Congratulations Richard & Lourdes

What a wonderful wedding !! It's always special when my wedding couple are folks that we know. Dick and Lourdes are Coe Park volunteers and so we've worked side-by-side with them at the park for four years.

I was thrilled to be asked to photograph their wedding on May 2nd at the Willow Heights Mansion in Morgan Hill, an elegant Italian villa with beautiful views of the Santa Clara Valley.

This couple love to dance and so it was fun to watch their family and friends waltz the afternoon away during the reception.

Here's a photo collage of some of the waltz photos I captured during their big day.

Congratulations Dick and Lourdes. I suspect you will sweep into your married life as effortlessly and beautifully as you did across the dance floor on your wedding day !!

Happy New Year

This is the famous Mobius Arch in the Alabama Hills, just outside of Lone Pine in the Eastern Sierras. This is perhaps the third time I've photographed it at sunrise. It is always a very moving experience, watching the first light on Mt. Whitney and then, with patience, waiting for the sun to light up the arch itself. It never gets old for me.

Happy New Year. May your year be filled with magical moments, just like this one was for me.

Zabriskie Point

We're back from our annual desert sojourn. We've never gone to Death Valley at this time of the year, so with the boys in Canada and Japan, we decided it might be a good time to develop some new holiday traditions.

We camped for two days at Hole in the Wall, a beautiful spot in the Funeral Mountains just a few miles from Zabriskie Point. It allowed us to be there for sunrise on the morning of the 26th. Rather than photograph it from the viewing area, we climbed a ridge leading toward Manley Beacon and from that vantage point I was able to photograph with both Manley and Telescope Peak in the frame.

But the photos I'm publishing with this post were taken by Bruce with his cell phone. I especially love the first where he captured the first light behind us and somehow managed to get both me and himself into the shot. I don't know how he did it, I was petrified of our perch up there on the foot wide trail at the very crest of the ridge which fell away on each side. When we found the "wide spot" on the trail I relaxed enough for him to shoot this second one.

Yup, that's me....December 26th, with my back to the spectacular view of Manley Beacon in Death Valley.

Feed 100 - the little white bag full of love

I just bought myself an expensive new bag. No, not a designer handbag….a shopping bag. But I didn’t mind spending the money. Whole Foods have joined a campaign to feed hungry children in developing countries. My donation of $25.00 will feed 100 children a school lunch, making it possible for them to concentrate on their studies and it may even be the only food they get to eat that day.

We’re pretty fortunate in this country to have neighbors who can help, through programs and just reaching out through our community institutions, to feed the hungry here. I’m not naïve enough to think we’re doing everything that we can right here, right now. But every little bit counts.

This nifty little burlap pouch opens up to convert to a 100% cotton reusable shopping bag, which I’ll be using regularly on my future shopping trips to Whole Foods.

I love the staff there. I even scored some free chocolate this time because they didn’t have my favorite brand in stock, even after a second visit. Their kindness inspired me to return the favor by buying the bag which is way more than just a little shopping bag. To me it represents the helping hands needed to make this world a little more united.

Out Walking

We got out today for a lovely walk on the reservoir. The earth is beginning to return our step, giving ever so slightly to our footfall. No longer hard and unyeilding. The rains are beginning to transform the landscape.

I picture the rains we received yesterday being hungrily devoured by the soil. Even on the slopes, the first rains are quickly absorbed and the earth puts the bounty to work. If the rainfall had been more generous, the earth would release some if it to roll downhill, joining other drops in seeps and seasonal creeklets on their way to the low point, the reservoir. But for now, the reservoirs only reflect the few drops it has captured along with the water which has been impounded from the last raining season.

The ravens gathered for a quick meeting in the oak quitting their agenda abruptly at the sound of our clapping hands.

The buckeye is right where it has always been, and I fancy it enjoys the appreciation. I've photographed it dozens of times.

With the last rays of the day, a flood of sunshine low and mellow slips through the pass and bathes the landscape while I stand astonished, forgetting for a moment that I was at this place at this time simply to admire the graceful leaves of the grapevine.

A beautiful day.

Happy Thanksgiving aka Playing with my Food

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Leftovers for us, by choice. But we did cook up this beautiful stuffed squash to go with leftover turkey. And, of course, half the fun for me is photographing my food.

We have much to be thankful for in our lives, not the least of which is that we have our health, we have each other, our boys are well and happy, our parents are doing ok, our siblings seem happy and we continue to see much beauty in the world, despite the challenges.

a Vineyard

Saturday afternoon we got the chance to attend DeRose Winery's New Release Party, in full swing by late afternoon. It was fun to taste the newly bottled wine and get out to stroll in the vineyard. The light was lovely.