Dragging Words out of my Head

Gallery – Life on Wheels: The New American Nomads
I’ve decided to apply for Center’s Review Santa Fe and Project Launch competition this year, and while looking over the requirements and suggestions, I came across their recommendations for writing a project statement. To the question,

What should the one-page statement address?

Is the answer:
The statement should address the “why” more than the “what”. For example, address why you decided to photograph the subject and what your photographs are meant to convey. You should also indicate the process and medium used. Your artist statement should also address where the project is headed and how you would use the award funds.

As I look over what I have already written for the project, I realize It’s a pretty good rundown of what the project is about, but doesn’t really contain much of the “why’s” of the project. So it seems it is time for a rewrite. I always dread doing this as writing is so difficult for me. But over time, I have come to realize how important it is toward advancing the project. My projects usually start with a vague idea and slowly evolve until something more concrete begins to take shape. I will jot ideas down as they come to me, look at them as a whole, and eventually am able to put together something more cohesive. That is the easy part.

Later on as the work progresses, I usually find what I have written becomes less than adequate. I still like much of what I have written, but trying to add to it is nearly impossible without wholesale changes. It requires me to focus my attention for long periods – not easy for an ADD dyslexic person I consider myself to be. I cannot have any distractions around me – no music, no talking, even background noise will pull me away. In the case of rewriting for the Center competitions, it requires a whole different way of thinking about the work. Here is my statement as it exists before the rewrite:

Life on Wheels: The New American Nomads is the working title of my latest project that looks at those Americans who have consciously traded traditional lifestyles of home and property for a nomadic existence of full-time life on the road in recreational vehicles. These “full-timers” roam the continent – often traveling in caravans – meeting and socializing in predetermined places while staying connected to loved ones through the use of modern technologies. The project is primarily a look at the people, but also the vehicles they travel in and places they visit are brought into view.

 As the Baby Boom generation begins to reach retirement age, this lifestyle becomes a valid alternative to porch and rocking chair. Advances in solar technologies, energy storage and modes of communication have enabled full-timers to live largely off the grid and led to rather unexpected gatherings in remote areas of the landscape.

 While most are retired, many still live and work from their RV’s – using the advantage of mobility to increase flexibility and improve prospects. Along the way we discover that many of those motorhomes and trailers we see traveling down the road are not at all simply vacationers, but an entire subculture of wanderers looking to the next adventure.

One of the stipulations for the Center statement is that it is limited to 1 double-spaced page (approx. 250 words). Well as it exists, my current statement is already over 200 words. With everything I have to include, there will be a lot I have to remove or reword somehow. The first sentence needs to be a project summary, then the statement itself.

I began by trying to think what I wanted to convey as a whole through the photographs. Including not just what the project was about, but how I felt about it – that is the people and what they were doing. As strange as it might seem, this was something I hadn’t really given a lot of conscious thought to. I was photographing toward this, I just hadn’t really been able to voice the ideas. Going through this rewrite process has been important in making me see the project more clearly and going forward, can only help as I continue.

I started writing a first draft of the rewrite. I did a very rough total statement, not paying attention to how many words I’d used – then rewrote that about three different times, changing and rearranging sentences and paragraphs until I had the basic content and structure the way I liked it. At this point, I was at about 500 words. I then went paragraph by paragraph, condensing thoughts and culling out repetitive ideas.

So now I had an opening sentence and three main paragraphs. This totaled about 250 words. I still needed to address where the project was going, talk about what I would do with the prize should I win and include a bit about the process. Well that is just not going to happen in 250 words, so I’ve abandoned that idea. It was only a suggestion after all. I have managed to keep it at 1 page, but spaced at 1.5 instead of 2, and some creative use of margins. So far this rewrite has happened over about 7 days. I would write a bit, get blocked, then walk away, come back and do some more, then walk away again – on and on. Each time I would get a fresh perspective and this helped keep me going.

I think it’s pretty strong now. I still have a few days before the deadline, so I will continue to revisit and revise this statement until near that time.

Here is the new statement as it exists now:

My project looks at those Americans who have willfully traded traditional lifestyles of home and property for a nomadic existence of full-time life on the road in recreational vehicles.

For much of any given year, I can be found traveling cross-county in my motorhome photographing the landscape. Over time, I have become aware of a certain group of fellow travelers who seem somehow different from the typical vacationer. Known as “full-timers”, they are most often retired, but some do still work from their RV’s – using the advantage of mobility to increase flexibility and improve prospects.

Full-timers are often found in out-of-the-way BLM campgrounds, stay in the same spot for extended periods and are acquainted with many other campers in a particular area. Living largely off the grid, they have embraced modern technologies such as SCYPE and WiFi to stay connected to loved ones. They use advanced solar technologies and energy storage systems to power their rigs. Using GPS devices to coordinate meeting places, they tend to gather in unexpected and remote areas of the landscape all across the country.

I began approaching them, asking into their doings and found their fierce independence and positivity toward life a compelling argument to the porch and rocking chair. Photographing them in the environment with their rigs, affords me a unique look into a lifestyle that breaks down traditional notions of home and retirement. I am curious as to how this sea change in attitude affects perceptions of familial roots.

The journey thus far has brought me to unexpected realizations of how the older generation has adapted to the Golden Years. Along the way I’ve discovered that many of the motorhomes, trailers, 5th wheels and toy haulers seen traveling down the road are not at all simply vacationers, but an entire subculture of wanderers looking to the next adventure.

 To date, I have photographed full-timers in the southwestern and northwestern United States. I hope to be able to continue the project in the east and south and look to the Project Launch competition to aid in funding these trips. The project is digitally photographed and personally printed using an archival inkjet process.

Comments on the new statement are welcome. Let me know what you think.

iWorld Entry Accepted

Gated Mobilhome Community. Palm Desert, CA 2010. ©David Gardner

I learned over the weekend that my entry, Gated Mobilhome Community, has been accepted into the iWorld juried exhibit sponsored by The Colorado Photographic Arts Center in Denver, CO. The exhibit was juried by Chuck Mobley, Associate Director, San Francisco Camerawork, and Brian Paul Clamp, owner and director of ClampArt Gallery in New York City. Entries were judged for one of two separate show to be held at CPAC and the Denver Library. My print is included in the CPAC show from January 10 – February 10, 2012. The Library show happens from January – March 2012.

The theme for this show:
It’s official – technological innovations like the iPhone have revolutionized visual communications, spurred uprisings, and sustained occupations in a new world inundated with instruments of invention, intrusion, and instant gratification. Digital media have changed the ways in which we interact with our environment, our governments, and ourselves. Photographers and bystanders alike record events that sustain, fascinate, inspire, and intimidate us. iWorld invites you to respond to the “i-zation” of our culture by sharing your best interpretation, inspiration, innovation, or illustration of the world that your see.

Artists: CPAC Show:
Kevin Hoth, Stefka Trusz, George Beggs, Mary Norbury-Glaser, David Sharpe, Dave Barry, Mykelle Tieman, Sasha Dorje Meyerowitz, Mike Whiteley,  Erika Leppmann, Angelic Jeanne Davila, J.A. Folks, Eileen Keator, Gloria Chung, Jennifer Laffoon, Paul Soulellis, Sita Mae, David Gardner, Kim Allen,  Vivian Keulards, Lynne Scholfield, Sara Armijo, Becky Brice, Bethany April DeFelice,  Emily Heller, Tammy McKenzie, Melanie Walker, Arleen McGlade,  Francisca Morgan, Karen Divine. Solo Show: Charles Ludeke.

Artists: DPL Show:
Dave Defourneaux, Roddy MacInnes,  Paul Sisson, Josseline Van Nuffel, Siobhan Keleher, Michael Ellis, Maureen Ruddy Burkhart, Rian Hall, James Clark, Vernie Croghan, Kim Allen,  Vivian Keulards, Lynne Scholfield, Sara Armijo, Becky Brice, Bethany April DeFelice,  Emily Heller, Tammy McKenzie, Melanie Walker, Arleen McGlade,  Francisca Morgan, Karen Divine.

I only just recently learned about the CPAC. They are one of only a couple of organizations in Colorado that provide a comprehensive program of exhibitions, classes, and related events dedicated solely to photography. In late August of this year, CPAC merged with another organization (Working With Artist), and have been working to create new opportunities for photographers. Rupert Jenkins has been named Executive Director and will lead the organization going forward. I knew Rupert in San Francisco when we exhibited together at the now defunt Eye Gallery back int the 80′s. He went on to positions at San Francisco Camerawork, but I eventually lost track of him and his work. I stumbled upon his Facebook page one day a few months ago and began to once again follow him. He is a great guy and I hope CPAC does well under his leadership.

Plumas County to Mono and Home!

Dinette at the campsite

This entry is very late in arriving on the blog. We are actually home now. I didn’t realize this one didn’t get posted until today, so all of the following occurred between October 25 and 31, the day we arrived home.

Heading south from Bend, we made it as far as Mt. Lassen National Park – very nearly where we started out 10 weeks ago. We were tired and not finding many open campgrounds and were extremely happy to discover we could dry camp in the Lassen Visitor Center parking lot. At this time of year, there are very few people coming through and I guess the park relaxes regulations a little. Anyway, it turned out to be one of the nicest evenings we’ve spent. It was very quiet and very dark with no moon. The stars were just amazing with the milky way in all it’s glory. After dinner, we star gazed for awhile before turning in.

Plumas area

From reading all the fall color blogs one can find on the web, Plumas County was sounding like a great place to see good fall displays. Welllll – not so much. At least not where we were looking. Oh there was color here and there. In towns tended to be better than in the hills around the towns. In towns, people plant trees that turn, but in the open country around here, it just doesn’t seem to occur. It is largely evergreen. We did find some decent displays along a river that wound along the highway, but it was a very busy highway and the road was up pretty high from the river. Not a good combination. We took a couple of drives over two days, but not much was compelling. We met up with a former work friend of Marys who treated us to a fine meal at the Grizzly Grill.

The next day we drove till we reached Bridgeport, CA. If there was going to be fall color anywhere, the eastern Sierra’s was going to be it. We already knew the trees would be past prime, but we hoped for some remaining pockets here and there. We took an afternoon drive to nearby Twin Lakes where we did find a few isolated nice spots to photograph.

View of Twin Lakes near Bridgeport, CA.

Aspen Trunks at Twin Lakes.

Next morning, we headed up highway 395 on the way to Conway summit. I found a little used gravel road just off the highway that seemed to lead to a really nice stand of Aspens. This turned out to be one of the best spots for fall color we found. A little stream meandered through a protected stand of aspens and made for a winning combination. We spent a couple of hours tromping around the area before moving on. There is an amazing view of Mono Lake from the summit overlook so we stopped here for lunch and a brief warmup. On the way back to Bridgeport, we chose to take another longer dirt road route, but didn’t find any stands of trees with leaves.

Aspen Leaves in Frozen Stream.

A Beaver bit off a bit more than he could chew.

Frost fringed aspen leaves.

Ice ornaments dangling on the bank.

The morning of October 27th, we headed over the pass to Lee Vining. We’ve been here so many times before and it is a perfect place to home base for day trips for the June Lake loop and Lundy Lake – both places we have always found good color displays. We dry camped at our old standby place – the Panim Crater parking lot. Used to be no problem camping there, but this time a “No Camping” sign greeted us as we approached. We camped anyway. This time of year, few people are around and we decided to chance it. It is a spectacular spot to be. Parked at the base of an old cinder cone that is packed with obsidian, it has a commanding view of the eastern Sierra range and is a great place to view sunrise on the peaks.

