California, 2009

Blue Bottle

Linda and I had a fabulous time in California this year.
We had three very nice days with Dave. We did a wine tasting at Testarossa, photographed at Fort Point, toured the California Academy of Science, drank expresso at Blue Bottle Coffee, and even went to a 4th of July picnic at the home of his friends Kostados and Natasha. He took us to a Japanese Yakatori restaurant in Los Altos, and fabulous sandwich shop, back to a familiar Thai place in Mountain View, and to a very interesting Mediterranean place.

We also spend three wonderful days on the Monterey Peninsula. After roaming around Santa Cruz, we drove into Monterey where we watched (and heard - they are really noisy0 sea lions at the Monterey Fish Pier. After lunch, we walked around Cannery Row for a while, then visited the Point Pinos Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse on the west cost, and then concluded the day at the Presidio Chapel. That evening, we had dinner at Phil's Seafood, a famous eatery in Moss Landing that Bobby Flay challenged to a 'throwdown' and then lost when the judges determined that Phil's cioppino was better than Bobby's. I have never tried Bobby's, but I can attest that Phil's is pretty good! We started Tuesday photographing at Point Lobos State Reserve, then moved on to downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea. We visited a number of galleries, then drove out to Carmel Valley for a tasting at Heller Winery, and then finished the day photographing the Carmel Mission. On Wednesday, we started the day at Colton Hall in Monterey, then proceded to the John Steinbeck Museum in Salinas. We detoured through Carmel to see the Ansel Adams portraiture show at the Center for Photographic Art before heading back to San Jose.

The only downer was that I came back with a cold. Linda says it was the chill at Fort Point. I think a better explanation was the crazy air conditioning at the Holiday Inn Express in San Jose. Regardless of the actual cause, it was miserable!

Here's a picture that Linda took of me setting up a photograph at China Cove at Point Lobos.

Summer is almost here

Gate, Chateau St. Jean

Summer is almost here. I'm having to mow the lawn every 5-6 days now. We have been fortunate that we've gotten enough rain to keep it from drying out completely, but there have been times when that was a close call. It's supposed to start raining in another few hours and may rain most of the day tomorrow.

Calgary was a good trip. Many of the usual attendees were not there (economy and the flu), but still a reasonably good conference thanks mainly to participation from local folks. Canadians do throw a good party.

Linda has another week or so of school, and then she will be out for the summer. Two weeks ago we drove out to Cooperstown for the day. It was fun photographing at the Farmer's Museum. Hopefully, we will be able to squeeze in some more short trips before she has to go back in September.

We started trapping chipmunks on Saturday. So far, we have five of the little guys, and one gray squirrel. I think the population is still down thanks to the major reduction we did two years ago. I've sealed off the obvious openings into the house, but we still have something scratching around in the walls/ceiling.

This image is from our trip to Napa/Sonoma last July. We got to Chateau St. Jean before the tasting room was open, so we wandered around in the garden for a while.

Cape Cod, 2009

Dorset Quarry

Linda and I had a wonderful week on Cape Cod. The weather was generally quite nice - we had one very rainy day, but the rest of the week was sunny, cool and a bit windy. But what else would you expect in mid-April.

We did our usual things - shopping in Chatham, strolling and shopping in Provincetown, galleries wherever we coudl find something open, fabulous food, etc. I was able to make a number of pictures that should be good when I get some darkroom time.

We made a point of going back to the Brewster Mill several times to see if the herring were running. One man told me that he had seen one fish in the fish ladder, but there wasn't enough traffic yet to attract the sea gulls. A couple of State Troopers walked through while we were there, and mentioned at the alewives were running at another spawning area near Mashpee, so I assume that by now the action has begun.

As I was processing film, I noticed a leak in the plumbing under the sink in the darkroom. That lead to a major project to rebuild the drain. The good news is that it now has a new, professional 'laundry tray' drain system. The bad news is that it took four trips to Allerdice to get all of the fittings necessary to make up the inlet and outlet plumbing.

Panel of Editors was also worthwhile, but once again mainly for the informal conversations about immediate concerns. The formal program for the most part focuses on strategic issues that really aren't of interest to EiCs.

The announcement came out yesterday that the 2009 Fellows Committee meeting will be in Vancouver the weekend before the IAS Annual Meeting in Houston. Getting from Maui to Edmonton last year was a piece of cake compared with what is involved in getting from Vancouver to Houston. I don't mind Vancouver - I just don't like Houston.

This is the quarry in Dorset, VT - the oldest marble quarry in the US. Long abandoned, it now serves as the town swimming hole. The place is mobbed in the summer. This negative was made in October when it was too cool to be swimming - also during the week when the kids should have been in school.

