
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just the beginning...
October 04, 2021 - Nothing like the first Monday in October in the northern hemisphere, with low temperatures hovering between 40 and 45 to...
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curating color
September 19, 2021 - Several of you commented last week that in addition to the black and white photographs I curated for a photo competition...
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back to school
August 22, 2021 - Since many children have returned and others are headed back to school in the coming weeks, I figured it was a good time...
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grateful and humble
August 09, 2021 - The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, released a sobering report today on climate chang...
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New Mexico gold
July 26, 2021 - The Olympic Games began last week, more subdued than normal, with the pandemic and Delta variant looming large. The game...
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curve billed thrasher update
July 19, 2021 - Nature presented yet another stellar opportunity to photograph this week in two of my favorite styles - nature and still...
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say "ahh"
June 28, 2021 - Now that the baby crow which attracted so much attention in the neighborhood last week is out and about and flying quite...
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an eruption of color
June 07, 2021 - A visitor to the western United States, viewing the low and high desert regions, might see a rose bush and think of it a...
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what you know and perhaps what you do not
April 18, 2021 - I don't know the person who originally said that writers should write about what they know. But many have said it and ev...
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sun, shade, and in-between
April 04, 2021 - It is spring. As I write, the temperature is 79 degrees, and the thermometer is eeking its way to 80. Either temperature...
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roses and then some
March 29, 2021 - Once again this week, wonderful gifted roses provided the material for today's blog. Over three days, I let my eyes, the...
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they keep on giving
March 14, 2021 - Orchids are amazing flowers. While growing up in New Mexico, it was rare to see an orchid, except upon occasion in a nur...
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nothing specific
February 28, 2021 - My handy Webster's Vest Pocket Dictionary is a great size to grace the computer desk with all the other assorted stuff t...
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it had to be snow
February 21, 2021 - Much of northern and other parts of New Mexico received its deepest snowfall of the season this week, welcomed by almost...
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in house
February 15, 2021 - The low here this morning was 1. With a few high clouds but mostly sunny skies, the temperature is already up to 10 degr...
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back to nature
January 10, 2021 - There are times in all of our lives that require more than a little pondering and perspective. I suspect this week was o...
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fifty years
January 03, 2021 - A new year and new decade found me pondering where I was fifty years ago and what was happening in the world. My sister...
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closing salvo
October 26, 2020 - This year's autumn in northern New Mexico has been beautiful and dramatic, and was extended by warmer than usual weather...
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another bag of autumn
October 19, 2020 - It is truly a shame that much of the west is in an epic drought because the conditions continue to provide the most stun...
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autumn photography grab bag
October 12, 2020 - Autumn presents a multitude of photographic opportunities, and the weather this week made that photography an absolute d...
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gift of roses
August 31, 2020 - For this photographer, gifts are wonderful for two different reasons. The first is the experience of pleasure, beauty, a...
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virtual rain
August 24, 2020 - A virtual Democratic National Convention, virtual meetings, virtual classes. They have all become part of life during th...
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surprising "park"
August 10, 2020 - Growing up in Albuquerque during the days when a Sunday outing involved going to the foothills and driving on the dirt r...
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old and new
July 27, 2020 - Before Fred and I ventured into the high piñon, juniper and sagebrush mesa of Taos County, we lived for twenty years in...
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visiting an old friend
July 19, 2020 - So many of us are trying to do our best to wear masks and social distance, that friends of the human type are clear in o...
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the grab bag around me
July 13, 2020 - As occasionally happens, I venture into several different photographic subject areas during a week, and bits and pieces...
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driving along the Gorge
July 06, 2020 - The highway to Taos from Santa Fe through Española runs along the Rio Grande and offers several amazing views of the Rio...
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different strokes
June 29, 2020 - Walking around with camera in hand, I found myself seeing the play of light and shadows on stucco walls. Just as adobler...
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this, that, and the other
June 15, 2020 - Especially during a year when many people around the world have had their work schedules and home lives altered by COVID...