Indian Head at Lundy Lake.

After a little nap, we headed out to Lundy Lake and Canyon. There is a wonderful little stream that runs down from the lake and we always find nice places to photograph. Lundy Lake is also one of my locations for my Marking Our Place in the World project. It was a little too early in the afternoon, and too much direct sunlight was still on the stream making for some contrasty conditions, but we managed a few nice shots.

Lundy Lake, CA.

Mossy Stump in the Stream.

Friday morning was time for the June Lake loop. This road does what it says; loops around the two June Lakes. It is another wonderful drive with lots of places to get off the road to photograph. We came upon a nice closed campground with prayer flags and birdhouses and some nice color in the trees.

Prayer Flags in the Campground. June Lake Loop.

A bit more into the canyon, we picked up the river and followed it a while. The fishermen were still doing well and were in abundance along the riversides all along the stream.

Fishing from the banks.

Later in the afternoon, we went back to Lundy Canyon to photograph the stream again. It was a little later this time and made for better conditions to photograph. Yep, more moving water shots.

Back into Lundy Canyon.

But this time, I found a few places where the sun was creating some weak shadows on the moving water. It really wasn’t visible when just looking at the rushing water, but once time lapsed, the shadows became more evident.

Shadows on the stream.

Molten surface.

Well the fun had to end sometime, and for us it was pretty much this day. But before heading home, we were fortunate enough to get a final meal at the Whoa Nellie Deli before it closed for the winter. This is the most unlikely place imageable for a fine dining experience. It is essentially the connivence store at the Mobil gas station at the junction of 395 and 120. But the food here is well known to travelers in this area. Mary had the Lobster Taquitos and I got the last of the evening specials, Rack of Lamb with mint sauce. We split a very decent $12 bottle of zin, got a seat with a view of the Mono Basin and watched the sun go down over the Lake. Yes, we do know how to live.

In the morning, we said goodbye to Mono and headed over Tioga Pass through Tuolumne and down to the Mariposa Fairgrounds where we found camping for the night. We did manage a couple of stops up in Tuolumne and found some nice ice to photograph.

Sunday morning we drove the short distance to our friends place in Merced for an overnight visit. Jeff and Betty did it up nice for us and we had a terrific brunch and a nice visit. In the late afternoon, we all drove out to the Merced wildlife refuge for some early season bird watching. There was an amazing array of birds out there. We saw hundreds of Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese, two kinds of Egrets, Ibis and tons of Redwing Blackbirds. We found a nice spot, pulled out the chairs and the wine and cheese, and had a lovely evening till the sun went down.

Sandhill Cranes just hangin' around.

Sandhills inflight.

Flocks of early Snow Geese.

Redwing Blackbirds in abundance.

Redwings peppering the sky at the Merced Refuge.

A flyover of Ibis.

As I said at the start, we are home again and running around trying to get caught up on too many things. I will be writing about upcoming events and happenings as they arise. It was a wonderful trip – one of the best of the past 6 years. Thanks all who followed along, and keep coming back for news of our next excursion! And a special thanks to Jeff and Betty for making our homecoming a warm one.

Bend, Oregon

Two of three Sisters. Cascade Mountains, OR

Pulling into Bend, there were several choices for places to camp. All of the RV parks seemed unusually expensive, ranging from $35-$50 per night. There was, however, Tumalo State Park. At $25 a night with full hook-ups or $20 without, this was the best deal around. Not all of the sites had hook-ups, but we managed to get one with. We could only reserve two days at a time as they were all reservation only spaces, but this was not a problem since there were enough spaces available that we could move to another if ours was reserved out from under us. The day was gorgeous, so we hung around in the campground, reading and noshing on a smoked almond/tortillas concoction Mary came up with – washed down with some truly outstanding homemade lemoncello we’d squirreled away before leaving in August, provided to us by friends Jeff & Betty. In the evening we enjoyed our second campfire of the trip. We stayed four days overall and explored the eastern Cascades.

Smokey layers.

Mt. Washington and Lava Flows

Dee Observatory.

Sisters reflecting in lake.

It was a bit of a disappointment as we took a couple of 100 mile drive trips looking for fall color. This area of the Cascades is mostly evergreen and lava. We stopped first at the Dee Wright Observatory. This place was constructed entirely out of the abundant lava rock in the area. It was actually pretty cool to walk the area, and pretty much as far as the eye could see was old lave flows. It is always amazing to me how little grows in these beds. The old flows are at least 400 years old and still, after all that time of heavy snowfalls and pounding rains, very little grows through the hard surfaces and cracks.It looks like it could have been deposited there only last year. There is a commanding view all around, and the makers went to great lengths to highlight the surrounding points of interest. It was really cold up there though. The sun shone, but to wind bit like icy teeth. We spent a little time walking a few of the paths, but soon continued on our search for leaf color.

Mossy rocks near Proxy Falls.

Once we came around to the near side of the Cascades, we began seeing some color change and we stopped several times to explore. We found a nice little hike to a waterfall called Proxy Falls, and enjoyed a short hike through nicely colored foliage, mossy rocks and pine forest. We spent a good hour photographing the falls and steam before continuing on to another set of falls. These were called Sahalie Falls. They were big and booming and the river flowed fast and frothy. The light was very harsh, so it was difficult to effectively photograph, but half the fun is just being in the presence of such powerful water flows.

Proxy Falls

Fungus and Maple Leaf

Sahalie Falls

Next day we took care of chores and avoided any long driving, but Mary had another drive planned the following day. This one took us by several lakes, but most all of the foliage was evergreen, so we made a change and decided to checkout another volcanic area. This was the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. We found another waterfall and later discovered a really cool obsidian deposit. The Obsidian Flow Trail was pretty short, but it took us up and around the flow and really was impressive. We photographed a small lake adjacent to the flow, which resulted in a few interesting abstracts.

Grasses in Obsidian Lake

 

Obsidian Flow in Newberry National Volcanic Monument

Obsidian Detail

We are now returning to California. It is looking like our best chance to catch fall color will be the eastern Sierra’s, so we will be traveling down the eastern side before heading back west through Yosemite and home.

John Day Fossil Beds

Blue Basin at Sheep Rock Unite of Fossil Beds National Monument, OR.

We had a very pleasant drive thru eastern Washington down to the town of Dayville in Oregon. As we drove, the landscape slowly  flattened out from the rolling hills of the Palouse to much a much flatter desert-like terrain. We were a little concerned about finding a place to camp. There is virtually nothing listed in our many camp guides. The option of just pulling over to the side of the road is always there, but I just feel better about being in an established camp of some sort. In Dayville we found an RV park that had a total of eight spaces with two that were available. The park was very pretty and peaceful and would be a nice place to be while we explored the John Day Fossil Beds. We pulled in late in the afternoon and planned on visiting the first of the Beds the next day. There are actually three separate sections to the Fossil Beds. We wanted to check out two of them. First was Sheep Rock. This unit contains an area called Blue Basin. It is know for the massive turquoise formations called Claystone. Other formations are made up of red Basalt, Ignimbrite and Tuff.

The morning dawned overcast. It rained lightly much of the night and I worried the light would be a dull all day. We decided to hang out in camp until it began to break up. In early afternoon, it cleared enough to go for it. The Beds were just a few miles from the RV park and after an easy drive, we arrived. It was still cloudy, but much thinner and provided a nice filtered light that would really help accentuate the hills. We hiked a couple of shot walks into the bluffs and got some nice views. It was very quiet along the trail and when we heard the croak of sandhill cranes overhead, we had trouble locating where the sound came from. Eventually, looking way, way up in the sky, we saw several large V’s of migrating cranes. It is truly amazing how high they were and how well we could hear them.

Wide view of the Painted Hill formation, OR

Next morning, we decided to leave the very pretty RV park and head 30 miles further west to where the Painted Hills unit was located. Again we were unsure of where we could camp, but when we entered the very tiny town of Mitchell, we managed to find a county park that had a total of three spaces for RV. It also had 30 amp electric hook-up. We were set for the night.

We got there early enough to travel the short distance to the Painted Hills section. Again, it was cloudy, but looked like it would break up soon. We got there just as the sun was beginning to shine over the badlands like hills. To say the place was spectacular would be a spectacular understatement. I’ve seen hill like this at places like Painted Desert and Petrified Forest in Arizona, but this was more impressive to me. The formations are very large and the viewpoints make photographing them a breeze. We stopped often and hiked the several short walks looking for the best vantage points. Photographing in the afternoon was also the right move, as the western exposure of the hills gave us full late afternoon sun. Another wonderful day.

We are moving on again. It would be nice to stick around here a little more, but we are getting toward the end of our 2 1/2 month trip and there are still a few places we want to get to. We are headed to Bend, and plan on taking a few drives into the Cascades looking for fall color.

Ten More from The Palouse

Morning broke with lots of clouds overhead. They are now down to 62 days of sunless days. I could see way off on the horizon a small sliver of clear sky, but it would be a couple of hours before it cleared enough to make a drive around worth while. It just meant a morning of reading and sipping coffee in the Lazy Daze. We were pretty worn out after our 100+ miles of driving and getting out and photographing. We just kept finding roads going off to interesting places, so we kept stopping and going.

We did go out again around 10 AM. By then, the sun had managed to break through intermittently and we thought it would be worthwhile looking around again. The forecast called for cloudy morning, clearing mid-day, clouding up in the afternoon. In reality, we got about 3 hours of usable sunlight. It stayed intermittent, but it would come out often and long enough to make it interesting.

Although this place holds so many more photographic possibilities, we’ve decided to move on once again. The forecasts for the next few days are calling for overcast skies through Saturday. Overcast isn’t really that bad, but it really flattens out the light and makes for duller photographs. Sometimes this is good. Not here though. We are heading down to the John Day Fossil Beds. We will visit Blue Basin and the Painted Hills. These are badlands-like places and I’m looking forward to photographing there. From there, we are headed back to the Cascades in hopes of finding mountain fall color. The word is it is at peak color up there and Mary is dying to check it out. But it means cutting short our stay in the Palouse. We’ll just have to come back again. Probably we will choose a spring period to return. Everything brown in the above images would be green in spring and that would also be something to see.

And Now for Something Completely Different – The Palouse

Winter Wheat sprouting in the Palouse.

The origin of the name Palouse is somewhat unclear. Some think the name is derived from the tribal name Palus and converted by French-Canadian fur traders to the more familiar French word palouse meaning, “land with short and thick grass”. Another theory is that the name was in the first place a French word, describing the area which was then applied to the indigenous people inhabiting it. In any event, it is a lovely place. Wheat and legumes are the primary products produced here, and the way the hills are planted and tended, create some unbelievably wonderful scenes.

After getting setup at the fairgrounds, we headed out for an evening drive. Our destination was a place called Steptoe Butte. It is a quartzite island jutting 1000′ out of the surrounding countryside. From the top, amazing panoramic views made for a busy afternoon for us. The road to the top wound around and around the butte providing different views from various levels on the way up. From the top, it was simply amazing. The patchwork aspect of the ploughed and planted fields, combined with the somewhat cloudy skies created ever changing moments to photograph. The high, cold steady winds presented a challenge, but I still burned through the major part of a 2 gig data card.

Harvested wheat fields seen from Steptoe Butte, WA

Mary at the summit of Steptoe Butte on a cold windy morning.

After coming off the butte, we continued on around the various roads that spiderweb the countryside. We try to pick loop routes to drive and photograph, but it is so tempting to simple head off down a side road to see what is there. Most times this has worked well. It gets us deeper into the landscape, away from the busier main roads. It’s not that the main road are really all that busy, but the cars and large trucks still tend to zoom by on the narrowish roads making for some nervous moments. Most drivers are very curteous about slowing down and giving wide berth to us pedestrians, but it is just so much more relaxing to not worry about getting hit.