Early March

The Shellfish Lab

It's been a wicked winter - colder and snowier than usual. That has caused me to stay inside more than usual, and at this point, I'm ready to be out and about!

The snow is melting from the front lawn leaving evidence that the voles have been active this winter. Hopefully, that can be quickly corrected once the grass starts growing.

There is also a lot of winter debris that needs to be cleaned up. This morning I noticed some large sheets of plastic foam that I bundled up and put in the trash.

Linda and I looked very closely at a tour of England and Scotland, but then realized that there was only one time during the summer that she could fit it into her calendar, and that conflicted directly with my activities in planning the 2010 issues of the Magazine. So we have put that plan on hold until next year - by then, my replacement on the Magazine should be known and will be doing the 2011 planning, and Linda might even have retired, giving us even more options to work with.

So at this point, we have plans to go to Cape Cod in April, and to California in July. I want to do some day trips - Cooperstown and Utica - that Linda may not want to do, but I can fit those in before school ends. We will certainly do some things over the summer.

During Linda's February vacation we did a day trip to Williamstown. Really enjoyed the Clark again. Lunch at Water Street Cafe was ok - there must be a better place in Williamstown.

I'm scheduled to be in Atlanta in two weeks for the POE meeting. Also have to plan a trip to Cagary for I&CPS in early May - need to take care of that after returning from Atlanta.

This picture is from our 2007 trip to the Cape - the Shellfish Lab on the pier at Wynchmere Harbor in Harwichport. Nice place to visit - but it was nicer when Thompson's Clam Bar was still open.

It's cold - brrr!

No Parking

It's a new year! Linda and I had a delightful time at First Night. It was cold, and I think that kept the crowd down, but we bundled up, walked a bit faster, and still enjoyed it! Dinner at al Forno, then Hair of the Dog, Adirondack Baroque Consort, Parnas Sisters, Matt McCabe, Happy Balky, and ending the evening with the McKrells. We agreed that the McKrell's aren't as good as they used to be. Part of that may be the selection of music, but part of it also is that they are a smaller group now. Hair of the Dog was good, but the church was not the best setting for them. Our favorites were the Parnas Sisters and Happy Balky.

Over the holidays we made a couple of day trips - once to Great Barrington (fabulous luncheon at Napa), and once to Manchester. Linda and invited Steve Davidson to bring his kids over to sled on the hill, and decided that to have a party for our neighborhood on top of that would be too much. Unfortunately, Steve didn't get the e-mail until school resumed. She called Mugsie about getting together, but they were in the process of leaving for Florida. Perhaps when they get back - - - Last Friday she took her car in for its annual inspection. Only they didn't have any stickers. Of course, they found a couple of things (not safety related) that needed to be done, so she took it back last night and will pick it up this afternoon. Don't know what she has planned for the weekend - I have to get a haircut in the morning.

These images resulted from our visit to Shelburne Falls back in July. The first was down Baker Street toward the town parking lot. There's a lot going on here. The Kentmere Warmtone added a nice touch.

Baker Avenue
The second image, was the one that I was making when Robin Logan stopped to introduce herself.

My print of the Battenville Barn hung at the Arts Center during the December "Winter Solstice" show. It didn't seem to me that they had as much work this year, and they weren't using that horrible back hall. So my piece got a better showing than I expected. No buyers, of course.

Early November

Blacksmith's Barn

I've been running a little behind here. The trip to Maui for the Fellows Committee went well - every flight was full, but had an on-time departure and early arrival. Maui itself was OK - unfortunately, all I was able to see was the resort hotel and the airport, so I really can't tell what the island has to offer, if anything. Edmonton was OK - cold and wet the day I arrived, and cool and nice the rest of the week. The meetings all went very well. I've been trying to keep up with the leaves this Fall. So far, so good. This morning I blew the leaves on the front lawn, and then mowed everything. So by 1pm the lawn was almost completely clear of leaves. Not so any more - but the accumulation appears to be in the front more than in the back. I don't expect to have to mow again, but I may have to blow the leaves one more time. Need to get the porch furniture stored and install the driveway reflectors in preparation for winter.

The last few weeks have been hectic with Linda needing to go over to Albany at least once per week. Hopefully, that is over for a while. I have to get an entry ready for the Winter Solstice show at SCAC - I think it will be the Battenville Barn. Also need to do some photography - I've been so tied up with other things that photography has suffered. And of course, next week I have my 'adventure with fiber optics' again.

The lead-in image here is the old Blacksmith's Barn at Peters Valley. I exposed the negative about 6:15am, and when I first visualized the image the moon was in the sky over the trees behind the barn. But it was amazing how fast the moon fell - by the time I got the camera set up, the moon was entirely behind the trees.

