A trip to the grocery store about 4 blocks away and now we have fruits and vegetables, bacon, eggs, juice and cheese. Out side the door of the grocery I bought roses. Now they are on the table, blush, white and shrimp colored roses. After I put the produce in the sink to disinfect, I went to see the "chicken man." Now I have a chicken for dinner and to make some stock for soup. Ned picked up the mail and I have a new Fine Cooking magazine.....looks like it will be good reading.
The two rugs I bought at Pier One while we were in the States are on the floor and look marvelous. I love finding a bargain that works so well.
Beginning to feel all comfy in my little nest in Mexico.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
The Bird People
As long as I'm writing about the drive to San Miguel, I thought I would like to tell you about the people in one place along the highway who have made makeshift shelters and sell things they trap out in the campo. These people are so tragically poor that when you see them you can't help but think of Mexico as a third world country even though up and down this highway trucks carry parts and finished products like HP computers and Honda cars. I could write about the bird people but my friend Sharon Seligman, a photographer, has been documenting their lives for several years. Her essay and images tell it much better than anything I could write.
Trucking
Trucks, trucks and more trucks. I'd say 50 percent of the vehicles on the road that we drove today in Mexico were trucks. Big 18-wheelers pulling "dobles," tanker trucks, flatbeds loaded with oversized loads, old trucks, new trucks.......a steady caravan of merchandise going in both directions, into Mexico and to the United States. Fortunately Mex 57 has been expanded to 4 lanes and much of it is toll road now although when we first started this regular drive to San Miguel some 9 or 10 years ago, most of it was two lanes. Talk about your white knuckle driving through the mountains, this was it.
Caravans of older small trucks, pickups and vans were also on the road. One caravan that we saw a couple of times was about 8 trucks all with New York license plates. Each vehicle was packed with boxes and more stuff was covered with tarps on the top. The vehicles had "car permits" on them and we wondered if they were passing through Mexico or if they were being brought in to be sold and registered in Mexico. This must be a good business because we saw at least 3 different caravans like this.
Somewhere around Saltillo there is a factory that makes truck chassis. The Chassis isn't trucked to Queretaro where it is finished out. No, it is driven. When we first saw this we were astounded. The men with their faces wrapped in scarves drove the open chassis by sitting on a wooden crate that was tied to the frame. Things have improved. Now they wear a motorcycle helmet and they have a seat belt to help hold them on the crate. They also seem to have some windbreaker type pants and jackets. Today at one place where we saw them, the car computer said the outside temperature was 26 degrees and here are these guys driving down the highway about 50 or 60 miles an hour sitting on the wooden crate with a motorcycle helmet.
All along the highway are tiny tiendas and cocinas which are actually a one room house with an awning and someone cooking on a fire outside. There are so many of them, I've never been able to figure out how the truckers know which ones to stop at but over and over you see so many of them abandoned or with no business and then there will be one with six 18-wheelers pulled off the road to eat there. What is it? How do the truckers know which place has good food?
There is one overpass near San Luis Potosi where for several years we have seen young women just sitting under the overpass with big shoulder bags or else talking to the truckers that have stopped there. The women are wearing lots of makeup, have tight, tight jeans and provocative tops. Always, always, there are trucks stopped there and there is no cocina or restaurant in the vicinity. Our assumption has been that they are hookers. I've wondered how they do their business in the truck cab with those tight jeans. Oh, well, another kind of a "truck stop."
We stopped for the night at a motel next to the highway. All night you could hear the sounds of these big trucks swooshing past. A never ending caravan up on side of the highway and down the other.
Today I was wondering about these men who drive these trucks. Do they make good money for Mexico? How long are they on the road at a time?
Even in Mexico, what a hard way to make a living
Caravans of older small trucks, pickups and vans were also on the road. One caravan that we saw a couple of times was about 8 trucks all with New York license plates. Each vehicle was packed with boxes and more stuff was covered with tarps on the top. The vehicles had "car permits" on them and we wondered if they were passing through Mexico or if they were being brought in to be sold and registered in Mexico. This must be a good business because we saw at least 3 different caravans like this.
Somewhere around Saltillo there is a factory that makes truck chassis. The Chassis isn't trucked to Queretaro where it is finished out. No, it is driven. When we first saw this we were astounded. The men with their faces wrapped in scarves drove the open chassis by sitting on a wooden crate that was tied to the frame. Things have improved. Now they wear a motorcycle helmet and they have a seat belt to help hold them on the crate. They also seem to have some windbreaker type pants and jackets. Today at one place where we saw them, the car computer said the outside temperature was 26 degrees and here are these guys driving down the highway about 50 or 60 miles an hour sitting on the wooden crate with a motorcycle helmet.
All along the highway are tiny tiendas and cocinas which are actually a one room house with an awning and someone cooking on a fire outside. There are so many of them, I've never been able to figure out how the truckers know which ones to stop at but over and over you see so many of them abandoned or with no business and then there will be one with six 18-wheelers pulled off the road to eat there. What is it? How do the truckers know which place has good food?
There is one overpass near San Luis Potosi where for several years we have seen young women just sitting under the overpass with big shoulder bags or else talking to the truckers that have stopped there. The women are wearing lots of makeup, have tight, tight jeans and provocative tops. Always, always, there are trucks stopped there and there is no cocina or restaurant in the vicinity. Our assumption has been that they are hookers. I've wondered how they do their business in the truck cab with those tight jeans. Oh, well, another kind of a "truck stop."
We stopped for the night at a motel next to the highway. All night you could hear the sounds of these big trucks swooshing past. A never ending caravan up on side of the highway and down the other.
Today I was wondering about these men who drive these trucks. Do they make good money for Mexico? How long are they on the road at a time?
Even in Mexico, what a hard way to make a living
Monday, November 28, 2005
Heading South......
Well, first we head West on I-10 to San Antonio and then South on 37? 35? Whichever highway takes you to Laredo. Across the border and straight South again on Mex 57 until the turnoff for San Miguel de Allende. A turn off to the West on a two lane road and another 25 miles and we will pull up in front of Casa Mercer. We are leaving after lunch and will overnight at El Rancho that is about 45 minutes South of Nuevo Laredo. El Rancho is a small hotel, restaurant and gas station........that is it......in the middle of nowhere. It is clean and the restaurant is okay but most importantly they will let Taylor, the cocker spaniel, spend the night there too.
Next message should be Tuesday from San Miguel de Allende.
Stay tuned.
Next message should be Tuesday from San Miguel de Allende.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
More Observations of the Canon 5D Camera
Finally on Saturday I had a chance to put the camera on the tripod for some tests. One of the things I wanted to see was the difference in the noise levels at 100 and 400 ISO. I can't see much at all. This is good for me because I have shot TriX film rated at 200 ISO or Delta 3200 rated at 400 (with the Holga) for a long time so I just have a feeling for a film faster than 100 ISO.
There is good separation of tones in the shadows....now if the printer can keep them I'll be very happy.
Although the buttons are pretty much the same, I've now had time to go through and try all of them out. One of the things that I really like is that the settings can be in 1/3 stops. Just seems to work better for me.
I really love the fast "wake-up." With the 10D when the camera had shut down it took a couple of seconds after you slightly touched the shutter button for it to be in operational mode again. With the 5D it is like it is always "on."
Another thing that I'm noticing is that the bokeh with the 17-40 f4L lens seems better than it was on the 10D. Now I don't know how that could be because the glass in the lens didn't change so maybe it has something to do with the full frame sensor and how the light is focused on it.
With the full frame sensor, at 17 mm my 17-40 lens is really wide. I'm going to have to watch the stuff I leave in the edges when I have it zoomed in to 17mm.
To my eye it looks like my older and less expensive lenses are not going to give the image quality that I want. I've heard that the full frame sensor demands good glass.
In general the image look more like film and less digital.
The image in Camera Raw needs some sharpening at least to my eye on this monitor it seems softer than the 10D files. Although the general advise is to only "preview" sharpen in Camera Raw, my friend Ellie does capture sharpen in her conversion software, Capture 1. I tried that and I think I'll keep using that method for a while.
A full 12.8 megapixel image converted from RAW at 16 bit is about a 75 MB image. And at 12.8 megapixels a shot, I'm going to be wanting some 2 gig cards.
There is good separation of tones in the shadows....now if the printer can keep them I'll be very happy.
