One of my favorite photos

3608.20090830.park of roses, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

I'm trying to do macro photography without a macro lens. I like this one, so I thought I would share it.

2009 AAW Symposium, Part IV: Saturday Afternoon & Evening, June 27

After lunch I had a bit more time to wander through exhibits and pop into a few rotations to check out the action.

Here's my good friend, John Wessels, from South Africa. He made his debut as an AAW demonstrator this year. He did rotations on turning cast pewter (shown here) and doing pewter inlay work. I enjoyed watching John demonstrate. He's sassy!





Marilyn Campbell was the center of attention here. She was being recorded for the Symposium video series. Marilyn was demonstrating her epoxy techniques.








Emmett Kane from Ireland was doing surface enhancement techniques.












Andrea Martel (Canada) was turning thin-walled vessels from green wood.






David Nittmann had a lot of 2-D work on the walls as well.












Meanwhile, back in the instant gallery, Jacques Vesery was chatting with Derek Weidmann and his wife.











Derek Weidmann received a Collegiate Award for his multi-axis, carved figure.










I stopped by the craft room to see what was going on there and found a carving demonstration taking place.










Here are some of the carvings on display.











L to R: Michael Hosaluk, Albert LeCoff and Garry Knox Bennett, visiting in the instant gallery.












Early afternoon activity in the instant gallery on Saturday afternoon included the gathering up of the auction donations that would be in the live auction at the banquet.










Jack Slentz received an Excellence Award for his carved disc.










Medallions by David Nittmann
















Some interesting multi-axis turnings by Eli Aviserra.


















Another Excellence Award was given to Charles Faucher.

















Satoshi Fujinuma














Satoshi Fujinama














I had the last rotation of the day to do a coloring demo. Here's my supply set-up.











And, here I am, ready to go.










As soon as I finished my demo, I hurried back to my hotel room to freshen up for the AAW banquet.

Here is collector David Wahl, modeling his wife's handbag.














Jean François Escoulen waving to me from across the room.










Always a huge crowd for the banquet.











Auction donations lined up and ready to go.







Hmmm, there seems to be a recurring theme of Jacques Vesery consuming bottles of wine at the AAW symposium. Jacques, is there something we should know????

Alain Mailland is on the left and Pascal Oudet on the right. Maybe Jacques was just trying to be one of the French guys for the night.





One of the highlights of the evening was David Ellsworth presenting Merryll Saylan with the POP Merit award. I think you can tell from this photo that there is a long standing friendship between these talented artists.










Merryll was delighted with the award she was given.









It was a custom-made trophy turned and painted by Mark Sfirri.



Front. . .














. . . and back.














The most heartwarming event of the banquet was a touching speech given by former AAW president Phil Brennion, who has been heroic in his recovery from a debilitating back injury that has resulted in paralysis. The AAW set up a rehabilitation fund for Phil and he thanked the membership in person. It was so great to see him at the symposium this year.






John Hill did most of the evening's auction, but when his voice gave out, the pinch hitter stepped in. This was Rob Wallace's debut as an AAW auctioneer.









And, finally, no evening of the AAW symposium would be complete without the night cap in the hotel bar.

Miscellaneous pics from around Ohio

I'm starting to use Flickr more and more. There are some neat features there. Here's a slide show of my most recent nature pictures taken in Ohio - mostly in the vicinity of Columbus. I recommend that you view the show in full screen mode. There's a toggle on the lower right hand of the slide set (after you hit the play button) that will take you to full screen mode (move your cursor over the image and it will bring up the control bar). Comments are always welcomed.

2009 AAW Symposium, Part III: Saturday Morning, June 27

I had one demonstration rotation scheduled on Saturday (last one of the day), which gave me a lot of time to take in the trade show, instant gallery, a panel discussion, and to visit with friends.

The first booth I encountered upon entering the trade show was Bill Rubenstein's Stubby Lathe USA. Bill was there with his daughter this year. I own a Stubby 750 - one of the best lathes in the world. I really, really love this machine - quiet, well-engineered, no fuss, and it has a small footprint. Perfect for my basement shop.






John Jordan and Dan Bailey.












I have no idea what John Jordan said to this woman, but it must have been hilarious!










Front, right - my academic colleague and friend, Rob Wallace.










L to R: Bill Rubenstein and Johannes Michelson.











My favorite trade show encounter was this young man, Will Foresman. He was working at Don Pencil's tradeshow booth. Don had found me wandering by and told me there was a young man who would really like to meet me. So, the expression on Will's face was as shown here.

"You're Andi Wolfe???? WOW!!!!! I'm a HUGE fan of yours!"









Well, flattery like that is worth a picture together, don't you think? Thanks, Will!












Jimmy Clewes made a lot of shavings on the tradeshow floor.











A close look at Cindy Drozda's tool set. She was demonstrating at the Packard Woodworking Supplies booth.










My favorite sign in the trade show. "Buy more, get more!" Amazing how that works.















Steve Worcester (the guy who made that pink sign above" with Mark Baker - turner extrordinaire and current editor of the UK journal, Woodturning.











Curt Theobald with his lovely daughter.












