It's a Macro World After All...

Cue the music, "It's a small world after all..."

I LOVE doing macro photography. Pretty much nutty about it, really (OK we can use the word, obsessive here). It's whole 'nother universe within itself (wasn't that part of the message in "Horton Hear's a Who"?).

When I noticed this little feather stuck to a lavendar in my garden, it warranted a shot in spite of the very gusty wind that evening (you can see the motion within the feather if you look close enough).

And when my Sigma 50mm macro lens came in the other week, this was one of my test shots.

This icicle was from winter '07. There is often a repeating theme in much of what I do with photography and I think the examples I have here demonstrate that. And no, macro is not necessarily the repeating theme (I consider it a technique).

I love this peeling paint on an old door in Magdelena, NM. These weathered surfaces have so much to tell us! If only they would...

More peeling paint in Magdelena but this is on an old abandoned Santa Fe Railway train. I loved this one so much that I made a poster sized print of it!

My climbing White Iceberg; I like the rose hips after the bloom as much as I like the bloom!

Another "from-my-garden" specimen. This one is called Bridal Veil and is also known as Babies Breath. It's a perennial and is very easy to grow.

OK, so one of the things that I am a HOUND about has to do with textures and patterns (of course color and light have heavy play in this too). Most of these images have to do with textures and patterns. I also like to tell a story with my images.

Detail from a bovine skull. I love the way those lines move; it makes me want to do a pen and ink version of it. When I get a 'round tuit' I will, but don't hold your breath! ; )

Detail of a Buddah that sits on a shelf on my front porch. My teenage son challenged me with, "hey how does THAT fit in with being Catholic?" All I have to say is that this man walked the earth before Christ and had a lot of wise things to say and teach about spirituality. There are many ways to achieve spirituality and even Pope Pius (I don't know which one) said that there are many paths to divinity.

And here we have the details of the folds of his robe on this very wise man.

So, can you see it? I mean the repeating theme here. Textures and patterns. Go back and look again. It's all there.

And in this case, it's a macro, macro world!

Observations

Observations (noun) The act or faculty of observing. The fact of being observed. The act of noting and recording something, such as a phenomenon, with instruments. The result or record of such notation: a meteorological observation. A comment or remark. An inference or a judgment that is acquired from or based on observing.

Such as noticing how the late afternoon sun lit up this seed pod...giving it all its glory. Everyone else walked by it without looking down to notice it. I think it warrants attention.

Or, looking up and observing the incredible contrast of that blue, blue sky (no, it REALLY is that color blue and no post production editing was done to saturate or alter the actual color) to the white, white blooms of this tree.

Or, getting in really close to this onion flower about to bloom. All those hundreds of little white flowers within just waiting to burst out. And the amazing quality of the sheath that contains it and the moisture droplets within the casing.

And how the late afternoon sun spoke of another day, another time when this crab went from one lava rock to another as the ocean waves lapped over it. Now, just an exoskeleton about to loose it's vibrant colors as the relentless sun bleaches it with each passing day.

Or, this alien looking bud of the white flowers of Georgia O'Keefe fame (known as the Jimson weed). How many of us who live here in New Mexico where these blooms all over the roadside know that this is what that flower looks like as a bud?

Stepping out onto the lanai of my brother's condo in Hawaii to capture the world that is within a world of his tropical plants. This one is a helconia of some sort and the magic of the afternoon sun

accentuate the contours of this flower.

This poinciana in my dad's yard on Moloka'i demands your attention. But, I also love the contrast of the vibrant green foilage around it. Cool and warm colors complimenting each other.

Observation is what leads me to all of these images. I saw not only the deep purple of this iris, but the fuzzy yellow beard within the bloom, the stripes of white across the petals and the bright green background. The observations lead me to the composition and I do my best to record it.

You can see a lot more if you stop and spend the time to observe...

