Mother Nature’s Crude Sense of Humor Bozeman, Montana 2014

This is what we woke up to yesterday morning; it was only September 11th for crying out loud. We’re used to early and late snow in Montana but other than the undeniable beauty of it, it’s never particularly appreciated out of season. Although I haven’t checked yet, the temperature last night was supposed to hit a record low around 20 degrees as well. At least it appears Mother Nature’s nasty sense of humor is going to be short-lived this time around as the predicted high for next Wednesday is 80.]]>

Corbusier #5 Paris, France 2013

This is a very confusing image to view, even for me and I took the photo. It’s hard to tell exactly what you’re looking at. It is a mezzanine-like area shot from across a space that is open down to the main level in Maison La Roche. The lower half of the image is the short railing wall overlooking the lower level. The vertical line is the end of a black (or dark) divider wall separating a room on the left from an walkway along the wall on the right. I’m not sure if it was before or after the fact that I realized this composition is reminiscent of one of my favorite photos by the Hungarian photographer André Kertész:

Martinique André Kertész 1972

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Corbusier #4 Paris, France 2014

This image was taken on the outside of the Maison La Roche. Unlike the previous images, where the differences in shades of color were due to light reflecting differently on surfaces intersecting at different angles, this is one flat surface with the darker coloring in the upper left due simply to a shadow being cast by another part of the building. (And of course a tree is responsible for the shadow in the lower right.)]]>

Corbusier #3 Paris, France 2013

Compare this image to Corbusier #1. The black line in this image is a handrail on a staircase that is not visible in the previous photo. Both photos were taken looking up from just around the corner from the bottom of the stairs, this one from a step or two to the left of where the previous image was taken.  What a difference a slight shift in perspective can make.]]>

Corbusier #2 Paris, France 2013

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Corbusier #1 Paris, France 2013

An architectural detail from the interior of Maison La Roche, a home designed by Le Corbusier in 1923. Corbusier was one of the pioneers of modern architecture]]>

Skylight Washington, D.C. 2005

 I took another trip in the WABAC Machine the other day fishing in my archives for some abstract images. This one is from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art.]]>

Photo By: Pedro Luis Raota Photo By: Pentti Sammallahti As a photographer I find the trouble with looking at collected works of the masters is that while I find it an inspiring experience, it can also humble me to the point of discouragement about my own work. But, it’s an opportunity to both enjoy and learn, and it helps me focus my thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of my own work and where I want to go with it. The particular set of work here (two examples above) contains many wonderful images and was well worth the creative angst it produced. (I wonder if it was selection bias or just a coincidence that so many of them contained dogs.)]]>

Three Bean Salad Bozeman, Montana 2014

The Fashion Queen has had a terrible problem this year with critters ripping into her small raised bed garden. Recently a skunk tore down all her bean plants save one little on. Pictured above is it’s only harvest so far. I sure hope there’s something besides salad for dinner tonight.]]>

Fencing the Night Neenah, Wisconsin 2014

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