Happy Anniversary! Joyeux Anniversaire! יובל שמח

It has been one year--one spectacularly spectacular year!--since Kircher's Conceit first appeared in the great ether that is the Intertubes.

What a year, what a year! 2,409 visits from 362 absolute unique visitors from 37 different countries. From Colombia to Canada, from Saudi Arabia to Serbia, from India to Italy, from the United Kingdom to the United Arab Emirates to the good ol' United States of America! How cool.

A very warm thank you from all our staff. In the coming year we'll continue to plow on as if we're really an important stop for all of you; we'll continue to delude ourselves that what we post is actually photographically entertaining and, possibly, ever so slightly, enlightening. We'll also continue to speak in plural pronouns--as if there is really more than one human being behind all this!

Have a good holiday season.

Cheers.

Then and Now.

So, I was riding the range back in '57 when I came along this stretch of dirt road leading from the Village of Oak Creek toward Sedona. That's my buddy, Buddy, in the distance there with his cattle.

A recent return to the area shows off the "progress" made since then.

It's still beautiful, of course. Just a little too dang civilized, I tell ya!

(Of course, since I wasn't even a glimmer in my momma's uterus in 1957 the upper part of this story suffers from a severe case of fiction. The B&W photo is by an Arizona fellow named Bob Bradshaw. The color shot is fer sure mine!)

Cheers.

A Little Inspiration.

Below is a photograph of Sgt. Robert H. Brown, United States Army. He is part of the crew I was focusing on this past summer for the National Parks magazine shoot.

Rob was wounded in Iraq. For months he wore a brace on the lower part of his right leg, utilizing a cane as well. The doctors were hoping that in time the nerve endings would regenerate in his leg and the feeling would come back. If not, they'd have to amputate.

Rob has been training long and hard to become a serious paddler. Totally driven man. He had an email signature that once read, "Soon to be world class athlete." He eventually changed it to, "Soon to be one-legged world class athlete." This October he became just that. Below the knee amputation. And despite a few setbacks (a recent fall broke his good ankle and one of his wrists!) he is indeed a world class athlete.

This is a shot from an outing in May of this year. He's surfing at Rocky Island waves on the Potomac. I noticed the Heron on the rocks across the way and scrambled to get in position to include it with whichever kayaker I could get. (there were several out there that day.) Turns out Rob got the best spot with the sun and the bird and the wave all coming together perfectly. He held this position for several seconds before getting tossed out! For a variety of reasons it's one of my most favorite shots ever.

Mazel Tov!

So, I shot a Bar Mitzvah this past weekend. Family deal, so no real pressure. (Heh!)

However, as with any event taking place in a big ugly auditorium lighting can be a bit of an issue. Here's what we're working with:

Ugh! OK, what to do? Well, you can throw a flash on the camera.

 

Yikes! A little harsh. Well, the show hasn't started yet, now what? Think fast. Run out to the car, get the light stand from the trunk and stick a strobe (Nikon SB800!) to the right of the stage. You can trigger that one with the strobe that you have on the camera and if you point this one at the ceiling you can get a nice soft fill light. Whew... let's see.

 

OK, then. Much more interesting. We've got a little more depth here. Also finding a good angle to clean up the background helps, too.

And here's the young man and proud parents.

Rain

The weather's fine.

Praising Arizona

From Meteor Crater to Oak Creek Canyon to an old mining town called Jerome. From the silly bit of woo that is Chakras and Vortexes to the reality of Bison tenderloin and deep, dark brown ales. From exhausting three mile desert hikes to taking a physical and mental pause creek-side with a good book. The week was left unwasted.

 

Hikers along the rim of  a 50,000 year old meteor crater.

"Where the hell is Deadman Pass?"

Rush hour in Sedona.

A hearty soul pedals by.

From airport plateau, looking north.

Exploring Tlaquepaque. (Yeah, go ahead... try to say that three times fast!)

Being stalked by a lovely woman with her D40.

A restaurant in Jerome with much character and epic eats.

Oak Creek Nut Brown Ale. A must.

Catching the setting sun.

Dusk falls in red rock country.

Be It Ever So Humble... etc.

Good to be back. As usual, sifting through many images. Deleting lots. Yes... deleting! Something you should all practice more of.

By the way, did something happen while we were away? Everybody seems to be walking with a lighter step, humming a tune and smiling a lot. Hmmm. I must look into this.

Meantime, here's a small taste of the southwest. More to come.

Peace. Paz. Shalom.