Summer in Bodega Bay

My friend 'T' and I decided to take a little holiday to Bodega Bay. She was hoping to escape the sweltering heat of the foothills; and that she did. As usual our Summer has been chilly, foggy and windy. But come Fall, everything heats up. I have been in Northern California for 29 years and every Summer this takes me by surprise.

Vivian Maier's self portraits

This is a fantastic image. I love everything about it.  Click on the photo to see the rest and read the story about Vivian and how her images were discovered.

http://www.vivianmaier.com

Grandma

My grandfather was an artist of sorts, and it obviously spilled over into his photography. He loved taking photos of flowers and of my grandmother when she dressed up for a special occasion. Here we have the two subjects combined! It looks a little like she's trying to extract some information from the sunflower, however the cosmos appear to be her friends. These two images together make me laugh. Originally I thought they were taken on the same day but she's wearing pants in the bottom photo.  I just got lucky is all.
Wait 'til I post the photo of her with his prize oranges!

On another note; It is common to see images of Grandma with her feet missing. Not sure why, but I have noticed that.

Spring in Sonoma Valley

Yesterday, in the hood.

Some words of wisdom from Ira Glass.

Information that is so relevant to those who create art. And I love Ira, so it's extra enjoyable to watch:

Life Support Japan

Wall Space Gallery in Seattle is doing a wonderful job of raising money to help with Japan's recovery. Photographers have donated images which are being sold for $50 in issues of 10 each and all the proceeds are split between two non-profit groups. This is the image I have donated:

 

If you are interested in this piece or maybe one of the other wonderful images, check out this link:

http://www.wall-spacegallery.com/displayShow.php?showID=128&collection=3

I thought I would fill you in on the evolution of this particular image. I took this at the local nursery and originally it was in color. But I prefer B&W. So after some processing on the computer and adding a texture, I made a digital negative (thanks Dan Burkholder!) and printed it on hand coated paper with a Van Dyke solution. Then I had to make it accessible again for the computer so I scanned it and here it is! Talk about coming full circle. By the way, this image was also part of a juried exhibition in Vermont at Photo Place Gallery.