This winter we packed up the camper and headed west yet again. Last year the mission was to actually purchase the camper in Phoenix, and we saw what we could along the way. This year we gave ourselves a little more time, but left without a clear agenda or very specific destinations. I wanted to see the Indian mounds outside St. Louis and make a stop in Joshua Tree National Park in California. Everything else was a matter of serendipity. We did make it to the mounds, which were interesting, but photographically unremarkable. The surprise, however, was how much we enjoyed the Gateway Arch. Sometimes it is fun to be a tourist and that’s where the Best of the West gallery starts.

Next we stopped in Oklahoma City to see the Federal Building Memorial. A very moving experience. It’s hard to grasp the violence of that day and the state of mind of the perpetrators.

Susie remembered a retired colleague who lived in Santa Fe, a beautiful destination. That led to Taos where we met a family relative for a quick visit. The Gas Museum we passed along the way was a photographer’s delight. There were many photo ops every day that I could not have possibly planned.

A few days were spent in Page, Arizona to revisit Horseshoe Bend and the slot canyons.  Then it was on to Vegas.  I am not a Vegas type of guy, but I get all worked up when I see and hear the famous fountains at the Bellagio. I really wanted Susie to experience that, but we also saw just about every notable point of interest in town.

From there is it was only a days drive to Ojai, California to attend to a motorcycle project.  Next it was a short drive  to Santa Barbara which allowed us to see the Pacific. Our drive westward was over at that point as we headed south to the Salton Sea. (Do a quick Google search on the Salton…. you will be amazed at the history of this body of water, which is nearly as far below sea level as Death Valley.) As we camped along the Salton shore the mountains of Joshua Tree National Park lined the horizon behind us.

Joshua Tree did not disappoint us except perhaps for the temperatures. The high desert can get chilly. High twenties and winds to match finally drove us out, but not before filling a memory card with lots of images to work on.

Our journey eastward wandered off the interstate in Arizona, southern New Mexico, and southwest Texas. San Antonio’s River Walk was crazy eye candy. A personal tour of NASA Houston’s Space Lab training simulators by one of Susie’s former fourth grade students, now a NASA expert, was over the top!  Some of these great experiences did not make it into this gallery, but there are hundreds of shots to remind us of these great experiences.

The big surprise?  The iPhone 4s is a very capable camera!  Susie delighted her friends with eCards she made throughout the trip.  I even have one of mine in this gallery.  See if you can find it without reading the caption. Go here for Best of the West.

I wonder what we’ll see next year?!

Well, here it is – a day after Christmas. There are only a few days left in the year 2011, and I can’t bear to admit how long it has been since my last contribution to this site. No, I haven’t forsaken photography. It is true that I did not get as much time exploring [...]

In 2009 while I was frantically trying to capture Trinity Bay in the fading twilight, I was forced to take longer and longer exposures. There I “discovered” the surreal ability of modern digital camera sensors to “see” in a way I could not. Since then I have captured a few more wonderful images in the [...]

As much time as I devote to photography, I am more than a little embarrassed for my sporadic efforts in keeping this blog current. To those of you who have followed my imagery, I apologize for the long “dry spell” here. Photography is but one of the passions in my life, and sometimes one of [...]

The previous gallery, South Africa Photo Safari 2010, was all about the animals.  After all, that was the mission… see wildlife… shoot wildlife. While going through the thousands of images we brought back, I realized that there was also the human experience – the personal side to our adventure.  We were already friends with the [...]

The Impossible Dream It is probably fair to say that most photographers who shoot nature oriented images have  photo safari in Africa as a line item on their bucket list.  After a number of years looking at ads for African treks it seemed an impossible dream.  The typical prices for a couple to spend a [...]

I hope all my readers had great holidays with family and friends. It’s hard to believe “Twenty-O-Nine” is now “Twenty Ten”.  It will take me weeks to write dates without the hand writing “09″ when the head knows better! 2009 Recap Photographically, 2009 was a prolific year for me.  I took over 12,000 images from [...]

My first solo show ran the month of September at the Wood Library in Canandaigua, NY.  To tell you the truth, it felt a bit like I was promoting my own birthday party since I don’t normally try to draw attention to myself. I was pleased that the opening was very well attended with friends, [...]

I am very pleased to announce that I have been invited to show a collection of my printed images at the Wood Library in Canandaigua. I will feature approximately forty images that showcase a variety of the subjects I enjoy photographing including animals, travel, aviation and scenics from many of the places I have been [...]

It is incomprehensible to me how fast time rushes by these days but I now have some time to write as my wrist heals from carpal tunnel surgery. The irony is that driving a computer all day, either for work or for my photography, is what finally aggravated the symptoms enough for me to do [...]

I made some pretty radical changes to my digital darkroom last fall. I bought my first Mac (Pro) and I switched to Adobe LightRoom from ACDsee Pro. Either of these changes could fill several posts but this one will focus on what was a major annoyance to me in LightRoom… the apparent lack of a [...]

These are the final stats for the show. Out of 326 images which were submitted, 200 made the final gallery. Harbor Dawn scored a 55 tying for second in judging (first place scored 56.5), and won first in the popular vote. Glacier Rain scored a 52 and tied for second in the popular vote with [...]

I decided to enter the 12th annual photo exhibit in Rochester this year, A Photographer’s Path 12, (download below) held at the High Falls Fine Art Gallery. This exhibit provides an opportunity for area photographers to show their work in a fine art gallery for both jury and popular judging. I felt it was time [...]

It’s funny how one thing leads to another.  Late this past fall I decided that it was time to look for a replacement for my aging 1/2 ton pickup truck.  It served me faithfully for 10+ years, but was showing “the signs.” So I started the “hunt” while it still had enough value to be [...]