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counterpoint
June 08, 2020 - As part of nature, human beings frequently have their own ways of being heard. We all saw peaceful protests with incredi...
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flax not phlox
May 18, 2020 - As I continue to follow the seasons on the mesa, it would be remiss of me not to photograph and highlight the wild blue...
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back to blooms
May 11, 2020 - You have noticed by now that my blogs for the last couple of months have featured subjects I find around our place. Like...
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phollowing the phlox
April 26, 2020 - One of the joys of spring is looking for and finding plants in bloom on the mesa. The 7,700+ foot altitude and limited m...
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ground work
April 20, 2020 - There are flowers of spring I await with great anticipation, because they are the sure signs of the season. And as if a...
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life in an altered state
April 06, 2020 - Truckers still make their daily runs of hay in the early morning hours from the San Luis Valley in Colorado into New Mex...
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March mash ups
March 30, 2020 - Here it is. The final Monday in March 2020. And what an incredible month it has been. Numbers of cases and unfortunately...
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life continues
March 23, 2020 - I will be the first to admit that my journaling practice over the years has been inconsistent at best. Frequently non-ex...
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life and love in the time of corona
March 16, 2020 - To say that uncertainty, dread, and nervousness were the order of the day around the world this week, courtesy of the co...
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the color of hope
March 09, 2020 - "Italy starts week with north in virus lockdown", "Actor Max Von Sydow dies at 90", "U. S. trading halted as shares plun...
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March wonders
March 02, 2020 - One of the most common weather proverbs heard at this time of year is "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a la...
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highlighting the abstract
February 15, 2020 - I would call this time of year "late winter". There is more daylight each day in the northern hemisphere, and although t...
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the week of love
February 10, 2020 - Love is the subject of more writing, musings, and discussion than almost anything except war. With Valentine's Day being...
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sheer luck
February 02, 2020 - Professional photographers do their share of planning when it comes to a particular type of photography. The nature phot...
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backdrop by nature
January 26, 2020 - This planet of ours is extraordinary, and the nature of it literally never ceases to amaze me. If I am paying attention...
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January gifts
January 19, 2020 - Gifts come from nature and people, and in many sizes and shapes. In much of New Mexico and the southwestern United State...
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winter reading and experiments
January 13, 2020 - It is always good and comforting to have a nice stack of books in the house for that snowy or otherwise miserable winter...
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new year botanicals
January 06, 2020 - It is hard to think of a better way to begin a photographic year than with "in-your-face" red of amaryllis blossoms. The...
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outgoing and incoming
December 28, 2019 - We collectively turn our calendars to a new month and new year on Wednesday. While 2020 waits in the wings, and I await...
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greetings of the season
December 22, 2019 - Regardless of where you are this week, you will probably be involved in celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah. To highlight...
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light lessons
December 16, 2019 - Given the fact that this Saturday, 21 December, is the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, it seemed appropriate...
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seeing a little red for the holidays
December 09, 2019 - Nothing like snow on the land to bring out the desire for bright, primary colors. Red brightens everything and so I vent...
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new winter gifts
December 02, 2019 - The weather came almost as predicted by meteorologists this week, and, for the most part, the entire state of New Mexico...
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winter guests
November 16, 2019 - Every season on the mesa is different, and each season varies from year to year, depending on the weather and other envi...
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just for creeps
October 26, 2019 - I really got an education reading about Halloween, All Hallow's Eve, and Dia de los Muertos, and who celebrates, who doe...
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remnants after the wind
October 21, 2019 - Two different cold fronts dipped south into northern New Mexico this week, leaving a dusting of snow on mountain peaks,...
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pure gold
October 12, 2019 - Call it intuition or slow knowledge combined with the weather forecast, but I suspected a trip to the mountains for an a...
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if you cannot beat them...
October 06, 2019 - ...join them. That was my approach this week while photographing aspen leaves. I was able to catch a few before the bree...
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shapes and colors
September 30, 2019 - Although it feels as if the harvest season has just begun, in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, the harvest has...