Cold wet mist blows over the summit of Steptoe Butte.

Next morning, we got up predawn to go back to Steptoe. We wanted to see sunrise from this vantage point with hopefully less windy conditions. Up that high, it was still dam cold and only a little less windy. But we stuck it out for some really wonderful views. There was a light mist-like fog blowing first this way, then that way. We were dressed for the conditions, but jumping back into the car for a coffee warmup was still a regular necessity.

Side roads lead to new surprises in the Palouse.

The Palouse chamber of commerce boasts 300 sunny days per year for this area. That means 65 days of rain and or clouds. The past two days means they are down to 63. The skies have been largely overcast both days we have been here. There are lots of moments of sun breaking through – and this does make for some dramatic lighting conditions, but it has also interrupted our sunrise and limited our photo ops all day. Tomorrow is supposed to be much less cloudy and we are hoping for better conditions. More to come.

Back in Portland for a Day

Steve & Mairleen

As we feared but expected, Mount St. Helens was a no show. The rain, although light, descended on the mountain the day we got there and we knew we would miss out on the prize. Oh but we tried though. We started off toward the summit under cloudy but dry skies. About 30 miles into the drive to the top, we entered a fog bank that was thick as mud. Visibility was down to maybe 5 ft. and we decided there wasn’t much point in continuing, so we turned back.

So since I was stuck back in camp (Uh, our RV park), I got to know our nearest neighbors a little. I started talking with Steve and Mairleen and learned they have been traveling and living in their 5th wheel for the past 2 years. The difference with them is that they are not retired. Steve decided rather than stay in California where there is no work and lose everything, he would travel to where there was work. As an iron worker and millwright, he has enough skills to fit many needs. But it is a tough life living and working on the road. He had to leave his young daughter at home with his ex-wife. I could see the separation caused him pain. His RV was giving him constant grief and work was not plentiful despite the constant travel. He was doing what he had to in order to provide. He was clearly down, but still upbeat – not willing to give in. I wanted him and Mairleen in the project and he was happy to be a part of it. It is difficult to see people struggle, but important to show what they must do to get by. I have noticed in most RV parks, quite a few folks like this, but have been reluctant to photograph them. Seemed like an intrusion to me. In some parks, the majority of those staying there were working people. It is an aspect I know I need to include more of, so I will have to get past these feelings.

But it was time to get back to Portland. The Newspace Center for Photography show opened on Friday, October 7th, so we left the RV in the park and drove the Rav 50 miles into Portland. A night in a motel and an evening out would make a nice change of pace and getting to actually see a show I’m in would be fun.

Me & my Print at the Newspace Opening.

Newspace Center for Photography.

And it was fun. Overall the show was quite good. It’s got to be tough for the jurors to pick a cohisive show from so many different styles and genre’s of photography. But they did it and it was fun to attend. I got to connect with both Chris Bennett, Executive Director, and Laura Valenti, Program Director. I’ve had portfolio reviews with each of them and both were very supportive of the work I was doing. I was hoping to meet up with Mary Ann and Deborah, two ladies we met at the Lazy Daze get together, but somehow we missed each other in the gallery. A real bummer because they are a fun and lively couple. This was a fund raising event for Newspace as well. There was a raffle and a membership dirve. Mary and I didn’t win any of the raffle prizes, but since we were leaving town the next day, it didn’t really matter. Afterwards, we found dinner at an Italian resutrant called Denicolas. The first clue that this was good traditional Italian was the enormous fellow that was coming out of the resturant as we entered.I could not have squeezed in sideways to get by him. Inside there were probably 8-10 other couples at various booths. With each couple, one or both were also enormous. This tells you the food is not only good, but also plentiful. And it was! After dinner we were asked if we wanted to bring our leftover bread home with us as well as the leftovers. How many restaurants do that? On the way out, I noticed a photo of the owner and his wife – yes, both also enormous.

Mt. Adams from the Larch Mountain lookout.

In the morning, we resisted another visit to Voodoo Doughnuts and settled for a rather mundane Continental breakfast at the Days Inn. It was a beautiful day – the only one for the entire week – and we decided to do a little sightseeing tour before heading back to St. Helens. We were hoping for some fall color along the Columbia River, but it is late here. But the day was so nice, we decided on a drive up to Larch Mountain. We had no expectations, but did hope for color at the higher elevations. What we got was an amazing panoramic view from a viewpoint at the top. It was still somewhat cloudy, but clear enough to see Mt. Adams above the clouds. On a clearer day, we should have also been able to see St. Helens, Rainier, and Jefferson. The clouds obscured the others on this day though.

The Columbia River from Larch Mountain Lookout.

Columbia River from the south side.

After the mountain, we drove the road along the Columbia river down one side, stopping for lunch at Multnomah Falls Lodge, before crossing the river and driving up the other side, then headed back to our RV home at Mount St. Helens.

View of the Columbia from the north side.

The wet weather has finally caught up with us. We wanted to spend a few days around Mt. Rainier, but seeing how the conditions are at St. Helens, and seeing the amount of rain forecast for the next week, we decided to skip Rainier and head to the eastern side of the state. East of the Cascades is more desert than rain forest. We are headed for the Palouse area of southern Washington. This area is all farmland with rolling hills of wheat as far as the eye can see. I’ve seen photos of the area and have been wanting to visit the area for several years.

We headed out on another rainy morning and hoped to get past Rainier before it got too hairy. We managed to stay ahead of the rain most of the way, even having time to stop to photograph at a small lake and park before heading over the mountain. As we approached a pass near Rainier, Mary yelped me to a stop. At a large viewpoint just east of Rainier, we got a glimpse of the mountain before it was enveloped in clouds again. It was something to see, even if it was brief.

Lake view.

A Tree at the Lake.

Mt. Rainier for a moment.

We made it to Colfax by 3 P.M. and searched around for a campground. There wasn’t much. We drove past a camper sign at one point, but it led only to the waste treatment plant. In town, the only RV park we found was a real dump next to an even dumpier motel. Our last choice was at the fairgrounds about five miles back outside of town the way we came. We missed the turnoff on our way in to town, so had to drive back there to find out if it would be suitable. Turns out it’s pretty nice. We are the only one’s here. The water was being turned off for the season while we were there, but the workers said we were welcomed to stay and showed us where to fill our tanks. We do have 30 amp power and a pretty nice location to boot. For $10 bucks a night, how could we go wrong?

Newspace Center for Photography – Members Showcase Opening

Gates of Graceland. Memphis, TN. 2008

Opening tonight at the Newspace Center for Photography is this year’s Members Showcase exhibit. I was lucky enough to get a print in the show this year and will also be attending the opening. I’m looking forward to seeing lots of great work. It is also the members appreciation party from 6 pm – 9 pm. If you are in Portland, OR, come on by to see the work and perhaps win a raffle prize from local restaurants and businesses!

Newspace is located at: 1632 SE 10th Ave. Portland, OR 97214

See you there!

City Time

Some of our beach combing booty.

So the past week or so was devoted to hanging out in Tacoma and Seattle, and visiting friends and relatives. We hunkered down in Gig Harbor, near Tacoma to wait out and incoming storm. It was nice, but nothing really special. The park managers were kind enough to pose for me, and I like a couple of the images I did of them. They may make it into my Nomadsproject. A good place to hang for a few days.

Richard and Sherrie with their rig.

Visited states.

The bad weather never really got that bad though. It has been raining, but not that much and mostly at night. We keep expecting it to be pouring down, but other than some occasional heavy showers, there hasn’t been much. Most days have been dry enough to do everything we wanted, so it’s worked out pretty well. In Tacoma, we visited the Glass Museum and walked around town some.

Venting stack for the Hot Shop at the Glass Museum.

View of the Bridge of Glass near the Glass Museum.

I was kind of dreading the museum a little. Since Tacoma is the home a Dale Chihuly, I expected the the museum to be loaded with his gaudy, florid creations. But not so. It turned out it was a really interesting place with several intriguing exhibits, including a really amazing installation by by Ingalena Klenell and Beth Lipman. One gallery consisted entirely of sheets of formed glass suspended by wires from the ceiling in segments to create an amazing landscape complete with trees, waterfalls, mist and mountains – all using colorless glass. The entire museum is built around “The Hot Shop”. This is a workshop where there are constant glass working demonstrations presented. The workshop is a three or four story conical shaped structure, the interior bottom of which is the work area. The construction of the conical shape is in order to allow venting through the top opening, of the high intensity furnaces used to fire the glass. A quite impressive building.

The stack at night.

Outside, crossing the rail tracks and highway, was the Bridge of Glass. This is where the Chihuly’s were located. The bridge wasn’t actually made of glass, but on the bridge structure itself, display cases full of Chihuly glass were housed. Also, in the roof of the structure were more sculptures – almost like they were dumped in there. It was pretty cool. A good presentation of his work.

Chihuly's up the wazooly.

More Chihuly's.

Ceiling of Chihuly's.

More Chihuly's.

Dinner time view at the Murano Hotel. Tacoma, WA

It was also my birthday in Tacoma, so we found the Murano Hotel restaurant in which to celebrate. Since it had been so overcast, we were really surprised when, as we drove into town on the one clear afternoon, Mt Rainier put in an appearance. It was actually a shock to see it loom so large over the city.During dinner, we had a terrific view of the mountain as the sun went down. A very nice way to turn 57.

Skyline view from the Space Needle. Seattle, WA

In the Seattle area, we visited friends in Redmond, and later, Mary’s last living 90 year old uncle Stan. We had a nice dinner out together with Stan, her cousin Kim and friend Ed. We really played tourist for several days. We checked out the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, the Experience Music Project (EMP) which also housed the Science Fiction Museum. We also walked around Washington Park, browsed the Olympic Sculpture Park, visited the Frye Museum and the Photo Center Northwest. And of course, made plenty of room for cafe’s and coffee – it is the home of Starbucks after all.

Tornado of musical instruments at EMP.

Japanese Maples at Washington Park. WA

Playing with foliage.

Exterior of the EMP building. Seattle, WA

One of the entrances to EMP.

More of the EMP exterior.

Olympia Sculpture Park. Seattle, WA

Pike Place Market. Seattle, WA

Interior of Seattle's public library.

Ahhhh, time for a coffee break.

A nice week. Now it’s back to Portland for a day to catch the opening of the Members Showcase show at Newspace Center for Photography. I have a print in the show and for a change, I get to see a show my work is in. We are camping in the Mt, Saint Helens area for a few days and are hoping to actually see the mountain at some point. Doesn’t look good at this point with all the rain the past few days.

Salt Creek and Olympic National Park

View from our rig. Salt Creek Campground.

It was with some regret that we left Kalaloch. It was hard to believe we could do better than this place. We headed north a bit and overnighted in the town of Forks. Forks is known as being the town the Twilight movies takes place in. This is something I have no interest in. Mary has seen a couple of the movies, and we had the option of checking out some of the locations, but thankfully, Mary chose not to. We restocked, did some laundry and headed for a campground some of our fellow LD’ers recommended in the Salt Creek Recreation Area near Port Angeles. There are a number of RV parks in the area, but this one is a county municipal park, and among the nicest of it’s kind we’ve seen. It had water and electric with a dump station, as well as non-hookup sites. We might have opted for the cheaper non-hookups, but all of them were in the trees which would mean little exposure for the solar panels. The hookup sites were wide open with a spectacular view of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. On a clear day, Mt. Baker is visible. All for 20 bucks a night. We set up and took a short hike around the park. We did have to beware of a cougar that was active in the area. It had been sighted 4 times IN the campground during the past 2 weeks. Always helps the energy level to have a wild animal lurking in the forest. But we had a nice stroll with no incidents.