The image itself required some manipulation. The background shadows were pretty deep, so I used the dye dodging technique to open those shadows and also hold back the curved roadway leading to Congelton and the Ceramics Studio. Both of the images shown here were made on Kentmere, which is a neutral-cold paper. For the Battenville Barn, I simply toned the print in selenium. For for the Blacksmith's Barn, gave it a brief immersion in sulfide toner followed by prolonged toning in selenium. That's an interesting technique - something that I first saw in some prints by Roman Lorenc in a gallery in Carmel last year. I think it is capable of more than I am current accomplishing with it.

In looking at these two images together, I note that I seem to have a thing about barns, and also about including foreground in front of the subject. Hmm.

Woodstock, NY

Danielle

This is Danielle in the barn at Peters Valley. We only had a few minutes to work with each model, and this was her first experience, but the result is not nearly as 'stiff' as it might have been.

In his discussion at the workshop, Herb spoke at great length about 'quality'. I've been thinking about that subject, and spent some time reading Herb's essay on the topic. While I don't disagree with what he said, I think I put is in slightly different terms.

All photographs start with an image. For the photographs to be good, there are certain things that must be true about the image. It must be strong. It must be composed in a way that makes it very clear what the photograph is about and that causes the eye to remain within the photograph. It must be properly exposed. A picture that starts as a technically-flawed image will rarely achieve greatness (although there are serendipitous mistakes). It must have a cohesive narrative - it should tell a story. And the image ideally should be something that triggers an emotional reaction in the viewer - which usually means that the subject triggered an emotional reaction in the photographer.

Good images are good images - and bad images are bad images. It doesn't matter what the purpose of the image may be - sensitive portraiture or commercial advertising, nature or sports, still life or photojournalism - the image must meet minimum criteria on these dimensions to achieve any degree of quality.

In his essay, Herb concentrates at length on what he calls "hand made photographs' - his term for platinum/palladium prints. This is the point where I suspect that we may part company a bit. Herb's thesis is that the 'hand-made' dimension of Pt/Pd prints puts them in a special category. My view is that the special category exists at the point where the print takes on an intrinsic value that is over and above the inherent value of the underlying image.

Good images can appear in books and magazines or on web sites. They can even be printed with 150-line screens on cheap newsprint paper (witness the daily newspaper). They retain whatever quality that the basic image may have in whatever medium they appear.

The element of craft is a factor in the incremental quality of a fine print. There is an obvious difference when the maker takes care to produce the finest possible print, be it silver gelatin, Pt/Pd, cyanotype, ambrotype or any other process. A knock-off workprint on RC paper can be used to successfully translate the image into a book, magazine or newspaper, but it takes craftsmanship to produce a print that will stand on its own when framed in a matt. That craftsmanship is an emotional investment by the maker.

Today, Linda and I drove down to Woodstock, NY. That's an interesting little town - lots of neat shops and galleries, with a distinctive counter-culture atmosphere. During our visit, I walked into two galleries that were showing fine photography. GallerieBMG was showing a group of Pt/Pd prints of botanical subjects by Yumiko Izo that were drop-dead gorgeous! Photosensualis was showing silver figure studies that were also very nice. In both cases, the prints on display were far more than mere images because the makers took care to make an emotional investment in their preparation.

One interesting observation - we found that the lights were off at Photosensualis. Now that's understandable - it makes sense to keep lights off to conserve energy when no one is there to view the prints. But it would be such a simple matter to have a motion detector to automatically turn on the lights when potential customers walk into the gallery. There was a person in the gallery, but she was more interested in working on her laptop that trying to help us look at the art. Sad.

Peters Valley, 2008

Anouk

This past weekend was spent at Peters Valley in a workshop on Portraiture. The instructor was Herbert Ascherman, a portraitist from Cleveland.

As always, the workshop was fun and challenging. Peters Valley is such a wonderful place - remote, quiet, with beautiful light (especially early in the morning) and often with delightful fog and lots of animals (rabbits, deer, turkeys, and even the occasional black bear, etc). It was unusually quiet this weekend with workshops in fine metals, tapestry weaving, blacksmithing, and photography, so the dormitories were not crowded.

Herb is an excellent photographer who uses an 8x10 view camera in most of his portraiture, making Pt/Pd prints. He has strong opinions, but he is also the first to observe that his views are his and others can differ. His work is very traditional - he insists on using a tripod for every image, formal posing, and 'proper' dress (no short sleeve shirts, no advertising on clothing, etc). He does do some street work - but his approach (with the 8x10) is anything but casual.

After initial introductions, we were assigned to photograph each of the other members of the class. The image here of Anouk resulted from that exercise. That afternoon, we shared work that we had brought to the session.

