smile pretty for the camera?
july 30, 2005

"setting a good example for your children takes all the fun out of middle age."
    --william feather

i have a good friend and he's five years old. he comes to visit me a lot. lately, we've been watching movies on weekends. so far, i've had "finding nemo", "a shark's tale" and "peter pan" explained in great detail even before the dvd began to spin. good thing...he usually falls asleep before the end.

we play lots of fun games. we paint pictures (puffins and palm trees - you bet!), we throw balls around the house, we chase each other quite a bit, we play "go fish", we do summersaults - and we do photography. i sneak up on him with the camera and he runs away squealing. that's doing photography with a five year old.

five years old or (tack on a another digit after that 5)....the learning curve is always a big one. that's what the fun is all about.

nikon 60mm micro, 1/80, f/6.3, sb-800 flash/diffuser

float plane
christiansen lake
talkeetna, alaska
july 2005

"of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask 'how', while others of a more curious nature will ask 'why'. personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information."
--man ray, american dadaist/surrealist photographer (1890-1976). his epitaph is inscribed: "unconcerned but not indifferent"

experiments in infrared photography, looking for an image beneath the scene.

nikon 24-120 VR @ 50mm, 1/80, f/11, infrared (photoshop channels and levels)

saharan dust storm sunset
hickory bay, florida
july 26, 2005

july 26 is a day for discovery! i stood on the dock at 10:39 this morning, hoping for a glimpse of the discovery shuttle launch, just a mere 90-some miles to the ENE. i have seen previous launches from this coast of florida, but it was not to be today. still, it was a day to reflect - and to wish all adventurers safe journeys.

near sunset, i broke free from the office desk and launched my own little discovery shuttle - my skiff that is too often ignored. it is no secret that my dock's pecking order favors the green kayak. the skiff's new engine needed some run time and i needed fresh air. but wait - fresh air?

instead, the air felt strange. my eyes itched. and i remember that during my daily helping of Dr. Jeff Masters' weather blog, I'd read that a dust storm from africa was passing over the florida peninsula. he promised that this storm would color our sunsets this week, and his prediction was more than accurate.

dust storms from africa are frequent summer visitors to these shores, peaking in july. researchers claim that such storms transport not only millions of tons of fine-grained dust, but just as many fungi and bacteria across the atlantic ocean, where they make landfall in florida and the caribbean. florida receives more than half of all microbe-laden african dust in the united states.

this photo is a four-frame composite from the east side of hickory bay, facing west. it was a beautiful night to discover saharan dust, outrageous color overhead and the peace of simply floating in my skiff under an amazing sky - even if it was filled with microbes.

much like transient saharan dust storms blowing ashore, a boatload of 19 cuban refugees were hastily deposited on a sanibel island beach at 06:30 this morning. these refugees were discovered not long after landfall and told police thought they'd landed in west palm beach. according to the so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy, cuban refugees who make it to land in the u.s. are permitted to stay, while those captured at sea are sent back to cuba.

elsewhere in history on this day, other discovery events took place. the second continental congress gave birth to the u.s. postal system in 1775 (ben franklin was the first postmaster - was there anything that man didn't do?), babe ruth was seen in public for the last time in 1948 and apollo 15 launched from cape kennedy, florida, in 1971.

a busy discovery day, by any measure.

nikon 12-24, 12mm, 1/20, f/14, photoshop barrel distortion correction, blending and masking modes.

july 26, 2005

"a photograph is a secret about a secret.  the more it tells you, the less you know."
--diane arbus, photographer, best known for her wide format photography of circus freaks (1923-1971)

nikon 60 micro, 1/10, f/8, photoshop secrets

tree in the sand at low tide
wiggins pass, florida
july 22, 2005

"and it all comes true, yes it all comes true
like a wheel inside a wheel it turns on you
and you think, what have I done? what can I do?
what you believe about yourself
it all comes true "
    --john mellencamp, "it all comes true" from john mellencamp

paddling to the pass in the falling tide of a full moon, wandering the sandbars...and this pattern left behind by the rushing flush of water out into the gulf captures my eye. it tugs at my senses and immediately becomes a winter tree in the moonlight. i walk around it for some time, enchanted by the artistry of nature. paddling home, fireflies are turning the pitch dark mangroves into living things with their christmas twinkle lights. mullet jumping across the bow of the kayak as i struggle against the strong tide, once again waiting for the moonrise. i am smiling into the night.