My favorite picture of Alain Mailland. He had moved his sculpture over to the "fragile" table and set it up correctly. He's holding his postcard that shows the correct orientation. Previously, it was on another table, laying on its back.











Youth turning awards.










An interesting display of Bob Rolling's femispheres. I think that is Joel Rakower admiring the display.

















An interesting something or other by Robert Bagley

















Tucker Garrison piece - I liked this one a lot!












A two-part mask by Keith Holt.


















Cindy Drozda's work. She secured this with a lot of sticky discs.















The collaborative challenge entry by the Dallas Area Woodturners won big time.
















Another view of that winning collaboration.











Chicago Woodturners collaboration














Trent Bosch - I really like these new pieces!











Bill Smith











Curt Theobald has such interesting segmented forms. I always enjoy seeing these shapes.













Sharon Doughtie was another Excellence Award recipient.















Wes Loukota had some interesting work, also.


















Douglas Jones and Kim Kulan-Jones received an Excellence Award. The use of materials in these pieces was very interesting.














Jean François Escoulen was the artist-in-resident for this year's symposium.









Pascal Oudet received a Purchase Award for his sandblasted egg-shaped hollow-form.










Michael Hosaluk worked with rawhide on this piece. He turned a form, wrapped it in rawhide, bound it, unwrapped and bent it. Another Excellence Award recipient.











One of the PoP panel discussions was "Whose turn is it anyway?" - organized by Michael Mocho and including Betty Scarpino, Joe Seltzer, and Jack Slentz. It was intersting - talking about how turning includes a diversity of techniques, materials, and interpretations.









Art Mason (center) paid close attention to the discussion.














Albert Lecoff of the Wood Turning Center was also in attendance.





On my way to lunch, after the PoP panel discussion I attended, I spotted this demonstration on weaving, sponsored by the Crafts room. In addition to the wood turning rotations and panel discussions, there's a craft room that has a variety of demonstrations. It gives attending spouses a break from having to sit through wood turning demos.

More pictures from Saturday morning are here:

FB-2009 AAW Symposium, Saturday Part I
FB-2009 AAW Symposium, Saturday Part II

2009 AAW Symposium, Part II: Friday - 26 June

My first rotation was Friday morning, 9:10 to 10:40 a.m, followed by my second one 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. After I finished, I grabbed a quick bite of lunch and then took a walk through the instant gallery. Here's a selection of images for you to see.


vessel by Don Derry
















Glass and wood by Jim Keller















Anthony Harris had a sign next to this bowl of spheres, eggs, and threaded boxes that said, "Please touch!"





Since I had the afternoon free, I went with Paul and Judy Fennell over to Rio Grande - the best jewelry supply company you could ever meet. They have some of the most interesting gadgets that work very well for wood carving. This is their showroom. You can place your order from the catalog and they'll fetch everything to one of the counters here. I bought a bunch of earring supplies with the intent to play with some ideas for jewelry in the very near future.

I'm a trinket junkie myself - only with regards to dangling earrings, though. I know what I like to wear, I always receive compliments on my choice of earrings, and so I thought I might enjoy making some of my own design, in wood.




I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the exhibits that were taking place as part of the symposium. The first one I saw was by Merryll Saylan - this year's recipient of the POP merit award.








Merryll was a pioneer of surface enhancement techniques and coloring. I've long admired her work and it was a delight to see so many interesting pieces assembled for this exhibit.













The AAW has a catalog for each of the exhibits and you can find out more from going to their exhibit website: Gallery of Wood Art









The second exhibit I visited was "Twirlings" by Garry Knox Bennett. He has an interesting mind. . .















The bowl on the left is named, "Wired."










I thought this was an interesting concept, too.
















The POP exhibit this year was called, "Spindles."


This is by Louise Hibbert










Classic Jean François Escoulen (France)


















Ed Kelle

















Ray Key (England)

















Doug Fisher (Canada)

















John Wessels (South Africa)

















Emmett Kane (Ireland)
















J. Paul Fennell

















John Jordan















The last exhibit to visit was "Spirit of the Southwest." Wow, four exhibits this year! That was amazing!


Todd Hoyer















Bernie Hryzak











Neil Kagan











Pascal Oudet (France)


















Clay Foster











Gerritt Van Ness












Bill Luce

















J. Paul Fennell


















David Nittmann











Ron Fleming


I posted many more pictures from these exhibits on my Facebook woodturning page.

Merryll Saylan and Garry Knox Bennett exhibits
Spindles and Spirit of the Southwest album









Time for another walk throught the instant gallery. Every year the entries are amazing.

This one is by Bill Luce, and it received an AAW purchase award.












A beautiful and delicate flower by Malcolm Zander. The thin walls on the original form are amazing, but to add the pierced design and assemble it into a sculpture makes this a stunning piece of eye candy.









This was one of my favorites in the instant gallery this year - a classic Binh Pho piece with the added carved textile effect.


















An ornamental rose engine wall hanging by Gorst duPlessis
















Another of my favorite pieces in the gallery, done by James R. Johnson.










