Travelin' About

  On a recent trip to my hometown, Yonkers, my sister offered me the opportunity to "check out Untemeyer Park," a spot we had never explored before.The day was bright and the hour was early, so it sounded like a wonderful idea.   We were blessed by the last of Fall's glorious colors - we even saw a few roses. But my thrill was the cool architecture.  A brochure at the site called this place "America's Greatest Forgotten Garden."  Owned by prominent lawyer, Samuel Untemeyer, these gardens were acclaimed to be the finest in the Hudson Valley in the 1920's and 30's. The brochure claims that 30,000 folks visited in a single day in September 1939.   the gardens became overgrown and lost in time. Designed after the Persian Gardens with an influence of Spain, India and Italy, the Untemeyer Gardens have a universal appeal.   I was taken by the lines and shadows on this crisp Fall morning. The views of the Palisades and the Hudso...

  I just came back from five glorious days in West Virginia. I wasn't quite sure why  was going to West Virginia - I wanted to go to Utah...but several friends had come back from an Ed Heaton workshop in the Grand Tetons and were raving about how much fun it was and how much they had enjoyed to help and support of Ed and Kelly Heaton and the weekend was far more affordable that a week away (that my husband would have insisted on going along) so now I have to save up for Utah next year because West Virginia exceeded all of my expectations. First of all, I had no idea how beautiful West Virginia is. It seemed chock full of waterfalls, bridges and quaint country roads and Ed Heaton has scoped them all out and knows just how to get a small group of photographers motivated and up to photograph them in their best light. Many of us came just to see this (and I am so happy I was able to capture it): Glade Creek Grist Mill, Babcock State Park Ed, Kelly and their s...

  This past Saturday, October 3rd marked Scott Kelby's 8th Annual Worldwide Photowalk #wwpw.  1000 walks happened in different places all over the world.  21,565 folks with different levels of photographic expertise participated. This was the third time I participated in one of these walks and they are always fun. I did one in Coney Island a few years back and one crossing the Walkway in the Hudson, a cool railroad bridge that was restored for bikers and walkers. This year I walked with 20+ others in Austin, Texas. I enjoyed chatting with the other photographers. One man still shoots film - he gets negatives and scans made.  One woman was a brand new resident from California and had never heard of meetups - she was thrilled to get all kinds of information on how to shoot pictures beyond her own front porch.  Several others I caught up with from chats we had had on previous walks. It's always great to hear suggestions of fun places to visit in the surrou...

  Every year, for many years, I made a calendar for my siblings. Last year I took the chance of having 30 calendars made and I tried to sell them. People seemed to like them, so this year I am going for a larger print run and trying to get the word out earlier.  There are 13 images, including the cover and all are frameable prints of beautiful Austin, Texas. Unfortunately, until I can get the courage to have 1000+ calendars printed, my cost for having them printed is still pretty high so I have to get at least $25 to make it worthwhile for me to try this, and shipping is costly, too, so I have to charge an additional $5. for shipping. But it is a beautiful product, with a lot of care and talent that went into making it.  Right now they can be purchased at The Old Bakery and Emporium, 1006 Congress Avenue or at Prima Dora in SoCo at 1912 So. Congress Ave. or by contacting me directly. They make a great Christmas gift!  Here is a link to the images: http://ww...

  I love discovering new places and, sometimes, it takes more that one trip to enjoy all that a place has to offer.  We recently returned to Corpus Christi after stopping at it's aquarium last spring (which is a really wonderful aquarium). My husband had expressed a desire to explore an aircraft carrier, the USS Lexington, which was nearby and I had spotted an art museum, so we set out for an overnight trip to Corpus.  Perhaps it is because it is September and we had the place to ourselves, but we really enjoyed the bay, the restaurants and the whole experience we had while visiting this lovely city. The Lexington is a HUGE ship which also goes by the name "The Blue Ghost" because of it's unusual paint scheme and because radio propagandist Tokyo Rose wrongly announced several times that she had sunk.   The ship is now a museum filled with lots of memories for the Vet's we met while touring her.  My husband was happy to see models of the jet en...

  I've been fortunate to have surrounded myself with some of the very best photographers/teachers in the world today.  It seems to me that photography is a constant learning experience.  I really do enjoy the education, especially when I have a great teacher to learn from.  I first heard Randy Kerr speak at the Ladybird Wildflower Center in the Fall of 2013 at a seminar  that he participated in with Doug Box and Tim Babiak - all three pro photographers who work hard to help others.  Randy provided a slide show that day of international and mission based work that  simply mesmerized me and I knew at that moment that I wanted to learn from him.  Randy Kerr, author of the global award winning Westway Method of Photography, wrote "Photography plays a role in teaching me how to become a better person by learning how to connect with my surroundings and the people in my life. My hope for you in this program, is to become more aware of the lig...

  My daughter once told me that the thing she liked most about Austin was that it always felt like you were on vacation. I believe that's because there are so many cool things to see and do when you're here. And I've had the privilege of being semi-retired and have many friends and family who love to visit this weird, funky, colorful city, so I get many opportunities to get out and shoot it from many perspectives. I was challenged to show Austin without it's iconic regular, signature images - Capitol Building, Frost Building, UT Tower.... by Mark Heaps , whose creativity I admire. He showed me how to mind map - that is by building a tree of bubbles of words that grow off one another. So, with my sister and niece visiting, I set out to try and demonstrate a definitive Austin image utilizing some of those words. I had passed a brand new mural on South 1st Street and thought that would make a great backdrop. We added a guitar case and cell phone and voila, I cap...

Oh yes, and Precision Camera and Scott Sitkowitz gave us an opportunity to shoot a pretty model.  I just came back from a four-day State Convention put on by Texas Professional Photographer Association (TPPA), called Photogenesis. It was inspiring, exhilarating, educational and fun. I met new friends, got pages of notes, learned how to be a better salesperson (thank you, Ross Benton ), felt confident enough to take the CPP test after a day of "Cram for the Exam" (thank you, Steve Kozak ), enjoyed watching beautiful images that were submitted to the photographic competition, and enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow Austin Professional Photography members. (Steve also provided us with a Print Comp Boot Camp to get us psyched to enter future competitions.) Randy Kerr was a wonderful inspiration, first thing on Saturday morning. He quoted Doug Box severl times by reminding us to ask ourselves, "What is the best available light and how can I improve upon it?" He ur...