What would Ernie think?
January 18, 2021
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69 Comments
Perhaps it is because of the sight of our nation's capitol surrounded by fencing, razor wire, and troops, and New Mexico's beloved Roundhouse steps and building and Capitol Building North (where I worked for roughly nine years) also lined with barriers and fencing, that I started thinking about Ernie Mills. Born in Pittsburgh in 1926, the stalwart...
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back to nature
January 10, 2021
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6 Comments
There are times in all of our lives that require more than a little pondering and perspective. I suspect this week was one of those for many Americans and others across the globe. Thousands upon thousands of photographs and videos were shot during the storming of the Capitol, arrests have been made, soul searching is happening on many levels, and t...
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fifty years
January 03, 2021
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7 Comments
A new year and new decade found me pondering where I was fifty years ago and what was happening in the world. My sister was in graduate school in Washington state, and I was about to start the second semester of my junior year in college. Life was mostly composed of going to classes, studying, writing papers, and taking tests, as well as occasional...
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the year that was
December 27, 2020
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4 Comments
On Friday, 1 January 2021, one can officially say that 2020 was the year that was, adding a multitude of descriptors at the end, regardless of one's political, religious or philosophical leanings. It is not a period of time that will easily be forgotten, although the way in which time seemed to move with so much intensity, I am already losing detai...
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solstice color
December 21, 2020
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9 Comments
Today, 21 December 2020, is the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. Solstice is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world and one can understand why. Early humans - hunters and gatherers - were keenly aware of their surroundings and the weather. They knew when days were getting shorter or longer, and celebrated the time when there...
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changes in the world
December 14, 2020
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5 Comments
2020 has been a year of changes in many ways. Watching Meet the Press on NBC yesterday morning, I found the Data Download fascinating. It highlighted the percentage increases in online purchases of certain categories from years past. There was a 44% increase in home office furniture and equipment, a 70% increase in pet food and pet items, a 92% in...
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writers all
December 07, 2020
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1211 Comments
In last week's blog, I asked you to share your "six word memoirs", and as expected, there were some six word wonders. Everyone, at one time or another, is a writer, whether by putting pencil and pen to paper or typing, on computer or in text form or just putting words together in your mind. We all do it and have the potential for greatness. Given t...
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Thanksgiving Monday???
November 30, 2020
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4 Comments
Where did Thanksgiving Monday go? In my case, it went to a great deal of procurement, given the fact that we had not shopped for groceries in three weeks. Then, naturally, one has to bring said food items into the house and give them a thorough washing, as well as isolate edibles in hard packaging for a week or so, wash hands perhaps twenty times o...
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thankful
November 23, 2020
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11 Comments
On 26 November 2020, Thanksgiving will be celebrated in the United States of America. Despite and perhaps because of the widening pandemic, some have felt the desperate need to travel and visit friends and family by airplane, automobile, train, or bus. Many will make telephone calls, or use Skype, Zoom or other formats, as well as social media, to...
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fashion statement
November 16, 2020
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6 Comments
Our governor placed another (and much needed, in my opinion) stay at home order for New Mexico, effective today, as she desperately tries to convince people that wearing masks, keeping social distance, and mostly staying at home are the best methods of remediating the explosion of COVID-19 in our midst. It became more profound on Sunday when a frie...
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a week of light and shadow
November 09, 2020
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5 Comments
We have yet to know exactly how history will remember this week in the year 2020. It was filled with darkness and light, light and shadow, and all the tension those conditions hold. It reminded me of Shadow and Light Magazine, a publication for which photographer Steve Immel is shooting photographs and penning great rocks of wisdom. It is worth inv...
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masked and armed with camera
November 02, 2020
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6 Comments
In the low afternoon light with watercolor clouds styling the sky, I was privileged to do a wedding engagement shoot along the Santa Fe River yesterday. As is the case every single time I remove my cameras from their cases and start shooting, I learned a number of things. Mask, long lens, and both the Nikon D800 and D5200 in hand, I anticipated a f...
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closing salvo
October 26, 2020
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7 Comments
This year's autumn in northern New Mexico has been beautiful and dramatic, and was extended by warmer than usual weather. But a strong storm currently ripping across the landscape from west to east is firing a closing salvo at the season with high winds and graupel/groppel in our neighborhood. Left in its wake is a gentle hush on the land, lovingly...
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another bag of autumn
October 19, 2020
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8 Comments
It is truly a shame that much of the west is in an epic drought because the conditions continue to provide the most stunning luscious days and cool nights. Walk anywhere and people will say "Isn't the weather gorgeous?" and "I would like the weather to be like this all year." Of course it can't and won't and should not, given the fact that moisture...
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autumn photography grab bag
October 12, 2020
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5 Comments
Autumn presents a multitude of photographic opportunities, and the weather this week made that photography an absolute delight. While some parts of the country and the world are receiving much more rain than necessary, it is extremely dry here but equally gorgeous.
The season would be incomplete without at least one drive into the mountains. Altho...
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© Daryl A. Black