magic. it's always out there. you just have to believe.

nikon 12-24, 12mm, 1/125, f/8

three guys fishing
dog beach
bonita springs , florida
july 20, 2005

"three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. "
    -- buddha

a full moon's low tide, endless swarms of bugs, and one brief flicker of golden light reflects off new pass water as three men fish just off dog beach. full moon fishing. it's been going on for a long, long time. even the birds seem enthusiastic as they crowded the sand and oyster bars at sunset.

i stood on the new pass bridge, pondering the full moon - or more precisely, its absence. where was it? my little moonrise/set calculator appeared to have failed me. the scattered storms didn't help. i had a lot of time to think and swat at bugs.

and i wondered...what other odd facts were associated with a lunar fullness other than this lunatic woman, standing on a bridge with a tripod <odd enough by itself>, big honking camera and lens, with too much traffic flying by, swatting at bugs?

here's what i unearthed:

--in 1991 a professor at iowa state university proposed we destroy the moon, postulating that the resulting debris would correct the tilt of earth's axis and create perpetual spring worldwide. his idea didn't take off.

--in this era of high-tech communications, even the moon lends a helping hand as a passive radio signal deflector. high powered radio waves are aimed at the moon, which bounces them back to earth. even amateur ham radio operators use this "earth-moon-earth" technique.

--many marine animals take cues from the moon. oysters in holland, for example, time their mating by the moon. european eels wait for the waning moon to begin their spawning migration. and the palolo worm, which lives in coral reefs, always mates in october or november when the moon enters its last quarter. even in captivity, out of sight of the sky, these worms time their mating precisely in accordance to the moon.

--lunar eclipses helped convince greek scholars that the earth was round. they saw that as earth's shadow covered the moon, it had a rounded edge, indicating that the earth must be spherical. they accepted this theory as early as the fifth century B.C.E.

--a blue moon has nothing to do with color: it is a full moon that appears in a month that has already had a full moon. because the lunar cycle is 29.5 days, this double-mooned-month only occurs about every three years.  what month will never have a blue moon? february.

--12 men have walked on the moon. the oldest rock found on the moon is 4.5 billion years old.

--the moon is actually moving away from the earth at a rate of 1.5 inches per year! the moon is not even round, but instead egg-shaped, with the larger end pointed toward earth. it rotates about 10 mph, while the earth rotates about 1,000 mph.

--the gold-plated 33-rpm record "camelot" was left behind on the moon by the apollo astronauts, as well as a number of golf balls. in fact, when walking on the moon, astronaut alan sheppard hit a golf ball that went 2,400 feet, nearly one-half a mile. when not playing golf, these same astronauts made time to collect and bring back 2196 specimens (842 pounds) of rocks.

--the footprints left by the apollo astronauts will not erode since there is no wind or water on the moon. the footprints should last at least 10 million years. astronaut neil armstrong first stepped on the moon with his left foot.

--as of 1988, the u.s. census bureau determined that a stunning 13% of the population believe that some portion of the earth's moon is actually comprised of cheese.

holy cow!

80-400vr, 400mm, 1/25, f/14

ghost birds
new pass
bonita springs , florida
july 20, 2005

the impossible, handheld pan shot at a ridiculous shutter speed. they flutter before my squinting field of vision, soundless, in a blur.

no one can say i don't *try*...even when all indications point a gnarly finger toward futility.  spin something blurred into focus of a different kind.

ghosts.

80-400vr, 80mm, 1/13, f/14

fuchsia storm
new pass
bonita springs , florida
july 20, 2005

"the camera relieves us of the burden of memory. it surveys us like God, and it surveys for us. yet no other god has been so cynical, for the camera records in order to forget. "
    -- john berger

this one's for you, ixtla!   happy birthday - one day late.  if, as you say, "nature abhors a vacuum", i believe nature must just love you to pieces.