Straits of Juan de Fuca

In the morning, we took a drive west up the Olympic Peninsula to Clallum Bay. We had it on good authority that this was the place to go to find beach glass – glass that has been washed ashore after being scoured by sea and sand. I didn’t really think we would find much – why here and not other beaches? But it wasn’t long before it started appearing before us as we walked along. It was a matter of fixing one’s stare among the various pebble piles as the waves broke over. We also found shards of porcelin. The same person told us this was possible, and the thinking was that it was from the tsunami waves from Japan. Well, who knows really. Some of it was pretty worn, but it could have just as easily been from some cruise ship passing by. Towards the end of the beach, where the river ran into the sea, we decided to turn back. But not before I got a little too close to the edge of the river. You would not believe how deep and quickly I sank into the sand! In an instant I was up to my knee. I tried to turn and step back the way I came, but that next step I also sank just as deep, and the one after. My shoes immediately filled with sand and water, but they stayed on and I managed to get out just after another couple of steps back. So, with wet feet and shoes, we headed back to camp. A small price to pay for a fun day of beach combing.

Day 2 here, we decided to hike the Hurricane Ridge trail in Olympic National Park. It’s only a 3 mile round trip hike, but has a 600 ft. rise in elevation at 5500 ft. We wanted to do this hike mid-week. It is probably the most popular hike in the park and promised to be way more crowded on the weekend. It was really pretty easy. While steep, it was also smooth and well maintained so just taking it slow was quite enough.

Hurricane Ridge

Mary on the ridge.

Rainbow over Hurricane Ridge and Straits of Juan de Fuca.

Passing shower over Hurricane Ridge.

We had great panoramic views of the Straits and surrounding mountains. It was windy as you might expect a place called Hurricane Ridge to be. But the way the trail was constructed, it turned out to be quite protected. On some turns, the wind blew like the devil, on others, calm. We could see accumulated cloud cover on the mountains around us, and even a faint rainbow blew by, but we stayed dry. On the way up we saw a couple of plump Blue Grouse. They were so fat that Mary mistook them for marmots at first. But marmots don’t have beaks. The marmots we heard on the way up, we finally saw on the way down. They were perched on a rock outcropping overlooking the valley below and we needed out binocs to see them – but they were there.

So far in this entire trip, the weather has been virtually perfect. That doesn’t mean always sunny and warm. For me, cloudy days mean even light and potentially, much better photographically. As the clouds break up, interesting lighting situations often occur. If it rains, it’s during the night. The days have been great, especially in the rain forest.

Early morning view of Straits of Juan de Fuca.

Morning mist in the campground at Salt Creek.

While talking about various hikes with a ranger at the visitor center, we discovered one of the mountain hikes we wanted to do was inaccessible due to road damage. We decided to go back into the rain forest to hike the Sol Duk waterfall trail instead. It was a longer drive, but sounded like it would be worth it. It was a 6+ mile hike but the waterfall sounded pretty nice. The light was so good. Variable – largely overcast, but when the sun came out, steam from the warming wetness began rising, adding an intriguing atmosphere.

Our trail to Sol Duc Falls. Olympic National Park, WA.

Tree Fungus and Ferns.

Tree moss.

Sol Duc River.

After 3 miles of pleasant hiking we arrived at the falls – we thought. They were nice, but a little less than what we were expecting. Oh well, still fun to photograph, and it was a nice walk.

Sol Duc Falls - NOT!

 

We started back after an hour or so, and came to a trail junction telling us the Sol Duc falls was a tenth of a mile up the trail. We stopped too early. Fortunately we decided to make a loop out of our walk instead of returning the way we came. We would have missed the real falls altogether. Sol Duc did not disappoint – triple falls that thundered over the edge into a narrow chasm. I’m not sure the images I’ve posted for Sol Duc really convey the experience of being there. In some ways, the earlier falls were nicer to photograph, but Sol Duc was much more impressive to see. We were already tired, but we stayed a while longer to photograph before heading back. Another great day in the rain forest.

The real Sol Duc Falls.

Triple falls into a cavern.

We are leaving the Olympic Peninsula and will be heading south down to the Seattle area to visit friends and relatives. The weather report tells us our luck with dry weather is about to end. Word is the weather system that brought a typhoon to Japan is about to hit northern Washington and Canada. High winds and driving rain is expected. We’re going to find an RV park to hunker down in until it passes. It will actually be some welcome down time. We’ve been really busy with hiking and driving, so some forced sitting will be nice.

Olympic Peninsula and Hoh Rain Forest

Tree mosses along the Hoh River Trail.

So it’s into the rain forest for several days as we venture up to the Olympic Peninsula. Our first stop will be the National Park service campground at Kalaloch Beach. It is part of Olympic National Park and we will use it as a home base for our adventures while we are in the southern part of the peninsula. We got a late start out of Nehalem Bay. We had to dump our tanks and there was a Lazy Daze bottleneck at the dump station. We had a bunch of goodby’s to say and last minute advice to listen to.

Maples and moss.

So by the time we got up to Kalaloch, it was nearly 4 pm. We stopped at a ranger station at Lake Quinault on the way up to inquire about the campgrounds since according to the guidebooks, most of the sites there would not accommodate our 26 ft rig. The ranger calmed our fears by telling us there were many larger sites and indeed that was the case. He also told us another overflow campground, called Sunset, was wide open and could easily fit us in and was a few miles closer. We figured we’d just amble up there for the night and decide to move or stay later. Unfortunately, when we got there, the gates were closed and locked. It had closed 3 days earlier. How could the ranger not know that? So we ended up going to Kalaloch after all and hoped to find an open space. We needn’t have worried. There were 6 big loops with lots of open spaces – most of the spaces rigs bigger than ours could have fit in. Getting there so late did mean the choice was limited – most of the available sites were under the heavy tree canopy. We did manage to find one that was open enough to keep our solar panels charging the batteries.

After we got settled, we walked around the campground and discovered that a number of the sites were simply spectacular. A number of them are perched on the edge of a bluff overlooking the beach. We decided to work at improving our location for day 2. We noted every site we coveted and was scheduled to open the next day. But, oh they go fast in the morning. We did manage to upgrade to an even more open site, but a 12 ft. hedge all around meant no ocean view today even though we were right on the edge of the bluff. Oh well, we are here to explore anyway, so it was off to the Hoh River trail for a nice hike.

Tree Fungus.

We did 4 miles out to the Cougar Cedar Grove before deciding to turn back. This was our first hike in about a week and we were pooped, but it was amazing. Everything you might expect in a rain forest – except the rain – greeted us. There were long tendrils of moss hanging from trees and growing on every other surface, fungus of every kind growing from dead trees, thick stands of maple, spruce and miscellaneous plant life all along the trail. But I discovered pretty quickly that interpreting a rain forest was not easy. How do I approach such a seeming mishmash of shapes and colors? I finally decided to try to isolate details – to look close. We reach the cedar grove, and while not too impressive, I did find some nice split logs with simply beautiful cedar texture.

Cedar detail 1.

Cedar detail 2.

The next day, we were a little more proactive in upgrading our campsite. Up early and driving around the campground, I found an open one right on the edge of the bluff with a grand view of the entire beach that stretched for miles in both directions. It ranks as one of the best campgrounds we’ve ever had. We tore ourselves away to do another hike though, this time at Lake Qinault and the surrounding rain forest. We’ve not seen any rain during the days so far. It did sprinkle lightly during both evenings, but this served to freshen up the forest. The hike was only 3.5 miles and the trail was very easy to walk. It wasn’t the best of hikes, but towards the end, we approach a large ravine though which Willaby Creek flowed. We were able to photograph from a bridge high above the creek and the unusual perspective resulted in some really interesting shots. Some of the best of the trip so far, I think.

Nature trail at Quinault Lake.

Plant details.

Fern frond.

Willaby Creek.

 

 

Willaby Creek and reflections.

Coming back to our super incredible campsite, we splurged with a late afternoon fire, Cuba Libra’s and potato chips. Yes, we are bad, but it felt so good. Fog over the ocean prevented a memorable sunset, but it did allow me to do some long exposures of the crashing surf. I love the softness and abstractness of this type of image. It is not often when all the elements come together and I loved that they did this night.

Soft surf from our campground.

Trees in the fog.

In the morning, a light fog greeted us. It was such a perfect morning we decided to take a stroll up the beach. So cameras and coffee in hand, we walked along as the tide slowly came in. As we walked, the fog bank was in constant motion, coming in, moving out, lifting and dropping. As the sun rose, it backlit the trees lining the bluff and combined with the fog, created some memorable views. We had planned to leave this day, but this spot just compelled us to stay longer. That is the biggest advantage to this kind of travel. Stay if we want, leave if we want.

Early morning beach walk.

Sun rays through the trees.

Hang in there baby.

We spent the rest of the morning hanging out in the campground and catching up on blogging. In the afternoon, we checked out a couple of spots we were interested in. We visited Lalaloch Lodge first. It was a nice little place with a bunch of cabins overlooking the beach. Later, we checked out Ruby Beach. It got it’s name from sand composed of crushed garnets. It took awhile, but after close inspection, we did indeed find areas with a pinkish cast. Not real impressive, but interesting. On the way back up to the parking lot, we came across a beach log covered in stacked rocks. We see these places from time to time and I always find them interesting and curious. And beware, beach logs can kill.

Too much time on someone's hands.

Logs that kill.

Gabbing and Eating

Tom and Rita with Rosie.

Just before leaving Portland, I got to know our RV park hosts a bit. Tom and Rita, along with Rosie, spend their summers here tending to the needs of the parks’ guest. They were headed south for the winter in a couple of weeks with a few stops in between. They have been full-timing for the past 8 years and see no need to change their lifestyle. Now on to the Lazy Daze get together.

Of course, the way things always seem to work out, The day we left Portland for the coast, the big cool-off began. The temps that were in the mid 90′s, today are mid 70′s. It is all a big relief though and we are glad for the cooler weather. It’s actually perfect for the coast. We spent most of the day getting to Tillamook where we planned to overnight before arriving at Nehalem Bay State Park. We found a kind of crummy RV park in town, next to the highway, but decided to stay since it was just for the night. I found this trailer parked near us. You can often tell who is full-timming by how they adorn their rigs. This one had the look.

5th Wheel Landscaping. Tillamook, WA

Before the ice cream, we motored up the Cape Meares Lighthouse. This squat little lighthouse is the shortest on the Oregon coast and was decommissioned in the 60′s. It lay dormant, unused and seemingly unwanted for many years. Unwanted, that is, until in 2010 it was severely vandalized by a couple of youths using rifles. They shot out the windows and damaged the Fresnel lens which came from France in the 1800′s. They were apprehended, and though they did over $500,000 in damage, they ended up being on the hook for $100,000 and some prison time. It was enough to get the restoration started and the work continues today with much help from volunteers and gift shop sales (we purchased a couple of pairs of lighthouse socks).

Mary was told by someone she met about the amazing ice cream at the Tillamook cheese factory. “Look at the cheese, but get the ice cream”,  was the advice she was given. And yes we did. Mary went with the Caramel Butter Pecan with the Udderly Chocolate, while I opted for the Tillamook Mudslide and Cinnamon Cream. All very very good, but we are definitely not following doctors orders with our food choices of late.

