Googling

I googled "billieblog" today and found this. I'm always surprised when I find these links on the net.

Looking Back - 2006

Like everyone I'm looking back at what happened in 2006 while I get ready to welcome 2007. A lot of significant events happened in 2006.

• Sold our house in Houston along with most of the stuff in the house so we are officially residents in San Miguel de Allende. This means that the darkroom is gone and all of the equipment.
• I've gone photographically digital.
• I had a show at Goldesberry Gallery
• I was in a show at the Harry Ransom Gallery at the University of Texas
• I sold four large images to the Federal Reserve Bank.
• I had two cataract surgeries.
• I studied Spanish....not sure I'm better but I'm working on it.
• We bought a lot in Houston's inner city.
• Had a 70th birthday
• Celebrated a 50th Wedding Anniversary
• Started a major kitchen remodel in the San Miguel House.
• Worked on a project with the Lensbaby
• Bought a holga lens for the Canon 5D camera---this may be very significant in 2007.

All-in-all, 2006 was a good year.

The Party

It was a party, truly a PARTY. Our children wanted to do something special for us for our 50th Wedding Anniversary and they did. I can't even begin to tell how wonderful it was because you would think I was making it up. I wanted to take pictures of the party and I took the camera but it wasn't possible to be the photographer and enjoy the party. However several people, including my photographer friend Lauren Singer, took pictures so maybe I'll have some pictures for you later. The party was at Mike and Betsy's house. Doug and Susan came in on Friday and helped get it all together. Gary's company, City Kitchen, did the food and he pulled out all the stops. He had a full compliment of staff there so the service was amazing. They set up a seafood table in the den with oysters on the half shell and shrimp cocktails. In the dining room they were serving mini Filet Mignon sandwiches, crab cakes, chicken enchiladas, tiny salmon crepes, asparagus, rice salad, roasted tomatoes and maybe some other things that I didn't see. In the kitchen they served vegetable dumplings and sushi. Bite-size, amazing appetizers including sea scallops in tequila butter and shot-glasses of tomato fennel soup were constantly passed. Later cookies and chocolate truffles were put on the coffee table and bananas foster and coffee was served in the kitchen. Every bite of everything was delicious and I heard raves and raves about the food. The family used an amazing florist, John Friedman. They had flowers everywhere, even in the chandelier. The flowers added so much to the party atmosphere from the minute you walked in the door. Although I wasn't able to photograph the party, the next day I did get some pictures of some of the flowers.

But the really wonderful part of the party was the friends who came to celebrate with us. Some of them we had not seen in a while. There was much catching up to do and laughing about things we had shared. People have said that being married 50 years is an accomplishment. No, it isn't an accomplishment. It is made up of shared moments with someone you love dearly and have committed to love and live with until death do us part. A life with family and friends. Friday night dinners, cook outs, carpooling, gourmet group dinners, golf outings, family vacations, a trip to the museum out of town, sitting with friends at the funeral home, hospital visits, weddings, crying over the kids, rejoicing about the kids, phone calls, births, church, anguish, conflict and joy. I don't know how I was smart enough at 18 years old to choose such a good man to marry but I'm thankful that I did that.

I am so blessed with an amazing husband, good friends and a wonderful family.

Family Dinners

My friend, Stephen Dirado, has been photographing dinner tables for years and years. Not a just a quick grab shot but he works with a 8x10 camera and flash. This is some serious setup and planning. I've loved "reading" the photograph and figuring out the story line. Who is talking to who? Who has an attitude. And even what was served for dinner.
For years I've shot our family gathered around a table too but with a 35mm camera and flash on the camera, they were nothing more than a record of the gathering. I hated the shadows caused by the flash. Now with a wide-angle lens on the digital camera where I can shoot acceptable images at 1600 ISO, even 3200 ISO, I'm starting to like some of the results. Of course, I have to admit that I've learned a bit from seeing Stephen's dinner table images for years.

The Empty House on Milford Street

I took the "Digital Holga" with me when I walked the dog. There is an old house that we can see from the Condo. I love the tree in front of it and I'm intrigued with the bags of old books that have been taken from the house and placed at the curb for garbage pickup. Sometimes from the condo, I see people drive by slowly and then back up to stop and take a look at some of the books. There is a park on the side of the house and I can see the backyard. There are three chairs. Three chairs that look as if they have only been there a short time but the house is empty. Who sat there looking at the back of the house? What conversation took place? As I say, I'm intrigued and my imagination has been writing the story of who lived there. Most of the time I think it was a man whose wife a reader of novels had passed away. The garden mostly died out but a few plants thrived including an ivy that is mostly an indoor plant. A bit of monkey grass is lined in a row. Did it edge the flower bed? The squirrels have entered the attic and peak out of holes in the facing boards. Now the man has died or moved to a nursing home. The children are cleaning out the house to sale it.

I'd love to take the digital holga into this house. I wonder if it could capture some of the stories that reside there.

December 28, 1956

Fifty years ago today, we were married. It all began with a date in high school. Can you imagine getting engaged at the senior prom. Yes, that is what happened. I think our generation must have been more mature than the kids are today.

We married a year and a half later and the rest as they say is history. But what a wonderful history. Ned was attending the University of Houston studying Chemical Engineering. After Mike was born a year and a half later, he worked full-time and still carried a full academic load. We bought a little house, had another son, Gary. Then 16 months later, Doug joined the family. We bought a larger house. Church, family, work, children, friends, golf, cutting grass, buying groceries......the time passes with all the little pieces of life.