80-400vr, 80mm, 1/6, f/14, tripod <sigh>, many, many <many!> biting bugs

day's end
barefoot beach, florida
july 18, 2005

"i want to thank you for the seeds you planted in me..
and i want to thank you for the earth that moves my feet...
and i want to thank you for the sun that greens my leaves...
and i say, i want to thank you for the mystery     ....    mystery. "
    -- michael franti & spearhead, "feelin' free " from everyone deserves music

but for the movement of waves meeting the beach in caresses of eternal change, i believe there would be a beaten-down, deep path of my footsteps on this stretch of sand. it is my day's end, my solitude, my release, my perspective, a time to satuate my senses in smells, color and music.

a visitor to "f/stops" may wonder where some of my quotes on these pages come from. most often, they are words to songs that fill my ears as i walk or paddle or photograph at most any time. i know some of the words as well as i know this beach. my photography is always woven with music. always. my secret muse......music.

music under skies illuminated with every color in nature's palette. flat water. soft, humid air. walking, watching and listening.

my obsession. my day's end.

sunset stroll
barefoot beach, florida

"the grand show is eternal. it is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever galling; vapor is ever rising. eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls."
   --john muir

nikon 12-24 dx @ 12mm,  1/80, f/13, EV +0.03

evening sea oats
barefoot beach, florida
july 15, 2005

"when words become unclear, i shall focus with photographs. when images become inadequate, i shall be content with silence."
   --ansel adams

nikon 12-24 dx @ 12mm,  1/100, f/13, black and white treatment in photoshop

moonrise over poot peak
kachemak bay, alaska

"tell me, tell me true
do you speak with the spirits, the way I do?
do you dance their dance, with their hands on you?
do you sleep at night?
come on, dance with me. "
    -- michael mcdermott, "dance with me" from ashes

summer in alaska is a season of long days. light never seems to leave the air - only dim a little.

luana woke me in the middle of the homer light-night near 3 am. she trudged across the gravel drive to the little office where i slept. "come quick - look at this! bring your camera - it's the moon!" and sure enough, it was moonrise above kachemak bay and poot peak - also called chocolate drop mountain by some locals. we stood on her long porch that faced this amazing view, surrounded by exotic poppies and peonies and forget-me-nots - luana's glorious gardens. i shivered in the cold, humid air and tried to set up quickly. we talked in hushed voices about the moon and not sleeping - and how she'd seen the full moon rise, all huge and yellow, just a few nights before from alongside jim's hospital bed. there we were, two women united by so much, sharing so much more.

this photo is for you, luana. for all that you are and all that you give and all that we share. your heart is as bright as the moon over poot peak.  i'll always think of you when i blast "dance with me" out of the car speakers. i'll close my eyes and be dropping out of the mountains into turnagain arm in jim's truck, looking for your swans, singing loud to your radio show and thanking all the spirits that be for you two.

nikon 80-400vr @ 100mm,  8 seconds, f/18, 3-stop GND

the month of the dragonfly
wiggins pass, florida
july 12, 2005

"we're the insect life of paradise:
crawl across leaf or among towering blades of grass
glimpse only sometimes the amazing breadth of heaven"
   --bruce cockburn, "isn't that what friends are for"
      from breakfast in new orleans, dinner in timbuktu

the heat of july always brings dragonflies to the beaches where i live. they arrive in large golden-black clouds that often lay over the beach grasses like a gossamer net.  such flying nets seem fewer so far this year. perhaps these glittering insect helicopters are aware that the storms will be many this summer and they've found safer shores.

in prehistoric jungles some 280-350 million years ago, when trees were towering giants, dragonflies as big as hawks soared through the air. their prehistoric remains have been found in the permian rocks of kansas, in the jurassic formations of siberia and many other parts of the world. with wings nearly thirty inches from tip to tip, they were the largest insects that ever lived. indeed, dragonflies, along with cockroaches and silverfish, were one of the earliest insect forms to appear on earth.

the dragonfly is very much a creature of the air and of the sun. although it has legs which are spine-bordered and bunched forward so it can cling and climb, it never walks. but in the air, a dragonfly is as graceful as a ballet dancer. most dragonflies need the sun to fly, (except for one oriental species that hunts at night) and will alight even when the sun goes behind a cloud for a few minutes. it can dive like a small plane or hover like a helicopter - as long as the sun is shining.

dragonflies are beneficial insects, keeping the populations of pests like mosquitoes down. they scoop up their victims with their legs, sucking their bodies dry and letting the carcasses fall to the ground. unfortunately, their nymphs are popular fish bait, so much so, that in some locations they are in danger of becoming extinct!

