Shooting in the Dark

Low tech images taken in dawn light on a low income budget..no tripods, no day tripping, just using the Turtle's plastic windows as a filter, the full moon as my flash, what a mish mash...
How did I end up so up front to the ocean on Hunting Island near Beaufort, SC? Or on Lake Murray near Columbia, SC a few days after the darkest day of the year with the moon shining into my motorhome and the sun coming up at the head of my bed-loft. Turn over in my sleep, turn over a New Year. I wish you all such wonder and beauty that I have witnessed today.

Hiking the Hoodoos

This hike at Bryce Canyon National Park was at 7,600 feet. After the marker medal, I have 2 photos of how steep and how smooth the baked sandstone appears from the top. Yes, that is a person at the bottom of the third photo. It was a bit daunting, but as I got closer, it wasn't as bad as it looked and so I kept on going down like Alice because I wanted to see what was  there and not because I had taken a pill. So follow along with me and meet the Queen of England, to the final photo of a hoodoo eclipse. It was three miles of sharp down, level , and sharp up. I started at 8:30 and finished about noon because I stopped and took photos, talked to people, rested, drank water, and savored lots of Mad Hatter Hoodoos. Woo-Hoo. One of my best hikes ever. I hiked the Hoodoos the last year of my sixth decade.

Zion National Park, Utah

Zion seems to be set in high contrast at all hours and in many different ways. I found it very difficult to photograph. So the first image is of a tree casting its shadow on the Virgin River. I was hiking from The Grotto to the Emerald Pools. It was a glorious morning and I finally got some photos I liked. I was hiking along a ridge and the river was below. This led to a small slot canyon (the only one I was to see on this trip so far) and then to the falling waters near the Emerald Pools. I was dissappointed because the pools were amberish mud. There I met scads of tourist walking in from Zion Lodge. I was so glad I took the longer route and the higher road. Another contrast: the peaceful upper trail and the lower tourist laden one with the hyped "emerald" pools.  I am thankful that I am physically able to hike. Because that is how I saw the real park. In the interior. In the early morning coolness. Above the shuttle and the hustle and bustle.

Zion Flora and Fauna

Navajo Point, Grand Canyon Cathedral

 The Colorado flows through the Grand Canyon thirsting for purpleness..

 The canyon is an agent of aging rocks, but all I see is its youthful spirit...

One blackbird  to far right looks like a speck in the spectacularness of the canyon..

 Now burgundy appears like a fine wine dashed upon cascading ledges...

What a blessing to be released into this world and may I take care of my beloved earth mother as the Navajo did centuries ago. Every once in a while, I need to see further than I ever have before. I want to stand on the edge and let my spirit float for awhile while still in my home body.

It's artifacts are mostly in museums now, but the real live road has been undulating to the north or south of us for a couple of days. Oklahoma has several Route 66 museums, but the one in Clinton, OK is the best. Now we are at Ft. Amarillo Resort RV Park, just off  The Mother Road, contemplating a historic path that has lost it's flavor on the bedpost over several decades. Maybe I will revive myself at Cadillac Ranch tonight in the moonlight.

Manifest Manifold

The Turtle won't move until Rick and Liz say so! This is her destiny. On the trip out West last year, Rick and Liz saved the day by adding a blue bungee to the new accelerator cable. The job was done in about an hour. But this year, The Turtle required ten hours of non-stop work to get her manifold exhaust open. Rick found no gasket anywhere in sight. Someone had put the thing together without it and no wonder the exhaust was leaking. No one else would have attempted  taking off 33 year old nuts and bolts, but with a lot of muscle and cussing, it finally happened the day before I wanted to leave on my trip to the Grand Canyon and other canyons in the area. This time, my friend, Mary Jo Brezny is going to follow along in her son's Prius and she will be sleeping in the back bedroom, which on the 18 foot Turtle is the area where the dining table was. So the Turtle will turn into a motel  complete with fine dining cooked on her 3 burner stove and eaten under the newly refurbished awning which hopefully will have a picnic table under it. Mary Jo will head south after the Grand Canyon and the Turtle will revert back to her usual Internet cafe status. I will head further North to Gods knows where.  We leave tomorrow, Monday, August the 26th with two new rear tires, a  new fully- functioning spare, new front brake pads; cabinet, bathroom and closet doors   painted a sunny yellow and at last a properly sealed exhaust that almost exhausted my faith in being able to go anywhere. So I thank Rick and Liz Lindsay for the most dedicated and thoughtful process and persistence I have ever witnessed! The manifesting was dripping with sweat and sheer determination. It did not come easily. Sometimes we have to work  hard to get our dreams out there on the road. But with a lot of help from my friends, I am doing it. Say tuned like the Turtle.