Here we are leaving the church after the wedding reception that was also at the church. As I've looked at the wedding pictures I'm struck by the differences that have occurred over 50 years. Yes, we have changed.....a lot. But I'm struck with the differences in our culture and customs. The wedding and reception was in the church we attended. It was lovely but it wasn't a break-the-bank wedding with designer dresses, seated dinner and dancing. A friend loaned me her wedding dress. My mother made my veil. My bridesmaids dresses were made by a seamstress or by their mothers. The reception was in the Fellowship Hall of the church. We had a receiving line....don't see that much anymore. Punch, coffee and cake were served. No alcohol, no dinner, no band, no dancing. That is the way weddings were done in our neighborhood 50 years ago.

This was my going away outfit. Every bride had to have a special going-away outfit. Mine was a charcoal gray wool suit, with black suede shoes and bag, a dusty pink velvet hat.....a well dressed lady always wore a hat to church and for special occasions. But the best thing I had was the gray mouton coat over my shoulder....a Christmas present from Ned just a few days earlier. And of course the corsage of sweetheart roses. Ned had a good looking sport jacket, white shirt and tie. Notice the handkerchief in his breast pocket.

It was an event that marked our commitment and love for each other.....before God, family, and friends. That was 50 years ago. Sometimes it seems like yesterday and other times it seems like 50 years ago......but the commitment and love for each other is still in the moment.

Best of Houston

Today we weren't eating High on the Hog but we ate well. Someburger-voted Best Hole in the Wall Burger Joint. It is a little place on the corner of Studemont and 11th Street in the Heights area of Houston. I don't know how long it has been there but it looks like it has been there a long time. It is a tiny building that is all kitchen. Behind it there are a few tables under a tree where you can sit if you want to eat there but most people either eat in their car or take the burgers away. And it isn't a drive up place. You park your car and go place your order and wait for it to get done. You see everyone there....construction workers, office workers, high school kids, executives.

The burgers are the old fashioned kind....the buns with grease from the grill, mayo, mustard, pickles, tomato, lettuce and onion. A hamburger from my childhood before the days of McDonalds and Wendys. They are good.

A burger from Someburger is another thing on our to-do list everytime we come to Houston.

Digital Holga III

I've got it.......A Holga Lens on my digital camera. Took the camera with me today and just made a few snaps. Not sure about it yet. This is a square crop to make it look like my square holga.

You can see how the full frame is going to smear the edges. This is just a crop.....not a true square. It is going to take some shooting so the lens can tell me what kind of subject matter it wants.

There is one other issue. I haven't been able to figure out how to adjust the exposure except a -2 exposure compensation. Changing the aperture doesn't change the exposure. Changing the ISO doesn't change the exposure. This is on the 5D. I've been told that both of these adjustments work on the 20D with the Holga lens cap. When I get back to San Miguel, I'll see what happens on the Canon 10D but then I have to contend with the 1.6 lens factor.

Update: Finally had time to play with the lens on the 5D some more instead of slapping it on and rushing off to take pics. I was starting from the assumption that the lens was f8 but it isn't. It is f4-f5.6. So now I realize that the metering does work and I can adjust the ISO as well. Duh!!

And once again I apologize if the tonal range and color are off. I just can't tell on this laptop monitor so I'm trying to work with the numbers in Photoshop.

Fog

Hotel parking lot in Laredo.

Christmas Breakfast Tradition

Jalapeno Quiche is one of our traditions on Christmas Morning. I cheat and use a frozen pie crust just to get things moving a little faster.

Cook pie crust for 15 minutes in 350 degree oven. Use pie weights or beans to keep the pie crust from puffing up. Let pie crust cool before adding filling.

Lightly beat 5 eggs

Add 1 cup of cream

1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped jalapenos

1 Teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Brown 1/2 cup chopped onion in a 2 tablespoons of butter.

Seed, then cup up 1-1/2 roma tomato

Spread onion on the bottom of the pie crust. Sprinkle the tomato over the crust. Pour in cream mixture. Cook for about 30 minutes in 375 degree oven.

PS, if the image looks dark or light or a strange color cast, I apologize. I forgot to calibrate this laptop before we left home.

Where Are The Chocolate Chips?

I don't have a Houston kitchen anymore but it wouldn't feel like Christmas if I didn't do a bit of cooking. So yesterday at Son #1's house I make my "famous" pecan sandies and fudge.

The pecan sandy recipe came from a Better Homes and Garden recipe book I received when we married. Over the years it has been modified a bit but it is one of my favorites and it is a favorite of my daughter-in-law #1. (By the Way, the #1, #2 and #3 designations have nothing to do with where they stand with me but have to do with the order that they came into the family) Yesterday daughter-in-law #1 confessed that after she and Son #1 were married, she would sometimes get up during the night when they were visiting and go eat some pecan sandies because she didn't want to be seen putting away so many of them since she was new in the family. That cracked me up. I knew my sons wandered around at night eating cookies and candies but I didn't know she picked up the habit too.

The recipe for Pecan Sandies with my adjustments is pretty simple:
Cream 1 cup of butter
1/2 cup of powdered sugar

Add 1 Tablespoon vanilla and 1 Tablespoon water

Add 2 cups of sifted flour
After it is mixed in add 1 cup + a bit of chopped pecans

Roll into 1-1/2 inch logs and put on ungreased cookie sheet
Bake in 325 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. I don't really time them. When the bottoms start to turn a pale golden brown they are done.

Immediately roll in powdered sugar.

The other thing I made was fudge. Ned's mother always made fudge and she could make it so well. So of course after we married I tried to be a fudge maker. I wasn't too bad until we moved into a house with an electric stove. After that my fudge was either the kind you eat with a spoon or it took a hatchet to break apart. I was the butt of many jokes by my family so I quit making fudge.

