Junkee

You probably have a hip little store or two like this in your town. You just have to search around a bit. Junkee Clothing Exchange is new to Reno and a splendid addition to our town. Half of the store is "antique" furniture and do-dads, while the other half is devoted to recycled clothing. And (because this is Reno, after all) a special Burner Boutique for Burning Man costumes and accessories.

You can bring in your old clothes from noon-4PM for the buyer to look over. This is a great way to clean out your closets.

When I stopped by yesterday, the place was buzzing with customers, both male and female. I made it out without actually spending any money this time. While I am totally fascinated with looking at all this, I have cured myself of needing to own it.

Lavender Ridge

Bee on Lavender, originally uploaded by c8mills.

I hit one of those moments of pure photo joy playing with my camera at Lavender Ridge the other day. The lighting was very interesting, murky but golden, due to the smoky air. It looks terrible at a distance, but the close ups were fantastic.

The bees practical frolic among the budding lavender, ignoring my presence completely. You can put the lens right up next to them and they don't mind at all. And the aroma is intoxicating!

Lavender Ridge is a small farm on the corner of Mayberry and 4th Street. Stop by if you can, now while the lavender is at the peak. They have quite a business going with the sale of lavender plants, garden parties, and a wonderful, surprisingly extensive, gift shop.

Frank Lloyd Wright

One of the gems of Reno is the Nevada Museum of Art. Right now they have a show about architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision. I have an interest in design, so I decided to go. Wow, oh WOW, was I impressed! They don’t allow photography, so you’ll have to visualize (or visit before July 20^th).

FLW was the first American architect to take the whole organic process of design and apply it to make comfortable living spaces. There is an underlying unity and order that bring harmony into the home. He created open spaces, took away walls, had large walls of glass windows to connect with nature outside. He pioneered the green practices of passive solar, radiant heat, recycled glass, and living roofs. He basically established the kind of houses we live in today, a hundred years later.

These are the things that impressed me the most:

A tall slender “weed holder” ~ a vase for holding garden cuttings.

Light screens ~ a light box “window” made of stained glass with an edgy design.

Extremely tall dining room chairs ~ the chair backs create an enclosure around the guests, making an intimate “room” within the room.

As a side note, his personal life was tragic, but fascinating: he moved to Chicago right after the Great Fire of 1871. After marrying and fathering 6 children, he fell in love with another man's wife, and they eloped to Europe. She was later ax-murdered along with two children and others on his estate while it burned. His next wife was a morphine addict. He fell in love with another woman, had a child, and was arrested for violating the Mann Act. His home burned again.

My favorite quote: I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.

The Arboretum at Rancho San Rafael Park in Reno is a wonderland of spring bursting forth right now. Every time I go there I renew my love of it and think that I'll go all the time and it ends up being once in the spring and once in the fall, when I realize that I haven't been there all summer. My goal is to go every Tuesday for many weeks, sometimes early in the morning, sometimes in the evening, until it gets too hot and all the flowers fade. I want to watch the progression of the blooms and keep my eye out for things that would work in my garden. And as always, there are tons of photo opportunities.

Artist Date: Pottery World

Quite by fluke, I found myself in Pottery World, which seems like a separate world of its own. Christmas season feels real here. The store clerks merrily hum along to the Christmas carols playing in the background. A lovely café serves great food, the customers laughing and chatting, with big smiles all round.

I had very limited time, so I found myself running back and forth from display to display. Different areas are set up as rooms, each having a different color or theme. The garden area surrounding the colossal oak, features fountains and pottery galore. I tried so many different camera settings, challenging myself to look for ideas and lighting options quickly. I am pretty happy with how some of them came out.

Artist Date: Cabela’s

I’m not sure that this qualifies for a true artist’s date because I was with a lot of other people, so I wasn’t concentrating as much as I should have been and also I am disturbed by the dead animal element to this store. But on the other hand, the opportunity to take close up shots of intensely beautiful animals (who poise perfectly still) is too tempting.

Cabela’s claims to be the world’s largest outdoor outfitter, which means they specialize in hunting and fishing equipment. They have everything you can think of, and a lot more than you could ever imagine. My personal favorite was the "Slip On Butt Cover" (for your gun, of course). The grand opening was last weekend at the new Boomtown store. We waited until Monday night to let the crowds clear out a little.