Cape Meares Lighthouse, WA.

Ocean View from Cape Meares, WA.

The next day we arrived at Nehalem Bay. It was pretty cool to see so many other Lazy Daze’s in one place. Usually we see very few on our trips. There were 30 rigs altogether and the Wagonmaster for the northwest group, Pete Reed, was among the first to greet us.

Lazy Daze's abound

We spent the rest of the day introducing ourselves and checking out the other rigs. Dinner that night was a “heavy finger food” pot luck. The following words were uttered after every meal thereafter, “Oh God, I’m so full”. After dinner, we were asked to stand and say a little about ourselves. This was a really nice touch because it gave others a way of learning a bit about us. Everyone was so friendly and offered lots of advice. There were a number of other Californians in the group. Some confided to us that they thought this group was way more fun the the Northern Californian group.

Leonard and Bill

Yaeko the batter queen.

After breakfast the next morning, Mary and I headed out to Cannon Beach. Cannon is known for it’s big rock that juts out of the beach. It was pretty overcast, but sun did break through from time to time. We had a nice stroll down the beach and shot some images of the iconic rock. Not the best light for this place, but as a first look kind of experience, it was nice and we did manage some good shots.

Cannon Beach, WA

Haystack Rock and Dunes at Cannon Beach, WA

Walkin' the Beach.

Haystack Rock and Reflections.

Workin' my zen self

More of Haystack.

Dinner that night was a BBQ chicken and corn extravaganza. Larry and Donna Kriegshauser put this together. Larry built an amazing grill that seemed to hold at least 20 chickens. They were done to perfection and had the best smoked flavor I have ever tasted.

Larry and his homemade grill.

Serving it up.

After the feed, just as there was last night, Pete held an auction of donated items from the membership. There was everything from handmade coasters (we bought some of those) to potatoes (yes, we bought some of those too). It was pretty hilarious the way Pete was able to auction off multiples of the same object. He kept everyone guessing.

Pete auctions off donations.

We passed on the breakfast the next morning, opting to save our appetite for the hamburger and hot dog lunch. Half pound burgers and really good hot dogs (I had to have one of each). Afterward, Mary had to prepare our contribution for the final dinner that evening, and this gave me the opportunity to meet up with and photograph one of the couples we’d met earlier.

I was a little disappointed that there were no full-time RV’er at this gathering, but meeting Mary Ann and Debra really made up for that. They are one of the few same-sex couples I’ve met on the road and I wanted to include them in my Life on Wheels project. They invited me in to their 36′ diesel pusher for a really nice chat, and allowed me to photograph them with their 3 Jack Russell’s. At one time they did own a Lazy Daze and worried that if they bought something else, they would be excluded from the group. It was one of the rules after all, but I think it is a wonderful testament to the openness of this group and the warm feelings everyone had toward Mary Ann and Debra, that the group agreed they could stay as part of the group. I think that these groups, like all groups really, are just excuses to get like minded people together. Who really cares after that. It’s all about community and I am heartened to see these folks embrace that.

Mary Ann and Debra with their diesel pusher.

 

 

 

 

 

The ladies are quite a story themselves. Mary Ann has been an outspoken advocate for the LGBT community. She has written about her experience of being forced to resign her U.S. Army Reserve commission in 1987. This is well before the time of “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”. Debra is a spark plug of enthusiasm and it is easy to see why any group would want them included. These are two cool chicks! I’m really pleased to have gotten to know them a bit.

 

We had a wonderful experience with the Northwest Lazy Dazer’s. I hope to join up with them again on another trip. I think we will probably not actually join the group just yet. We most likely will be traveling elsewhere for the next year or so, but this was really a fun get together and would recommend it to other Lazy Dazer’s if they are in the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Days in Portland

Cvic Pride. Portland, OR

It’s hot here. Mid-90′s most every day this week. The weather people say this is the first extended heat wave of the entire year. They don’t expect it to end until Monday – the day we leave for the northern coast of Oregon. We had hoped to do a number of hikes around the Columbia River and Gorge, as well as the Mt. Hood area, but the heat has changed our plans. To add to this, there are fires burning on Mt. Hood sending up a lot of smoke. Visibility is way down and we usually cannot even see Hood or St. Helens. We adapt though. This is Portland after all (aka Portlandia), a mythical place in the minds of many. A large painted sign nearby Voodoo Doughnuts proclaims, “Keep Portland Weird”. Compared to San Francisco, not that weird though.

Mary Emerges for Voodoo.

I mentioned Voodoo Doughnuts. This place was the top vote getter for “must do’s” in Portland. Our first morning in town we stopped by for breakfast. They do doughnuts like no one else, my choice, the Bacon Maple Bar (yes, 2 strips of real bacon and maple frosting on a bar of dough) was nearly out done by Mary’s choice, Memphis Mafia (Fried dough with banana chunks and cinnamon sugar covered in a glaze with chocolate frosting, peanut butter, peanuts and chocolate chips on top!) Washed down with a 16 oz. coffee each, and we were ready to face the day – until the sugar crash.

Mary with the Maple Bacon Bar and the Memphis Mafia.

More Ju Ju.

We walked the streets in town a bit. Visited the Rose and Japanese gardens in the huge Washington Park where I found bags filled with rose clippings. Not the usual subject matter, but I found it more interesting than straight rosebush shots. Also visited the Portland Museum where they were having a show of really unusual automobiles. A particularly cool exhibit was by a native american artist whose blown glass sculptures were attached by a long metal posts to a painted black board and hung on the wall. The way it was lit, the sculpted pieces cast shadows in various directions and created a really cool effect.This piece would work well in our entryway at home.

Bagged Roses at Washington Park.

More Bagged Roses.

In a Japanese Garden, this message takes on new meeting.

Zen

Reflecting Pool and falls. Washington Park. OR

Mary's Favorite. Portland Museum of Art.

My Favorite. Portland Museum of Art.

A cool piece at the museum.

Although it is very hot, getting out early really helps. The nights cool down quite a bit and it actually stays coolish until after around noon each day. On our second day, we took a driving/hiking tour of the Columbia Gorge area. The route follows old highway 30 and is mostly shaded. The roadway was designed to blend in with the landscape as much as is possible for a highway. It takes in a number of scenic waterfalls and the hikes to the falls is rewarded with cool winds created by the rushing, falling water. We stopped at several of them and yes, more waterfall shots followed.

Columbia Gorge Overlook.

Latourell Falls.

Latourell Falls with Father and Son.

Base of Latourell Falls.

Wahkeena Falls.

Multnomah Falls.

At the base of Multnomah Falls.

Another day’s driving destination brought us to the Swan Island Dahlia Gardens. It was steamy hot, but oh how dahlias love the hot! This is still prime growing season for them and we had a fun but sweaty time photographing.

Swan Island Dahila Gardens.

Portland has a very active photography community and one of the main things I wanted to do while here was visit Newspace Center for Photography. I am a member there and am included in the Members Showcase show. It will be up October 7 – 30. Since I left San Francisco before the results of the juried exhibit were announced, I needed to bring the five prints I entered, along with enough framing supplies to cover the prints accepted. I didn’t know which, if any, would be accepted but I had to be prepared. As it turned out, 1 print was accepted and since I’m in town, I get to drop it off personally and check out the space. While I am a member, I’ve never actually been there before. They have just finished expanding the space, so I was excited to visit. The gallery didn’t disappoint. Lauren Henkin was showing work from her Growth series and work from several of her other projects. It was really interesting work.

Putting together my print for the Newspace Members Showcase.

We spent our last full day in Portland checking out the downtown market and then off to several photography galleries. We saw Grace Weston’s fabulous work at Augen Gallery, visited Blue Sky, and 23 Sandy. All good work and a very enjoyable day. Of course it all started off with another visit to Voodoo. This morning, the line was around the block and then doubled back on itself. We waited though.

Weekend lines at Voodoo.

Prince makes an appearance.

Back at the RV park, I met Ole’, Renne and big Bubba. Full-timers for the past eight years and still lovin’ it. Ole’ was grooming his kitty with a brush/glove contraption to protect himself from Bubba’s bite. Bubba sank his fangs into Renne’s arm some time ago and she spent 2 days in the hospital fighting a severe infection. They still love their kitty.

Ole', Rennee and big Bubba.

It’s back to the coast for us. Monday we leave for Nehalem Bay State Park. We are meeting up with the Northwest Lazy Daze group for what sounds like a fun 3 days of eating and gabbing. I hope to photograph the full-timers among them. Pictures to follow.

First Looks on the Central Coast of Oregon

Dunes on Heceta Beach. Oregon

I’ve gotten a bit behind here, so this will be a catch-up post – mostly pictures of what we saw and did.We made it to the Oregon coast and stayed for nearly a week in the town of Florence. We decided to hunker down here until after the Labor Day weekend. Lots to do in the area. Weather is just about perfect – just a bit too windy making walks on the dunes a little dicy. Wind and sand are not a good mix with cameras. But we did get time on beach and dunes at Heceta Beach and a little further south in the Oregon Dunes National Seashore.

Heceta Beach Grasses.

More Grasses at Heceta.

Blowing Dunes at Oregon Dunes National Seashore.

Surf and Sand at Oregon Dunes.

On another day, we took a drive north on US-101. First stop was Sea Lion Caves. We haven’t been here for probably 20 years, but the sea lions still come. Not so many this day though. They’re all hanging around Pier 23 this time of year and won’t be back for a couple of months. We did see a few, but the caves alone are really quite impressive. From inside the caves, there is also a nice viewpoint of the lighthouse at Heceta Head.

Sea Lion Cave. Oregon.

Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Still another day found us driving north on US-101. First stop was Sea Lion Caves. We haven’t been here for probably 20 years, but the sea lions still come. Not so many this day though. They’re all hanging around Pier 23 this time of year and won’t be back for a couple of months. We did see a few, but the caves alone are really quite impressive. From inside the caves, there is also a nice viewpoint of the lighthouse at Heceta Head.

500 year old Spruce Tree.

Spruce and Steps.

Later, on our return trip, we took the short drive up to the Cape Perpetua viewpoint. There visibilities this day were amazing. No fog and a stiff breeze gave us a wonderful gift. The water patterns were mesmerizing and kept us busy photographing.

View from the top of Cape Perpetua.

Oceans' Expanse from Cape Perpetua.

Surf from above.

Farther north, past Newport up to Yaquina Head, we visited the lighthouse there. We got a brief tour of this still functioning facility. Outside we were treated to a pod of gray whales who were making their way past the Head very close to where we stood. I photographed them a bit, but I’ll spare you the whale dot images.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse.

Spiral Staircase to top.

Inside the lens element.

Still later that week, we took an early morning walk along the Florence Dunes. A low foggy mist still hung over the water and mingled with the dunes in an inviting way. We stopped in several spots to watch fishermen, crabbers and beach campers stirring in this calm morning setting.

Morning along the jetty.

Misty dunes and grasses.

Surf and Grasses at the Florence dunes.

Crabbing lines on the pier.

On our last day in this area, we motored off to a somewhat remote hike inland to a trail along Sweet Creek. Sweet it was. This short hike was one of the best we’ve done in years. Packed into the 2-mile round trip hike were several medium sized waterfalls and lots of smaller ones. The trail was really well maintained and access to the stream was quite easy most of the time. When we arrived, we were the only one’s there, but this being the Labor Day weekend, by the time we finished the hike there were dozens of people along the trail, at the waterfalls and in the water.

Falls along Sweet Creek trail.

