National Parks Conservation Association

A while back I mentioned the story for National Parks magazine I'd been shooting. Well it is finally out. Well... online, anyway! Magazine should be out in a few days. Go here to read the article.

It was an amazing experience. Very much looking forward to working with them again.

Photo by Rachel Klein-Kircher

Happy New Year, everyone!

Fire... fire, fire!

Recent discoveries from the Levant suggest humans had control over fire approximately 790,000 years ago. Much earlier than previously thought. Fire not only provided warmth and light but as Gonen Sharon, archaeologist at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, (and also my brother in-law!) said in a recent email, "It can chase away the lion and make food much easier to digest (and taste better as well!)."

My 13 year old nephew Bill would make your typical Homo ergaster envious for the thoroughly impressive bonfire he builds. In the accompanying photo his dad and Uncle John enjoy warmth and protection from predators on Xmas night.

Neis Gadol Hayah Sham.

Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel...

In 168 B.C.E. a group of religious freedom fighters took on the Greco-Syrian Empire's army in Israel and though being small in number fought valiantly and defeated the larger army. The group was know as the Maccabees. Judah the Hammer being their lead warrior.

After retaking Jerusalem they wanted to rededicate the Temple. Holy oil was needed to light the Temple's great menorah. Only a small cruse of oil was found. Not enough to last the eight days it would take. Nevertheless, according to legend, this small amount did indeed last. Hence the lighting of candles today for eight nights.

What this has to do with a nice little wooden top called a dreidel... I'll never know. But hey, I was never too hip to the whole chocolate bunny with painted chicken eggs representing some dude's crucifixion deal, either! Ah well.

Happy Chanukah!

Change of Plans.

So... we were headed to NY this morning. Big holiday party courtesy Bernstein Associates. But then things started to look like this:

And it's only going to get worse. So... here we remain. Cozy and warm. Hope you are too.

Cheers.

Good Times.

"We are all here for a spell, get all the good laughs you can." 

 -- Will Rogers

Ridin' the Trails.

Shooting an assignment for Maryland Life this summer, I attempted a different point of view. Borrowed a friends bike (thanks Blair!) and hit the trail. I strapped the camera tight to my chest, zoomed out to 12mm and set the timer to 2 seconds. I'd depress the shutter and quickly place my right hand back on the handlebar and wait for the "click." I did this repeatedly up and down the trail just to make sure I got the shot. Out of about 20 images this was the only real keeper. Thankfully it did run in the article, but it ran rather small on the page. Not too easy to see the motion/blur. So here it is full size.

Peace.

Night.

Went for an evening stroll last night. Light dusting of snow and bitter cold.. but hey, gotta do whatcha gotta do!

Bright Lights in the Sky

So... a cool celestial event the other night.

I answered a knock at the door and was dragged outside into the frosty night air by my neighbor John Fink to join the others who were out on the sidewalk oohing and aahing and pointing to the dusky southwest sky. Turns out there was a Venus and Jupiter conjunction. Who knew? Well, thankfully, Tom Pike knew! It will be 2012 the next time they get this close together. And who knows what I'll be doing then!

The extra cool thing about this one, though, is that the moon was also nearby, making for a fairly rare night-sky visual.

Mucho thanks to my friends Tom and Georgette and John and Fay for getting my ass off the couch for this photo! Your 5X7s are on order.

Cheers.