Thirty years or so later when we moved into a different house with a gas stove, I gave fudge making another try. Now we aren't talking about just any fudge but Hershey's Cocoa Fudge. The old fashioned recipe with sugar, cocoa and milk. The kind that melts on your tongue as smooth as butter and chocolate but this time I armed myself with a candy thermometer and DA DAAAAAAA......I'm a fudge maker again. The grandsons love fudge just like their father.

So yesterday, I made up these recipes. This morning I called and asked son #1 how he like the fudge. He said it was good but he asked, "Where are the Chocolate chip cookies?"

Oops, I use to have to make about four batches of them to get us through Christmas. So I'm going to be cooking again today. Another batch of pecan sandies, another batch of fudge but this one will have pecans, and at least one batch of Chocolate Chip cookies.

Do you worry?

While out shopping in Houston, I was leaving a parking lot of a big box store. I had to enter a Christmas-busy four-lane road. I stopped at the edge of the parking lot and decided to wait for a bigger break in the on-coming traffic. Hoonnnnnnkkkkk, Hooonnnk from the big black SUV behind me. I looked in the rearview mirror. The woman in the SUV was shaking one fist at me and with the other hand she was giving me a one finger salute. Honk, Honk. I shrugged my shoulders and saw that I had room to enter the road. She gunned her car around me and accelerated to about 50 MPH within the 4 blocks before she had to slam on her breaks to screach to a halt at the light. I pulled up to the light beside her and she was still shaking her fist at me. The light changed and she whipped around the corner accelerating into a residential neighorhood. The thought went through my mind, "At least she only gave me the finger. She didn't pull a gun."

I was talking with my doctor. He asked me about living in Mexico and wanted to know if I worried about my safety there. Later our conversation turned to Houston. He said that the increase in crime in Houston since Katrina was very bad. He told me to be careful because of car jackings and he related a tale of someone at a major intersection near the Galleria who had been carjacked and attacked.

Maybe I should worry while I'm here in Houston.

Contrasts

I've written before about the drive along the Rio Grande in Nuevo Laredo and looking at the differences from one side of the river to the other. I know of someone that blames all the differences on the policies of the USA but I think it is more complex than that and that some of it dates back to the Spanish conquest. But whatever the reasons, here is a link to an article in the New York Times today that contrasts one woman's life on each side of the border.

Living High on the Hog

Living High on the Hog is an American expression for living or eating luxuriously or you might say expensively. Well, High on the Hog so to speak was what we did last night.

I wanted beef, not just any beef but the choice of the choice, corn-fed beef. We can get a pretty good filete de res in San Miguel, but we don't get heavy, aged, corn-fed beef. Houston has a number of speciality steak houses.....Ruth Chris, Mortons, Pappas, Flemings, eXhibit, Capitol Grill, Vic & Anthony's and I'm sure there are some other high end steak houses. We chose Flemings because it was close by some shopping we were doing.

From the minute you go through the door you feel pampered. And not that false bouncy, Cheerleader kind of greeting, "Hi, I'm Christy and I'll be your waitperson tonight." It is in an adult voice.....more like, "Welcome to Flemings."

The decor was clubby. Lots of mahogany woods with black, white tablecloths, candles, low lights, gleaming crystal. Oh, yes it all said luxurious. We were quickly whisked to a table and the person who seated us had already noticed that I had on black slacks. She had a black napkin to offer rather than the white one on the table so I wouldn't stand up later with white lint on my slacks. That was just the beginning to an evening of superb attention to detail and faultless service.

All the waiters were in black slacks and impeccable white shirts with ties. There were no long recitals of specials with complex sauces. Just a few simple explanations of what was on the mixed grill. We asked about sharing some side dishes. That was perfectly acceptable. The wine list was rather long but we decided on a merlot. It was quickly brought to the table and decanted.

I wanted the petite filet mignon and Ned had a prime rib. We shared a salad and a side dish of creamed spinach. The salad was split in the kitchen and plated beautifully. The steak was simply done with salt and pepper and it was cooked perfectly. I savored every mouthful. Water glasses were refilled without notice, plates were whisked away, wine was poured. The service was impeccable.

By the time we left the restaurant was full and the noise level had gone up but you could still talk across the table which is more than I can say for some Houston restaurants. As we were leaving, I told the manager at the front that the dinner had been lovely but was there a problem if sometimes we just wanted to come in for a lighter meal and split orders. She said absolutely not. That they were in the service business and they wanted our business. That sounded good but now that I think about it, I'm not sure that I could pass up a whole petite filet mignon. Besides, living high on the hog isn't something we can do often but it sure was delicious last night.

Checking out Houston

Yesterday, after we unloaded our stuff at the condo we headed off to Goode Company Seafood for some Gumbo. I miss Cajun food in San Miguel. Yesterday's weather, damp and a bit chilly, was perfect for Seafood Gumbo. Shrimp, crab and oysters in a roux rich broth. Delicious.

Then a stop at the grocery store for some basic supplies. I can't get English muffins in San Miguel so of course, they were in the basket. So was Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. Blue Bell beats Hagen Daz or Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Not just a little better but amazingly better.

Last night, fortunately for me, was a meeting of a group of photographers who get together every month to share what they are working on. They invited me to join them. It was nourishment for my soul. Several of them were trying something new. Another had matted prints from a project he had been working on. I had made some 13x19 prints of work that I've done over the last 3 1/2 years in our old Houston neighborhood.

Today was shopping and then meeting Guy and Debbie for dinner at one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, Patrenella's. Great conversation.

I'm so glad we don't have a house in Houston because this trip is really like a vacation. No worrying about the garden, or burned out lights, or cleaning. Just time to shop, visit with family and friends, and check out some of our favorite places in Houston.