No matter though. By this time, it was mid-day and the sun had gotten high enough to create too contrasty light on the stream for effective photography. We just moved to a less traveled trail a few mile up the road called the Beaver Creek Waterfall trail. This was far less interesting a trail, but led to a very nice falls. The light was still pretty good here, and we stopped to photographed for a short time before heading back.

Beaver Creek Falls.

We spent most of Labor Day making our way inland to Portland. Returning traffic was as bad as you might expect and it took up probably an hour or more longer than normal. But we are here and plan on staying for a week. My next posts, to appear here soon, will describe some on what we are up to.

Life on Wheels – The New American Nomads

Larry and Dorothy

After thinking about it for quite a while, I’ve decided to alter the name of my current project. Not long after starting this project in January of this year, I discovered another photography project was named very similarly – American Nomads. That project, while dealing with a similar idea, had a much darker tone. I actually felt the name was better applied to my work than to his. I didn’t want to lose it, but he had it first and I had to find a way to differentiate the two projects. During a recent portfolio review I attended at the RayKo Photo Center in San Francisco, I mentioned to Ann Jastrab I had attended an RV school as part of my first motorhome trip called, “Life on Wheels”. She suggested that would be a good name for the project. I added the subtitle, “The New American Nomads” and voila, Life on Wheels – The New American Nomads is born!

I am continuing to look for full-timers to photograph on this trip. It really is a natural part of traveling. Wherever we camp, we tend to strike up conversations with our neighbors and the subject of our rigs usually come up at some point. I find these folks are quite different than snowbirds, short-termers or weekend warriors. They run at a different pace, have a positive outlook on life and love what they do. I love to hear of their adventures. Larry and Dorothy have been full-timing since 2003. They are avid kayakers and split their time between the northwest and southern California, finding rivers and lakes to explore. They travel in a 27′ Lazy Daze rig very similar to mine.

Rich and Renne

Mary was a big help to me in meeting Rich and Renee. She was doing laundry at a very nice RV park in Westfir in the Cascade mountains of central Oregon. Renee walked in and they struck up a conversation. It sometimes can be difficult to tell who is full-timing and who is vacationing just by looking, so in the course of their conversation, Mary mentioned I was working on a project about the full-time lifestyle and Renee said the she and her husband Rich were full-timing. They are the hosts of the park and were very gracious in letting me in to their 40′ “diesel pusher” to photograph them and their rig. Happy Anniversary guys!

We stopped overnight at another small RV park in Eugene to restock. While there, into the space next to us, pulled John and Leanne. John is retired U.S. Army and has been full-timing since 1994. They were traveling with Hoa Le Thi, a friend visiting the United States for the first time, from Viet Nam. They were a very sweet group and John was very knowledgeable about the RVing life. Leanne is blogging their travels and you can keep up with them here. She is blogging their travels here: On the Road.

So the project is going well. I am continuing to find folks willing to let me photograph them and really enjoying the whole process at the same time.

A Brush with the Cascades

Evening at Wizard Island. Crater Lake, OR

The evening before we left Crater, we went out along the rim in hopes of a grand sunset over the lake. Clouds hung over the lake all day and we thought there was a good chance for a fiery show in the evening. Well, it wasn’t to be. Still, there were some nice images to be made over the lake and surrounding area.

Thunder shower.

On our way out of the park the next morning, we stopped briefly at a couple of the overlooks. The lake had granted still another new look. This morning found the waters to be quite calm, and the reflective qualities were really brought out. We had to stop to photograph.

Crater Lake reflections. OR

About an hour of driving brought us to our next destination – the town of Oakridge in the Cascade Mountains. We found a wonderful forest service campground just outside of town right on the Willamette (dammit) River. It was like camping in a rain forest – including the heat and humidity. It’s been in the 90′s for the past several days and we have been reluctant to embark on any long hikes. The country is begging for it, but we are just not up to difficult hikes in this kind of heat. Instead, we took a 62 mile, CD guided tour provided by the local park service outpost and drove the Aufderheide portion of the West Cascade Scenic Byway. It was a wise choice. We got an overview of the area, saw some wonderful scenery, all in the comfort of our air conditioned Rav4. As I discovered early on, photographing forests is not easy. I don’t think I made a single exposure of the forest all day. There were a couple of covered bridges worth looking at, but I just don’t get how to approach the forest yet. It is becoming the challenge of the trip for me.

Office Covered Bridge near Westfir, OR

Inside the Office bridge.

Belknap Covered Bridge, OR

Inside Belknap

We did eventually come to realize that if we gained significant altitude, there was a definite decrease in temperature. So we ventured out another day up to 4000 feet to check out a couple of nearby waterfalls. The Salt Creek Falls is a 258 ft. drop into a dramatic grotto. A fairly easy trail hugs the cliffside and allowed for some terrific viewpoints.

Mary at Salt Creek Falls, OR

The base of Salt Creek Falls, OR

Lichen covered tree and Salt Creek Falls.

A really nice 3-mile loop trail brought us to the very base of the Diamond Creek Falls. It is broad where Salt Creek is tall. Not as dramatic overall, but it holds it’s own in charm. Actually there were many more vantage points and ways of shooting. We stopped here for lunch and an hour of photographing before heading back.

Diamond Creek Falls, OR

I’ve been wanting to visit this part of Oregon since I heard Greg Brown’s song, Eugene he sings (sort of) about how he loves to travel the backroads, the country, but beginning in the Cascades, looking for fishing spots and camping near the Willamette. Here is a You-tube video of the song. The video part sucks, but just close your eyes and visualize his words and you can approximate what I feel about being in the outdoors.

The Infinite Patience of Water

Burney Falls, CA

That is a line from an english translated french novel I’ve been reading. It is in reference to how water takes it’s time wearing away the land around it. I’m thinking it would make a wonderful title for a photographic series on moving water. Being here in the northwest where water is so much more in abundance has given me the opportunity to spend much more time photographing it’s tendencies. Flowing water – is there any more of a photographic cliche than the smooth, misty tendrils of it’s fluid movement as it passes before the lens in a time exposure? Probably not. Even so, I think it is the most effective of the photo cliches. Not only does the sense of movement come across, it also conveys as a single moment, the passage of time. This is difficult to do in landscape photography. I like being able to explore the textures of the flowing water. It is something that is not really perceptible when seeing it realtime. Varying shudder speeds can result in startling and surprising differences. There is also the white noise of water as it cascades through a space. It drowns out the ringing in my ears from chronic tinnitus and allows me a cleaner experience of a natural setting. I find it comforting to be able to reveal so many hidden aspects of water. Comforting to investigate and comforting to view the images.

Seaps at Burney Falls, CA

Here at Crater Lake National Park, the water theme continues. Naturally. The lake alone can offer so many different looks depending on the lighting conditions. One day not a cloud in sight – another, overcast skies.

Crater Lake National Park, OR

Wizard Island. Crater Lake, OR

Reflections in the lake.

The color of the lake itself can seem to be a weird approximation of the sky. I used it a couple of times as a seamless kind of backdrop for making plants stand out.

As it was in Lassen, spring was still in evidence here at Crater. We took several more hikes looking and finding wildflowers. We also found clouds of mosquitos. One follows the other here, unfortunatly we were caught deet-less on one morning hike around a boggy meadow, which it made for less than enjoyable photography. Oh but we persevered and came back with some nice images.

Lupine at Castle Creek. Crater Lake National Park, OR

Butterflies at Plaikni Falls.

Wildflower mix at Castle Creek.

Castle Creek.

Plaikni Falls and Lupine.

More Plaikni

Oh yes, just to update you on my last post about the surge protector caper – all turned out fairly well. The RV store took back the unit and refunded my money minus a 20% restocking fee. A good deal for him, but I am relieved not to be stuck for the entire amount. The lesson learned – trust your equipment.

One Week on the Road

Meadow full of False Hellebore.

Today marks one full week on the road. It can serve as a kind of microcosm of the RV life. We had a terrific first 4 days, but then some of the realities began to set in. After getting packed up, we started out last Sunday and traveled up to Red Bluff. Not very far, but away from San Francisco. The temps went from about 65˚ to 90˚ in the 2 hours of driving. We found a nice little RV park and settled in for just the night. I immediately began walking the park looking for potential subjects to photograph, but it is virtually impossible to tell who is full-timing and who are merely vacationeers without asking. Sometimes it is fairly easy to tell. I look for the more unusual rigs. Not the standard trailer/toy hauler/5th wheel type vehicle. There were a couple of potentials here, but I’m not quite up to my boldest self for knocking on doors and asking. Plenty of time for that though.

Day 2 we arrived at Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park. We were so happy to find the place relatively peopleless. Oh they are here, but thin in comparison to places like Yosemite. The best part is at the upper elevations, it is still spring here! At the 6-8000′ level, there are still tons of wildflowers and green meadows and even snow in and around some of the lakes. In fact, a number of areas still have not opened up due to snow cover, and may not open at all this year. Several of the hikes are treacherous because of remaining snow, but we managed to find time for three really great ones. We camped at our reserved campground at Summit Lake for four days. The space was quite sunny and provided plenty of exposure for the solar panels – bonus! After getting set-up, we took a short hike around the lake watching kids play in the water and grown-ups acting like kids. The spot is very peaceful.

Bendy Trees on the way to Crumbaugh Lake

Fun at Bumpass Hell

Day 3 we took our first hike. We planned a short hike to Crumbaugh Lake, but realized it was shorter than we thought at 2.5 miles, so we added another 4 miles to a place called Bumpass Hell. This was a place of steaming fumeroles, mudpots and boiling waterholes – a mini Yellowstone. Overall, the hike had a good mix of up and downhill sections. It was all so beautiful – green meadows, cool streams, lots of wildflowers. It was hot in the sun, cool in the shade. Really couldn’t ask for better. As we arrived at Crumbaugh Lake, my phone told me I had new mail. There is almost no reception here, but for this moment at this spot, there was. It was a note from Patty Felkner from Viewpoint Gallery saying they were offering me a 2 person show in the main gallery. I had submitted work to them early in the spring and was losing hope I would get an offer. Last year, selections were made much earlier, so I though I had missed the cut for this year. But no, I made it in and I’m very pleased to be showing work in 2012 with them. It was a little strange being notified while hiking in the seeming wilderness. But very little real wilderness remains in the U.S. these days. I’m not complaining though. Usually it is an agonizing wait between e-mail downloads where I have to franticly try to catch up. I do love the expanded access my iPhone has provided – so far.

Helen Lake frozen.

On Wednesday we did a bit of driving to see more of the park. On the way in on Monday, we passed several places we would have liked to stop and explore, but with the motorhome and towing the Rav, we kept going – with plans on stopping another day. So today we stopped at Helen Lake. It was still quite frozen – it is at about the highest road elevation in the park. The trails to Lassen Peak were still closed due to snow here, but we were still able to photograph the wonderful abstracts of ice and snow and water the lake provided us. We also stopped for a short but hot and steep hike to Kings Creek Falls. The water was flowing well, but we were there at the wrong time of day which made for too contrasty of conditions. Along the way, we met a women who was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. I asked when she started, her reply was she started in Mexico in April and her destination was Canada. She was stopping off here for a few hikes because she had always wanted to see Lassen. My guess was that she was in her late 40′s, maybe early 50′s. She was a thin but tough looking character. I think she will make it. As for us, we returned to camp for the splendor on Jeff and Betty’s home made lemoncello. Ahhhhh life is good!

PCT hiker checking out the falls.

Oh those Oregonians.