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time of change
September 23, 2019 - Unless the sky is obscured on a regular basis where you live in the northern hemisphere, you have probably noticed that...
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feathers and petals
September 15, 2019 - Each photographer works in her or his own way. Unless I am photographing a wedding, doing an environmental portraiture s...
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visitors at dawn
September 07, 2019 - Odd things happen and new visitors arrive on the mesa when there is a period of dry weather. Birds bathe in the water di...
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seasonal joys
August 18, 2019 - One of the myriad interesting things about the Rocky Mountain west part of the United States is the seasonal changes. So...
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August skies
August 12, 2019 - After nourishing rains over the weekend, a deep and broad fog rolled in, covering the land. I saw a patch of brown to th...
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in your face gold
August 05, 2019 - August is a great month in the southern Rocky Mountains. The monsoons rains have arrived to moisturize the landscape, an...
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it's all about the wings
July 26, 2019 - Given the fact that the first men landed on the moon on 20 July of 1969 as part of the Apollo 11 mission, I thought flig...
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gifts of elevation
July 20, 2019 - This blog finds life in the northern hemisphere just a month beyond the summer solstice, and adjustments are being made...
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intersection of art and climate change
July 14, 2019 - Currently standing tall in the Railyard Park in Santa Fe is the Longview Polar Bear. Made of steel and recycled sheet me...
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anniversary month
July 07, 2019 - During July of 2010, I began putting together a blog on blogspot.com., as recommended to me by several photographers and...
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the process
July 01, 2019 - During a most delightful brunch this week with friends, they asked how I come up with a blog every Monday. That was, ind...
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dancing among the iris
June 22, 2019 - Taking a cue from many friends who have gone for hikes in the mountains lately, I knew it was time for an early summer p...
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minor obsession
June 15, 2019 - When nature provides ample moisture in the western United States and the Rocky Mountain region, I admit I become obsesse...
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in every position
June 03, 2019 - Spring is stubbornly giving way to summer in northern New Mexico, and every day, the landscapes shares it surprises. Des...
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spring chaos
May 19, 2019 - Capricious winds and bouts of winter weather and snow signal springtime in the Rocky Mountains. In spite of the conditio...
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from outer space?
May 12, 2019 - Although there may have been more writers of science fiction who are not known to us, Mary Shelley, author of Frankenste...
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hidden in plain sight
May 06, 2019 - By now, many of you have seen unbelievably beautiful photographs of the desert "bloom" this year in Arizona and Californ...
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anticipation
April 15, 2019 - Photographs of the emerging spring are everywhere on social media. It is obvious that many in the northern hemisphere ha...
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water abstractions
April 08, 2019 - Those of us who live in areas where water is a rare commodity know how necessary it is to body and soul and life. We hav...
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faces
March 25, 2019 - The week that just passed was certainly typical of the rowdiness that is March. Our weather records show wild swings bet...
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emergence
March 18, 2019 - The vernal equinox is this Wednesday, 20 March, and on the same day, there will be a full moon. It is a time of renewal...
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jewels in the fog
March 04, 2019 - After a rather interesting week, comprised of snow, mud, wind, sunshine, and fog, I am reminded of several photo shoots...
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get my drift?
February 22, 2019 - After reading comments on Facebook last week, (probably from non-skiers and non-snow boarders or those lacking enthusias...
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photographic pilgrimage
February 03, 2019 - February began on Friday, and, with great joy, my husband said, "It is nice to be looking at January from the rear view...
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a small study in brown
January 28, 2019 - In the 2016 publication The Secret Lives of Color, Kassia St. Clair indicates that "Brown suffers in part because it is...
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snow angels
January 21, 2019 - One of the great things about publishing a weekly blog is the commentary one receives from readers. Several people menti...
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Fargo in New Mexico?????
January 14, 2019 - During a stretch of leaden skies and snow that makes it necessary to dress like the young boy from The Christmas Story,...
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Happy Birthday, New Mexico!
January 07, 2019 - On January 6, 1912, the territory of New Mexico officially became the 47th state of the United States of America. In cel...