On The Other Side II

A couple of other things I want to add to the crossing the border post. I thought that some of my readers who travel across the border by car might be interested in what we saw that was different from when we crossed back in July.

First of all the USA Border Agents are not the same as they were 7 or 8 years ago. Before they seemed welcoming and would even smile or ask a friendly question. Not anymore. The way they stand, the way they wear the uniform, everything about their demeanor is all business. They send a clear signal that jokes and small talk will not be tolerated and that they are prepared to deal decisively with any issue.

There is now some kind of special reserved lane for cars that have been granted permission to cross the border. I'm not sure what the parameters for that are but I'm assuming that it is for cars that travel back and forth everyday for business. If someone knows anything about this, please comment since we are curious about how you obtain permission to zip across the bridge.

At the immigration checkpoint on the other side of Nuevo Laredo headed South there have been changes. It use to be that the trucks stayed to the left and the cars went to the right to go through that checkpoint. This has changed and now the cars go to the left and the trucks go right. There are new "guard houses" and it looks more efficient and business like but I'll let you know more about it when we go South. Coming North at that checkpoint, they have built a huge truck checkpoint with a large office building. Everytime we've come North for the last year, we've expect to see that it has gone into operation but it hasn't. The lights and everything seem to be in place but so far it just sits there.

At the old bridge toll booths in Nuevo Laredo there are signs about cancelling your car permits but we couldn't figure out how that worked. I think I would still head down to the place where you get the permits and visas along the river to be sure that the cancellation got recorded on the computer. Well as sure as you can ever be that the cancellation gets recorded. And whatever you do be sure you get an official paper with stamps and signatures that the permit was cancelled and then keep that cancellation paper forever and ever! We personally know too many
horror stories of cancellation problems and not being able to bring another car back into Mexico.

On The Other Side

Traffic across the border both North and South is high. We do this trip several times a year but this time was the most travelers we have seen. Every one of the big filling stations was flooded with vehicles, mostly big SUV's or big pickups or vans, topped with cargo carriers, or stuff tied on to the top and covered in tarps. Bringing presents home to family in Mexico. There were also some really big caravans of used cars being driven south. I don't know if they end up in Mexico or continue on down to Belize, Guatamala, Honduras.....Central America.

At the border it took us a little more than an hour in line to get to the border agents on the USA side of Bridge II in Laredo. After taking a look at Taylor and deciding he wasn't an illegal sleeping on the back seat, we were granted permission to re-enter the USA. I don't know why I always feel a little anxious about crossing back into the USA but I do. We are spending the night in Laredo and will be back in Houston early tomorrow afternoon.

Traveling Heavy

We always say we are going to travel light when we head back to Texas. I don't know why that doesn't work. I carefully plan my clothes. One carry-on suitcase and an overnight bag. That isn't bad. Ned does the same thing. So now we have two suitcases and two small bags, camera bag.....well yes, I can't go anywhere with out the camera. Still not too bad.

But between that and leaving something happens. We decide we need the dog's crate because we are staying in a friends condo and we don't want him loose when we aren't there. Then there is the dog's bag with food, bowls, brushes, etc. And of course, we have to take the laptop. Another briefcase for the business files we "may" need. A backpack for some books....I can't go anywhere without some books in the car. An ice chest for lunch and some sodas.....well, okay a beer or two for Ned. A sack with snacks. Jackets and sweaters because you never can tell what the weather will be like along the way. And so it goes.

There is just one problem. When we come back all of this will come back with us plus my list of stuff to bring back. This time it is a long list. Thank God, Ned is a master packer.

Digital Holga II

I had an email from Ted Orland whose photograph I included in the first entry on the holga/digital lens and I thought that for you holga enthusiast you might enjoy his email. He was going to leave it for a comment but had trouble with adding the comment so he gave me permission to post it in the blog. But his reply is giving me hope that the holga lens cap for my Canon 5D is going to be the answer!

Hi Billie,

I've been using my Holganon 20D for about two weeks now, and I couldn't be happier!

To answer your first question: No, there is absolutely no chance that the Canon body cap will accidentally unscrew itself -- there's considerably more friction than needed to keep it firmly in place.On the other hand, it's absurdly easy to entirely unscrew the lens itself as you focus closer. With the lens racked all the way in, so to speak, it's still focused slightly FURTHER AWAY than "infinity" (another Holga first!), so you have to rack it out a bit just to get distant mountains in focus. That also means that the minimum focusing distance is further away -- I think about 5 or 6 feet. If you try to focus closer than that you rack the lens out so far that is simply comes off the end of the focusing barrel.

I'd recommend getting a little set of 49mm "Plus" lenses to hold in front of the lens for closer subjects.The other thing I've had to contend with is that I've always seen the world in wide-angle format, as it were, and the sensor in digital cameras, being much smaller than 120 film format, effectively convert the Holga lens into the equivalent of a 75mm lens on a 35mm. The Holga camera itself yields square-format pics, of course, but as a generalization it's about the equivalent of a 24 or 28 mm lens on a 35mm. If you want to achieve that wider angle of view using the lens on the Canon, you need to buy a Kenko (brand) 0.42x auxillary lens (they're made for camcorders), model KUW-042 w/46mm thread. You can order one online from B&H for 49.95 -- though you might want to wait and see whether the telephoto effect bothers you before you spend the extra money. If you DO buy the auxillary lens, you also need to buy a 46mm skylight filter, knock the glass out of it, and wedge it onto the front of the Holga lens so you can then screw on and remove the auxillary lens easily.

And oh, I agree with you about the Lens Baby -- it just doesn't create the same ambiance as the Holga lens.