On Saturday morning, we had a shooting session in one of the Peters Valley barns with two models, Norm and Danielle. Norm had worked as a figure model (for drawing), but this was Danielle's first experience. We photographed them both clothed and nude. Then, on Sunday, we drove to the summer home of one of the class members in nearby Milford, PA where we photographed Danielle and another model, Dana, in a forest setting, surrounded by large boulders and blueberry bushes.

On Monday, we went back to Milford to photograph total strangers on the street. Actually, I found the light to be entirely too harsh on the street, and that I could get better results by going indoors. And a secondary advantage of that approach was that indoors meant air conditioning! Finally, we again paired off with other class members on Tuesday morning for self-portraits, with the 'buddy' standing in for composing and framing, and then releasing the shutter when everything was done.

Overall, the workshop was fabulous. However, there was one downside. I had corresponded with Herb many months ago about his plans for the weekend, and he said at that time that he was planning for either film or digital. But later he appeared to have changed his mind and opted for a process with faster turnaround. I did film on Saturday, and was able to process the negatives, but there simply wasn't time enough to make proof prints for review. For the rest of the session I borrowed a Canon 20D digital from Andy Schmitt so that I could get the same turnaround time as the others in the class. I did do a few 4x5 monochrome portraits, and of course a number of landscape and architecture studies.

Anouk Dirkse was another of the students in the class. Originally from Holland, she came to the US 18 years ago to work as a fashion model. She was very easy to photograph!

Shelburne Falls

Jamestowne Church

Yesterday, Linda and I drove over to Shelburne Falls, MA. We stumbled into that town last year on our way back from Boston, and promised ourselves that we would definitely go back.

The main feature in the town is a c1908 trolley bridge that has been converted into a flower garden. Its a wonderful way to recycle an abandoned old concrete structure, and is well worth a visit. But in addition, the town is full of interesting small shops that we enjoyed visiting.

One of the places we walked into was the Logan-Wallace Gallery. Robin Logan and Jim Wallace are large format photographers - Logan specializes in still life, while Wallace concentrates on landscape. Both print in color. Their work is mainly decorative, but still very nice.

I noticed a scene along the main street that I wanted to photograph, and as I was setting up, a woman stopped to chat. It turns out that she was Robin Logan and her attention was captured by the large camera. She recommended that we also visit the Hallmark Museum of Photography in nearby Turner's Falls.

We had lunch at Cafe Martin (very nice!), and after walking across the bridge a couple of times, we then wandered off to Turner's Falls to visit the Hallmark Museum of Photography. The work on display was very good, but the featured work (by Lynn Goldsmith) was portraits of rock stars - photographically interesting, but not something that I am culturally attracted to.

We started home, but when I noticed that the GPS was routing us through Brattleboro, I decided to stop at VCP to see the Ron Rosenstock show.

Overall, it was a very nice day, but it ended in a very different way. About 20 minutes before we got home, the sky turned very dark and the rain came. It rained heavily, off and on, until at least 3am, with severe lightning. Power was out a couple of times, and we lost broadband service. Fortunately, we had a Netflix movie that we could watch.

This picture is from our visit to Williamsburg back in April. The interior of the old church at Jamestowne.

Late June

Bowl of Pairs

We've having thunderstorms this afternoon. For a long time we were fairly dry, but for the last couple of weeks we've been in a cycle of frequent thunderstorms. Actually, that's not at all bad for us because the lawn is thriving without having to water it. As long as it stops occasionally so that I can mow - - -

Spent the day yesterday in the darkroom, printing. It's been too long since I did that, and I have a backlog of negatives that I need to work with. This morning I went to Bunz.

Got the report from NORGA today - 13 acceptances. That brings me to the point where I can apply for the fourth star. Great! I will probably hold off until the end of the summer - to get past S4C and PSA.

Linda is finishing with school this week, and we are almost ready for our trip to California. I have a long list of things to do - things I would enjoy doing, that is. I don't know what Linda and Dave will want to do. Hopefully, Dave will have planned a few things before we get there.

The next indoor project is likely to be making a cornice for the study - something to hide a shade to control the bright sunlight in the winter, but that doesn't obscure too much of the window. I'm thinking of natural finish oak to match the bookcases and desk.

Tomorrow is the orientation call for the Fellows Committee. The nominations should be arriving about the time we leave for California. Fortunately, the number we are expected to do this year is less thanks to the fact that the committee has expanded from 32 to 52 members. I've booked my hotel reservations for both that and the Annual Meeting, and need to book plane reservations, but Linda is still undecided about going.

I've titled this image "Bowl of Pairs", intentionally playing off the concept of pears, the fruit, with pairs, meaning a grouping of two. This was done in the dining nook last month using available light and a reflector. I kind of like it!

Mid-May

Battery Mendel

I don't know where the time has gone!

