Posting this late because I could not find it in my camera roll.

I need to have quick access to show it off!

Joan

323-828-8334 

The hard part...

What's left is the sky.... and the white edges that don't make sense!

Progress on Pearblossom Highway

I like the way this looks - a bit deconstructed. Well, maybe more than a bit...

Another Phone Post

David Hockney tribute

Pearblossom Highway #2 in 1000 pieces on my dinette table.

Listening to interviews with David Hockney while putting it back together. 

What a creative, undaunting mind. 

Homely photos

I make a homely photo each time I reformat the memory cart in one of my digital cameras. These are just quick snapshots - scenes around the house or out the window or in the garden. One shutter click and a quick peek to confirm that the card is working and that the image is the only one in memory. 
This is a particularly nice homely photo because it has some personal treasures. The scene is the pendulum box of my grandparents' clock, where over the years I have collected this and that: a photo of Kate the dog in the yard on Cashio Street, a "genko" leaf print made by my young nephew, a now-cracked Pyrex custard cup that held a little kerosene when the clock hung in Grandma Jones's kitchen, the clock key close at hand, one of Alice's handmade angels bearing an American flag, a sheet of  Saguaro National Park patches gifted by a dear friend. I don't remember how three 10¢ postage stamps appeared here but I suspect I just needed a place to store the surplus stamps and since they bear a clock face...

Each homely photo becomes my virtual backstop. On a busy day in the field, I can scroll through a collection of fresh captures and when I arrive at the homely photo, I know I'm home. Sometimes it's a klinker and just tells me to stop scrolling. But when the photo is a satisfying image, it becomes a comfort and I'm back home on Cashio Street. 

In Janet's garden

A butterfly in the making!

 

Out and About in LA90035

Tree shadow like lace on the concrete sidewalk on my walk home.

 

LA90035

I was afraid I'd missed the Matilija Poppies in the neighborhood while I was visiting Yosemite but they're here now! 

 

Max Yavno feeling at Beverly Hills Farmers Market

Where are my shoes?

They are everywhere. 

Next to the bed, maybe I stepped out of them to tuck in for the night.

In front of the bed where I apparently left them as I undressed (and possible donned some other footwear). In front of the closet door. Really? Did I open the closet and choose a different pair?

A pair of sandals is understandably under my desk in the living room. I slipped them off while working there and padded around barefoot. I don't remember but I bet when my feet got cold, I went into the bedroom and slipped into something to warm my feet up again.

This is what living alone for 42 years looks like. 

New Pinhole with Extra

Madrona Marsh, Tuesday, April 14, 2026 

I think I got a good one this time. Actually, two images. That I blended to make a panorama. 

It appeals to me. 

Some Early Results from Photo Experimentation

I've been in a photo slump - not very engaged or productive. I thought I needed a change of mindset and tried a return to a long-ago interest: pinhole photography. I didn't throw all the way back to a film camera though (maybe later). Rather I started playing around with fabricating a pinhole in the body cap for one of my first Sony digital camera bodies. Soon after I graduated to a professionally machined, perfectly smooth pinhole. Thank you, Thingyfy.

Below is a little gallery of early efforts.  I'm not ready to print these but I'm moving in the right direction. 

I don't often include people in my photos but sometimes 

they bring a bit of drama to the scene. 

(Sony Nex-5, 1/3 second at ISO 1600)

I increased the saturation on this one, working to pull a little life from the dew drops. 

(Sony Nex-5, 1 second at ISO 1600)

First light at Malibu Creek State Park can be magical.

(Sony Nex-5, 1/3 second at ISO 1600)

One of our cohort became a mysterious spirit when she strode 

around my tripod and through the frame wearing a white hat.

(Sony Nex-5, 2.5 seconds at ISO 1600)

Another day and a different camera

The pinhole is sharpest in close range. 

(Sony a6000, 1/20 second at ISO 3200)

What a California day

Had a function in Burbank, so I shopped Costco and REI then headed home. Google maps took me south on Cahuenga for this view. 

A new take on Malibu Creek State Park

A foggy morning on the Grasslands Trail.

For more looks on this trail on this day, see my Flickr Album Grasslands Trail - Malibu Creek State Park

It happened again

Every year in January, these sweet, tiny hardenbergia flowers on our back fence grab my attention. 

LACMA's opening is coming

Took a walk during a dry moment and approached the LACMA construction from the south on Spaulding. Great progress since I last passed by. 

2026 is here

I'm eating black-eyed peas, brown rice, and spicy collard greens for good luck, prosperity and good health. 

I'm good to go in the new year.