Magpie Tales - Open Land

Friedman photograph provided by Tess Kincaid

Just back from a vacation with very few cities involved. The prompt provided by Tess for this week's Magpie made me want to run back to the open spaces. Looking back in the rear view mirror at the places I have seen in the last ten days and the sense of freedom few experience.

Open Land

East to west

North to South

Miles traveled without a turn

Like sailing the rolling seas

Unmarked by signs.

Driving for hours

Hill to gully

Mesa to ridge

A land unmarked 

By neon signs or city lines.

Across the Navajo mesas

A random pickup

A gate to a hogan

A lone walker

Slowly walks in dust.

The setting sun

The only directional marker

Monuments of stone

and shifting shadows

Marking time.

J. Binford-Bell

October 2011

Raven Watch

Raven Watch

Praying high

Bowed on ancient tower

Head to rising sun

Listening to old spirits

As he meditates.

Raven with head bowed

Deep in his own thoughts

Unaware of the others

Preening sleek feathers

As the sun rises.

Raven stays

Safe on the wall of stones

Laid by ancient hands

High above the mesa floor

Gathering energy to soar.

Dance

Rise on the wind

Soar uncaring

Of the world below

Raven fly over the red cliffs.

Jacqui Binford-Bell

October 2011

Oh, such a surprise!
Recognition for words penned
When mother said I could not write
Right.

Thank you to the Poetry Palace

I nominate Peter

Success in another field

Stampede

I recently entered another juried exhibit and got all three of my pieces accepted: Two watercolors and one photograph. As frequent readers know my photography, a long time hobby, is just beginning to be taken seriously by me so I had hedged my bets on this one show by entering two watercolors. I seriously thought Stampede would win some prize. It did not. However, Volkswagon Acid Trip, a photograph did. It won first. My sister captured best of show with a black and white photograph she submitted. Interestingly enough not the one that won 1st place in the International show recently.

Volkswagon Acid Trip

She entered that first place photo in this latest show. It had previously won over Volkswagon Acid Trip but got beat out this time by another photograph of hers and VAT by me. Every show and every judge is different.

The really good news is the Binford Sister Act has scored the top two positions in the MVAC Fall Invitational show. Winners Reception is tonight in Angel Fire.

Once over lightly

Sunrise in the Grand Canyon

We have all seen those grand vistas of our better known national parks or monuments, so behind your photo opportunities is always that thought of coming up with something unique. You begin with choosing your time and place like dawn at the Grand Canyon. Digital is cheap compared with film so you snap and snap and snap.

There is no dropping off the film at Kodak these days. We are not merely the photographer but the developer and editor. I go through my photos several times and am learning to delete mercilessly. I try to keep in mind the old film rule that one great photo in a roll of 36 is exceptional. Download 225 images and there have to be a lot not worth taking up hard drive space. And then there are those worth fiddling with in your photo editing program. A much smaller number.

Painted Desert

I travel with my laptop for downloading of photographs. It is a 2006 HP and is very limited on photo editing options. I have Photoshop 5 on it. So when I get home to my desktop and Corel Paintshop Pro X4 is where the real editing begins. But a pass through the undeleted and minimal cropping and adjustment experiments allows me to zero in on those photos (original always untouched) I want to focus my post processing on.

Detail of Wupatki Pueblo wall

And as one goes from photo opportunity to photo opportunity you find yourself centering in on the shots those with point and shoot cameras or Iphones miss or cannot capture effectively.

Wupatki Pueblo with Moon

Water color treatment of tree trunk

And out of boredom of another pass thru the photos you have not deleted you play around a bit. And then one photo pops up that needs very little at all to be remarkable.

Painted Desert

No doubt my favorites may change over the next week or two but my raven will always be in that group.

Off to the Back Country

Sandstone Bluffs New Mexico

Tomorrow I take off to my sister's house near the Sandstone Bluffs in New Mexico. This is part of the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau, a huge uplift of once sea bed. We generally head north to Moab on the northern part of the plateau and vow to catch the sights south on the way home. We always linger too long and end up dead heading home. So this time we are beginning in the south part.

Debbie lives not far from Gallup and one of the trips will be west to the Grand Canyon above Flagstaff. Along the way there is the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. North of Gallup is Chaco Canyon and Canyon de Chelly. North of Kayenta is Monument Valley. Those are just a few of the sights we have on our plans to hit but if we get slowed down by great photo opportunities we might not make them all.

And right in the neighborhood is of course the Sandstone Cliffs with the Ventura Arch. So if we don't feel like driving too far there are closer areas to explore further.

Thank heavens in this digital age we don't have to budget for film. Just gas and time. Stay tuned to this blog and Binford's Back Country Photography for postings of our latest captures.

In addition to the camera I have my laptop and also my watercolor sketch book and Van Gogh WC pencils. Oh, and my journal should I wax poetic.

Life is a Fairy Tale

Little King by Stowe

Reality????


Morning again?
Coffee
A little King
And the daily news.

All that is fit to print
Not the white rabbit
Questionable coffee

A.M. or P.M?

Perusing the front page

It all seemed so unreal

More lies than truth

Need to return to the organic coffee.

The king just stared

What, pray tell

Was his role to play

What is on the schedule for today?

Obviously more coffee needed

Tossed the paper

In the box by the wood stove

Winked at the king.

Morning

Another day

More fairy tales

A new icon to study.

Once upon 

A time

Happy

Ever after.

Did I take my meds?

Did they?

J. Binford-Bell

October 2011

Pachyderms on Parade

Pachyderms on Parade

Birdie, birdie up in the sky

Aren't we glad 

Elephants cannot fly.

Railroad crossings 

Look out for the cars

How do you spell that

Without any R's?

Hide, hide the cow's outside

The time has come

To speak of  many things

And quote silly rhymes.

Let us talk of elephants with wings

Of prophets walking on water

Hail Mary Queen of Kings

Purple cows and Royal flushes

Beat four of a kind.

Friends, Romans and country men

Lend me your ears, Father would recite

Why on earth would I want

Theirs even on a loan

Only one in five dies in the dentist chair.

Why is it on the verge of tears

The world facing a nuclear melt down

I remember most

My father's words and tales.

 Elephants with wings

Purple cows and green eggs

And the lady that swallowed the fly.

As the world comes to a close

I will chuckle over Mr. Toad's wild ride

Atop a winged elephant of his making.

J. Binford-Bell

October 2011

For more takes on elephants with wings see Magpie Tales #85