POE meeting was in Los Angeles. Met Kevin, Carl and our staff colleagues for dinner at Patina in the Walt Disney Center. Fabulous dinner, and wonderful evening.

The meeting itself went very well. But we were able to accomplish far more during the breaks and social sessions than were were during the formal part of the meeting. I know that the staff feels that the stuff they plan for the formal sessions is important, but we Editors have immediate concerns that we need to address. Frankly, I'm not all that concerned about the changes that will come into effect after I am no longer EiC.

The trip out was fine, but the return was awful. US Air repeatedly delayed their flight from Boston, and then eventually cancelled it. Fortunately, they were able to understand that it was cheaper for them to hire a van to drive us to the Albany Airport that it was to rent hotel rooms and buy meals for the passengers, and then divert seats to fly us the next day.

Linda and I had a wonderful time in Williamsburg. It was a lot of fun to be with Laney - I wish we could see her more often, but she has a family and they clearly have to come first. The drive was long, but having the GPS to navigate for us, and having EZPass really makes it less stressful. I was very impressed with the fact that the GPS so painlessly brought us back through downtown DC.

I&CPS was fun. Sadly, the attendance was far below normal. I'm finally out from under the Meetings Chair role - I think Bylaws will be less stressful. I did a couple of introductory sessions on Manuscript Central that went over very well. I volunteered for one of the dot standards. Actually, that will be easy to do - the simple answer is to just recycle the existing chapter, but I think I want to reformat it a bit to flow better, and can use the papers that Dave West and I wrote back in 1977 as raw material. Still struggling with whether I try to introduce IEC standards. That would be the ideal thing to do, but it would be harder since I don't really have access to those standards.

The next trip will be to New York on May 31. We are looking at activities on the Upper East Side this time - haven't been to the Metropolitan Museuo or the Guggenheim, so that should be fun.

In the immediate future we have the challenge of taking delivery on a load of mulch, and then spreading that over the cultivated areas in the front and back. Fortunately, the weather continues to be cool (still haven't turned off the heating system), so that will help make the chore less uncomfortable.

I booked appointments this morning with vampire and with Dr. Hubicki for my annual 'poke and prod' session. Sorry to see Dr. Hubicki leave - I've felt comfortable with him, and that has made going back each year easy.

Battery Mendel is a WWI-era coastal fortification in Marin Headlands. Made the negative when we were there last year, and finally got around to printing it last week. I need to spend more time photographing and printing, and less time writing.

Coldest day yet

Daria

Today we had record-setting cold temperatures. Our outdoor thermometer reported -11deg. But its bright and sunny, so I suppose we can't complain too much.

We've been pretty much confined to the house this winter. Lots of snow, with temperatures consistently cold. Linda and I drove over to Great Barrington last Thursday just to get out of the house once over her winter vacation. I've had to deal with lots of snow in the driveway (and in fact have to get some more gas for the snow blower today since they are predicting another 4-7" for tonight). Looking forward to spring!

I participated in e-Week again this year, but unlike previous years, I went for the both days in order to maximize the number of CEUs I could claim. The first day was interesting - none of the presentations dealt with electrical matters, so I sat in on sessions that were selected based on curiosity or current awareness factors. Also did two presentations on the second day, so I ended up with 14 CEUs. I also wrote another course for Decatur that gave me 10 CEUs, so I've made up for not doing any formal continuing education last year and am now ahead of the game. I submitted a proposed presentation for e-Week next year, so that should enable me to honestly report that I have met the NYS continuing education requirement when I renew my license next year.

The Panel of Editors Meeting is coming up the first weekend in April in Los Angeles. Then, I will be home less than a week before Linda and I take off for Williamsburg. We are hoping that Laney will be able to join us there for a couple of days. I'm looking forward to that.

We are also planning a trip to California in July, but need to think through some of the details pretty soon so that we can book flights and hotels. I think we are planning to go up to Napa Valley this time, and have picked out some wineries to visit that are less well known but reportedly pretty spectacular. Linda wants to stay at the Jack London Lodge in Sonoma - we'll see. We've also talked about getting back to Alcatraz. The problem is going to be timing - the 4th of July is on a Friday this year, so we have to work out a plan for how we will share our time between our interests and visiting Dave.

I also have to plan a trip to Clearwater Beach in early May.

Next week will be devoted to beta-testing the new functions in Manuscript Central. Based on the conference call this past Tuesday, I'm not very confident that ScholarOne has understood our needs and that the functions will be what we asked for. That's probably not a surprise - our process is simply too complicated, and in a perfect world, we would have cleaned up our internal act before trying to implement automation. But the ExBoard doesn't have the political will to try to interfere with the autonomy of the Technical Committees, so that will not happen.

