​‘Nature’s Designs’

Photography Show at Smith Ranch Homes, San Rafael

January-February 2019

For Residents only

I was pleasantly surprised Tuesday morning to see that one of my images was used to illustrate the upcoming theme "The Garden" for Still Points Art Quarterly, in which I’ve had work published over the past couple of years.

​Three of my images were accepted for "Nature’s Texture". This image was taken at Butchart Gardens.

I have wanted to photograph in the Taos and Santa Fe area of New Mexico for a long time, since visiting there briefly some years ago. Recently I spent five days there experiencing and photographing southwest scenes, some of which I knew about beforehand and sought out, such as the Taos Pueblo and San Francisco de Asis Church, and others I researched or came upon.

These images were taken last Fall in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. I took some 'straight-on' images but mostly I concentrated on achieving an 'impressionistic look' of the scene.
​This was often done using multiple exposure or camera motion, i.e. taking up to ten images of the same scene while moving the camera very slightly between shots. Or by actually moving the camera slowly while taking one shot. There are various ways to achieve these 'looks'.

I recently returned to some places in the Napa Valley where I knew they had vines growing on their walls. I was hoping for a 'Spanish' look in the buildings and attractive vines. 
Having finally located one spot, I spent time concentrating on photographing 'arrangements' of the vines. One can get lost in the moment, searching for compositions that are pleasing to one's eye but also have 'tension'. ​

Three of us went to Oakland to photograph a ‘community wall’, mesmerized by its layers of paper, paint, cardboard and other materials, and the effects of weather and time.​
​The following year I went back again, adding to my collection of these images of patterns, textures, shapes and lines, all rendered unique by their arrangement and the elements.