Well, good luck -- email me a pic or two (or alert me to go to your blog) when you begin getting results you like!
Cheers, Ted O

Digital Holga

For almost nine months I've had my holgas sitting in boxes along with film and along with the chemistry to process black and white film. I haven't used a holga during that nine months. I haven't even loaded one roll of film in one of the cameras. Lazy? Probably. But the thought of loading the camera, taping it up, unloading, processing the film and then scanning the film, all of this before I can even start to look at what I have on the film. It just seems overwhelming.

But there are things that are just calling to me...."Shoot me with the Holga." I've tried the lensbaby....it isn't a holga. I've tried software that is suppose to make a regular image look like a holga....no holga individualism about that. I've tried to Photoshop digital files to be a holga.....still not a holga.

I had been looking at finding a way to use a holga lens on my Canon 5D. I found that Holgamods has mounted a holga lens on a Canon lens cap but lens caps don't "lock-on" on like a lens does and that worried me. What if it fell off and I got dust in the camera.

But after seeing several images like the one above by Ted Orland, in a gallery on Holgamod's website, I ordered this lens/lens cap assembly last night.

This morning I read that it is official.....at least in Kansas City.....that you can't get professional film processed after January 1, 2007. As it becomes more difficult to find a place to process film how much longer will we even have film to process. How can this be happening so fast? If I can get the film, I could process it in my little daylight tank but I can't process medium format color negative film.

So, I'm really hoping that this holga lens assembly is going to work on the 5D. I need a digital Holga. Keep your fingers crossed.

It is the Little Things

It is the little things that make me love San Miguel de Allende. Simple things. But it makes everything seem right with the world.

Tonight we walked up to Ancha de San Antonio to eat at Los Faroles. Faroles is a tiny place that serves delicious tacos. They open at 7:00 PM....more or less. Usually a little later. When we walked in the waitress smiled and told Ned that tonight they had beans. Of course, they were out of beer but she knew that he also liked the beans and they don't always have them. Between us we had 9 tacos, one bean soup, and 2 sodas. It cost us 90 pesos including a 15% tip.

Just as we finished eating some friends walked by and we talked for a while and caught up on what is happening. They have family coming to San Miguel for Christmas and we are headed to Texas to be with family for Christmas. We wished them Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and promised to get together after the first of the year.

Just as we got home we heard fireworks. We watched them from the terrace.....a castillo and rockets. We could see them really well because they were in front of the San Juan de Dios Mercado. We don't know what the occasion was. But it doesn't make any difference. It is just another one of those little things that bring delight to our daily lives in San Miguel.

Adobe Surprise

Adobe has announced a beta release of PhotoShop Creative Suite 3. WOW. I wasn't expecting CS3 until March or so. But what makes me very happy is that it seems like the controls found in Lightroom will be in the new version of Camera Raw. This is really good news because I've been using Lightroom Beta to convert RAW files and it does a better job than the current Camera Raw.

Adobe, thank you for the early Christmas Present.

New Feature

I added a new feature to the blog today......PHOTOGRAPHY BLOGS. I follow a number of photography blogs and I guess that I have several readers who also like photography so I thought you might want to check out the sites.

I changed Mexican blogs to BLOGS - SOUTH OF THE BORDER because I've found a blog or two in Central America that I wanted to add. Take a look at La Gringa.

Take Out

Since we still don't have a working kitchen, we are eating out or doing take out. There are several places just a few doors from our house in Colonia San Antonio.

Tonight it was tamales from the door just on the other side of the barber shop. I had a tamale with red sauce and cheese. Another with a green sauce and pork. And a sweet tamale. It had some strawberry sauce and raisins. Ned stuck with the tamales with meat and sauce. They are so good. Just the right combination of masa, sauce and meat. Better than we get in Houston. The masa here is coarser and lighter. That may not make sense but in Houston the masa is finer and seems more like a wet dough.

The house next door to us sells tripe tacos and sometimes on Sunday Menudo. I have to admit that we haven't tried the tripe tacos but lots of people stop there to buy them. Sometime the people do take out and sometimes they sit just inside the door or outside or in their cars to eat. It is a favorite of the SAPASMA guys who work at night. That is our water department. We think that maybe these tacos are so good that the water guys just don't quite fix the water leaks in the streets so that every few nights they will be called out and they will have an excuse to stop in for tacos. We have had the Menudo and it was good.

This is the car wash during the day and a restaurant at night. We can get great quesadillas, gorditas, tacos and a few other things. They always have about five or six fillings for these tasty treats. The quesadillas with pork and green sauce is pretty spicy but they are some of the best quesadillas I've ever eaten.

Juanita's Pizza is just around the corner. Really good thin crust Pizza, good salads and good lasagna with either spinach or meat sauce. One night this week we shared a cesar salad and a meat lasagna. It was enough for two.

It is nice to live in a neighborhood with so many conveniences.

The Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe

The Holga Vision

What is it about a Holga Camera that lets a photographer see just a little differently? This question came to mind this morning while I was looking at the website for Photomedia Center's 2006 Holga Show.

Almost all of the images in the show are square. The exceptions are several panorama images that are double, triple or more continuous exposures on the film strip. But that isn't enough to make the difference.
Is it because the Holga almost feels like a throwaway camera, so we tilt and point and click?
Is it because we just choose different subject matter with the Holga in our hands?
Is it because we know we may have light leaks so we stop worrying?
Is it because we have almost no control over the camera?
Is it because the person we are photographing doesn't feel intimidated by equipment and plays along with the image making?
Is it because the lens is plastic?
Is it because we will probably get vignetting?
Is it because the colors are a little distorted or grainy?
Is it because the image often looks like something from an old photo album?
Is it because the image may not be sharp anywhere?

What do you think? What about the Holga seems to encourage a different vision?