I've booked a workshop at Peters Valley this summer - portraiture with Herb Aschermann. I'm hoping that I will have the opportunity to do some work with the 4x5, perhaps with models. I've had a couple of e-mail exchanges with Herb, and he sounds interesting. At least he's not so hung up on digital that he can't deal with film users.

Yesterday, I was doing some Pt/Pd printing using 5x7" digital negatives, and I think I was successful (finally) in making a good print. One thing I've concluded - the negatives produced using contrast "curves" in The Gimp don't print well, regardless of what they say on AltPhoto.com. The best image (the print of Daria) came from a straight negative. I have also learned that I need to boost the resolution, and then print in the highest quality color mode, to produce negatives with smooth tonality.

Snow!

Wings #2

We had about 7" of snow on Thursday evening, and the forecast calls for a bigger storm tonight and tomorrow - a foot or more. No problem - the gas tank on the snow blower is full, I just filled the can and bought a new can of silicone spray. And I really don't have to go anywhere until Tuesday morning. Let it snow!

We are continuing to make slow progress on Manuscript Central. There are a few minor items that Sonal and I need to resolve, but we have a Plan A (preferred solution) and a Plan B (backup plan) ready, so the only thing we need is for Sonal to determine what is possible. The bigger issue is that ScholarOne is way behind schedule - they are now promising the next release for March which makes it too late for the first conference we had hoped to use it for this year. And I'm not sure that anyone is really "expediting" them to get it done, so further slippage is possible.

The March issue is done. Geri does have a concern about the length of the standards column - but the matter really comes down to whether the length of that column is forcing the addition of a signature. If it does not, then it doesn't really matter that its longer than normal.

We finally got feedback from the PRC this week - about 6 months late. Mostly trivial issues.

I need to decided if I will try to participate in the NE-APUG show at VPC in January. If I do, then I need to cut mats and frame four prints, and find a time to drive over to Springfield to deliver them. I think the preferred time to do that is the week between Christmas and New Years, but Linda hasn't decided what she wants to do that week, and until her schedule is known, I don't want to lock into something.

I know she is planning to meet Judy and Ike for lunch on December 28, probably in Rhinebeck. That will be nice.

Had a nice visit from Dave. He was able to go to the party at Annette and Keith's new place, and also meet some of our neighbors. Also had nice dinners with him - Forno and Lillian's.

This is another image of the Fisher Center at Bard. While I like the subtleties of the other image, I think this one is stronger.

Late November

Wings #1

Thanksgiving was last week. We had a quiet dinner with Jeff - that was nice. Now we are looking forward to a visit from Dave this weekend.

The past month was busy. The usual problems getting people to submit stuff to the Magazine by the announced deadline. I really wonder what would happen if we simply went ahead with publication, leaving out the late stuff. I'm sure that wouldn't be a popular move, but I don't know if it would actually cause people to become more timely with their submissions.

We've also had some problems with Manuscript Central. ScholarOne announced that they are going to be six months late with the next release, which means that it will be another year before we can actually start using the tool. And on top of that we have a continuing issue with basic user friendliness, and ScholarOne's standard response is that the problems are hard coded and there is nothing that can be done to fix them. That's unacceptable, but IEEE doesn't seem to try to manage their contractor.

I think most of the leaves are down now - seems like I've had to either mow or blow the lawn every week for more than a month to deal with the leaf fall this year. I think the problem is that the drought has caused the trees to hold their leaves longer rather than allowing them to fall all at once.

We are starting to worry about Christmas shopping. So far, very few ideas for Linda and the boys.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to a photography workshop this year. That makes it the first year in about 18 when I've not been able to get away for something. The program in Vermont scheduled for early November was cancelled. I need to start looking earlier next year and book something.

We also need to start planning some travels for next year. I know we will be going to the Bay Area for a week, and Linda has talked about going to Williamsburg in April but so far she won't actually commit to either trip. Last year, Keeble & Shuchet arranged a special evening photographer's tour of Alcatraz, and it would be neat to be able to do something like that the next time we are there. Scheduling would be tough, however, since they don't do it very often, and they have a limited number of slots that go rather quickly. Alternatively, there are frequently workshops in the Carmel/Monterrey area. The problem with that would be in scheduling something for LInda.

This is the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College in Annandale. Typical Frank Gehry architecture, but makes for dramatic photography.

Time is So Flying!

King's Chapel

I've totally lost track of time. September was a blur - the Annual Meeting trip was reasonably painless although the week was extremely busy. After NOLA, I had to go to San Diego for the Fellows Committee. Now that was an interesting experience. But I'm really glad I had the experience.

Linda and I did our Fall Saturday in Chelsea a few weeks ago. That was fun. I totally lost track of how many gallerys we visited, but the work was quite inspiring. Nice dinner at the Oyster Bar.