The overall impression as you enter is commanding. Your eye naturally goes past all of the clothing, equipment, and checkstands, to the soaring ceilings and chandeliers, following along until coming to rest on a large African Elephant in the center. Among the sale items there is a café, a large arcade-type shooting range, an archery range, and a gigantic aquarium with native species, and endless dead stuffed animals, which are called “mounts,” for whatever reason. No matter what your opinion on game hunting, it is, without a doubt, very impressive.

Photography Field Trip: Donner Lake

Donner Lake, originally uploaded by c8mills.

I realize that I’ve mentioned Donner Lake a few times and many of you may not understand the significance of this place in my life. You may have heard of the Donner Party, notorious for rumored cannibalism in 1847. This is the place were it happened; they were trapped by an October snowstorm, making it impossible to get over the summit.

The lake itself is about three miles long at 6000 feet in elevation. Its beauty lies in the water’s deep coloring, surrounded by pine forest and spectacular granite mountain peaks. When we had a house here, I walked in the State Park at least five days a week, three seasons out of the year. I miss it desperately.

Today, I was looking forward to taking my favorite walk, until I realized that the temperature was dropping fast and the winds were about 40 mph. It is downright dangerous to walk alone through a pine forest in winds like that, not only do the dead trees fall over, but the five pound pinecones fly through the air like hand grenades.

So, a little change of course, I went to the east end of the lake for some dramatic photos of the whitecap waves. I tucked under the canopy where it was a little more sheltered and took some photos of things on the forest floor, like pinedrops, desiccated tree trunks, light playing in small aspen trees. I heard a funny noise, I thought possibly it was a dog yelp, and looked around the corner. A couple was swimming! It’s about 48 degrees and WINDY! The water must have been about 50 degrees. How could they stand it?

No way was I taking my usual route along the shoreline, so I went toward the campground instead. This is where the original camps were and it’s an eerie feeling to be there all alone. Followed the path along the creek to the bridge and then decided to take some pictures of the statue. I drove passed this statue everyday and I haven’t taken a photo of it in probably twenty years. It’s George Donner and his wife, Tamsen, who actually never made it this far. They both died about five miles back.

Artist’s Date: Scrapbook Store

I’ll use any excuse to be able to go to the scrapbook store. There used to only be two in all of Reno, and now there are at least seven, with one of the best close to my house! Even if you aren’t into scrapbooking, it’s worth a trip to check out all the potential to add new dimensions to your life. Since I have all the basic tools necessary (cutters, scissors, adhesives), I mostly spend my time looking at paper possibilities, glorious, beautiful colors and textures. Stickers and embellishments occupy my mind too.

If you just look at it as an art supply store, you’ll be amazed at what you can find. Colorful marking pens, and paint, and letter stickers, and eyelets, and ribbons, and more, and more. They usually have a craft corner with tables and die-cut machines that you can use.

At the very least, you simply must get a red-eye pen. It’s a greenish felt tip marker that you dot on red eyes in photos. I’m telling you, my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding album would be a disaster without this vital item. I have a single male friend who likes to take concert photos. He asked me what to do about all the red eyes and I bought him one of these pens, because I really couldn’t see him traipsing through the scrapbook store, asking for one himself. He was very grateful.

Flickr Mosaics

Sunset Colors, originally uploaded by c8mills.

This might give you an idea why I’m so obsessed with Flickr. Look what you can do! I made this mosaic of some of my own photos that have similar sunset colors. You can see more here. You can make mosaics of various compositions, of your own photos, or other people’s photos. I love having contacts of people who leave me nice comments and I get to comment on their photos too. I love being in odd groups to see what other people are taking pictures of. Currently I have photos posted on Cottage Life, Cemeteries, Costa Rica, Baja, Gargoyles, and Concert Photos, among others. Looking at gorgeous photography always inspires me and makes me aware of the beauty out there. I want to grab my camera and run outside. This is the perfect at home artist date.

Artist Date: Nursery

Ever since I read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron several years ago, I try to remember to take myself on an artist date now and then, as she recommends. This time it was a high quality garden nursery here in town: Moana Nursery. I just wandered through their outdoor garden center, greenhouse, and indoor shop, looking for unusual views. I found a few. In addition to the flowers and plants, there are working fountains, gazebos, arbors, scenic little vignettes of tables and chairs or benches, metal sculptures. If you’re taking photos, just try not to get the price tags and plastic pots (or your own foot) in the pictures.