Navigation

I've been to two websites today to look at photographs and neither one has a way to navigate from one image to another. The only way to see the next image was to go back to the "Home" page and click on the next image thumbnail. I guess I'm just impatient, I gave up before I looked at all of the images.

They either need forward/backward arrows or to be able to click on a slide show feature or both. I don't know what needs to be done to fix these websites but I wish they'd do it!

The Exterminator

Yucatan Living blog had an entry about insects in the Yucatan and it reminded me of an insect or two we found in our house when we bought it. Yes, we saw a few roaches and a scorpion or two. Yikes!

So I asked around about exterminators and we do have exterminators here in San Miguel. I called one of them that a friend had used and he came over.

After opening a few cabinet doors, he started telling us how serious the situation was....now mind you we had only seen one or two roaches scurry when we turned on the light but we knew that we needed to do something before those two started having babies.

The exterminator grew very serious. He asked us what color the scorpions were. We said brown. He grew even more serious and told us that those were the worst kind. He said that he had to use very expensive chemicals that he imported from France and it was going to cost us $40 and then he would have to come back every couple of weeks to retreat for a while to be sure that the roaches and scorpions were gone.

Ned and I looked at each other and surpressed our giggles. We thanked him for his time and showed him to the door.

Hey, we are from one of the roach capitals, Houston, Texas, semi-tropical Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. We know a bit about roaches.

Ned bought Home Defense from Home Depot and sprayed the kitchen and where we had seen the scorpions. He has sprayed a few times since then. We don't have roaches or scorpions.

Hummmm.....imported chemicals from France? Treat every two weeks for a while?

We may be gringos but we can recognize a scam.

The Cabinets

Friends and family, we have kitchen cabinets!

Yesterday we had the car out and were leaving to go to Guanajuato to look for tiles when we saw the carpintero. He said he was delivering the cabinets in about an hour. Needless to say, we turned around and headed home.

For those of you in the USA, I wish you could experience this process. And those of you in Mexico or maybe other places in Central America, you know what I'm about to write about. Our astonishment and sometimes dismay at how it is done, is in part....maybe totally....due to cultural and construction practice differences and most of the time we are left scratching our heads as to why it was done the way it was done. But it gets done.

The carpintero and the muebles (which is what the carpinteros called the kitchen cabinets) arrived in a mixta taxi which is a small pickup truck that is used to transport goods and sometimes people too. Everything was unloaded and then the fun began and lasted into the afternoon.

First of all each section of the cabinet is made just like a dresser with backs and sides. So they cut a large hole in the back of the cabinet that goes under the sink so that the water pipes could be connected. Then they cut another hole in that section because the electrical meter extends into the house under the cabinets. Next we try setting the sink in the cabinet. The sink was to be in the center of the window but it wasn't in the center of the window. No problem, they take a planer and plane away some of the frame so that the sink would be in the center of the window.

Are you starting to get the idea? Instead of bringing in the table saw and equipment, attaching the frame work to the walls, and building the doors and drawers to fit in the frame work, you make the cabinets off site and then carve them up to make them fit. And making them fit isn't easy because there are not standard construction practices. We still had a little problem with one L-shaped corner of the cabinets and fixing them so that the doors and drawers would open all the way. No problem, they set up the cabinets with some spaces between them and today they came back and added in some wood to cover the spaces. Of course, I had told them two days ago that those corners would need an inch added. They only added about 1/3 of an inch before they brought the cabinets. Oh, well.

The list of how all of this was done could go on for several more paragraphs but I think you get the idea. The color of the cabinets turned out nicely but the wood that they get here in Mexico isn't the best. I'm sure that you can get a higher quality of wood but then I don't know if we can afford it. The carpinteros did a nice job and no matter what problem they encountered it was "No problema." They just figured out a way to make it work. The drawers have the kind of slide hardware we get in the USA and I think they are going to work nicely. The finish looks great with the stainless appliances. Today, the people from the granite company in Queretaro came and took measurements. They say they will try to have the granite tops back and installed on Thursday.

We still need to make the upper cabinets and the cabinets for the dining room but when we get back after New Years we can start to use the kitchen. All in all, I'm pleased and we are a big step closer to finishing this project.

Mexican Citizen

I think we have a Mexican Citizen in the family.

This morning at 6:00 AM, we had fireworks....the rocket kind of fireworks that rattle the town and light up the sky. Taylor, the cocker spaniel, has never liked the fireworks during the night. First you would hear him turning around in his bed, then maybe walking around the room, then he would jump on the side of the bed....my side of the bed because he knows who will take pity on him. I always picked him up, put him up in the bed and let him curl up against my legs. Then he felt safe and went right back to sleep. It is a fact that dogs know, if you are next to your human, then fireworks can't hurt you.

When the fireworks started, I could hear Taylor's soft snore. I thought that in a minute or two his front paws would be on the side of the bed by my head. I listened. His snore stopped but he didn't move. More fireworks......more booms. Before the fireworks had stopped, once again I heard his soft snore.

I think Taylor has stopped worrying about the fireworks. I think he has become a Mexican citizen.

Sad News

I wrote about Sandy and Phil Fleming's daughter Kati, her husband James Kim and their children being lost in the mountains in Oregon. You've probably seen the reports on the news. After being stranded for days in the snow, James left the family to try to walk for help. While he was gone a helicopter found Kati and the girls. James Kim did not make it. His body was found yesterday. He made a heroic effort to save his family.

I've been looking at this photograph all week. It was made by my friend Sandy. She gave it to me. It hangs in my house. She painted the picture of her grandmother and set up this scene. There is something very poignant about this image in light of what has happened in the family. My heart goes out to Sandy and Phil and Kati Kim and to those precious babies.

Life is so unpredictible and sometimes so short. A reminder that we need to live each day to its fullest and give all the love we can to those we hold dear.