Although the buttons are pretty much the same, I've now had time to go through and try all of them out. One of the things that I really like is that the settings can be in 1/3 stops. Just seems to work better for me.
I really love the fast "wake-up." With the 10D when the camera had shut down it took a couple of seconds after you slightly touched the shutter button for it to be in operational mode again. With the 5D it is like it is always "on."
Another thing that I'm noticing is that the bokeh with the 17-40 f4L lens seems better than it was on the 10D. Now I don't know how that could be because the glass in the lens didn't change so maybe it has something to do with the full frame sensor and how the light is focused on it.
With the full frame sensor, at 17 mm my 17-40 lens is really wide. I'm going to have to watch the stuff I leave in the edges when I have it zoomed in to 17mm.
To my eye it looks like my older and less expensive lenses are not going to give the image quality that I want. I've heard that the full frame sensor demands good glass.
In general the image look more like film and less digital.
The image in Camera Raw needs some sharpening at least to my eye on this monitor it seems softer than the 10D files. Although the general advise is to only "preview" sharpen in Camera Raw, my friend Ellie does capture sharpen in her conversion software, Capture 1. I tried that and I think I'll keep using that method for a while.
A full 12.8 megapixel image converted from RAW at 16 bit is about a 75 MB image. And at 12.8 megapixels a shot, I'm going to be wanting some 2 gig cards.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
The Reasons to be Thankful
What a wonderful three days we have had! Doug and Susan arrived from Austin about 6:00 PM on Wednesday and it was non-stop talking and eating until they left yesterday afternoon. I felt like I was surrounded with all the things for which I'm thankful. 
This is Mike and Doug and wives Betsy and Susan studying the Toy-r-us catalog to get ready for Santa.
Doug and Susan along with our newest family member Dexter who is now almost 8 months old.
Mike getting lots of instructions on how to carve the turkey. We had lots of people....19 including children and baby. You might think the baby doesn't count but he put away an amazing amount of potatoes, green beans and butternut squash. He LOVES butternut squash. But we had more than enough food for this crowd. Gary the son with the catering company prepared our Thanksgiving dinner along with all the others he was being paid to do. This should have made it all very easy but you would be surprised how much planning had to go into getting it all heated and ready to be served. 
With my new camera I tried to capture this gathering.....not just a picture of this child or that person but more the activities that were going on and especially something pertinent about each child this year. I'm very happy with the camera but the camera operator sometimes has lapses in intelligence especially after a glass or two of wine. On Thanksgiving Day, I could see that the flash wasn't covering enough distance and on the menu once or twice I saw a -1. I kept checking the menu of the flash. It wasn't set to any -1 setting. The next morning after the influence of the wine had been slept off, it dawned on me that there is a flash exposure adjustment on the camera too. I don't know when it had been set to -1....maybe when I was playing with the exposure mode adjustments. But with Photoshop I was able to salvage the mistake....at least for the pictures on the net. If you are family reading this or if you are a friend who wants to see more of this Thanksgiving gathering and all the reasons I have to be thankful, you'll find The Mercer Thanksgiving 2005 pictures here.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Thanksgiving Past
Since 1969 I've cooked a lot of holiday dinners. I'm not cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year. We aren't going to my sister-in-law's house either. We're going to Mike and Betsy's house. Somehow I just know that I probably will not be cooking another big holiday dinner for 15+ people. The torch is getting past on to the younger generation. I'm not sure how I feel about this. So I've been remembering "filmclips" of past Holiday gatherings.
Margaret and Bill coming in from Midland and cooking with me. Cooking while we sipped wine and talked.
Sending someone to the grocery store for something I forgot.
Making cornbread and biscuits for the dressing and mixing it in a gumbo pot because it was the only thing big enough to hold enough dressing.
Making gravy by the gallon....the Mercer clan loves gravy on their turkey, dressing and sometimes I think they just eat it like soup.
Bill stirring up his famous Chocolate Marble Pound Cake.
Dumping the dough and starting over to make cloverleaf rolls because I was talking when I should have been paying attention.
The first year we added creamed onions to the menu....now they are standard.
Setting the tables with china and crystal and flowers.
Everyone arriving with covered dishes and desserts. The kids in and out the doors. The volume level going up and up as we all talked.
Sitting at the table loaded with way too much food and being so thankful for all our blessings.
Total chaos in the kitchen when we were washing dishes after the dinner. Somehow Jim ended up the dishwasher every year.
A table full of desserts....French silk chocolate pie, pecan pies, apple pies, 3-layer chocolate cake, pumpkin pie, fudge and of course a mince pie while Ned's Dad was alive.
Phone calls to members of the family who couldn't join us.....phone passed from one person to the next to say hello and we miss you.
Finally finishing and sitting down to hold a baby, Keith, Jack, or whoever the latest baby was. How sweet it was to just rock and hold them while the slept limply against your chest.
Dishing up leftovers for everyone to take home.
Falling into bed totally exhausted.
Margaret and Bill coming in from Midland and cooking with me. Cooking while we sipped wine and talked.
Sending someone to the grocery store for something I forgot.
Making cornbread and biscuits for the dressing and mixing it in a gumbo pot because it was the only thing big enough to hold enough dressing.
Making gravy by the gallon....the Mercer clan loves gravy on their turkey, dressing and sometimes I think they just eat it like soup.
Bill stirring up his famous Chocolate Marble Pound Cake.
Dumping the dough and starting over to make cloverleaf rolls because I was talking when I should have been paying attention.
The first year we added creamed onions to the menu....now they are standard.
Setting the tables with china and crystal and flowers.
Everyone arriving with covered dishes and desserts. The kids in and out the doors. The volume level going up and up as we all talked.
Sitting at the table loaded with way too much food and being so thankful for all our blessings.
Total chaos in the kitchen when we were washing dishes after the dinner. Somehow Jim ended up the dishwasher every year.
A table full of desserts....French silk chocolate pie, pecan pies, apple pies, 3-layer chocolate cake, pumpkin pie, fudge and of course a mince pie while Ned's Dad was alive.
Phone calls to members of the family who couldn't join us.....phone passed from one person to the next to say hello and we miss you.
Finally finishing and sitting down to hold a baby, Keith, Jack, or whoever the latest baby was. How sweet it was to just rock and hold them while the slept limply against your chest.
Dishing up leftovers for everyone to take home.
Falling into bed totally exhausted.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Dining Out
Dining Out.....Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. It is a busy schedule but someone has to do it.
Saturday we did the Houston Art Crawl with Leah and Ken. We hit a couple of spots where there are numerous artists studios within walking distance of each other. Well you know how it is, after four hours of looking at art, we were famished. So off to dinner at Patrenellas which is close to home. It isn't easy to get in on a Saturday night but Sammy Patrenella slipped us in as quickly as possible.
Dinner with Guy and Debbie at their house on Sunday. They like to cook so dinner with them is always a treat. Guy made the most interesting couscous thing in a Ramekin. He lined the bottom of the Ramekin with thinly sliced grilled zucchini, packed in a great mixture of couscous, then topped it with more zucchini. This was baked then served with a great sweet red pepper sauce. Debbie served a sauteed spinach and grouper crusted with nuts. But what is always great with Guy and Debbie are the conversations. Guy is taking a class about what do you do with the second half of life. Some thought provoking discussions for those of us living the second half.
Monday, Betsy, daughter-in-law, called and said come for dinner. Her Mom and Dad, Jack and Nancy, have arrived for the holidays. Jack and Nancy are not only our extended family but they have become friends. So we went there for dinner. Betsy made a chicken dish....quite delicious. Nancy made cornbread to go with it and I made a Caesar salad. Mike and Betsy have a big kitchen so it is fun to cook, sit, talk and drink a little wine.......well sometimes more than a little.
We'll see the Goldesberrys tonight. Nancy and Oliver own Goldesberry Gallery that sometimes shows my work. They have visited us in San Miguel and seeing them is always a treat. We have to catch up on what is happening in Houston. Don't know where we are going for dinner yet but it is the conversation that is the most important anyway.
Doug and Susan and their two boys will be here Wednesday evening so dinner will revolve around their arrival.
Thursday is Turkey Day and we will be eating it at Mike and Betsy's house.
Saturday we did the Houston Art Crawl with Leah and Ken. We hit a couple of spots where there are numerous artists studios within walking distance of each other. Well you know how it is, after four hours of looking at art, we were famished. So off to dinner at Patrenellas which is close to home. It isn't easy to get in on a Saturday night but Sammy Patrenella slipped us in as quickly as possible.