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a new year
December 31, 2018 - Just as we were gifted an extended and lovely autumn, winter has come with intensity, making its presence known in our h...
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ice in the abstract
December 24, 2018 - It is Christmas Eve. After wonderful celebrations with friends this week and weekend, things are moving at a very civili...
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celebrations
December 10, 2018 - Sunday was a gorgeous day on the mesa, and we celebrated Ingrid and Fred's birthdays with comfort food, lively conversat...
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nature's wallpaper
December 03, 2018 - After living in the high mesa country at 7,800 feet for more than 18 years, a few things have become apparent. One of th...
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a few kind words (and images)
November 05, 2018 - As hard as it is to believe, the holiday "season" is approaching in many parts of the world. This was always a time when...
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an autumn to remember
October 29, 2018 - While you are driving on New Mexico highways these days, don't be surprised if you see people stopping abruptly, jumping...
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kissed by snow
October 15, 2018 - It is said that the first snow in northern New Mexico usually happens on Halloween. The snow was a bit early this year,...
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color blocks
September 22, 2018 - The northern hemisphere's autumnal equinox fell on Saturday, 22 September, which means it was high time for a pilgrimage...
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flower girl
August 20, 2018 - Of all the weddings I have photographed to date, a majority of them took place in August. It is a fine month to marry, a...
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freshman orientation
August 12, 2018 - It is the time of year that either thrills or puts a shiver down the spines of students all over the world. They are hea...
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jet jockeys
August 05, 2018 - This slang term used to describe pilots of jet fighter aircraft is the term I frequently associate with hummingbirds. Th...
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velvet conundrum
July 29, 2018 - A continuing conundrum as a photographer is equipment. One buys a camera and lens - whether film or digital - expecting...
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visual coolness
July 21, 2018 - Although it is winter in the southern hemisphere, parts of the northern hemisphere are experiencing extreme heat. It is,...
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survivors
July 15, 2018 - Extremely uplifting news came out of Thailand this week when all 12 young members of a football team and their coach wer...
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cumulus bombs
July 02, 2018 - It would be easy and carefree to say that the 2017-2018 weather season thus far has been quite wonderful. The winter was...
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the cooling touch
June 24, 2018 - Summer arrived officially in the northern hemisphere on the 20th. With the humidity shifting between 3 and 10%, the wind...
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normal?
June 17, 2018 - My desk companion - the Concise Oxford English Dictionary - indicates the meaning of "normal" as "conforming to a standa...
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for each
May 28, 2018 - It is Memorial Day. Throughout the weekend, a steady stream of motorcycles, trucks, campers, boats and assorted vehicles...
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ode to the common
May 07, 2018 - On this spring morning in the northern hemisphere, one thing is certain: somewhere, probably everywhere there isn't snow...
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cloud "tells"
April 16, 2018 - Written media, including books, magazines, and newspapers in addition to movies and television, frequently feature gambl...
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structure in nature
April 02, 2018 - An episode of NOVA that aired this week on math spurred my thinking on today's blog. A good chunk of time was spent on t...
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petal pusher
March 25, 2018 - As far as I am concerned, there is nothing like a gift of flowers to get the creative juices flowing. They also make me...
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of winters past
March 11, 2018 - Thanks to all of you who read and comment so regularly on this blog. It is great to receive your input. Which is one of...
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the two springs
March 05, 2018 - Because I tend to think that spring arrives on the vernal or spring equinox, I did not give much thought to the 1st of M...
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"Whose woods these are..."
February 19, 2018 - Robert Frost wrote a poem in 1922 titled "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening". For some reason, while going through th...
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the eyes have it
February 05, 2018 - Thrushes or the Muscicapidae family apparently have had a very good year. There are hundreds of robins, bluebirds, and s...
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it is the sky
January 29, 2018 - Besides photography that is scheduled within any given week in the life of a photographer, ideas for blogs seem to come...