Sleep On It

Tuesday morning, 4:00 AM ....seemingly deep in sleep, then suddenly eyes wide open. Awake! My brain had something to tell me.

"There is a problem with the kitchen cabinets. The drawers in the new cabinets can't open past the pulls on the drawers of the cabinets that are at 90 degree angles to them. "

"How can that be? We measured everything."

"Yes, but you made a change. The carpenters gave you the measurements for the frame around the cabinets but that measurement was for doors that are recessed into the frame. You decided to have the door and drawer fronts on the front of the frame like cabinets are made in the USA. Now there isn't enough room for them to clear the knobs on the drawers and doors of the cabinets at a 90 degree angle to them when you try to open them."

"Yes, Brain, I think you are right. We didn't increase the size of the frame when we made that change. What can we do?"

"Well, I've been processing some possible solutions........"

Sleep was over but I resisted the urge to punch Ned and tell him, "We gotta problem." At 6:30 I got out of bed to check the drawings and write in my journal.

Why? Why does my brain work like this in the middle of the night. This isn't something new for me. I've always problem solved during sleep. Sometimes problem solve problems that I haven't articulated.

As soon as we could Tuesday morning we went to the carpenters with la arquitecta. Sure enough the problem was exactly as my brain told me. We spent the morning figuring out some solutions in addition to the ones that my brain had suggested. One of the solutions that cost the least amount of money and time hinged on being able to find pulls with a short profile. With La arquitecta we headed up from Prolongacion Pila Seca to Aldama to a store where I had seen some pulls that I liked. Those would not work. So back to the carpenters. La Arquitecta had another appointment and she had to leave.

The carpenter offered to go back with us to the house to measure for the changes we were going to make to be sure that they would not make the stove off center under the "hood." Good the changes will be okay, at least the measurements will work if we can find the right pulls.

From the house, we walked back to Ancha de San Antonio to go to Don Pedro. Don Pedro had some pulls that we thought would work. We wanted to buy a couple to take back to the carpenter to try but Don Pedro told us that we could take them and when we came back to buy the rest we could pay for them. This wouldn't happen at a Home Depot.

By this time it is 2:30. We're hungry. We stopped at Juancho's on Orizaba for comida before we head back to the carpenter. Cream of mushroom soup, beef with poblanos, tomatoes, potatoes and carrots, salad, rice, beans and flan.....35 pesos.

At the carpenters, we try the new pulls, along with the changes we made to the cabinets. By this time it is 3:30, I'm really tired but it is going to be okay thanks to my night-time brain.

Dealing with Criticism

Last Sunday night on 60 Minutes on CBS, there was a segment about a marvelous pianist, Gabriela Montero who improvises with the Classics, much like a Jazz rift. Hear her play here. Her story was quite amazing. She started playing the piano at 18 months of age. But the thing that jumped out at me was that she almost quit playing because when she was just entering her teens her teacher questioning her talent because of her improvisations.

"I was told that there was nothing special about it. In a way, almost making it sound like it was embarrassing. And in classical music, there was no space for this. So I didn't. And I started to feel ashamed," she recalls. Yet she dutifully rehearsed the classics, note for note. But as her teen years gave way to young adulthood, she soured on the musical life altogether. "Those were the hard years. Those were the years where I really lost my way," she says. For two years, she didn't touch a piano. She became a nomad.....

Have you ever felt ashamed when your work was criticised. Don't misunderstand, the criticism that damages our creative spirit isn't constructive, it is the kind that disparages or dismisses our efforts. It is the kind of criticism that nitpicks at details. That takes the joy from a new project.

The first time I went to the Portfolio Reviews at FotoFest back when I just starting to be serious with my photography, the first reviewer who looked at my work of the 16th Century Mexican Churches, leaned back in her chair and said, "Oh, no! Mexico! It is so overdone." And then muttered something about me not even being Mexican. Well fortunately, that wasn't the only review that I had. Nor did it reflect the opinion of some of my peers who encouraged me. Otherwise, I might have abandoned a project that brought me great joy and also recognition.

Gabriela was a child. She didn't know how to protect herself. We have to find a way to deal with these events that are going to happen in our artistic lives because we need a safe place for our art to grow from just an idea. We mustn't let a criticism sour a project or even worse, make us stop altogether. Gabriela Montero sought the advise of Martha Argerich who many consider the greatest living pianist. She found a mentor. She found a way back to her music.

We have to find a few friends and mentors with whom we can show new work, to talk with about our work. I had that in Texas but it has been harder to find here in San Miguel. That is why every time I go back to Texas there are some people that I try really hard to see. My photography friends in Austin and a group in Houston that get together once a month. They never dismiss or disparage. After a visit with them, I feel encouraged and energized from showing my work and from seeing theirs.

Children

Wisdom says that we raise our children to be independent people and I guess most of us succeed in that but that doesn't mean that we, as parents, ever really let go. They are always our "kids." Doesn't make any difference if they are parents themselves, or Project Managers, or CFO's, or business owners. We still feel responsible for them. We want to keep them safe. And then if they become parents, that feeling is extended to our grandchildren.

I can't begin to imagine what my friends, Phil and Sandy Fleming have been through in the last week. You may have seen the story on TV about James and Kati Kim and their two young daughters who disappeared in bad weather in Oregon as they returned from a Thanksgiving trip. Kati is Phil and Sandy's daughter. Kati and the girls were rescued yesterday but the search is still on for James who set out on foot for help. I know that Phil and Sandy will not rest until all the family is back together again.

Both Phil and Sandy are photographers. I have one of Sandy's images on my wall. I keep seeing the image and saying a prayer for James.