Dinner with Guy and Debbie at their house on Sunday. They like to cook so dinner with them is always a treat. Guy made the most interesting couscous thing in a Ramekin. He lined the bottom of the Ramekin with thinly sliced grilled zucchini, packed in a great mixture of couscous, then topped it with more zucchini. This was baked then served with a great sweet red pepper sauce. Debbie served a sauteed spinach and grouper crusted with nuts. But what is always great with Guy and Debbie are the conversations. Guy is taking a class about what do you do with the second half of life. Some thought provoking discussions for those of us living the second half.
Monday, Betsy, daughter-in-law, called and said come for dinner. Her Mom and Dad, Jack and Nancy, have arrived for the holidays. Jack and Nancy are not only our extended family but they have become friends. So we went there for dinner. Betsy made a chicken dish....quite delicious. Nancy made cornbread to go with it and I made a Caesar salad. Mike and Betsy have a big kitchen so it is fun to cook, sit, talk and drink a little wine.......well sometimes more than a little.
We'll see the Goldesberrys tonight. Nancy and Oliver own Goldesberry Gallery that sometimes shows my work. They have visited us in San Miguel and seeing them is always a treat. We have to catch up on what is happening in Houston. Don't know where we are going for dinner yet but it is the conversation that is the most important anyway.
Doug and Susan and their two boys will be here Wednesday evening so dinner will revolve around their arrival.
Thursday is Turkey Day and we will be eating it at Mike and Betsy's house.
Monday, November 21, 2005
And They Say Computers are Time Savers
It is Thanksgiving week and I'm not ready. No not at all. Still too many things to do and I'm not even doing the major cooking. Until today I thought I had it all planned out but suddenly, I'm a day behind.
Although Sam, my computer tech guy was coming, I thought he would be in and out and I'd head off to the grocery store and a few other errands. Sam had found me a inexpensive 128 MB video card to replace the 32 MB card that is on the Houston computer. Putting in a video card doesn't take long but I had realized that I was very low on space on the C hard drive. I had already removed programs that I didn't use often but still there wasn't much room. Photoshop is a space hog even when you have the scratch disk on another drive so I was still in a crunch.
Sam knows lots of secret places for "stuff" to hide and he knows what is needed and what isn't so he did a lot of dumping and cleaning. It made some good space on the C drive. So just as we are finishing up, I try to start PS and it tells me that it doesn't recognize my serial number. Uhoh. Sam jumps back on the keyboard. We didn't dump anything "Adobe" except for something called a download manager.
After a few tries at fixing Photoshop, we call Adobe. We're advised to "remove" Photoshop Creative Suite 2 and reload it. Okay.....no problem. I have a legitimate upgrade copy but it takes time, some serious time, to remove it and reload. Start up again....viola! Working. Whoa....not quite. Photoshop is working but it won't open the Canon 5D RAW camera files through Bridge. Ping! I remember that I had downloaded the new Beta for Camera Raw from Adobe that opens the 5D RAW.
Now I have to go back and find where I downloaded it from Adobe and it isn't a nice straight line from the download site. Finally between the two of us, we have it in it's proper folder and working in Bridge and on the RAW files.
The bottomline is that I thought the new video card would take an hour....maybe a little more. Ha! That computer ate my day.
Although Sam, my computer tech guy was coming, I thought he would be in and out and I'd head off to the grocery store and a few other errands. Sam had found me a inexpensive 128 MB video card to replace the 32 MB card that is on the Houston computer. Putting in a video card doesn't take long but I had realized that I was very low on space on the C hard drive. I had already removed programs that I didn't use often but still there wasn't much room. Photoshop is a space hog even when you have the scratch disk on another drive so I was still in a crunch.
Sam knows lots of secret places for "stuff" to hide and he knows what is needed and what isn't so he did a lot of dumping and cleaning. It made some good space on the C drive. So just as we are finishing up, I try to start PS and it tells me that it doesn't recognize my serial number. Uhoh. Sam jumps back on the keyboard. We didn't dump anything "Adobe" except for something called a download manager.
After a few tries at fixing Photoshop, we call Adobe. We're advised to "remove" Photoshop Creative Suite 2 and reload it. Okay.....no problem. I have a legitimate upgrade copy but it takes time, some serious time, to remove it and reload. Start up again....viola! Working. Whoa....not quite. Photoshop is working but it won't open the Canon 5D RAW camera files through Bridge. Ping! I remember that I had downloaded the new Beta for Camera Raw from Adobe that opens the 5D RAW.
Now I have to go back and find where I downloaded it from Adobe and it isn't a nice straight line from the download site. Finally between the two of us, we have it in it's proper folder and working in Bridge and on the RAW files.
The bottomline is that I thought the new video card would take an hour....maybe a little more. Ha! That computer ate my day.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
A Gift from Maria
Maria left this lovely poem about my Pear series on pbase for me.
Pears In odd numbers,
And in pairs,
Two halves of a Pear,
A unique Pear,
Grouped with others,
Luscious vibrations,
Organic composition,
Simple gatherings,
Intriguing shadows,
Lovely and rare.
What a nice gift. Thank you Maria.
Out of the Closet
I've been "outed."
No I'm not a Lesbian. I'm using Wikipedia's more general definition:
The term can also be used in a more general sense as meaning to make public a fact about a person which the person wants kept secret. For instance, one may "out" someone as a communist (political), or a Jew (racial).
I've been "outed" as a photographer of my neighborhood, the Sixth Ward, Houston, Texas. Here's the story:
We live in a neighborhood very near downtown Houston. Some call it funky, some call it Victorian, some call it eclectic. I call it wonderful. Within the four by six or so block area that it encompasses there are 800 to 3000+ square foot houses, wonderfully restored Victorian houses, craftsman bungalows, shotgun houses, neglected rental houses, homes in need of leveling, repair and paint, motorcycle shop, neighborhood grocery store, lawyer's offices, some new metal sided houses, and.......so on. But the thing that I love about the 'hood is that it isn't a homogeneous subdivision. There is individuality in every house. In every yard.
I didn't start out to photograph the neighborhood because of this, I started photographing it about 3 years ago because I had a new camera and I wanted to test it out so I took it out for a walk. Then another day I went walking and took a few more pictures, another day....more. Gradually I realized I was seeing the neighborhood in a unique way through the lens of my camera. I haven't gone on anyone's property, just photographed from the street or sidewalk.
I loved the photographs and I put them in a gallery on pbase. I kind of figured that one or two neighbors had found them from "googling" Old Sixth Ward but I wasn't sure I was really ready to go public in the 'hood with them. I was thinking about how I would ask to go into yards and maybe even into the houses to photograph. I was thinking about how I would get releases if I should ever want to show the work in a gallery or wondering if I could make a personal book of the images. Because of some issues in our neighborhood I was afraid that I would run into a firestorm so I was just keeping quiet.
But today one of my neighbors who had found the images and liked them, told everyone by way of the neighborhood yahoo email group. So far nothing negative has happened.
Still I feel "outed."
On the other hand, maybe this is the break I need to get into the backyard or even the kitchen...ooooh....I'd like to photograph the kitchens.
No I'm not a Lesbian. I'm using Wikipedia's more general definition:
The term can also be used in a more general sense as meaning to make public a fact about a person which the person wants kept secret. For instance, one may "out" someone as a communist (political), or a Jew (racial).
I've been "outed" as a photographer of my neighborhood, the Sixth Ward, Houston, Texas. Here's the story:
We live in a neighborhood very near downtown Houston. Some call it funky, some call it Victorian, some call it eclectic. I call it wonderful. Within the four by six or so block area that it encompasses there are 800 to 3000+ square foot houses, wonderfully restored Victorian houses, craftsman bungalows, shotgun houses, neglected rental houses, homes in need of leveling, repair and paint, motorcycle shop, neighborhood grocery store, lawyer's offices, some new metal sided houses, and.......so on. But the thing that I love about the 'hood is that it isn't a homogeneous subdivision. There is individuality in every house. In every yard.
I didn't start out to photograph the neighborhood because of this, I started photographing it about 3 years ago because I had a new camera and I wanted to test it out so I took it out for a walk. Then another day I went walking and took a few more pictures, another day....more. Gradually I realized I was seeing the neighborhood in a unique way through the lens of my camera. I haven't gone on anyone's property, just photographed from the street or sidewalk.