Last night I did the last session of this year's Art:21 program. One of the artists really caught my attention. Robert Ryman is a painter. He doesn't paint landscapes, or portraits, or figures, or still lifes. Instead, his painting is all about painting - the artifacts and characteristics that distinguish painting from other forms of visual art. Brush strokes, rough edges from masking tape, impasto - all of the physical things that distinguish painting, rendered in blank white. No story line, no narrative, no 'hidden meaning", no polemic. Just painting.

Many years ago, I had a discussion with Werner Feibes about aluminum siding. Werner was an architect who absolutely hated aluminum siding - he said that if aluminum siding was so wonderful, then why did people insist on painting and texturizing it to make it look like something other than aluminum? Why not just make it bare metal?

That's in essence what Ryman is saying about painting. His work celebrates the things that make painting unique.

The significance to photography is important. There is a tendency for photographers to feel that their work is inferior to other forms of visual art. The Pictorialists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries tried to emulate painting with the fuzziness of their images. Then, Group f64 came along to insist that photography is photography, and rather than being ashamed of that fact, photographers should take advantage of the technical characteristics of their medium to create work that is distinctly different from other visual artists. And now Ryman reiterates that same message.

I made some more palladium prints this week from digital negatives. I think I've concluded that the use of "curves" doesn't really enhance the process at all, but prints from digital negatives simply aren't as sharp, or as smoothly toned, as prints from original negatives. That presents a quandary - 4x5 is nice, but I would like to make larger prints - at least 5x7 and perhaps 4x10.

This image is a photograph from our visit to Boston back in July. We got to King's Chapel before they opened, but we were able to get inside the gate and set up for this picture before the crowds arrived.

August

Forest Fortification

It's been a quiet summer. Other than our Boston trip and day trips to Millbrook and Bennington, we have stayed home this year. Linda was busy preparing for dinner guests during the first part of the summer, and for the last couple of weeks has been getting ready for a garage sale. She's doing the sale this weekend, and the turnout has not been exciting. In fact, she's been "open" for two hours this morning, and so far there have been no browsers at all.

I'm scheduled for cataract surgery on Tuesday, and will be really glad to get that over. It's getting harder (and more tiring) to read, and that's a real drag.

At this point, I've received acceptances from all but two of the authors invited to publish next year, and one of those has promised to have something by tomorrow. There is one author (in Italy) who has not responded to e-mails (I've sent four), so I've made a decision about a substitute paper and will pull the trigger on that this week. I will have a lot to transfer to Transactions this year.

I need to find a workshop this Fall - I really missed the experience of going to Peters Valley this year. Fine Focus has something in the Brattleboro area in late October, but the date hasn't been confirmed yet.

This picture is from our trip to California in February.

Boston Trip

Bicycle

Linda and I returned from Boston yesterday - a very nice trip. We left on Sunday and drove to Sudbury, MA to the Wayside Inn. This is advertised as the second oldest Inn in America, and it is certainly quaint. The grist mill is interesting - it's certainly large, and it works (Linda bought some corn meal ground there), and the external street view is dramatic, but otherwise it doesn't have any special visual interest.

There is also a small chapel that Henry Ford built as a memorial to his mother. It's a quaint New England church on the outside - white clapboard and all that - but the inside is pretty nondescript.

We then continued into Boston. The plan had been to take a ferry to Georges Island and Fort Warren. But plans don't always work out. Boston is a great place for walking cause no one can drive there. More seriously, driving is OK if you stay on surface streets and take the time to carefully read signs (and have good directions). But traffic moves so fast in the new Big Dig tunnels moves so fast that it's easy to miss turns - signs are not always legible (especially in the older tunnels where the lighting is pretty murky). So the bottom line was that we got lost - really lost! Eventually, we found our way out of the tunnels, but by then it was too late to get the ferry and still have any time on the island. Instead, we found a place to park on the street next to the Public Garden, and spent an hour or so walking around. Linda took a swan boat ride, while I made a few pictures. Later that evening, we drove into Cambridge and walked around Harvard Square for a while.

On Monday we drove up the coast to Cape Ann. We stopped for a few hours in Salem to visit the House of Seven Gables and the National Park Service facility at Central Wharf. Then we continued on to Gloucester for lunch at a restaurant on the pier. Finally, we ended up in Rockport. This was our first time there, and we definitely plan to go back. Our stay was cut short by the treat of a thunderstorm. That night we were back at Harvard Square to share a small pizza at Bertucci's.