Ode to Dance

These are images I took at Ballet Repetory Theatre here in Albuquerque. It is a dance studio that I have been coming to for classes ever since I moved here 14 years ago. It is my favorite studio to go to for many reasons.

Since I have been coming here for so long, I realized that I haven't recorded anything at all from this studio. Hence this little photo essay for my muse and hopefully your pleasure. Joseph, are those your shoes hanging or Jackson's?

Details. Getting up close and personal. I love details...such as the corner of this scroll from a stage prop.

Years and years of performances accumulates many different costumes and the logistics of where to store all of this. In the two smaller, lesser used dance rooms are these costumes and stage props.

When something is out of context, it's not easy to discern what the image is of. A macro view of anything lends the subject matter to abstraction.

Such as this. I think the mirror is a prop for Sleeping Beauty. I love the distortions!

And then I wonder about all the stories to go with each of these costumes and the dancers who wore them and the emotions they experienced during the process of performing. And I know too, for me this life is one of the distant past. Almost as though it were another lifetime. I used to be able to do that...

And I wonder if I'll ever put on a pair of toe shoes again and execute those releves, let alone the terrifying pirouettes...I think I am left to my reminiscing.

And leaving it to the younger ones to carry on...

The excitement, the drama, the rehersals, the lights, the stage, the terror, the thrill of stepping out before an audience to do what you love to do so much...DANCE.

So, even if I don't do any of this anymore, it still makes me happy and I still dance in the capacity that I can. It's not only in my blood, it's in my soul...it is part of the essence of who I am.

And I am left with sitting and watching those who carry on where I left off.

To MY Daddy

Tomorrow is Father's Day; I don't really do too much for my hubby because I remind him that although he is the father of our son, he is not MY father! It's my son's duty to do something special for him. I wanted to do something special for my daddy. I don't know what to get him anymore; he seems to have all the gadgets and gizmos and anything else seems like overkill. Anyway, those are all THINGS. We really don't need things. do we? A heartfelt message carries much further than things. The image you see above this is the earliest image I have of my dad; he is the second one from the right in the first row with the small drum at his feet. He is holding a clarinet. My dad can pick up any instrument and play music from it even if it's the first time he ever had his hands on that kind of instrument. He can play any tune by ear and his voice rivals that of Frank Sinatra. Really. Calpack is the name of the pineapple company on Molokai that provided jobs for eveyone. Short for California Packing Corporation. Now known as Del Monte Corporation. It was a tightly knit community back in those days as you can see by the sponsored band with uniforms. Impressive, eh? I have no idea where this image was taken or when, but by guessing from the info on the back (indicating the studio it came from), it appears to have taken place in Hilo, Hawaii. Why my dad was there, I have no clue. Perhaps he will tell me after he sees this. He is that really handsome young man on the far right. Kinda looks like Marc Anthony (the singer married to J Lo), doesn't he?

This is on his wedding day (to my mom, of course). He was married to her for 30 years and it did end up in divorce...somehow I could not crop my mom out of this picture. It didn't seem right since they are both my parents. He's been married to Joyce now for almost 25 years and I love her too. Life is too short to hang onto unrealistic ideals...

I think this is one of my most favorite pictures of my dad. It was taken at my sister's house when she lived in Haiku, Maui and we all went to see her that Christmas and New Year's which was the dreaded 2000 (remember the doom and gloom predicted for that year?). We had just gotten up and the grandkids did a 'dog pile' with Grandpa and I love that Dad's hair (which I've always seen in a perfect state all my life thanks to many jars of Pomade) is all over the place. That's my son John lying down on the left, nephew Tomas in the middle and niece Catherine (now in college) on the right. Don't know why she's pouting though.

Fast forward a bit and this is Daddy on his 70th birthday. We all chipped in and got him a mandolin (he can play it really well). I later found out that dad's fingers don't fit the standard mandolin, so it's really hard for him to play it.