Thursday, another hike. This time to Paradise Meadow. We were told the wildflowers in the meadow were still not at peak so we took the uphill trail for the 2.5 mile trek. For the entire hike up, we were the only ones on the trail. In several places, it paralleled the stream and we enjoyed the wonderful rush of cold clear water as it cascaded downward. About halfway up to the meadow, Mary quietly called out to me. We had both heard some noises off the trail about 25 yards, but Mary spotted the bear first. It was hard to see through the trees and brush, but it was very interested in the base of a tree stump. It scrapped and dug and tore up the stump. It jumped all around it, but thankfully not interested in us. We watched him for a while, then moved on. Up at the meadow, we discovered it was in fact a bit past prime. There were still loads of flowers – we just had to move around the meadow a bit to find them. After returning to our car, we went back up to Helen Lake to check out the afternoon sun. It was amazing how much ice had melted since earlier in the day. Still nice, but less so.

Paradise Meadow

Hat Creek on the way to Paradise.

Lupine.

More Lupine

Ice layers in Helen Lake.

Back in camp, we met out neighbors who were traveling in a 36′ “diesel pusher” (they look like busses). They were in their late 60′s and when they pulled up on their motorcycle, we had a nice chat. They did two of the three hikes in one day that we did in two. Their energy was amazing and I was thinking they were perfect for my project. Alas, they were not full-timers – just on vacation from Temecula in So. California. They did know about, and regularly participate in, the gathering at Quartzsite.

Still later that evening, after dinner and a bottle of wine, there was a tapping at the RV door. Some new campers had just arrived and were wondering what we were doing in their reserved campground. We had the space reserved for three nights starting Monday, but decided to stay an extra day. The reservation board at our site showed no one coming in for 3 more days, so we asked around if we could stay another day. No official in the park had any idea what to tell us. Eventually it was figured that if no one was scheduled, we could pay for 1 more night and stay. The only problem was someone had dropped the ball and didn’t bother adding the new reservation which the new campers had apparently made the previous Sunday. You need to reserve 3 days in advance and they had just gotten in under the wire. So we had to move. Not a terrible consequence but still a hassle. There was another open site right near ours, so we took it but worried a bit if someone else would drop in after midnight sometime.

That was the first problem. The next day we left Lassen and motored to Hat Creek and found an RV park. It was only about 50 miles away, but we were interested in seeing the waterfalls at McAurther Burney Falls State Park. After setting up, we discovered the power to the RV from the site was not working. We tried several different power ports at several sites but our surge protector would not allow the power to move to the motorhome. I tested the power at the pole, inside the RV, the power cord – in short, every place I could think of. I finally determined it was the surge protector that was bad. In order to replace it, I had to drive to Redding 75 miles away. Well I did that and when I replaced the old one, the new one reacted the exact same way. So now it seemed either the power at the park was bad or there was something wrong with the wiring in the RV or the new surge protector was also bad. The only thing I could think to do was bypass the surge protector. I did this and suddenly power is restored. It seems clear that the surge protector was bad. Back to Redding to get my money back. But wait a minute, no returns on electrical purchases, and only the owner can override this. Am I out $300.00 dollars? This is on Saturday. The owner won’t be in till Monday, so the trip was wasted and I have to wait before I can even talk to him. It doesn’t sound good, but I did managed to get the clerk to keep the surge protector and hopefully the owner will relent when I call him on Monday and he will credit my card. I don’t want to make a third trip to redding. 300 miles is enough.

Carpe Diem Out of Mothballs

I pulled “Carpe Diem”, out of storage a couple of days ago and I’m now in the process of getting it cleaned up and ready for our next road trip. The past seven months have been a longer than usual stay at home for us and we are so ready to get back on the road. Our last trip was a relatively short one. Only about a month. We traveled to So. California and Arizona to attend the gathering of the RV tribes in Quartzsite, AZ. Quartzsite is a small town on Interstate 10 just over the CA/AZ border where most all the RV’er in the country (or so it seems) come in January and February to hang out in the sunshine. The town expands from around 3000 people to over a million for that timespan and I thought it might be a good way to see if my idea for a project had any merit. The trip went really well. We met up with a tribe of fellow Lazy Dazer’s and we spent time getting to know new friends and making photographs. For me, it was a test to see if I could make portraits in a way that conveys the lifestyle of the full-time RV’er. They are the root of my latest project, New American Nomads. I have come away knowing I’ve got a viable and interesting subject and plan to shoot heavily for it durning the next 2 1/2 months that we will be in the Pacific Northwest.

Since Monday when I picked up the LD, I’ve managed to get it washed and waxed and serviced – all time consuming ventures. Getting the blog updated and a newsletter out are my next tasks. I also have to get the yard further cleaned up, start gathering all the items I need to bring along for the next couple of months and get packed and loaded. Also, on Friday, I’ve been invited to a special portfolio review hosted by RayKo Photo Center in San Francisco. This is a juried event where only 10 participants are invited for a 30 minute review with Ann Jastrab of RayKo, David Bram of Fraction Magazine in New Mexico, and Jennifer Schwartz from The Jennifer Schwartz Gallery in Atlanta. I’ve met both Ann and David previously, but this will be the first time for Jennifer. She is trying to come up with a new model for selling photography since the traditional model of strictly bricks and mortar seems to be on the wane. She has come up with The Ten. According to the website,

“The Ten is a highly curated monthly online exhibit of ten photographic images. The artwork you see is only available on The Ten and will never be for sale in any other location. One size, one price, one opportunity to purchase. Ever. Collectors are guaranteed premium, signed photographs that have true value. A new Ten collection is unveiled on the tenth of each month. The editions are relatively small (25), the price is relatively low ($250), and the collectibility is incredibly high.“

This is in addition, but separate, from her represented gallery artists. I think it has potential. The web is the best way to get work seen by a lot of people, and tying it to a new gallery seems like a good way to attract more cliental. So I will be seeing her and Ann and David on Friday for the 30 minute review, and later in the evening is an informal reception with the reviewers and the other 9 participants. A great opportunity to meet and talk photography. The other participants are: John Martin, Chris Trice, Sean Dana, Steve & Ellen Konar, Loli Kantor, Denise Tarantino, Robert Holmgren, Irene Imfeld and Kerry Mansfield. I’ve looked at most of their websites and feel pretty humbled at being included with so many fine photographers.

I also still have to put together a couple or three submissions for juried exhibitions in the next few days. This is kind of a problem because the dates of the exhibitions occur while I am away. It means I must bring along all the images I am submitting because I don’t know which, if any, might be selected. I also have to bring along mats and frames and plex and packing material and shipping boxes. I can’t possibly bring all that I need, so it becomes a calculated guesstimate as to what I might need. I’ve decided to bring along enough materials for 5 framed prints. I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble, but two of the competitions at Newspace in Portland, and the San Francisco Arts Commission are two that I would love to be involved with. It’s with a little trepidation that I will give it a go.

Lastly, I was hoping it would be online by now, but coming up soon, look for issue #8 of online photography magazine, SuperMassiveBlackHole, to feature some images from my Marking Our Place in the World project. I don’t know the date it will go live, but it should be soon.

Big Fun at the Fair

This past weekend Mary and I went up to the California State Fair for the opening of the Fine Art Exhibition. I have three prints in the exhibit this year – the most ever for me. I was initially a little disappointed I didn’t receive one of the Awards of Excellence, but looking over the winning images, I had to admire the quality of the work. I really love being involved in this particular competition. As big as this state is (and the fair for that matter), it still has the feel of small town. Everyone is friendly and supportive and there is very little of that art world arrogance that can be so off putting. After looking over the entire show and saying my hello’s to the exhibit organizers, I picked up my three Awards of Merit and we ventured out to enjoy the rest of the fair.

First up was the Fur and Feathers pavilion. This is one of Mary’s favorites. The Bird Lady was there again. For the last couple of years, she has dressed to match the birds she was showcasing. Last year she was in a lovely pink outfit. This year she was decked out in white to match her cockatoo’s. Our friend Betty enjoyed petting the super soft Chinchillas. They are much nicer when alive.

The livestock is always a must see. Not sure if this is the case in other states, but California livestock just seem to have a definite sense of style. We moved through the goat pens. I enjoyed their psychedelic sheaths, but the camouflage outfits also have a certain panache. Of course, the chickens are always ridiculous. It was a fun couple of days. We finished off with a roller-coaster ride that reminded us we are no longer in our 20′s.

I’ve got a number of things coming up in the next few weeks that I’m not quite ready to announce, the least of which is our next extended trip. I’ll be posting a lot more often about trip highlights and happenings. Stay tuned!

Just kickin’ around the house

Tulips

Not photographing regularly is kind of like going through withdrawals. I’ve been itching to shoot something, and since I’m hanging around the house so much, I started looking around here for subjects. A vase of tulips seems to fit the bill quite well. I gave it a bit of a tint to change the focus away from color and give it an antique feel. I like it!

Evaluating Jurors

I just received word that 3 of my photographs will be included in this year’s California Fine Art Exhibition in Sacramento. This is the California State Fair competition and it has become one of my favorite venues. As big as this state is, the fair kind of brings it all back down to size. I like the art show, but it’s also fun to check out the kids with their livestock, and watch the horse riding demonstrations, pig races and such. Tthe carnival aspects also bring to mind a certain innocence that I find appealing.

This year’s fine art competition saw 1,474 entries. It is mixed media, so painting, drawing and sculpture were all included. Of those, only 57 photographs were selected. Of those, 3 were mine. I’ve gotten work in each of the last several years, but this is the first with multiple selects. I am assured Awards of Merit for each of the photos, and stand a good chance for the big money Award of Excellence awards. Those won’t be announced until the judges actually have the work in hand in a couple of weeks.

I thought this might be a good time to write a bit about how I choose what images I submit to the various juried exhibits I enter. This particular one was more difficult than usual. The juror this year was Kent Lacin. He is a fine art, documentary and commercial photographer in Sacramento, but he does not have a huge presence on the web. I do a lot of research on judges to find out what they like. It’s not much use showing them work they are not really interested in, so it helps to know what they might find appealing. Kent has a website that shows examples of his professional work, but the section for Art is empty. How do I choose what to submit?

There are usually plenty of references to review for the various jurors on the web. Many are museum or gallery directors, curators or really talented fine art photographers, and I can make judgements based on their own work or work they have chosen in past shows. I have a whole spreadsheet of exhibits I’ve entered, who juried them and what was chosen. But with Kent, there wasn’t a lot. Scouring the web, I happened upon an exchange he had with a friend or colleague about differences and preferences between digital and analog photography. There was a little back and forth, but what stood out to me was his statement that analog was more romantic.

Romantic.

That was the best description I had to go on. Of my various portfolio’s of work to choose from, I have my Contemplative Landscape work, my Marking project, and my newest work, New American Nomads. The most romantic of these would probably be the landscapes. Looking at those, I picked 6 of what I consider the grandest and/or most romantic scenes of the west. I haven’t really been pushing this work lately. In the Fine Art Photography world, contemplative landscape tends to be seen as “decorative” (said with a dismissive tone). Choosing from this group could have really backfired if all he really wanted to see were urban scenes or portraits or plastic camera images. He chose 3 of the six. A couple of other photographers got 3 prints in as well, a couple got 2 in and the rest got 1 print in. I must admit, I was shocked to get in this many. But I am quite pleased about it. There is hope for the Contemplative Landscape!

The exhibit opens on July 14th and runs until the end of the month. Check it out!