High Tech Digital to Low Tech Pinhole, A Romantic Effect

Before I left for my Florida trip, I made a pinhole by drilling a hole in the body cap of my Single Lens Reflex Digital that I bought in 2006. I didn't use it much after purchasing my Canon Power Shot SD1100 which is about the size of a pack of cigarettes. After drilling the larger hole, I punched a needle into a piece of aluminum pie pan and put that inside the body cap. So I am shooting without a lens and only the light that enters the pin- sized hole. So no adjustments can be made for focal length, etc. The first and third images went into photoshop for one small effect. The other three images are straight out of the camera. It took a long time to learn what would work in this format..lots of experimenting and more to come.

Suwannee River Dance

Nothing catches the light quite like Spanish moss drifting and swaying from live oaks or blackwater with its tannin coral hues. Some of the Saw Palmettos had their tips bleached or shaped into arrow nubs by fire. All this with Stephen Foster chiming in at ten, two and four from the bell tower at this Florida State Park which was named in honor the man who wrote,Way Down upon the Suwannee River. He was actually from somewhere up North, but fell in love with the nostalgia and romance of Southern landscapes. Maybe he too was searching for transcendence by connecting with nature like the Hudson River Painters. It was a fitting end to my second trip in The Turtle. My last stop was downtown Atlanta to visit my cousin, Gordon Davis and his wife, Billie. Shades of Scarlet O'Hara were sighing in the sunset.

Bird's Eye

These birds of a feather don't flock together. They are wondering what the heck I am doing at Kissimmee State Park in Florida. I am wondering what the heck they are thinking! They both appear to want handouts of a different kind.

Hudson River South

I finally got the moody southern romantic moss-dripping mud effect I wanted after being inspired by the Hudson River Painters. My site at Tomoka State Park near Ormond Beach, FL was only a few yards from the Halifax River. I walked through saw palmettos, cedars, and Sabal palms to see fish jumping in tidewater time. The effect was magestic. Time to begin again.

The Solitary Oak

Nature and the grand American Vision: Masterpieces of the Hudson River School Painters
I saw this exhibition at the Columbia Museum of Art with my friend Jessica who grew up in Stony Point near Nyack, NY and is an expert on these painters, although she wouldn't classify herself that way. It is the first event of my second journey in the Turtle. And if this is an indication of how beautiful this trip will be, then I am very fortunate. This one won't be as solitary as the last. I am visiting a host of cousins, community members, friends, and one person that bought "Best Kept Secrets". Two stops in SC-Columbia and Charleston; one stop at Crooked River State Park for two nights so I can visit Cumberland Island. Then on to Florida. I am hoping to experience, "pleasant reminiscences and grateful emotions springing up at every step" to paraphrase Asher B. Durand who painted the luminous landscape above.

Spring Jewels

Winter Rainbows

Rainbow in January, Chamber's Mountain, near Iron Duff, NC

What does it mean to view a rainbow in winter? Old Man Winter slips the surprise from the long sleeve of his cloud cloak in the blink of an eye. He has a grin on his face. You weren't expecting it were you, he laughs. And if you missed it when it was so clearly bright and bowed, you missed a rare opportunity to lift your winter spirits and transform them into bouquets of bliss.