I loved the photographs and I put them in a gallery on pbase. I kind of figured that one or two neighbors had found them from "googling" Old Sixth Ward but I wasn't sure I was really ready to go public in the 'hood with them. I was thinking about how I would ask to go into yards and maybe even into the houses to photograph. I was thinking about how I would get releases if I should ever want to show the work in a gallery or wondering if I could make a personal book of the images. Because of some issues in our neighborhood I was afraid that I would run into a firestorm so I was just keeping quiet.
But today one of my neighbors who had found the images and liked them, told everyone by way of the neighborhood yahoo email group. So far nothing negative has happened.
Still I feel "outed."
On the other hand, maybe this is the break I need to get into the backyard or even the kitchen...ooooh....I'd like to photograph the kitchens.
Friday, November 18, 2005
I've Done It!
Yes, I've gone and done it!
I bought the Canon 5D digital SLR camera. It is the size of my almost 3 year old 10D but it has a Full Frame Sensor and 12.8 megapixels....double those of the 10D.
I've been looking at image files from it with my friend Ellie and so far I'm not disappointed in what I'm seeing. The color is natural but rich. This file was a raw file shot at 800 ISO on an overcast day. It has been converted to a JPG but no Photoshop adjustments have been made other than sizing. I know you can't see all of this but the grays are neutral, there is detail in the shadows and great separation of tones. With a slight curve adjustment and some sharpening this image could be ready.
I bought the Canon 5D digital SLR camera. It is the size of my almost 3 year old 10D but it has a Full Frame Sensor and 12.8 megapixels....double those of the 10D.
I've been looking at image files from it with my friend Ellie and so far I'm not disappointed in what I'm seeing. The color is natural but rich. This file was a raw file shot at 800 ISO on an overcast day. It has been converted to a JPG but no Photoshop adjustments have been made other than sizing. I know you can't see all of this but the grays are neutral, there is detail in the shadows and great separation of tones. With a slight curve adjustment and some sharpening this image could be ready.
The noise in the files is greatly reduced and in fact I'm really amazed at the low noise level at 1600 ISO. I shot this one last night in a dimly lit restaurant. It is 1600 ISO. Again it needs a curve adjustment and sharpening but it is definitely a useable file. 
I think I'm going to be very, very glad I DID IT.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
The Argyrotype Image
Argyrotype? On Wednesday I wrote about "Maurice," an Argyrotype image. If you aren't a chemist or photographer you probably don't care to know anymore about Argyrotypes. So if you don't want to read any further, it is okay!
Until fairly recent photographic history there were no enlargements. Negatives were the same size as the resulting image because the negative and paper coated with chemistry were sandwiched together and exposed to a light source....usually the sun. Viewcameras were used....you know the big boxes on a tripod where the photographer disappeared under a dark cloth to focus and expose the film or glass plate....to obtain a 5x7, 8x10, or 11x14 negative. There were all kinds of formulas for the chemistry that was spread on the paper that was sandwiched with the negative.
Probably the best known today are platinum, palladium, cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown. Today these processes are called alternative processes as opposed to silver gelatin enlargements. My suspicion is that very soon a silver gelatin print will be considered an alternative process also as digital printing becomes the norm.
In 1992 I fell in love with a Platinum print, Stand of Trees, by Dan Burkholder. It was a 5x7 contact print. It was lush and sensuous. I bought it and I never grow tired of looking at it. But that image ignited my desire to try some of the alternative processes. Just a few obstacles stood in the way. I needed a view camera and lens and I didn't know anything about any of these processes.
First came the camera. Frank Armstrong found it for me in Massachusetts. He went to buy some used equipment from someone and they had this very basic view camera, a lens and two boxes of film for sale for a $100. What a find. I love that simple little view camera.
Next I took a one day workshop on making platinum prints from Steve Goff. It was daunting and I felt like I was wasting liquid gold....well liquid platinum everytime I had a "failure." I can assure you that there are lots of test prints and failures in making any kind of photographic art print. But from the workshop I did end up with a contact printing frame and a UV light box.
If platinum was too expensive to practice on, I'd try something else until I got the knack of this hand coating paper and making properly exposed negatives for good prints. I bought a Van Dyke chemistry kit. It worked okay but while I was looking on the net for more information about the Van Dyke process, I found Dr. Mike Ware. Dr. Ware is a chemist and photographer who has studied extensively the formulas for early photographs and in many cases has revisited these formulas in light of today's knowledge of light sensitive materials.
Dr. Ware wanted to achieve a less expensive 'user-friendly,' more stable plain paper silver process and that is how he developed Argyrotype process which, as I understand it, replaces silver nitrate with a soluble salt of silver having a non-oxidising anion.
I purchased the chemistry and started making Argyrotypes. I corresponded with Dr. Ware on some questions and somehow everything just fell into place. I was making good images with this process. Good deep dark browns, delicate highlights. I was happy! And not only was the process working but at the same time I started shooting the pears.
It was a match.
Until fairly recent photographic history there were no enlargements. Negatives were the same size as the resulting image because the negative and paper coated with chemistry were sandwiched together and exposed to a light source....usually the sun. Viewcameras were used....you know the big boxes on a tripod where the photographer disappeared under a dark cloth to focus and expose the film or glass plate....to obtain a 5x7, 8x10, or 11x14 negative. There were all kinds of formulas for the chemistry that was spread on the paper that was sandwiched with the negative.
Probably the best known today are platinum, palladium, cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown. Today these processes are called alternative processes as opposed to silver gelatin enlargements. My suspicion is that very soon a silver gelatin print will be considered an alternative process also as digital printing becomes the norm.
In 1992 I fell in love with a Platinum print, Stand of Trees, by Dan Burkholder. It was a 5x7 contact print. It was lush and sensuous. I bought it and I never grow tired of looking at it. But that image ignited my desire to try some of the alternative processes. Just a few obstacles stood in the way. I needed a view camera and lens and I didn't know anything about any of these processes.
First came the camera. Frank Armstrong found it for me in Massachusetts. He went to buy some used equipment from someone and they had this very basic view camera, a lens and two boxes of film for sale for a $100. What a find. I love that simple little view camera.
Next I took a one day workshop on making platinum prints from Steve Goff. It was daunting and I felt like I was wasting liquid gold....well liquid platinum everytime I had a "failure." I can assure you that there are lots of test prints and failures in making any kind of photographic art print. But from the workshop I did end up with a contact printing frame and a UV light box.
If platinum was too expensive to practice on, I'd try something else until I got the knack of this hand coating paper and making properly exposed negatives for good prints. I bought a Van Dyke chemistry kit. It worked okay but while I was looking on the net for more information about the Van Dyke process, I found Dr. Mike Ware. Dr. Ware is a chemist and photographer who has studied extensively the formulas for early photographs and in many cases has revisited these formulas in light of today's knowledge of light sensitive materials.
Dr. Ware wanted to achieve a less expensive 'user-friendly,' more stable plain paper silver process and that is how he developed Argyrotype process which, as I understand it, replaces silver nitrate with a soluble salt of silver having a non-oxidising anion.
I purchased the chemistry and started making Argyrotypes. I corresponded with Dr. Ware on some questions and somehow everything just fell into place. I was making good images with this process. Good deep dark browns, delicate highlights. I was happy! And not only was the process working but at the same time I started shooting the pears.
It was a match.
You never know who might see you
My Mother use to say, "You better behave. You never know who might see you." Well I had a surprise last night. A note from someone who saw my work in the Federal Reserve Bank building here in Houston. I wrote back on August 8th about the commission for this work. Somehow I thought that the work would be hung in the building never to be heard about again but last night I had an email from Jay, a photography friend in an email group.
I was at the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank at a reception tonight. I was in the dining - reception area, when I went over to inspect some of what from a distance appeared to be stunning images of Houston, taken in the Buffalo Bayou ecosystem. Then I noticed that they were the work of our own Billie Mercer!
Then Jay when on to say some nice things about the work. Between this and the Image Wrought exhibition, this is turning out to be an amazing week.
But I guess in a way, Mother warned me that I would never know when or who might see my work.
I was at the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank at a reception tonight. I was in the dining - reception area, when I went over to inspect some of what from a distance appeared to be stunning images of Houston, taken in the Buffalo Bayou ecosystem. Then I noticed that they were the work of our own Billie Mercer!
Then Jay when on to say some nice things about the work. Between this and the Image Wrought exhibition, this is turning out to be an amazing week.
