On the Road Again...

Winter travels will once again take me back to San Miguel de Allende in the central Mexican highlands. In between catching up with friends and trying to keep my Spanish alive I have several photo projects planned, including a barter plan with a fellow photographer - home cooked dinners in exchange on lessons in studio lighting.  There is a never-ending list of things to learn in photography….

In March I will be spending time in the southwest, visiting friends and family and looking for the earthen “s” curves and lines that nature scatters so generously throughout New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.  The planned highlights include photographing the gypsum dunes of White Sands National Monument and donning a big orange survival suit to try canyoneering in Zion National Park.  No, I won’t be taking my Nikon with me as I repel down cold wet canyon walls, but my first digital point and shoot may come along for a potentially sacrificial ride. Many more adventures will ensue and I am open to suggestions from those of you who know this part of the world.

 

New Year's Resolutions

We all have loads of good intentions that never quite get actualized.  Two years ago, as a bold way of making myself photograph and write more, I started a blog and told everyone about it.  Then I was compelled to follow through.  Over time I graduated from tumblr to a real website and happily have continued to grow as a photographer.  But writing takes a different mental space than photography and it has dwindled a bit...So as we head off to Mexico in a few days, I am recommitting to more frequent posts.  As always, your comments keep me motivated.

 

Memory Lane

Thirty five years ago my life revolved around grad school at UC Berkeley and KPFA Radio. Yesterday, on a damp and foggy December afternoon, I wandered through my old haunts.  The radio station stopped broadcasting from its prime location on Shattuck and Allston years ago and the original Edy's ice cream shop on the first floor, that served as our conference room, is gone as well. Developers spent a lot of money rehabbing the building where rain and the rare snowflake entered directly behind the editing machine I once used. Now it is a slick-looking FedEx office and the surrounding streets are filled with new buildings. 

Although my alma mater has many new buildings in what used to be open spaces, it was comforting to find that the grove of blue gum eucalyptus remains with its bark of many colors. Back in my grad school days walking among these stalwart guardians of calm and grace always helped me change gears from harried radio producer to student.  Stopping to look at their beauty and breathe their scent made me smile back then and did so again three decades later.  When it comes to maintaining perspective on one's life, the tallest hardwood trees in our land are wonderful teachers...