Goodhue Hill

I made this image on January 1st 1978 on a cold but sunny day in upstate N.Y.  I used my view camera and can remember it was a quiet day without any wind.  I use to enjoy those calm days in winter when the sun was out and the temperature was around 15*.   The air was crisp and dry, and I can remember the sound of the snow crunching under my boots as I made my way onto the ice in the swamp up on Goodhue Hill.  The only sounds that day were a few crows flying over head that broke the silence with their calls.  The wintertime offered many opportunities for making photographs.  After a few hours with cold fingers and toes I would head back home to the darkroom and start my processing with a warm cup of coffee.  They were fun days that helped to break up what was usually a long and dreary winter.

Ricketts Glen

When I lived in the Northeast I would spend a lot of time hiking and photographing the numerous waterfalls in the region.  I enjoyed the quiet times wandering along the trail and wading through the water working my way up to the next waterfalls in the stream.  One place that I liked to go was Ricketts Glen in Pennsylvania.  It is a state park that has a 7 mile hiking trail with 22 waterfalls, with the highest being 94'.   The park is in a remote section of Pa. without any major cities around.  The area offers camping and plenty of hiking trails to explore.  I made this image with a 4x5 view camera on a early fall afternoon.


http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/rickettsglen/
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/Pennsylvania/Ricketts_Glen_State_Park-861209/Things_To_Do-Ricketts_Glen_State_Park-TG-C-1.html

Mexico in the mountains

We have made a couple of trips into Mexico the past few years to spend three or four months photographing and traveling around.  We particularly enjoyed the mountain region in central Mexico.  It is an area of mountain streams,waterfalls and wonderful vistas.   The little villages we stopped in gave us the chance to try the local foods from the area.  These were often poor little town where life has remained the same for many years.  We found the people friendly and somewhat curious about us being in their community.  Many of these small towns on the backroads rarely see a foreigners past through.  We would spend a few hours walking the streets and experiencing the everyday life that was going on around us. 

Blue Cypress Lake

I was extremely happy to discover recently that we live just a few miles from Blue Cypress Lake here in central Fl.  I was unaware that a beautiful natural wildlife preserve was in our backyard.  We have been in our new location for a year and much of that time has been spent setting up a home and finding our way around the community we live in.  Blue Cypress lake is part of the head waters that form the St. Johns River which flows north to Jacksonville.  It is Florida's largest river and originates in St. Johns Marsh in Indian County.  We plan on spending many days out on the lake exploring the cypress trees and the abundant wildlife that live there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Cypress_Lake
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Johns_River

Flame House

 I made this image of an Anasazi cliff dwelling in Utah back in the mid 90's.  At the time I worked with a large format camera using Tmax 100 film.  I have made many trips to these locations over the years and always enjoy the hiking and the discovery of ancient sites of the Anasazi Indians.

Cedar Key

Cedar Key Fl. is a great place to go for seafood and doing some photography.  A few weeks ago we camped there for a week and worked on getting our fill of Cedar Key grown clams.  The area is know for it's littleneck clams and they have several farms in the area. This image was made in the middle of a marsh at low tide. It was a difficult hike into the location and the muck was deeper than I had expected.  I was able to make this image but nearly got stuck in quicksand.  I made a three minute exposure with a -16 stop neutral density filter.  When the exposure was finished I was sunk in to my knees and it was a bit nerve racking getting myself and equipment out of the muck.  The tide was on it's way back in and was flowing in and around me.  It is probably an experience I won't repeat anytime soon.

http://research.ufl.edu/publications/exploremagazine/spring-2013/saving-cedar-key.html
http://www.clambiz.com/harvesting.htm
http://www.cedarkey.org/visitors.html

Photographing from a kayak

I am still early in my attempts to do photography from a kayak.  There are a lot of things I need to work out before I feel comfortable taking camera gear along with me.  The first thing I do is check the weather and have a look at the current radar map to know what storm systems may be out over the ocean that could move in quickly and bring gusty winds and rain.  Today I bought a water tight bag to store my gear when I go to and from a location I want to photograph in.  It will offer some protection for my equipment but there still is always a risk of being out on the water and becoming distracted by other events going on around me.  I am certain that in time I will become more comfortable with it and hopefully produce some interesting photographs.