But I guess in a way, Mother warned me that I would never know when or who might see my work.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
In Good Company
I'm feeling very humble. The day before we started back to Texas, I had a voice message from Linda Briscoe Myers from the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas. She said she had been trying to reach me for several months and asked me to call her which I did today.
She needed some information from me because one of my images in the collection of the Harry Ransom Center has been selected for an upcoming exhibition, The Image Wrought: Historical Photographic Approaches in the Digital Age which will examine recent activity in Alternative photography. In something of a departure from similar alternative process exhibitions, the Image Wrought will pair contemporary photographs with 19th century counterparts who share common processes or approaches. If I understood her correctly my agyrotype image, Maurice, will be paired with either a photograph made by Sir John Herschel or a photograph of him. Either way, I'm honored to be included in this exhibition.
She needed some information from me because one of my images in the collection of the Harry Ransom Center has been selected for an upcoming exhibition, The Image Wrought: Historical Photographic Approaches in the Digital Age which will examine recent activity in Alternative photography. In something of a departure from similar alternative process exhibitions, the Image Wrought will pair contemporary photographs with 19th century counterparts who share common processes or approaches. If I understood her correctly my agyrotype image, Maurice, will be paired with either a photograph made by Sir John Herschel or a photograph of him. Either way, I'm honored to be included in this exhibition.
This image is a 5x7 contact print made on a Crane's archival paper that is handcoated with a chemistry called Argyrotype. It is similar to the chemistry for Van Dyke Brown photographs but Dr. Mike Ware, a chemist and alternative photographic expert, has taken some of the old photographic formulas and made them more stable and less hazardous to work with. I used a old view camera that was found for me by my friend Frank Armstrong. It is a very simple camera with a 12" bellows.
The image is a part of a series that I did of pears. The pears seemed to take on human qualities as I arranged and photographed them on my dining room table. This particular image was named Maurice because Ann McDonald, another friend, said when she looked at it, "he is so elegant, like Maurice Chavelier bowing from the waist."
I have questions to answer for the exhibition and for Ms. Myers about this image and my work and I will probably post some more about working in alternative processes. As I wrote above, I'm very honored to be included in this exhibition with some of the founders of photography as well as some of the contemporary masters of these old processes.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Visiting and Shopping
Dinner with Mike and Betsy last night. Ned dropped me off at their house while he went to the baseball field to see Jack practice ball. Betsy and I don't have a chance to visit very often without the boys so it was a special time for us. She made a great pasta dish while we talked and when the "boys" came in, they were hungry.
Jack and Will are really growing. They are so much fun to talk with now. Jack has been researching an explorer as an assignment from school and has to make a presentation to his class on Tuesday so he practiced with us. He was very good. They are wonderful boys.
Started working on my shopping list this morning.
Pier One.....I stopped in Pier One on the way to the grocery store on Saturday. They had a rug that I liked for the Studio but I thought it cost too much. I went on line to see if maybe they had something else for less money that would work but to my surprise, I saw that it was on sale and was a reasonable buy for the Studio. I went back to the store and asked them if they were selling it for the same price as the website. They checked the website and let me have it for that price. Yeah!
Target....I bought plastic boxes to store things in. Very important for my photography stuff in San Miguel because of all the fine dust. Then I found a couple of long sleeve shirts. Long sleeve shirts are on my shopping list.
Calico Corner and Leggett's Fabrics....I'm trying to decide whether to take down a couple of chairs we already have or whether to get the rattan chairs from Pier One that we found earlier. Either way I need fabric to recover our old chairs or to make cushions for the rattan chairs. When I make my selection, I have to consider the curtains that are already made and up as well as the rug I bought today. Wouldn't you know that the fabric I like best is the most expensive. But while I was shopping for fabric, I talked with a decorator who was also shopping and she gave me a great suggestion to add some sparkle to the curtains. It is something I had thought about doing but now that she suggested it also, I feel pretty sure I gotta do it. I didn't buy any fabric....need to do some thinking about it.
Jack and Will are really growing. They are so much fun to talk with now. Jack has been researching an explorer as an assignment from school and has to make a presentation to his class on Tuesday so he practiced with us. He was very good. They are wonderful boys.
Started working on my shopping list this morning.
Pier One.....I stopped in Pier One on the way to the grocery store on Saturday. They had a rug that I liked for the Studio but I thought it cost too much. I went on line to see if maybe they had something else for less money that would work but to my surprise, I saw that it was on sale and was a reasonable buy for the Studio. I went back to the store and asked them if they were selling it for the same price as the website. They checked the website and let me have it for that price. Yeah!
Target....I bought plastic boxes to store things in. Very important for my photography stuff in San Miguel because of all the fine dust. Then I found a couple of long sleeve shirts. Long sleeve shirts are on my shopping list.
Calico Corner and Leggett's Fabrics....I'm trying to decide whether to take down a couple of chairs we already have or whether to get the rattan chairs from Pier One that we found earlier. Either way I need fabric to recover our old chairs or to make cushions for the rattan chairs. When I make my selection, I have to consider the curtains that are already made and up as well as the rug I bought today. Wouldn't you know that the fabric I like best is the most expensive. But while I was shopping for fabric, I talked with a decorator who was also shopping and she gave me a great suggestion to add some sparkle to the curtains. It is something I had thought about doing but now that she suggested it also, I feel pretty sure I gotta do it. I didn't buy any fabric....need to do some thinking about it.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Reality of Being Back in the USA
Impressions from yesterday:
When we turn on Sawyer Street on the way home, I still get a chill up my spine when I see the Houston skyline.
The garden is a mess even with having a gardener two times a month. The gardener tries really hard to keep the garden under control but I want my garden controlled but not with shrubs in neat clipped shapes. I know I'm weird because that isn't the way that 95% of the gardens in Houston are maintained.
The sprinkler system has been off since sometime when we were here in August. I have some plants that look anemic due to lack of water.
The house is looking unlived in because we can't have house plants since we aren't here. There is just a spirit of homeiness that is missing from it because no one is here. We still have things out of place because of the preparation in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Rita along the gulf coast of Galveston. All of those things need to be put back where they belong.
Our neighborhood has some changes. Some more old houses are being cleaned up and several are for sale. Two wonderful renovated houses are still for sale. It is like there are some changes but still no changes.
The streets are wide, clean and smooth. You don't have to dodge in and out of cars parked on the curbs in order to drive down a street. Washington Avenue seems like a huge expanse of roadway with curb parking on each side for the most part with 4 lanes of traffic. Traffic lights work. Street signage makes sense and is consistent. Studemont Street is still under construction.
The Kroger grocery store on West Gray has been refurbished. It is sparkling clean, organized and spacious. There was live music in the store. The vast array of fruits and vegetables looked beautiful and there were big aisles where two or three big grocery carts could pass each other. The cost of pomegranate was 2 for $4. Mangoes were $.69 a pound. Aged beef filet mignon was $16.99 a pound. Butter was $2.99 a pound. Jumbo eggs were $.89 a dozen. A huge wine selection from all over the world and the prices were less than in Mexico by about 1/3.
Today my reality is Houston. In a couple of weeks my reality will be San Miguel de Allende. I think I'm a polygamist because I seem to be in love with both places.
When we turn on Sawyer Street on the way home, I still get a chill up my spine when I see the Houston skyline.
The garden is a mess even with having a gardener two times a month. The gardener tries really hard to keep the garden under control but I want my garden controlled but not with shrubs in neat clipped shapes. I know I'm weird because that isn't the way that 95% of the gardens in Houston are maintained.
The sprinkler system has been off since sometime when we were here in August. I have some plants that look anemic due to lack of water.
The house is looking unlived in because we can't have house plants since we aren't here. There is just a spirit of homeiness that is missing from it because no one is here. We still have things out of place because of the preparation in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Rita along the gulf coast of Galveston. All of those things need to be put back where they belong.
Our neighborhood has some changes. Some more old houses are being cleaned up and several are for sale. Two wonderful renovated houses are still for sale. It is like there are some changes but still no changes.
The streets are wide, clean and smooth. You don't have to dodge in and out of cars parked on the curbs in order to drive down a street. Washington Avenue seems like a huge expanse of roadway with curb parking on each side for the most part with 4 lanes of traffic. Traffic lights work. Street signage makes sense and is consistent. Studemont Street is still under construction.