Here is a list of all photographers included:

Kim Kohler

Ronald H Musser

Michael F Corlew

Karen L Olson

Donald B Satterlee

Toni Voelker

Linda M Morrow

David L Nasater

Fletcher Oakes

Benjamin J Shaw

Judy Yemma

David J Ruderman

Susan L Bovey

Ed Bair

Jake D Lippman

David Gardner

Roger A Lieberman

Christine Tuohy

Jim Ludwig

Marilyn L MacCrakin

Ed Finkas

Donna Wilson

Melissa Billups

Shirley Timberman

Jim Klein

Kelley Richardson

Gary R Smith

Lorenzo Kristov

Clare Rickman

Marc Davis

Juliana C Mohr

Kelly M Cannon

Kenneth J Bradley

Elizabeth Welsh Abad

Michi L Adams

Michael R Reynolds

Dave van Hulsteyn

Hillary G Patrick

Ivan Sohrakoff

Kat Porter

Cecilia M Clark

Angela Casagrande

Congratulations to everyone!

Nomads on LPV Magazine

So after complaining about all my rejections of late, I learned today that my Nomads project is featured on LVP Magazine. According to founder and managing editor, Bryan Formhals:

 LPV is an online and print magazine dedicated to contemporary documentary and fine art photography. Our aim is to provide a platform for emerging and amateur photographers to showcase their work in interesting ways. In our essays, we explore the evolving nature of photography in the digital age and how social media and technology are creating new opportunities for photographers and publishers.

 In keeping with my goal of submitting more work to online venues, I came across LPV about a week ago and spent several days looking over previous articles and entries. The more I read Bryan’s writings, the more impressed I was. Writing about photography is not easy. Too often it devolves into an incomprehensible artspeak that tends to make me feel stupid. Bryan’s writing doesn’t do that. He is very accessible and relatable. He makes smart observations and in his interviews, he asks questions I might ask. The projects he chooses more often than not are interesting to me and his opening comments add to the whole. I’m glad I found his blog and I throw many thanks to him for publishing the work.

Water Under the Bridge

Sabbaday Falls. New Hampshire. ©David Gardner

Four months into the year now and it’s been a bumpy ride. With the happy exception of aCurator, most of March was full of rejections. I learned I defiantly would not be attending PhotoLucida portfolio review – something I wanted very much. The luck of the draw wasn’t with me. I also didn’t make it into Review Santa Fe. That really wasn’t too surprising since they received five times as many projects as space allowed for. Unfortunately I didn’t even make the wait list this year. That part was a bit surprising considering I got in two years ago with the same project (Marking Our Place) only much less realized. I was counting on getting into one or the other and expected the next couple of months to be filled with reacting to what I learned. Now I have to figure out what to do with myself for the next 3 months until I hit the road again in August. The plus side of course is I can now devote the time and money to juried exhibits I had planned on passing up in lieu of the reviews. The hundreds I would have spent for the reviews translates to a lot of entry fees.

But that’s not all! Late in March, I received notification from Center regarding the 16th Annual Center Awards, that after careful consideration, none of work was chosen for an award. That was a little irritating since I had never even entered the competition. It’s feels crummy enough getting rejections, but getting rejections I never applied for just pisses me off.

Another little blip was discovering I will probably have to change the name of my newest project, New American Nomads. By chance, I learned another photographer, Daryl Peveto, has just won a honorable mention in the very same Editor’s Choice Awards put on by Center. His project, American Nomads, deals more with a group of cast-out misfits at the end of their rope living together in the desert. Mine is a bit more positive in intent and I think has more to do with what I consider a nomadic lifestyle than does Daryl’s. Our two projects have very little in common, but do share some aspects. He had the name first, and while I don’t have to change my title, I don’t want there to be confusion about the two. My project is so new that I don’t think I have to make a quick decision on this. It’s been suggested that I just use the name as a working title for now and see what else develops or comes to mind as the project progresses.

And finally, just today I learned I didn’t get into Center For Fine Art Photography’s Black and White competition, juried my Catherine Edelman. Well, there were over 3,000 images submitted and only 50 chosen, so I don’t feel that bad about it. These competitions are always tough. Win some, lose some. Still more on the horizon. Coming up, PDN, Griffin Museum, Santa Fe Workshop, PRC, Shots, Daylight, Newspace, Photo Center Northwest and many more.

Marking Project on aCurator

I am very pleased to announce that Julie Grahame is featuring selections from my Marking Our Place project on her online gallery aCurator. Julie has made an interesting selection from my overall project that I think really gets to the heart of what I want to say. I am also really liking the unique presentation her site provides. Please have a visit and show her (and me) some love!

Also, over at Wall Space Gallery, there is a new gallery of Life Support Japan images up and ready to be bought to support the earthquake/tsunami relief efforts. There are now four galleries available to peruse for terrific photography by a wide range of talent. All of the money gained from the sales go to two agencies involved in getting help to the victims. They are:

DIRECT RELIEF INTERNATIONAL

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL

Chose work from these Galleries:

Life Support Japan 1

Life Support Japan 2 – my contribution is in this gallery

Life Support Japan 3

Life Support Japan 4

Life Support Japan 5

All of the images are limited edition prints produced especially for this effort. Crista Dix and Aline Smithson have done a wonderful job of getting this work online. Please help if you can.

Life Support Japan

Frozen Plains. South Dakota. 2009

It was one week ago today and I was not having a good day. I received two rejection notices for juried competitions I’d entered. One included new portrait work I have high hopes for. I stepped outside to pick up my morning paper (yes, I am among the few who still read a newspaper) only to discover that thieves in the night had stolen a number of plants from containers in front of my house. Jeeze, I thought, Life can suck.

Later in the evening, when the first reports and pictures of earthquake and tsunami began coming in, I had to readjust my opinion. My petty little problems were quickly put in place as I witnessed the frightening power of nature when nothing stands in it’s way.

But how to respond.

This was the question posed by a couple of amazing woman in the photographic community. Aline Smithson of Lenscratch posed the question on Facebook, and Crista Dix, founder and Director of Wallspace Gallery responded. Together they put out the call asking photographers to donate work, and in a very shot time have put together a disaster relief effort called Life Suppot Japan. In a less than a week the effort has resulted $20,000 in sales.

For the sale, each photographer creates a limited edition set of 10 identical prints that are signed and numbered and offered for sale at $50.00 per print. The print is on paper sized 8.5 x 11. The list of photographers is impressive and at 300 photographers strong and growing, makes this an effort that will continue for an extended time. Many photographer contributions have sold out already, but not to worry, new images are added as old ones sell. So visit often and look at the current offerings. For this price, how can you go wrong.

There are 2 organizations that will benefit from the sale:

DIRECT RELIEF INTERNATIONAL

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

The image above is my contribution to the effort. It is not as yet on the site, but should be within a few days.

As an individual I could only contribute a small sum of cash. But creating a limited edition and offering it for sale, I can make the most of what I have to offer. For you, you can  contribute to a wonderful cause and have something beautiful to show for it. Crista and Aline are donating all of their time and working hard to see that virtually all monies resulting from the sales goes to the relief organizations.

Once again, go to Life Support Japan and shop for Japan

New American Nomads Gallery Now Live

Rick

Just finished uploading a new gallery to my website. It is the start of my latest project, New American Nomads. Most of the work is from my recently completed trip to southern Arizona and California. The work is a huge departure for me. It is really the first portraiture I have seriously attempted and I would love to hear some feedback. Have a look and let me know how you like it.

Reflections of the Past 30 Days

KOA Trailer Park. Blyth, CA

I’m back in San Francisco now and have had a little time to sort of reflect on the past month that I have been traveling. The goal of this trip was to test my ability to photograph people, and to that end, I traveled to Quartzsite, Arizona to meet up with a group of RV’ers attending the gathering that occurs there every year in January and February. This may seem kind of dumb thing for a photographer to do, but in my case, I can count on two hands how many really successful portraits I have ever done. But people photographs are essential if I am going to pursue my latest idea for a project, New American Nomads. I am really surprised at how good the whole experience felt. I had built up lots of trepidation at the thought of asking people if I could photograph them. Even after they agreed, I was usually quite nervous pointing the camera at them. As time progressed, it became a little more comfortable of a process – but never easy.

It helped a lot that I was camping with a good sized group of people. I started by just hanging out with the group. Later as we got to know each other, I let them know I was interested in photographing them. Over the course of the next several days, I would approach one or more of the group and spend a little time. I think we all felt more comfortable doing this so that when it came time to make photographs, it felt a little more natural. The only problem I encountered was that virtually everyone wanted to smile when the camera was pointed at them. It’s not that they shouldn’t do this – it is what we are conditioned to do all our lives, but I think it kind of creates a false sense of the moment. Since most everyone I encountered seemed actually quite happy with their lives, maybe letting them smile was the more natural approach. In fact I did let them smile, but also asked that they simple not for at least one. I did resort to a little trickery from time to time. I would ask them to just stand there while I did a few test exposures. As soon as I said I was ready, the smiles snapped back on their faces. I will have to consider which expressions worked best.

Since I was not always with the group, I eventually settled on something of a process for when I encountered those I wanted to photograph elsewhere. I would constantly just carry the camera around with me. At certain points, I would approach someone I thought might fit in the project and simple engage them for a while. Sometimes I would photograph, sometimes not. It really just depended on how the conversation went. Since this is primarily a project about full-time RV’er, asking them if they were or not often was enough reason not to photograph. I have been including some non-RV’ers in the project as well. They exist to provide service to those who do travel and are often quite the characters themselves. I am also photographing RV’s without people in the picture as well as some of the places where people camp – both boondocking (no electrical or water hook-ups) and RV parks. It is all part of the experience and I think needs to be included.

Near the "Happiest Place on Earth". Anahim, CA

Pet Park. Anaheim RV Park, CA

In looking over the work I’ve come home with, I think my goal for the month was successful. I believe I’ve proved to myself I can do this project. My portraiture does need some work – I lost a number of good images due to nervousness and made a number of exposure mistakes because I didn’t pay enough attention to settings, but overall I am quite happy with my results. I will be traveling again beginning in August to the Pacific Northwest for two to three months and will be photographing heavily for this project again. In the meantime, there are competitions to enter and portfolio reviews to attend. It is looking to be a busy spring and summer. I will also be posting within the next week or so, a new gallery of this project – the work so far. Look for it soon.

Borrego Springs Sculptures

Our home away from home with big sculptures.

We finished our time in Anza-Borrego with a tour of the giant scrap metal sculptures that dot the area. The sculptures are here because of town benefactor Dennis Avery, heir to the Avery label fortune, who bought up a bunch of land and commissioned artist Ricardo Breceda to create life-sized renditions of mostly prehistoric creatures that roamed the area. Lately he has been adding renditions of historical figures and tributes to causes. We moved about the area, photographing at dawn, at sunset, and even did some night photography. Here is some of what we saw.

Saber Tooth Tiger Attacking Horse.

Mother and Child Giant Sloths.

Mammoths on the Desert.

Standing Sloth.

Gomphotherium at Night.

Velociraptors.

As I mentioned, not only are there examples of prehistoric creatures, there are also many representations of creatures that currently walk the earth. Overall, there are more than 80 sculptures. We only found a fraction of them. Looking out over the landscape, we could on occasion see sculptures dotting the desert. Some were really out there and we chose not to visit every one.

Elephant.

Farmworkers.

Dawn Rams.

Backlit Rams.

Prospector and Horse.

The next morning, we said good by to Borrego and headed west to the coast. It is so amazing to leave the desert and arrive in a coastal community in such a short time, but 2 hours later, we pulled into San Clemente State Beach where we will stay for a couple of days before meeting friends in Anaheim for a couple of days at Disneyland, then back home to San Francisco. I will have a wrap-up post in a few day to consider how well I accomplished what I set out to do on this short trip.