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jewels of winter
January 22, 2018 - The first real winter arrived late Saturday evening and early Sunday morning in the southern Rocky Mountains. Although w...
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January smiles
January 07, 2018 - Most of New Mexico has been frightfully spoiled this winter with the relatively warm and sunny weather. People in the mi...
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Happy Christmas!
December 24, 2017 - Short and sweet this week, as I present the lowly and wonderful pomegranate (Punica granatum) for Christmas. Originating...
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Ducks??
December 17, 2017 - I know two things that are true in this world. Where there is water, there is life, and it seems that robins are the nea...
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Where there is water
November 27, 2017 - One of the givens is that life on Planet Earth needs water. And where there is water, there is life. We have seen this p...
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back to my photographic roots
November 19, 2017 - During the past month, I have been putting together images for sets of prints and cards. One of the sets will be black a...
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extended autumn
November 12, 2017 - I can remember many a November in years past when the temperatures were well below zero and snow was flying fast and fur...
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bravo!
October 23, 2017 - On all counts, we are experiencing an extraordinary autumn in northern New Mexico. The aspen were stunning and long last...
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return to the aspen
October 01, 2017 - The weather was perfect this week for another aspen viewing drive, courtesy of U. S. Highway 64 in northern New Mexico....
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last and first of the season
September 18, 2017 - Friday, 22 September, is the autumnal equinox, a time when the light is changing faster than any time during the year, o...
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not precisely as prescribed
September 11, 2017 - Hurricane Irma dominated the 24/7 news cycle for much of the week and certainly this weekend, as the hurricane dragged i...
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head in the clouds
September 03, 2017 - During this week of devastation on the Gulf Coast of Texas from Hurricane Harvey, and fires in the western United States...
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odds and ends
August 28, 2017 - Today's blog takes a page from Fred's weaving. Every year before the Taos Wool Festival, which this year is 7 and 8 Octo...
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capturing the unexpected
August 21, 2017 - One of the things a photographer in the field learns early on is that not everything will be as one expects, and frequen...
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a week in the life
August 06, 2017 - When I am not doing environmental portraiture or weddings, a typical photography week includes a number of different pho...
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aerial antics, set 2
July 31, 2017 - The end of July into early August, the hummingbird population on the mesa is at its apex, with anywhere from 425 to 475...
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on the move
July 24, 2017 - One of my consistent photography challenges comes in the form of those aerial daredevils otherwise known as hummingbirds...
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fine stemware
July 16, 2017 - Human beings create any number of both artful and utilitarian objects using nature as a guide. Frequently, what some mig...
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backdrops and depth of field
July 09, 2017 - I have been thinking about portraiture and commercial art lately, and how the backdrop for a portrait can either complim...
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patience
July 02, 2017 - At almost any time or for any reason - large or small - patience in a human being can vary wildly. For photographers, pa...
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looking upward
June 26, 2017 - With the Bonita fire still burning roughly 10 miles west of us, our habit for the last several weeks has been to look up...
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Broadway on the mesa
June 19, 2017 - Another show opened on the mesa today. This time, it was the hedgehog cactus, and I must say, costume designers for Broa...
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outside the box
June 12, 2017 - There are days when I feel like the Julia Child of photography - happily experimenting, adding and changing ingredients,...
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timing is everything
June 04, 2017 - On our planet, terrestrials - animals and plants alike - are controlled by the passing of time. Day into night, night in...
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other worldly
May 22, 2017 - Perhaps it is because I have been reading Truk Lagoon: Legends Beneath the Waves, vol. 1 by Andrew Marriott, and viewing...
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garden variety
May 15, 2017 - Looking back at my blogs this year, I realize there has been a preponderance of them featuring flowers of assorted varie...
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and the winner is...
April 29, 2017 - ...Coyote Pup. It received Honorable Mention at the Santa Fe Reporter Photo Contest. The silent auction held by The Repo...
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life blood
April 24, 2017 - The one thing that differentiates our planet from others is water. It is life blood coursing through our veins. El Agua...
