"Please Release Me, Let Me Go"

A very short slide show of the best "slips" of the weekend in Stanley, NM.

We're laughing with you.

Photographic Art At 75 MPH.

I may have created a new photographic niche. Any good photographer can go off into the country, and painstakingly set up the perfect shot. But if you're traveling down an Interstate, in a hurry to get home, and don't want to stop to to capture the stunning images you're passing.. it's simple: roll down the window and, keeping one hand on the steering wheel, point the camera at the scene with your other. Fire away. Instant art at 75 miles per hour.

The Long Wait is Over!

Counting on my fingers I see it's been 6 months... 6! A half a year since Sandia's been able to chase a jackrabbit. He was ready.

The Golden Hour

Took a short drive tonight, to try and capture what photographers call, "the golden hour", or "godlight". That brief period just before the sun sets, and the colors are all golden toned. It wasn't perfect, because there were too many clouds, but I hung around this windmill for about a half hour with the super wide angle. Like the distortion effect.

Wedding Album

As promised..



It was a beautiful day in the Gap. You couldn't imagine a better setting. To review, the day was 09/09/2009. We began promptly at 9:09 in the morning. Unplanned, but pretty cool, was the fact we had 9 guests including ourselves. Getting in the spirit of the day, Dutch and Cherie Salmon brought 9 red roses, and 9 assorted bottles of wine. Also in attendance are our neighbors, Marilyn and Jim Woods.. (the unofficial "Mayor" of the neighborhood; better neighbors one couldn't have). Margaret's daughter, Stephanie, and sister, Tori attended. And to tie it all together, figuratively and literally, was Margaret's son, Tony. He assures us the ordination he obtained on the internet was legal! We were his second wedding, in fact. The county accepted the license, so I guess we're good to go! Best image of the day is when the Tarantula Hawk landed on Tony's back towards the end of the proceedings. I had been telling him how big they were, and he got first hand experience with one.

Having the dogs out added to the fun, and casual atmosphere. And believe me, we like casual.

Camo.

I was merely trying out the used Nikon macro lens I'd recently purchased. Taking close ups of things around the yard, like the Oleander flowers. It wasn't until I was taking the second shot of this particular bloom that I noticed this Green Lynx Spider patiently waiting for me to move on so it could get back to doing whatever it was it was doing.

Things got a little dicier last night when, while walking around the porch to retrieve a dropped burger bun, I nearly stepped on this young Diamondback.

As he showed no inclination to leave the yard, I was forced to end his (young) life with one of the garden implements we have strategically placed around the yard for just this purpose. Dogs and poisonous snakes don't mix.

When we moved in we fully expected snakes all Summer long. In fact, this is the first rattler we've seen (emphasis on "seen") in the yard, and with the Gopher snake cruising up the eaves for dove eggs a couple of months ago, only the second snake of any kind inside the fence. OK with us!

Smack-down for "Wrong Way Wilson"

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