Sunday Breakfast

Are you a breakfast person? We are. Always have been and I don't mean a grab a breakfast bar or bowl of cereal breakfast people. I mean a real meal as soon as it can be prepared after we get out of bed. Our sons were raised with a breakfast on the table.....eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, juice, toast, biscuits....good old stick to your ribs food. Of course, now they say that it is a wonder they have lived as long as they have with those kinds of breakfasts.

Although we don't officially have a kitchen, just a toaster, coffee pot, hot plate and microwave on the patio, we eat breakfast in most days. Some days it is pan dulce from the bakery around the corner, some days toast and fruit, some days Ned makes scrambled eggs and gets us fresh tortillas. But it isn't the same as having a real kitchen breakfast. So we have taken to going out a day or two a week for breakfast.

Today we headed out, not sure where we would have breakfast. Juancho's around the corner isn't open on Sunday. We thought that Xoconoxtle on Ancha might be a little too cool. We headed on into the Centro realizing that the breakfast places might be busy because Friday was a holiday due to the Inauguration of Mexico's new President so lots of Mexicans took advantage of the long weekend. Parroquia Cafe has great breakfasts but it was full and people were waiting for tables. So the next stop was the San Francisco Cafe.....again a line of people waiting. We looked at the menu there and it was just as well that we didn't want to wait. Most of the egg dishes were about 70 or 75 pesos. More than we want to spend for breakfast. Same thing at San Augustin across from the San Francisco church. Actually all of this worked out perfectly because we ended up where we wanted to be anyway at one of our favorite places for breakfasts, The Cafe Colon on Mesones. Great breakfast including coffee for $30 pesos. Ned has huevos albanil and I had the chiliquiles en salsa verde. Next time maybe, just maybe, we will try the restaurant next door, El Infierno which also has a 30 peso breakfast but Cafe Colon will be hard to beat.

Thinking Outside My Box

The renovation of the kitchen is reminding me that sometimes I need a Whack on the Side of the Head so that I start to think outside the box that I have made for myself. I've had some good ideas about how I want to "decorate" the kitchen with granite, tiles and colors. They would work. They would work, that is, if I could pull all the pieces together. But it ain't happening.

If you've been reading along with this blog you know I've been trying to get some sample tiles made up. The design is a done deal. It is a standard design for the tile company. All I want is for the colors to be changed. But we have been through four or five samples and every time it is as if I didn't communicate what I wanted. And I'm talking to another fluent English speaker. Each round of samples takes at least a week if not two weeks. I'm a little slow but I've finally realized that I need to get another plan...outside my box.

The carpenter has been making samples of stained wood for me. The one I liked best was a darker color. It was a nice contrast to the granite and I thought it would look good with the stainless steel appliances. But the sample he had was alcohol based rather than oil based and all of the carpenters say that the oil based finishes are better especially in a kitchen. So far out of 6 or 7 samples we don't have a color that comes close to matching the darker alcohol based sample. If I want contrast with the granite and I can't get darker, try something lighter than the granite....like a pickled white. I'm a little slow but I've finally realized that I need to get another plan....outside my box.

Do you find yourself in situations like this? You have put together a plan and when that plan isn't working you go into problem solving mode for that plan because at that point you are determined to make it work. You are invested in that plan. You have a single minded vision about that plan.

Are you, like me, a hard-headed person who can be determined and stubborn and By God, you'll get it done whatever the cost? When maybe what you need is a new plan. But you have to step outside of the box you have made for yourself before you can see new possibilities.

Why Alec Soth Blogs

I'm an Alec Soth Blog groupie. I check in every morning to see if he has a new post and then during the day I may check back to read any comments that have been posted. Alec is a artist who has published a couple of books, Sleeping by the Mississippi and Niagara. He is a photographer with wide-ranging interests in art and literature. I'm learning a lot from reading his blogs and following links.

I found his blog just about the time he started it back at the beginning of September. Joerg Colberg has interviewed Alec on Why He Blogs.

They discuss how blogs about photography have really taken off recently and Alec says that blogging has become his "smokey loft" where he can become involved in conversations about the aesthetics of art and about other photographers. From here in Mexico, I'm loving all the photography blogs and links I'm finding because I was feeling disconnected from the photographic community. Not any more. Now most of the time I am in overload and I'm going to have to become more selective in the blogs I check on regularly. But I assure you that Alec's blog will not be eliminated.

Is Digital Photography Different?

For someone who has always used film cameras, especially large format or medium format cameras, the move to digital is difficult. It is difficult, not because they can't quickly master the technical stuff, but difficult because it changes much of the process of making their art. What they have seen is someone with a hand-size camera running through memory cards with the speed of a machine gun fire. Certainly large format image making is a slow process....time to observe and find the image, time to adjust the camera, time to insert to the film holders....all done with deliberation. Medium format image making is a little faster but typically those who shoot with a medium format camera also spend more time observing and making deliberate images. And there is also just the process...processing the film, looking at the negs, making contact sheets, making work prints. For most of us who have done that, there is a magic in some of these processes that we hate to give up.

Today, my friend Gloria Baker Feinstein wrote in her blog about her concerns of using a digital camera. It is a very thoughtful blog entry from a thoughtful and observant photographer who is betwix and between film and digital capture. I quote a small piece of the entry so I hope that you will go read it for yourself.

I just hope we digital shooters don't forget that we still have to do the thinking, yes, even though cameras these days claim to do it all themselves. Patience, thoughtfulness, a keen sense of observation, and oh, yes, heart... I don't think even the most mega-pixeled camera on the market today can offer any of these features.

She is so right. Just because we change from film cameras to digital cameras, if we leave behind patience, thoughtfulness, a keen sense of observation and heart, we will have left behind the making of our own images.