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little surprises
April 17, 2017 - While California and Arizona are having epic wildflower blooms in all their eye-popping array of color, spring has a muc...
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a touch of white
March 27, 2017 - Not just a few times have I addressed the color white in this blog. It fascinates me. On the southwest corner of St. Fra...
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welcoming spring
March 20, 2017 - Today is the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere. The beginning of spring. Some of you are still dealing with moun...
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signs of spring
March 13, 2017 - I literally am unable to count how many times this month people have said to me variations of these questions or declara...
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art and advertising
March 06, 2017 - There are numerous serious, consequential, and frankly, dire things going on in this wonderful and wild world of ours, a...
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nature in the stock tank
February 20, 2017 - This has definitely been a week of change in nature. The days are becoming longer by minutes rather than seconds, birds...
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The Year of the Rooster
January 30, 2017 - The Chinese New Year or Spring Festival (春節 in traditional Chinese characters) began on Saturday, 28 January, and will l...
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shaping
January 23, 2017 - Nature has a way of dealing with things. When water flows over a rock for millennia, it is shaped and smoothed and tumbl...
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studying winter
January 16, 2017 - At this time of year, particularly during a winter such as this when rain and snow and ice are frequent occurrences, my...
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modern art of winter
December 18, 2016 - What do you see when you look out the window? On many days in northern New Mexico, you see a brilliant blue sky. After t...
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fantasies
December 05, 2016 - At this season and this time of year (winter in many parts of the northern hemisphere), people tend to turn inward and t...
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welcoming winter
November 28, 2016 - Although the winter solstice is not until 21 December this year, winter definitely arrived over the weekend. It is fasci...
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dazed and confused
November 14, 2016 - I know (from an independent survey conducted by yours truly) that many people were left dazed and confused by the presid...
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ode to the season of blooms
November 07, 2016 - Other than the seemingly endless political marathon, the one piece of news that effects most Americans at this time of y...
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one more walk in the autumn leaves
October 09, 2016 - Autumn has been spectacular this year in New Mexico's high country. Although the intensity of fall color varies dependin...
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autumn impressions
October 03, 2016 - There is something about autumn that lends itself to photography of an impressionistic or abstract style, especially if...
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late summer tidbits
September 18, 2016 - With a low temperature of 36 degrees fahrenheit this morning, September 18, skim ice sat on the water in one of the bird...
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eye dazzlers
September 11, 2016 - Autumn in New Mexico and in many locations around the world can be considered eye dazzling. The colors and textures are...
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apples by the bushel
September 05, 2016 - Growing fruit in the Rocky Mountains, including New Mexico's southern Rockies, is dicey. Late spring and early autumn fr...
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Sunflowers
August 15, 2016 - Just as sure as the sun rises and sets, August ushers in the season of sunflowers. They line the roadways with New Mexic...
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Once more, for the aces
August 08, 2016 - Migration is one of the great wonders of nature. Particularly stunning is hummingbird migration. Why do they move from a...
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peripatetic
July 25, 2016 - Photographers, by nature, are peripatetic. Although the word is often used to describe teachers and professors walking b...
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Return of the Gingers
July 18, 2016 - With almost the same consistency as the returning broad-tailed hummingbirds around United States income tax filing time...
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our world
July 11, 2016 - Where do we go from here?
Any way you slice it, this week in America has been profound and distressing on almost ever...
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solstice
June 20, 2016 - 120 degrees in Palm Springs, California. 116 degrees in Phoenix. 95 degrees here on the mesa yesterday at 7,800 elevatio...
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the mother lode...
June 12, 2016 - ...of wild iris, that is.
I never know when we drive west on Highway 64 between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla at thi...
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fade to black
June 06, 2016 - The expression "fade to black" has been in English usage for at least a century. The heavy metal band Metallica used it...
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the green of spring
May 16, 2016 - Poets and writers have expressed their love for and the joy of spring in words flowery and rich, reflecting the time of...
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in northwest gardens
May 02, 2016 - At this time of year in the Pacific Northwest, as well as coastal California and Oregon, so many flowers, shrubs, and tr...
