Once more, for the aces
August 08, 2016
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Migration is one of the great wonders of nature. Particularly stunning is hummingbird migration. Why do they move from as far south as Guatemala and Mexico to the southwestern United States, New Mexico, and points north to breed? Are there more small insects here that provide protein for their chicks? Does the broader area provide the right tempera...
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new eyes
August 01, 2016
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"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust
Proust certainly had it right as far as artists of all stripes are concerned. Painters, including Peggy Immel, were on the streets of Taos last Friday doing the "Sunrise to Sunset" challenge. Exercises like these not only put the artist in...
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peripatetic
July 25, 2016
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Photographers, by nature, are peripatetic. Although the word is often used to describe teachers and professors walking back and forth, facing their students during class, the word is well-suited to photographers. We walk around a subject, in all directions, pointing our cameras toward the sky, toward the ground, looking over the subject, away from...
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Return of the Gingers
July 18, 2016
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With almost the same consistency as the returning broad-tailed hummingbirds around United States income tax filing time every April, the rufous hummingbirds generally arrive in mid-July, and proceed to make things really interesting at the feeders. This year, these gingers arrived early and in larger numbers than normal. Selasphorus rufus, both mal...
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our world
July 11, 2016
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Where do we go from here?
Any way you slice it, this week in America has been profound and distressing on almost every level. The sure sign of malaise is when comedians have trouble talking about the news. Certainly, George Carlin would have been able to do it. In fact, he may be whispering in our ears from another world. We fear for not only th...
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Jessica
July 02, 2016
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The photo shoot in ponderosa pine and aspen stands along Highway 64 west of Tres Piedras with Jessica Fry had me glued to the computer screen for a good part of the week, seeking the best and most compelling images from the group of nearly 300. Although roughly two-thirds were shot with my Nikon D5200, I was struck by the quality of the Nikon D800...
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multi-faceted
June 26, 2016
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The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word facet as "one side of something many-sided, especially of a cut gem". The word in itself is the definition of the subject of today's blog - Jessica Fry - who is indeed made up of many facets. She is a medical assistant, a dancer and performer, and a writer. In her own words, "I believe in magic in the...
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solstice
June 20, 2016
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120 degrees in Palm Springs, California. 116 degrees in Phoenix. 95 degrees here on the mesa yesterday at 7,800 elevation. And last week, it was 75 degrees in Nuuk, Greenland, which broke a heat record. It is June, it is hot, and it is Summer Solstice, which this year also includes a full moon. Sunrise was at 5:44 this morning and sunset is at 8:23...
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the mother lode...
June 12, 2016
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...of wild iris, that is.
I never know when we drive west on Highway 64 between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla at this time of year whether the wild iris will be in bloom. Yes, the bloom happens sometime in June but precisely when depends on temperature, winter moisture, and spring rainfall. It is a guessing game. You just go in June and hope fo...
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fade to black
June 06, 2016
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The expression "fade to black" has been in English usage for at least a century. The heavy metal band Metallica used it for a song title, while others seem to think it fits committing suicide or the end of life. In movies, directors would say "fade to black" to indicate the end of a movie or scene. In photography, fade to black is a beginning, a wa...
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Memorial Day
May 29, 2016
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Some think of Memorial Day as the official opening of summer, others know it only as a three day weekend and holiday from the work week. It was established in 1868 as Decoration Day (according to Wikipedia) by "the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois...as a time for the nation to decorate the g...
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eye of the photographer
May 23, 2016
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The complete title of an upcoming show is "Eye of the Photographer: Four Guys...Two Galleries...One Outstanding Exhibition". Opening this Saturday, the show runs through the 4th of July. The opening reception is a benefit for the Taos Center for the Arts. It will be housed in two galleries - Wilder Nightingale and David Anthony Fine Art - both on K...
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the green of spring
May 16, 2016
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Poets and writers have expressed their love for and the joy of spring in words flowery and rich, reflecting the time of new beginnings and hope. Spring can also be a mammoth photographic subject. There is so much happening. In the mountain west of the United States, spring takes its sweet time arriving, methodical in revealing its details. However,...
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San Francisco de Asis mission church
May 08, 2016
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On Friday morning in Taos, I met with Stacey Otte-Demangate, Executive Director of the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature in Solvang, California. She and her husband were on an exploratory trip of northern New Mexico art and galleries. We discussed myriad things - which artists and photographers might have work that would highlight the mission of th...
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in northwest gardens
May 02, 2016
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At this time of year in the Pacific Northwest, as well as coastal California and Oregon, so many flowers, shrubs, and trees are in bloom and producing pollen that sidewalks, houses, and vehicles are covered with the magic gold dust. I had never seen rhododendrons and azaleas in bloom before in such masses. They were everywhere, in almost every gard...
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© Daryl A. Black