The Kroger grocery store on West Gray has been refurbished. It is sparkling clean, organized and spacious. There was live music in the store. The vast array of fruits and vegetables looked beautiful and there were big aisles where two or three big grocery carts could pass each other. The cost of pomegranate was 2 for $4. Mangoes were $.69 a pound. Aged beef filet mignon was $16.99 a pound. Butter was $2.99 a pound. Jumbo eggs were $.89 a dozen. A huge wine selection from all over the world and the prices were less than in Mexico by about 1/3.
Today my reality is Houston. In a couple of weeks my reality will be San Miguel de Allende. I think I'm a polygamist because I seem to be in love with both places.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Safe Trip
Writing from Houston, Texas. We left San Miguel about 5:30 AM yesterday and drove up in the driveway about 8:30 PM......safe and sound.
Nothing eventful happened along the way.....and I'm not complaining. There were more than the usual number of road repair slowdowns and military checkpoints although we weren't pulled over at any of them. We did try the Columbia bridge just to see how it was. The Columbia bridge is about 24 miles to the East of Nuevo Laredo and out in the middle of nowhere. We haven't tried it in the last couple of years but we heard that the road to the bridge was finished. You pick up I-35 about 12-15 miles North of Laredo. So the distance over that bridge is longer but you miss the traffic of the two border towns. But the main reason we tried it yesterday was that we were crossing on a Friday afternoon and we figured that getting across the main bridge would be slow.
Most of the vegetation is dry and brown now that the rainy season has ended in central Mexico, but we were surprised around Monterey. It was as green or greener than we have ever seen it. There were a few places that if there had been a place to stop and we weren't already driving on a 15 hours road trip, I would have stopped and taken pictures. Never have seen the mountain sides so velvety green.
Okay, on to getting things put back in place and getting busy.
Nothing eventful happened along the way.....and I'm not complaining. There were more than the usual number of road repair slowdowns and military checkpoints although we weren't pulled over at any of them. We did try the Columbia bridge just to see how it was. The Columbia bridge is about 24 miles to the East of Nuevo Laredo and out in the middle of nowhere. We haven't tried it in the last couple of years but we heard that the road to the bridge was finished. You pick up I-35 about 12-15 miles North of Laredo. So the distance over that bridge is longer but you miss the traffic of the two border towns. But the main reason we tried it yesterday was that we were crossing on a Friday afternoon and we figured that getting across the main bridge would be slow.
Most of the vegetation is dry and brown now that the rainy season has ended in central Mexico, but we were surprised around Monterey. It was as green or greener than we have ever seen it. There were a few places that if there had been a place to stop and we weren't already driving on a 15 hours road trip, I would have stopped and taken pictures. Never have seen the mountain sides so velvety green.
Okay, on to getting things put back in place and getting busy.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Nuevo Laredo Again
Since we are headed back to the USA tomorrow, I thought I'd check and see what the news is from Nuevo Laredo. And what do I find.......
Two pipe bombs were found on a sidewalk about 500 yards from the bridge leading to Laredo, Texas. They were described as small and not very powerful.
Two pipe bombs were found on a sidewalk about 500 yards from the bridge leading to Laredo, Texas. They were described as small and not very powerful.
The Next Stephen King?
How old was Stephen King when he started to think up all of his ideas for books....seemingly everyday things that suddenly start to become an endless nightmare? Did he always have this imagination that walked on the wild side?
Well grandson Will who is in kindergarten has a wild imagination. For Halloween he wrote a story about what would be in his Witches Brew. Just imagine you are in kindergarten and have been learning phonics...can you translate this?
Well grandson Will who is in kindergarten has a wild imagination. For Halloween he wrote a story about what would be in his Witches Brew. Just imagine you are in kindergarten and have been learning phonics...can you translate this?
WILL'S WITCHES BREW
Just in case you had trouble translating..............
"My Witches brew has snail's eyes and people's toenails and people's fingers and earwax and alien's blood and snake head and alien's head, shark's blood and alien's legs."
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Conversations
Last week I wrote about cooking-in and staying home but that just lasted for two nights. I just can't miss the opportunity to visit with good friends and have some good conversations.
Monday night we saw Tom and Dianne and their friends who were visiting before the four of them headed off for Tulum in Quintana Roo. Tom and Dianne have been back in the USA so there was a lot of catching up to do about grandchildren and what we have all been doing.
Last night Steve and Joan invited us and Suzanne for dinner. Although I had not seen the house they are in before they remodeled it, I was impressed. Joan is one of those people who can walk into a space and see how to transform it. Suzanne had looked at the house while it was on the market and she was amazed. Joan had made a wonderful dinner for us and it included some white beets that Steve had picked up at a farm out in the country. Oh, my, they were tasty, and while they tasted like a beet they were sweeter. I'd love to have some more of them. Lots of good conversations about travel and friends and houses.
Now we have to buckle down and try to wrap things up so we can head back to the USA on Friday. Time for family and Thanksgiving and more good talking.
Monday night we saw Tom and Dianne and their friends who were visiting before the four of them headed off for Tulum in Quintana Roo. Tom and Dianne have been back in the USA so there was a lot of catching up to do about grandchildren and what we have all been doing.
Last night Steve and Joan invited us and Suzanne for dinner. Although I had not seen the house they are in before they remodeled it, I was impressed. Joan is one of those people who can walk into a space and see how to transform it. Suzanne had looked at the house while it was on the market and she was amazed. Joan had made a wonderful dinner for us and it included some white beets that Steve had picked up at a farm out in the country. Oh, my, they were tasty, and while they tasted like a beet they were sweeter. I'd love to have some more of them. Lots of good conversations about travel and friends and houses.
Now we have to buckle down and try to wrap things up so we can head back to the USA on Friday. Time for family and Thanksgiving and more good talking.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Shots
It was shots day at the Mercer's Mexican household....not the photographic kind but the vaccination kind.
First of all it was Taylor's turn. Time for his battery of vaccinations. Rabies, Parvo, kennel cough, etc. He was nervous and panting but he was a good boy through his examination and shots. In addition the Vet cleaned his ears and put in some medication because they were a little inflamed. And this all cost about $65 USA.
We usually get Taylor's shots here because it is much less expensive and besides we really like the Vet, Edgardo Vazquez. We just carry his papers with us as we cross the border. I use to get health certificates for him when we came down but they are not good for very long and the Vets in Houston charge an outrageous amount to sign them. Now we just carry his shot records. Besides no one has ever asked to see anything about him as we have gone back and forth across the border....except one time. The border crossing guard asked if he had his shots and we had to produce the certificate. I told her that no one had ever asked for the certificate before. She smiled and said, "I'm new." She waved us on....back into the USA with Taylor.
We took Taylor home, then it was our turn. We went to De La Fe hospital went into the pharmacy, purchased the packaged flu shots and took them around to the emergency room. They gave us our shots and we were on our way.
We are all good to go for another year.
The Grand YAAAAAK!
I warned my readers from the beginning that I would be writing about several things and one of them was Family. Well this is about Family. I received the following in an email from son, Doug. As I read it, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Laugh because it was like a bad joke of something that has happened to you or cry because it was so touching. There is such a deep feeling of family as you see your children take care of their children. And just in case they never knew before, now they realize how much you love them.
Remember all the times that you talked to me about "Wait till you stay up at night cleaning up your kids vomit?"
Well, no need to say that any more. Susan was at work on Saturday night. Max and I stayed up eating popcorn and watching TV. Max had fallen asleep on the floor. I saw him sit up, and then YAAAAK! All over the blanket and the carpet. I got him to the bathroom, but he was already done--and very confused. I got him cleaned up and calmed down, and then he just wanted to go to bed. I put a bucket by his bed, and told him what it was for.
I went to the den to start cleaning up the mess. About 45 minutes later, I heard him up suddenly and crying. I went in to his room to find vomit all over him and the bed. So I got him out of the bed, yanked all the sheets and blanket off in one large ball. Got him cleaned up and calmed down. Got new sheets and blankets on the bed. Got him to bed again. And started to clean up the next round.
One hour later. YAAAAAK!
Same process over again.
Forty-five minutes later. YAAAAK! This time Maxwell was wanting to sleep with Mom and me. "Not a chance, buddy. I love you very much, but NO WAY." By this time I was able to rotate out bed sets and blanket bears. Luckily he was down for the rest of the night.
When Susan got home from work on Saturday night, she proceeded to tell me about her bad night. I just nodded my head and waited for her to finish. Then I said, "Is that all you got?" and proceeded to tell her about my fun filled night.