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about the water
April 24, 2016 - Despite the fact that there were four straight days of record high temperatures in the greater Seattle area last week, t...
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out of town, as it were
April 18, 2016 - It is always an adventure blogging remotely, as I am this week. While taking care of my sister in the Seattle area, I ha...
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This and that in Taos
April 10, 2016 - When a last minute drive presents itself, I take my cameras, regardless of destination. This week, the drive was normal,...
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blossoms
April 04, 2016 - On mornings such as this one, I find myself grasping for the proper words to describe the feel and smell of the air. Aft...
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They are back
March 28, 2016 - Short of the hummingbirds, which usually arrive in the middle of April, most of the summer birds that frequent the high...
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inkling of spring
March 07, 2016 - The vernal equinox is more than two weeks away, and yet, in many parts of the country, spring has definitely arrived. Su...
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photography and writing
February 28, 2016 - I have notebooks, binders, and folders full of pithy writing, varying in length from short quotations to pages of signif...
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transitions
February 15, 2016 - Last week held massive high drama, including the death of Supreme Court Judge Antonin Scalia and subsequent idealogical...
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backdrops
January 25, 2016 - One of the hazards but also one of the great joys of being a photographer is an obsession with everything visual. I cann...
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fantasy in ice
January 18, 2016 - "Diopter: a unit of measurement of the optical power of a lens or curved mirror." Thank you, Wikipedia, and happy 15th b...
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Winter 2016
January 04, 2016 - Who would have known that the "new normal" during winter in New Mexico might be overcast skies with broken sun? It seems...
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in celebration of the sun
December 20, 2015 - For people in northern climates where the winters are not only cold but dark, the winter solstice cannot come soon enoug...
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Color it Red, second installment
December 12, 2015 - In last week's blog, I presented some of the images I plan to enter in the Red Dog News Color It Red photography contest...
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Color it red
December 07, 2015 - Through the New Ground Matrix Fine Art Gallery in Albuquerque's Nob Hill area, I found an extremely helpful photography...
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rime ice
November 30, 2015 - Nature frequently puts itself front and center and says "Look at me!" Such was the case on Saturday morning when a fog c...
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for the artist in all of us
October 18, 2015 - I have written before about this year's Taos Fall Arts Festival, which began on Friday evening, 25 September and ran thr...
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webs of life
October 12, 2015 - Trying my best not to begin this blog like Dashiell Hammett, I will say there was a morning last week when the fog lay o...
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Highway 64 splash
October 05, 2015 - You can see the veins of gold and yellow in the Rocky Mountains from miles away. Given the fact that today is the 5th of...
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design by plants
August 02, 2015 - The first commercial chile roasting stands are popping up in parking lots all over New Mexico, a sign that the chile har...
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a broader view
July 19, 2015 - You have read several times in this blog that Highway 64 between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla bisects some of the mo...
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variations on a theme of gaillardia
July 13, 2015 - It is high summer. Paintbrush and cacti are giving way to light purple penstemon, along with numerous yellow and white c...
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inside out
May 18, 2015 - As humans, our eyes bring settings into stereo view, which enables us to see broad vistas and take in the "big picture"...
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splash of color
April 13, 2015 - Although Española, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and points south have already seen fruit and nut trees blossom, and other bulb...
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of sheep and humans made
April 06, 2015 - Since images of sheep and people have been in the forefront of my brain and digital development this week, I will contin...
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O'Keefe country
March 22, 2015 - A year in New Mexico is not complete without a drive to or hike in the area I and many call O'Keefe Country. There was a...
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Winter companions
February 23, 2015 - The temperature is 15 degrees fahrenheit right now, and a north breeze is blowing the snow into drifts around the house.
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summer remnants
August 25, 2014 - Despite the fact that a friend from the Phoenix area said his swimming pool temperature is 90 degrees and that is how he...
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the sky looks like rain
August 16, 2014 - Anyone who has lived in the desert or the western United States understands microclimates and has seen rain pouring out...
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