A few years ago, dad was diagnosed with diabetes. He probably had it all his life, but he is reluctant to go to the doctor. His kidneys are shot. Anyway, he now has to do dialysis three times a week. This is "Aunt" Bea with him and this is dubbed, "dialyisis buddies".

One of Dad's favorite things to eat is top ramen. It's his afternoon snack of choice which is something he's had to give up as a diabetic and especially as a dialysis patient as it is too laden with sodium and very dangerous for non-functioning kidneys. It's a hard thing for him to give up. I love it too and find it my comfort food of choice in spite of it being nutitionally void of anything. I think of my dad eveytime I sit down with a bowl of this stuff. Asian 'chicken soup'... Even with a shunt in his arm for dialysis, he stills plays music and has done the Salvation Army thing (around the Holidays) each year. I don't know if he'll be able to do it this year, as time is taking it's toll.

Daddy with his custom made guitar from Albuquerque (Pimentel Guitars); this really fits him. Dad has a whole slew (or is the word, sleu?) of guitars and ukeleles at his house. It's a passion, you know. He is a natural musician.

A more recent shot of my daddy.

I took this one last summer when I was hanging out with him; we were sitting around watching his favorite; Korean drama series. I don't know what to call them as we really don't have an equivalent genre here. They are epic stories done out like a soap opera, but in a historical setting. All subtitles. They are fasicnating. The photo is out of focus; I was trying to capture the moment and he moved and the lighting was tough. But I really cherish all the sweet moments I spend with my daddy throughout all of my life. I do my best to follow his example (execpt my singing and music playing is horrid even though I love it). He has been playing music in church all my life and even with all the complications he has today from his illness, he insists on playing music at funerals. Oh, and he does it non-gratis.

That's my daddy; he's my hero and a living legend. He's my daddy. I wonder if he knows how many lives he has made a huge impact on with his music, ukulele lessons, his generousity, his example of faith, and his all around stellar example?

I know he has on mine.

"God Bless my daddy, who's over there...said a tiny little girl in a tiny little prayer."

I love you Daddy, Happy Father's Day!

Love,

Your #1 Baby ; )

The Terminator IV

Those of us living in Albuquerque and the surrounding metro area know that they have been shooting the "Terminator IV" movie here. They have been shooting extensively and have movie sets everywhere. Lucky for them, we have a lot of stuff here that needs little or no alteration for the effects they are going after! Witness the Albuquerque Railyard. Perfect, already made set for them. Since they began shooting, it's been off limits though (boo). They have been oh so secretive about it all.

Last week, when we were driving up to Angel Fire they were in the process of filming something just north of Algodones; a factory that had great smoke stacks on them and they made it look all burnt and everything. We stopped by on the way back so that I could take a photo of it, but in no time flat, a security gaurd was upon us. I got one great shot and then I had to delete it. Argh! I am thinking of driving back up there again and taking shots from across the way (they can't stop me from doing that). It's so cool looking.

Oh, and then yesterday I was at the Sunrise Bank building downtown viewing the installation of The Cradle Project (a must see for residents here in NM; what a historical project!). I was glad that I sumitted an entry (my piece is number 299 in the exhibit). We ran into our friend, Pat Berrett who knows everything that's going on in the local film industry and he said that the star of the movie is staying in that building. Whoever that is (I don't know if it's public information or if that is being kept secret since Arhhnold is now the Gov of CA). I'm just not in the know!

You know, I didn't mean to go on so much in this post about this move, but I must've needed the purging!

OK, so the first image you see here is a pink calla lilly from my garden. It's so pretty and this is the first year where I'm actually getting more than one bloom as it takes a few years for the bulb to multiply which is what gives you multiple blooms. Yay!

The next one is a multiple exposure of a mosaic mirror tile reflecting orb, a rose and the Japanese maple in my back yard. I was experimenting with a whole series of multiple exposures of stuff in my this garden. I should take an overall photo of the garden that these things reside in so that you have a reference. Let's hope that a) I remember to do that and b) I remember to post it and reference it back to this!

Geez...