Remember all the times that you talked to me about "Wait till you stay up at night cleaning up your kids vomit?"
Well, no need to say that any more. Susan was at work on Saturday night. Max and I stayed up eating popcorn and watching TV. Max had fallen asleep on the floor. I saw him sit up, and then YAAAAK! All over the blanket and the carpet. I got him to the bathroom, but he was already done--and very confused. I got him cleaned up and calmed down, and then he just wanted to go to bed. I put a bucket by his bed, and told him what it was for.
I went to the den to start cleaning up the mess. About 45 minutes later, I heard him up suddenly and crying. I went in to his room to find vomit all over him and the bed. So I got him out of the bed, yanked all the sheets and blanket off in one large ball. Got him cleaned up and calmed down. Got new sheets and blankets on the bed. Got him to bed again. And started to clean up the next round.
One hour later. YAAAAAK!
Same process over again.
Forty-five minutes later. YAAAAK! This time Maxwell was wanting to sleep with Mom and me. "Not a chance, buddy. I love you very much, but NO WAY." By this time I was able to rotate out bed sets and blanket bears. Luckily he was down for the rest of the night.
When Susan got home from work on Saturday night, she proceeded to tell me about her bad night. I just nodded my head and waited for her to finish. Then I said, "Is that all you got?" and proceeded to tell her about my fun filled night.
You Found My Blog?
Last weekend we went to a lovely party given by Lisa and Eduardo. I was talking away with people I hadn't seen recently when Alfonso Alarcon walked in. Back on July 8th, I wrote about Alfonso who is a landscape designer and he has drawn up some plans for our patio. I wrote about how I liked him and his design and felt that he would be very comfortable to work with.
When he saw me, his face lit up and he said, "I found your blog."
"You found my blog?"
"Yes, I was looking for something else and I came across your blog."
"You found my blog?"
Can you tell I was surprised? In all the vastness of cyberspace this Mexican man found a blog, realized it was ME and then found where I had written about him. Someone came up and took him off before I could find out anymore. I still can't believe it........he accidently found my blog.
When he saw me, his face lit up and he said, "I found your blog."
"You found my blog?"
"Yes, I was looking for something else and I came across your blog."
"You found my blog?"
Can you tell I was surprised? In all the vastness of cyberspace this Mexican man found a blog, realized it was ME and then found where I had written about him. Someone came up and took him off before I could find out anymore. I still can't believe it........he accidently found my blog.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Photoshop and Me
My first copy of Photoshop came as some software with a Scanmaker #6 Pro Flatbed scanner. It was version 3 but the scanner came with a free upgrade to Version 4. This was in December, 1996.
It would seem that in 9 years, Photoshop and I would be on intimate terms but that isn't the case. Our relationship has been very slow to develop. In 1996 I was shooting Black and White film and working in the darkroom with silver. Black and White digital printing was BAD and I wasn't interested in doing color photography. So Photoshop was relegated to just processing a few images that I wanted to send on the net. Most of the time I was scanning a print and there wasn't too much to do in photoshop other than size the image....maybe a minor adjustment or two. But I didn't have to learn too much about Photoshop to do that.
About 4 years ago, I realized that I had some color photo projects that I would want to print myself because I'm kind of a control freak about my work and I don't seem to be able to explain exactly what I want or what don't like to a lab. Besides I like to tweak images and that gets really expensive is someone else is doing your printing.
Of course I didn't know enough about Photoshop so I bought books to study. It has been a slow process. Sometimes I have sat down and studied the book with a highlighter, sometimes I have gone step by step through the instruction actually doing it on the computer, sometimes friends have shown me some techniques. I'm sure a class would have been a much better way to get started but that didn't happen. One of the most difficult things to learn was color management....actually, I'm still learning it.
I'm no longer a novice but I'm far from being an expert. Even though I'm not Adobe certified, several times I've helped friends get started with Photoshop or Elements and they tell me I've been a great teacher. I think one of the reasons is that when I'm trying to teach someone what I know, I have them sit at the computer and do it. I do that because when I just see someone doing a technique I can't retain how to do it. But when I hear it and do it and see the results, then I can probably do it again.
Now that Photoshop and I are kind of on speaking terms, I'm really very happy with the latest Version CS2 and Bridge. I think it is even possible that we could become more intimately involved.
It would seem that in 9 years, Photoshop and I would be on intimate terms but that isn't the case. Our relationship has been very slow to develop. In 1996 I was shooting Black and White film and working in the darkroom with silver. Black and White digital printing was BAD and I wasn't interested in doing color photography. So Photoshop was relegated to just processing a few images that I wanted to send on the net. Most of the time I was scanning a print and there wasn't too much to do in photoshop other than size the image....maybe a minor adjustment or two. But I didn't have to learn too much about Photoshop to do that.
About 4 years ago, I realized that I had some color photo projects that I would want to print myself because I'm kind of a control freak about my work and I don't seem to be able to explain exactly what I want or what don't like to a lab. Besides I like to tweak images and that gets really expensive is someone else is doing your printing.
Of course I didn't know enough about Photoshop so I bought books to study. It has been a slow process. Sometimes I have sat down and studied the book with a highlighter, sometimes I have gone step by step through the instruction actually doing it on the computer, sometimes friends have shown me some techniques. I'm sure a class would have been a much better way to get started but that didn't happen. One of the most difficult things to learn was color management....actually, I'm still learning it.
I'm no longer a novice but I'm far from being an expert. Even though I'm not Adobe certified, several times I've helped friends get started with Photoshop or Elements and they tell me I've been a great teacher. I think one of the reasons is that when I'm trying to teach someone what I know, I have them sit at the computer and do it. I do that because when I just see someone doing a technique I can't retain how to do it. But when I hear it and do it and see the results, then I can probably do it again.
Now that Photoshop and I are kind of on speaking terms, I'm really very happy with the latest Version CS2 and Bridge. I think it is even possible that we could become more intimately involved.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Sunday Market
If you live on Calle Heroes, you have the Sunday Market at your doorstep. About 5:00 AM you may be awakened to soft muffled sounds of boxes being unloaded and tables being set up. 
By daylight the market is in full swing. Several vendors for fruits and vegetables. Food booths with carnitas, pan dulces, juices, quesadillas, tortas and a few tables where you can sit and eat. CD's being played to entice a buyer. A table of candies. Sacks of grains, cereals and beans. Bundles of herbs. Tubs of spices.
Children's shoes and clothes. Bras and panties. Pots and Pans. Plants for your garden. All of this in just one block....a whole market set up in less than an hour. We have rented a house on Heroes and it has always amazed me that this market can appear so quickly and then disappear just as quickly. The street is swept clean and by nightfall it is hard to imagine that it happened.
The market is by the San Antonio Church and there is always something going on at the church. Today several small altars were brought into the church to be blessed by groups of 20 to 25 people. Children play on the steps of the church while the old people sit in the shade of the Jardin in front.
The camera was with me when we walked over to Heroes. An ordinary errand but there is always something to photograph. That camera should always, always go with me. You just never know what you are going to see.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Cooking in
We have had a house guest, Debbie, who is a photographer too. While she was here we were on the go constantly so we could photograph. There wasn't time for much cooking so we typically ate a comida, then something lighter in the evening after we finished working. It was great fun and in many ways like a photography workshop.
But my body was craving some home cooking. So tonight was finally time to cook in...a pork tenderloin marinated in soy, ginger and garlic, sauteed broccoli, creamy rice, corn and poblano casserole and sliced tomato with goat cheese and basil drizzled with a little olive oil and basamic vinegar. I also made a key lime pie. So far we haven't cut it but maybe before bed we will have a piece.
It was all so satisfying....not just the food but the act of preparing food. I start feeling very deprived after just two or three days of eating out. I just don't understand people who don't cook.
But my body was craving some home cooking. So tonight was finally time to cook in...a pork tenderloin marinated in soy, ginger and garlic, sauteed broccoli, creamy rice, corn and poblano casserole and sliced tomato with goat cheese and basil drizzled with a little olive oil and basamic vinegar. I also made a key lime pie. So far we haven't cut it but maybe before bed we will have a piece.
It was all so satisfying....not just the food but the act of preparing food. I start feeling very deprived after just two or three days of eating out. I just don't understand people who don't cook.
The Days of the Dead Gallery
If you would like to see some of the images I shot during the Days of the Dead here in San Miguel, click here.
