Settlin’ In

A peaceful Sunday. A little break. Three pictures. Quiet pictures. Made at different times and places. For different reasons. The three of them are: Taos Dusk, Bamboo and Morning Spider Web. Yes. I have some shot back stories to share.

Taos Dusk. Everybody photographs this place. Everybody paints it. Ansel Adams made a landmark photograph there. Georgia O’Keeffe painted it. Just about every photographer and painter who is on some kind of Southwestern trip stops there so who am I to try to photograph it? This place is located in Rancho de Taos a few miles away from the town of Taos. It’s real name is San Francisco de Asis. And, why the try to capture it in some way? How would I make my own statement? How would I make a picture that is a little different? I had no idea. I’ve photographed it in the past and the pictures were okay. Just okay. So, I was out looking around in the fields and roads just behind the church when the late afternoon light started turning into an exciting and bold dusk. I got to the church just as the light was at its most striking. I made maybe 20 frames. This image is the result. It is sort of my signature piece of the location. Nature did it. I didn’t. Sometimes, that’s how it works.

Bamboo. Need a quiet place to take a break in the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong? Head to the cemeteries in Wan Chai. They are located almost in Happy Valley. They are beautiful and very quiet, yet just outside their gates the streets are roaring with traffic and people. There are three. Muslim, Indian and Christian. As you wander through them you might find a stand of bamboo. What am I saying? Might? You’ll find bamboo everywhere. The day that I was there was warm, but not the hot like the weather is in July and August. There was a nice breeze so I slowed down the camera’s shutter speed, and popped a little flash. More nature. Mixed with a little technical skill. Very little technical skill.

Glistening Spider Web. Yet another storm story. Three hurricanes in 2005 that struck somewhere in Louisiana. The first was Cindy. Originally, it was called a tropical storm. But, insurance findings later caused it to be upgraded. Get that? INSURANCE findings. The last two are better known. They are hurricanes Katrina and Rita. After Katrina, I re-located to Lake Charles, Louisiana. That seemed fine… for a few weeks, when along came Rita and another evacuation. Good thing too. Rita touched down at Sabine Pass, just about 70 miles from Lake Charles. It was brutal. The evacuation was hellish for everybody. It was a super hot summer. Houston, Texas was threatened by the storm. The main highways became parking lots. Cars ran out of gas on them. People ran out of food and water on them. You couldn’t budge for hours. So, I took back roads aways from Lake Charles. There were no motels available that would take pets until I reached Mountain Home, Arkansas. There, I found a Best Western that took in everybody. Best news was that FEMA/Red Cross paid the bill. But, that drive took 18 hours as compared to 7 when we made our way back to Lake Charles. 3am and I’m wired as I could be from the drive. But, I did fall asleep… until 6am. I awoke and decided to take a walk. It turned out that this little B

est Western had a beautiful garden that was a cross between something Asian and an English garden. I always carry a camera. This is the first picture I made after the hell that was Katrina and Rita. It had to be peaceful. I needed that.