dragonflies have amazing eyesight and have been known to respond to stimuli from more than 40 feet away. each eye contain as many as 30,000 individual lenses - or ommatidia - (our eyes have only one lens each). its head is attached to the slender body in such a way that a dragonfly can turn its head almost completely around, so it can see below as well as above him. their wings, which are veined and transparent, can move as much as twenty-eight times a second, carrying it through the air at speeds of about sixty miles an hour.

mankind has long appreciated dragonflies. in japan and china they have been popular subjects for poetry and paintings. in fact, in japan the "tombo" (dragonfly) is a national emblem and japan itself is often referred to as "akitsushima" (the dragonfly Island). this is because the first emperor jimmu tenno thought that when from the top of a mountain, the island of japan looked like a dragonfly admiring its tail. dragonflies also appear in japanese mythology. 'shoryo tombo' is the dragonfly of the dead whose job it is to carry the spirits of the families ancestors to the family during the festival of bon.

this image was made by chasing focus in a gathering breeze that blew the grasses in tune with the passing clouds. stray bits of light fell down on squadrons of dragonflies clinging to bending grasses until they sensed the illumination and were off into the wind.

so busy. such hustle. pure golden delight, chasing the light.

"and look how far the light came...
look how far the light came...
to paint you this way."
   --bruce cockburn, "look how far"
      from breakfast in new orleans, dinner in timbuktu

nikon 80-400vr @ 400mm, 1/800, f/8

george and finn
talkeetna, alaska
july 01, 2005

"there is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. when you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age."
    --sophia loren

one of the marvels - and shocks - of this life is walking back into a time or place or group of friends-who-became-family and discovering the new generations that have begun to grow in your absence. george was not much older than his nephew, finn, when i last spent much time with him. now he is grown, has a love, guides rafts down rivers and completely amazes me with how he got from there to here. finn is a delight - much like george was at that age - and a very patient model for a girl who doesn't pop a flash in anyone's face too often. fun is always out there, just ripe for the picking.

nikon 60mm f/2.8 micro at f/5, speedlight sb-800, rear curtain, -0.7.

outer bands of hurricane dennis
barefoot beach, florida
july 08, 2005

"you do not have to be a hurricane to turn things around ."
    --loesje

it seems surreal that a few days ago i was inhaling the sweet light and air of kachemak bay and the upper susitna valley. tonight, i stood on the beach and watched yet another storm approach - an all too familiar feeling. i wonder what i am doing here.

the wide shot above is a two frame blend of an approaching outer storm band from hurricane dennis. facing south, toward naples, the skies overhead were light by comparison with this storm cell.

panoramas compared. 

 

homer spit and kachemak bay, alaska
june 22, 2005

"to the lover of wilderness, alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world."
    -- john muir

a nine photo panorama, this view of the homer spit and kachemak bay is from skyline drive and east hill road. sweeping views such as this one are the norm in homer - on a clear day!

a small, cozy town at the end of the road (sterling highway), homer lies in a setting that beguiles even the most jaded heart. it is home to a wonderfully diverse collection of souls. named for homer pennock, an adventurer who landed on the homer spit to mine the area's coal deposits, homer has seen a wide range of industry come and go, such as commercial fishing and crabbing, agriculture, art and tourism. Coal still washes up on homer's beaches after storms and locals, myself included when I lived there, have used it to heat their homes in the winter.

today, homer is experiencing growing pains like many places in alaska and the nation. in the decade or so since i last visited, many natural landmarks are gone and others have grown up. many of the vast stands of spruce that draped homer's rolling hills and cliffs were destroyed by a beetle infestation some years ago and decidiuous trees have grown up in their place, giving the landscape a different look, color and feel. despite rising land prices, development is obvious. summer is the season of tourism and the spit now bustles with gift shops, charter services, water taxis and restaurants.

this panorama ranges from bear cove, and the grewingk, dixon and portlock glaciers on the left to yukon island, sadie cove and tutka bay on the right. the spit points across the bay to gull rock - a diverse rookery teeming with red-faced cormorants, black-legged kittiwakes, tufted puffins, pidgeon guillemots, common murres and eagles - and china poot bay, just a 3.5 mile paddle away!