You can view larger individual images by clicking on one and then going on to the next.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Yoda and the Little Devil
This is another small world story. We are in Mexico....about a 1000 miles from the Grandchildren but with the magic of cyberspace I can keep up with the little "grandboys." Between the Vonage phone (Voice over the Internet Protocol) and the internet, we stay "connected."
Doug and Susan sent these pictures of their boys ready for Trick or Treating. Max is into StarWars and he is Yoda....just in case you didn't guess.
Dexter who is seven months old was ......................
Hope this costume doesn't turn out to be a self fulfilling prophesy but he is full of himself.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Overload
Visually overloaded.....that is me today. My brain is tired of processing so much visual data and my body is tired from carrying equipment and walking to the cemetery and into town several times a day.
I wish you could have been with me yesterday. The walk to the cemetery from the main road, Ancha de San Antonio, is about 1/4 of a mile but the way was lined with vendors of flowers, food cooked on grills, colorful glasses and fruit drinks, cans and vases for the flowers, tanker trucks bringing extra water, pots and pans. Young boys are everywhere with colored pails and shovels looking for potential customers so they can help clean the graves and earn a few pesos.
The Transito policia are directing traffic and the Civil proteccion policia are there to make sure that there are no problems. The city cleaning crews in their blue and orange uniforms are collecting garbage. Everything is organized for the hundreds of people who will visit the graves of their loved ones.
There are awnings over the vendor's stalls of all colors strung just above heads from one side of the road to the other. And the road is filled with people coming and going to the cemetery. Stopping to buy flowers and cans to put their flowers in for the graves. Friends stop to talk. The poor come with flowers from their garden. After taking care of the graves and putting out flowers many of them stop at the food and drink stalls for some refreshment. But the amazing thing is that the road and the cemetery is quiet. Quiet like a library. Even the young boys there to earn a few pesos speak quietly when they do their usual boy thing of jostling each other. There are no loud voices except for a few American voices that continue to talk at their normal tone.
Families come....women with flowers in one arm, a small child by the hand in the other arm. Dad with a shovel or paint can and brush or pail of water. Stops at the grave of grandparents, then on to the grave of a Mother or Father then maybe a tiny child. The families sit and talk or maybe the Grandmother takes the children on a "tour" talking about the graves of family and friends.
We saw Mexicans we know and shook hands. The waiter from ChaChaCha, my chicken lady...DiDi, the neighbor from Heroes who runs the Herreria Rosas, the lady who sells corn on our street. I wanted to go with them and help them put flowers on the graves of their loved ones. To be a part of this special time.
Putting out flowers in the cemetery started on the 31st and by the evening of the 2nd, the cemetery is an amazing blaze of color and smells. The sharp smell of the marigold mingles with the smell of lilies and roses. Marigold orange, magenta cockscomb, white mums, every color zinnia, pink lilies--intense color everywhere. The setting sun outlines the gravemarkers and deepens the colors of the flowers. As it grows later in the afternoon, there is a priest in white robes reading with a family, some families have guitars and are singing softly by the graveside and some have hired rancheros to play and sing with rough voices just a little off key.
As the sun sets the civil proteccion police start to tell people it is time to leave. The cemetery will be locked for the night. I know that there are cemeteries in Mexico where bus loads of tourist arrive to tromp around the candle lit graves and take pictures of the families during the night but I can't imagine anything sweeter and more touching than what happens here in San Miguel de Allende.
I have lots of images to process and I'll post a link in a few days for those who wish to see the pictures from the San Miguel cemetery. But right now, I need to let my eyes and brain rest for just a little while from their visual and emotional overload.
I wish you could have been with me yesterday. The walk to the cemetery from the main road, Ancha de San Antonio, is about 1/4 of a mile but the way was lined with vendors of flowers, food cooked on grills, colorful glasses and fruit drinks, cans and vases for the flowers, tanker trucks bringing extra water, pots and pans. Young boys are everywhere with colored pails and shovels looking for potential customers so they can help clean the graves and earn a few pesos.
The Transito policia are directing traffic and the Civil proteccion policia are there to make sure that there are no problems. The city cleaning crews in their blue and orange uniforms are collecting garbage. Everything is organized for the hundreds of people who will visit the graves of their loved ones.
There are awnings over the vendor's stalls of all colors strung just above heads from one side of the road to the other. And the road is filled with people coming and going to the cemetery. Stopping to buy flowers and cans to put their flowers in for the graves. Friends stop to talk. The poor come with flowers from their garden. After taking care of the graves and putting out flowers many of them stop at the food and drink stalls for some refreshment. But the amazing thing is that the road and the cemetery is quiet. Quiet like a library. Even the young boys there to earn a few pesos speak quietly when they do their usual boy thing of jostling each other. There are no loud voices except for a few American voices that continue to talk at their normal tone.
Families come....women with flowers in one arm, a small child by the hand in the other arm. Dad with a shovel or paint can and brush or pail of water. Stops at the grave of grandparents, then on to the grave of a Mother or Father then maybe a tiny child. The families sit and talk or maybe the Grandmother takes the children on a "tour" talking about the graves of family and friends.
We saw Mexicans we know and shook hands. The waiter from ChaChaCha, my chicken lady...DiDi, the neighbor from Heroes who runs the Herreria Rosas, the lady who sells corn on our street. I wanted to go with them and help them put flowers on the graves of their loved ones. To be a part of this special time.
Putting out flowers in the cemetery started on the 31st and by the evening of the 2nd, the cemetery is an amazing blaze of color and smells. The sharp smell of the marigold mingles with the smell of lilies and roses. Marigold orange, magenta cockscomb, white mums, every color zinnia, pink lilies--intense color everywhere. The setting sun outlines the gravemarkers and deepens the colors of the flowers. As it grows later in the afternoon, there is a priest in white robes reading with a family, some families have guitars and are singing softly by the graveside and some have hired rancheros to play and sing with rough voices just a little off key.
As the sun sets the civil proteccion police start to tell people it is time to leave. The cemetery will be locked for the night. I know that there are cemeteries in Mexico where bus loads of tourist arrive to tromp around the candle lit graves and take pictures of the families during the night but I can't imagine anything sweeter and more touching than what happens here in San Miguel de Allende.
I have lots of images to process and I'll post a link in a few days for those who wish to see the pictures from the San Miguel cemetery. But right now, I need to let my eyes and brain rest for just a little while from their visual and emotional overload.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Los Dias de Muertos
The Days of the Dead are celebrated with a mixture of reverence for the departed, revelry to make them happy upon their return, and mockery to defy the fear of death itself. This quote is from Rosalind Rosoff Beimler's book The Days of the Dead/Los Dias de Muertos. I think it is one of the best descriptions I've read. And if you are interested in Mexican culture, this book should really be on your bookshelf.
The images in this post were made in Yucatan. We were in villages in Yucatan several times during the Day of the Dead festivities. Each area of Mexico seems to have their own way of remembering their dead relatives.
I've been photographing here in San Miguel de Allende also, and I'll post some of those images in the next day or so. But I'm headed for the cemetery again this morning.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Halloween
I went to google to read about the origins of Halloween and I find it is a very mixed pagan/Christian bag. And not from just one country either. Seems like it has been mixing and changing since the 5th century.
Nevertheless, the Catholic Church here in Mexico has been discouraging the Halloween practices of the USA. I don't think they are going to win the battle. The kids have very quickly caught on to knocking on doors or approaching people in the Jardin for "dulces." I've seen masks and jack-o-lanterns in the little stalls in front of the church that sells sugar skulls as well as in WalMart.
Last night we went to the Jardin to see what the kids were doing. The biggest difference that I saw was that the kids were running in packs of 3 or 4 WITHOUT an adult following along behind. Little children about 4 years old were being pulled along with the 6 and 8 year old siblings. There were some masks, but lots of painted faces.
For a while we sat in the Jardin but then moved to the bar at the San Francisco Hotel. The kids came into the bar for their "Halloween" which is what they say instead of "Trick or Treat."
Last night was a school night but when we left the Jardin about 9:00 PM, the kids were just getting started with their "Halloweening" and again....no mammas and Pappas in sight. I doubt that any of those parents checked all the candy before their kids ate it either. I can remember that same freedom we had as children to run through the neighborhood Trick or Treating and never had a thought that anyone would want to hurt us. But it "ain't" that way in the USA anymore.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
