Alice Explores & Relates

Posted on April 18, 2011 by alice

What’s this? A new palette? Nice crisp watercolor paper. Pristine photographic printing paper. I use these to explore and perhaps create art. Can it be all that difficult to explore by forming words with pixels? Where will this blank slate take me? There are many directions; there is one, there are none. Select a path? No. Meandering footsteps are part of the process.

Some of my photography is on view at AWEGallery.com. Still, the nearly one terabyte of images I’ve made just doesn’t fit on my gallery wall. This continuing story tells of other images and how they became part of my long life. Every image here is mine unless specifically noted. If you would like a print of any one of these images, or the rights to a digital copy, send me a message and we’ll talk monetary details. Meanwhile, do enjoy what I’ve decided to call . . . Alice Explores & Relates.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Alice Explores & Relates

The wide-ranging life of a photographer.

Posted on July 17, 2011 by alice

Fortunately, this blog is designed as a ‘sometime thing’ or else I would have to explain my absence from these pages over the past several months.  Perhaps I’ve just been too busy to post!  One of the projects that kept me away for a while was a photo essay about a small community south of San Francisco, called Pescadero.

Here’s what the completed project looks like.  Enjoy.  The Roads to Pescadero

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on The wide-ranging life of a photographer.

Let’s see what would happen if…

Posted on May 4, 2011 by alice

 

Design 3

Ah, yes, that is a phrase that is much used in making art. We experiment, play, try to get out of our comfort zones.  Are the results pleasing?  Is this better than that?

These are the decisions that define our own individual styles and pieces.

In my last post I described how the heading for this blog was designed.

This post showcases some of the designs that just didn’t make the cut.

Design 4

Why? Hard to say. but one of the more challenging aspects of making art is making those artistic decisions.

Design 5

It is still fun to realize all these designs came from one lovely calla lily.  Many more are waiting to be called forth.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Let’s see what would happen if…

A Calla Lily Becomes a Grand Design.

Posted on April 22, 2011 by alice

Remember.  A photograph is just the beginning.

We start here with photograph of one calla lily. Pristine and white. Beautiful. But what if it changed color? Here are four changes of apparel for our fair model. Fan them out, make them one. Add a vase & emblem (not shown) and it becomes a lovely theme for a very special luncheon.

Ah, but there this design lurked. Was the time for this pretty piece over? “No,” said I.  “Not forever.”

Let’s see what would happen if I made a copy of the finished design and folded the copy over itself? That was a beginning, but it needed to be blended with materials found in our digital darkroom. Suddenly this emerged. Oh, wow. I really like that. And used it for other purposes.

Back to that “Grand Design.” Well, okay, but this is way too symmetrical for what I want. A quick edit to grab a slice out the NE/SW quadrants (rotated 45 degrees) helped me out.

So, when you look at my Blog Letterhead, think of the pristine white Calla Lily and see how it can emerge into a very colorful world.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off on A Calla Lily Becomes a Grand Design.

Bayland Preserve Part 2

Posted on April 20, 2011 by alice

The egrets left the Preserve some years ago and may be returning now. A few weeks ago I saw one; just days ago, there were five frolicking around in the refreshed treetops.

Black Crown Night Heron chick

But the black crowned night herons never did leave, and it’s been fun to capture a few pictures of their offspring. The ones pictured here, from past years, are big galumphing adolescents, with feathers nothing like those of their parents.

Stilt

Delving into the files again, I chortle a little when the pictures of stilts come up. I’m undoubtedly not the first to describe them as fully and formally dressed in their black & white tuxedos. They prance around the marshlands as if in a precise dance, occasionally dipping into the canapé tray.

Finally, today, I could not

Shall we dance?

resist any longer. Here’s a little something from fantasy land. Would the original stilt have recognized it?

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Bayland Preserve Part 2

The Baylands Wildlife Preserve

Posted on April 19, 2011 by alice

While I think of the Palo Alto Baylands Preserve and the many hours I spend exploring there, here are some random thoughts and pictures of the place.

Transient Bird

It’s a challenging drive there from San Francisco, where I live.  One merges on to 101, a major artery much frequented  by trucks and commuters.  I don’t make this drive during commute hours. The hind end of a truck or SUV is no substitute for shore life.  Pictured here is a transient bird, whose name I do not know.  Elegant bird.

Avocet in breeding plumage

While avocets, stilts, Forster’s terns and more are resident here, let’s look at more egrets.

For those who know my work,  wait a while.  The abstracts are around the corner.  Sometimes with how to hints.  How’s that for a teaser.

Now, though, it’s April!  The month when the birds and bees upstage the humans.  Some of the egret images will be from past years when there was much nesting activity.

 

Egret Displays

The Egret Kids Play

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Baylands Wildlife Preserve

Eagles and Egrets

Posted on April 18, 2011 by alice

Right out of the box, I’m going to send you to an eagles’ nest.

It’s in Decorah, Iowa.  The Decorah Eagles recently hatched their third egg.  Will it survive? Will any of them survive?  The site has held me(and my cat, VooDoo) spellbound since the 1st eaglet emerged on April 2, 2011. VooDoo, when kicked off the desk close to the monitor, has sometimes climbed onto my shoulder to catch a glimpse of these eaglets and their parents.

While, no doubt, the camera operators also wish the resolution is better, any glimpse at all is amazing.   There is much to be learned and enjoyed here. Check out the site; it’s on 24 hours, but when it’s dark in Iowa at about 6:00pm PST,  the camera goes to infrared and the adults tend to go to sleep.

Okay, now that I ‘ve sent you away, Come back.

As with the Decorah Eagles, birds are burgeoning with life in my part of California.   At the Palo Alto Baylands Preserve, the egrets, after a hiatus of several years,  have started to return to these once well-used nesting grounds. The black crowned night herons, who never left are settling in, repairing nests and making ready for the babies.  I’ve been here hundreds of times, always finding something new and beautiful to record.

These beautiful birds thrill me.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Eagles and Egrets