Tuesday was supposed to be very warm, but the front parked itself just south of Boston. The result was that it was a beautifully sunny day with very cool temperatures. We parked at Boston Common and walked the Freedom Trail, visiting the State House, Park Street Church, Kings Chapel, the Old City Hall, Old South Meeting House, the old State House, Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market. We had a light lunch (a bowl of chowder) at the Union Oyster house, and then sat next to Fanueil Hall for a while to watch people. Then we walked back to the Public Garden where Linda fed the ducks. That evening, we found our way to No Name Restaurant on the Fish Pier for a wonderful baked scrod dinner.

We departed Boston yesterday for Concord to visit the Louisa May Alcott home. B-O-R-I-N-G! And stuffy. The docent who conducted our tour had memorized a script that probably read well, but the language came across as very stilted and unnatural when spoken. From there we drove west on Route 2 to Shelburne Falls to see the Flower Bridge. Had lunch at Cafe Martin (have to go back there!).

This picture is a Pt/Pd print of a negative made on our day trip to Manchester and Pawlet, VT last month.

Chipmunks & Squirrels

Eastman's Oval

The major project for the past several weeks has been to thin down the chipmunk and squirrel population in the yard. As of now, we have trapped and transported 33 chipmunks and 17 squirrels. I can see a distinct reduction in rodent activity, but that doesn't seem to slow down the rate at which we capture them.

After trapping the rodents, we have taken them either to Luther Forrest (Cold Spring Road) or the other side of the golf course along Luther Road or Grace Moore Road. Hopefully that's far enough that they won't be able to find their way back.

Linda and I have also made plans for a few days in the Boston area next month. I'm looking forward to the trip - the last time I was there was for POE, and while we had planned to stay over for a day of fun, Linda had to cancel and I had to rush back to deal with family issues.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the vampire (fasting blood work, part of my annual physical). And I have a date for my first cataract surgery, so the physical will also serve as part of the prescreening for the operation.

The last couple of days have been very hot. So this morning I decided to hang out in the darkroom where it's nice and cool. Today was silver printing, and I have a few prints to show for the effort. One of them will be my entry for Saratoga - Inside/Out this year, if I decide to enter. The problem is that the show closes the weekend that I have to travel to New Orleans in September, so I have to make some kind of arrangement for pickup.

This print is from our trip to the Finger Lakes last summer. It was a 35mm negative I did at the George Eastman house - I haven't decided if I will try to make a silver print, but I did make an enlarged (digital) negative and a Pt/Pd print. I can't say it's a favorite, but it's still nice.

Travel Woes

Tidal Wash

Traveling just isn't any fun anymore!

We were almost four hours late leaving Albany for Chicago. As a result, we missed the dinner with our friends at Gibson's. The POE meeting itself was good - enjoyed both the opportunity to work with our staff colleagues and socialize with friends. Linda had a great time in Chicago.

Then, one week later it was off to Edmonton for the I&CPS conference. Good conference, great time with friends. But Edmonton is a long way to go!. The trip out went very well - we left Albany early, and got into Edmonton early. But the return was something else.

I got to the airport four hours ahead of flight time. The check-in counter was closed, and the sign said to come back one hour later. So I found a comfortable seat upstairs. When I went back, there was a long line at the check-in counter. It turns out that United had canceled two flights that morning, so they were having to rebook those passengers. As a result, I ended up standing in the line for three hours, and finally completed the check-in less than 15 minutes before flight time. And I still had to get through customs and immigration, and security. They ended up delaying the flight in order to deal with all the passengers, and that got us into Chicago about 20 minutes late.

Should have not been a problem. When I got to my connecting gate the plane was already there. I had a few minutes to grab a sandwich, but when I got back they had announced a 45 minute delay. Still not a problem - but the announcement was a lie. It was actually a three hour delay. Finally got home at 2am. Arghh!

Another picture from Weston's Beach at Point Lobos.

Off to Chicago

Weston's Stones

Linda and I are off to Chicago tomorrow for the POE meeting. Those are always interesting sessions, and I'm looking forward to it again this year. We will have a nice dinner tomorrow night with the IAS team, but beyond that I doubt that I will have an opportunity to leave the hotel. But Linda is looking forward to a tour of the city as well as possibly spending time at the Art Institute with Charissa.

I've done a little printing from my negatives from California - both silver at Pt/Pd - but there's a lot more that I need to do. Now I have negatives from Cape Cod that also need printing. And I need to come up with something for this summer's Saratoga Inside-Out show. I have an idea for that one, but I need to get downtown to make the photograph.

Our trip to Cape Cod was nice. The weather was cool but comfortable - all except the last day when a cold rain made it pretty uncomfortable in P'town. But we had a nice time - we did our usual things - shopping in Chatham and Orleans, visited Sandwich and the Thornton Burgess Nature Center and Jam Kitchen, Provincetown, etc. But it would definitely be nice to be able to go "in season" when more is open.

This picture was done at Weston's Beach at Point Lobos State Reserve.