The canopies fascinated me, because I have been considering building an arbor over our deck, but wouldn’t these be cool instead?

When you try to be creative, sometimes it works and sometimes it just isn’t there. If you can feel the magic, all of a sudden, everything seems so clear. At these times, I feel myself opening up to anything that crosses my path. If I have a camera with me, so much the better. If I don’t have a camera, I try to write all the ideas down as fast as possible. By giving yourself time to go out and really search for beauty and joy, you at least double the possibility that they will find their way to you.

Photography Field Trip -- Botanical Gardens

I ran across a small garden in Sacramento, heavily shaded, but lush with spring time greenery and scattered flowers. No one else was around. I had the place to myself, so I had the time and the concentration to focus on what I was seeing and how to photograph it the best. I wander through letting my eyes land on spots of sunlight or color. Naturally your eyes will go to areas of brightness.

This makes for difficult photography though. You have to be very careful or your subject will be washed out in a pool of darkness, or vice versa. I set my camera to the lowest ASA 50. This lets minimal lighting in. It means that you have to be careful to hold your camera very still too. You should use a tripod, but I didn’t have one with me. I also lowered the exposure to -2/3 to keep down on the bright spots. If you’re not comfortable with changing your setting like that, I recommend sticking to photos of things in deep shade only. Your camera will balance the light if it’s consistent.

The best trick I know is to stand as far back as you can and then zoom in close to your subject. This allows that dreamy quality to your pictures with the foreground and the background blurry and the subject brightly focused. Actually, this works even better if the background is a distance away from the subject, it will look even more blurry. You have to hold the camera very steady for this. Take lots of pictures, because you won’t be able to tell which ones are out of focus until you view them on a bigger screen.

If you want to become a better photographer, take the time to go on little field trips. Find a picturesque place and mess around. Photography is more about training your eyes to find interesting subjects, but it is also about turning on the camera and figuring out how to make it do what you want. I am just barely starting to learn. Sessions like this help me see better.

Neighborhood Safari

First, I’ll start by telling you that where I live is not very pretty. When people ask where I live I say, “Do you know where Boomtown is? I live close to there.” It’s not a good sign when your closest landmark is an ugly highway casino. My neighborhood of plain houses is right next to Highway 80. The landscape of Nevada is never spectacular, but it’s especially uninspiring in winter. And today there is a strange haze in the air. No flowers, no scenery, no wildlife. So what would you take pictures of here on an afternoon in February?

I walk around the neighborhood almost everyday, looking at anything that catches my eye. But today was the first time I brought my camera along. My sister’s friend, the fabulous photographer, Kathe Murphy says that you need to turn your “third eye” on. Which means to look at everything as though it were in a view-finder. Really pay attention to the way the light angles and the texture of things.

A few suggestions:

1. Be like George on Seinfeld: Do the opposite of what you usually do. If you usually walk in the morning, try the afternoon. If you always walk clockwise, try counterclockwise. The light is different.

2. Look up! There are so many things that you never see unless you look up: bird nests, woodpeckers, branches outlined against the sky. I took the picture of the water flume over the top of the roofs of some houses.

3. Turn the ASA down. I took most of these at ASA 50, because I like the darkness around the subject. It makes them stand out.

4. Get close, look deeply at the texture of things: pinecones, rocks, bushes all make interesting close-ups.

5. Tromp around a little bit. Normally I won’t go anywhere there is a possibility of snakes, but in the winter I feel pretty confident that I can explore a little further out of my normal range.

6. Look at what people put in their front yards. Someone has a rusty wielded cat with a lot of personality. There is a red metal billboard type thing with flower shapes cut out of it. I’m not sure what it’s all about, but it’s interesting. Someone else has a mine car (we are in Nevada, after all).

7. Take tons of shots. This is why digital was invented. Zoom in, zoom out, move the camera left, then right. Move yourself up or down. Something is bound to look good.

I don't know what kind of seed pods these are, but they are kind of different with the red against the blue sky.

I bet you don’t have one of these in your neighborhood.

I came across this yellow car, which isn’t usually here. They must be visiting one of the neighbors.

I’m a little disappointed that you can see the house and fence in the background, I was hoping to blur them out. But once again, the light was very cool.