And, here was a huge surprise for me - my sphere won an Excellence Award! That was truly an unexpected delight, and it gave me a happy buzz for the rest of the weekend. I still smile when I see the ribbon in my curio cabinet. It was nice to be recognized for pushing the envelope a bit on my carved pieces.













Keith Holt's work was right next to mine in the instant gallery. He turns a multi-axis form and then carves the mask.
















A long, eventful day deserves a night cap, eh? It's always fun to visit in the hotel bar at the end of the day.

Jerry and Debbie Kermode







L to R: Mike and Jenny Mahoney, Gorst duPlessis










Ellis Wallentine (from Woodcentral) taking Mike Mahoney's picture.






L to R: Gorst duPlessis, Cliff Johns, and some folks I met, but I can't recall their names. No, it wasn't from imbibing too much wine, I'm just terrible with remembering names of people I've met only once.

There are more pics on my Facebook woodturning page: Friday AAW symposium album.

My "live" post from this day was: A totally awesome day.

More photography practice this morning

5732.pelargonium.inniswood, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

Steve and I got up before sunrise to take advantage of first light at Inniswood Metro Gardens. The challenge for today was the breeze - with the low light, some of my exposures were more than 1 second long. That translates to a lot of images discarded before processing.

I posted 26 images to my Flickr account, which is linked here. Check out the camouflaged spider on the infructescence that has the long hairs on the seed pods.

Comments are welcomed - either here or on the Flickr photos. Thanks.

2009 AAW Symposium, Part I: Thursday - 25 June

This year's AAW symposium was at the Albuquerque Convention Center - a very nice venue for this kind of event. We were a bit spread out over a couple of different buildings, but I didn't find it difficult to find anyone I wanted to see and it was nice to get some exercise. However, the elevation is a bit higher than many of our members are used to and so I heard about, and witnessed, several altitude-related issues for some of the attendees. Having just come back from the Himalayas, I was quite comfortable and found myself running through the convention center from time-to-time.

Thursday is always for registration and getting reacquainted with friends not seen for a while. It's also a good time to put stuff into the instant gallery, and, for demonstrators, time to set up the room where they will be demonstrating. I had four rotations scheduled this year - two on coloring techniques and two on surface enhancement techniques.

I was able to put six pieces in the instant gallery this year because I was a demonstrator. Here are the three new pieces - L to R:

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." - Lao Tzu, No. 5 (redwood burl, 5 inches diameter).

"Parturition" No. 2 - Afzelia burl

"Bowl Anatomy 101" - pear.





I put these three older pieces in as examples of some of the coloring and surface enhancement techniques I would be demonstrating.







I took the opportunity to get some photos of some of the other pieces in the gallery that evening. I couldn't spend a lot of time taking photos Thursday, but it's about the only time I would have to walk through before the crowds came in so I did what I could.

This one is by Alain Mailland from France - one of my absolute favorite artists in contemporary wood turning. His work is amazingly creative and always pushes the limits of the medium.











This is another sculpture by Alain Mailland.















Three beautiful hollow form sculptures by J. Paul Fennell. The details on each of these pieces are wonderful. I can't wait to see what Paul comes up with next.









An egg for contemplation by Jacques Vesery. Jacques didn't have a lot of work to display this year, but he had a very good excuse after having a bit of a mishap with a bandsaw earlier in the year. He's fine now, but he's still missing some feeling in the fingertips. Ouch!














Wood and pewter inlay by John Wessels from South Africa. John made his AAW demonstrating debut this year with six rotations.















A whimsical teapot by Michael Hosaluk (Canada).
















Pascal Oudet (France) made his demonstrating debut at AAW this year, also. His work is delicate and sandblasted to perfection. He uses oak very effectively in these forms.









Classic John Jordan. I never get tired of looking at these carved hollow forms.









Dale Larsen is making some of the most beautiful salad bowls out there. You want to pick these up and pet them.







Classy hollow forms from a classy guy - David Ellsworth.











A walk on the wild side from my favorite young artist - Derek Weidmann. Derek has such a creative imagination - you have to really study these multi-axis sculptures to fully appreciate the stories he's telling in the work.












Art Liestman is making some very interesting forms these days, also. His tea pots all have "attitude."






J. Paul Fennell, standing next to his instant gallery display. Paul was also a demonstrator this year.

By the time I ran into Paul in the instant gallery, it was almost time for the demonstrator's dinner. We met up with some friends for some liquid refreshment before dinner (I had a lemonade - yes, really!).






My favorite ex-Aussie; well, once an Aussie, always an Aussie, I suppose - Phil Irons.










Phil's outback hat - doesn't that look as if it belongs in the outback?










David Ellsworth









After the demonstrator's dinner, there was a fun presentation put on by Terry Martin and Jacques Vesery. It was a slide show from events such as Emma Lake and the symposia in France organized by Jean François Escoulen.

You'll have to ask Jacques why he was drinking wine from the bottle through a straw.






It was a delightful, and sometimes risque, presentation. The room was in stitches most of the evening. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Nepal Trek 2009 - May 22, Kathmandu

This is the last post of my Nepal 2009 trek. You'll find an index to the entire series at the end of this entry. I sure hope you enjoyed following along with me. It was truly an extraordinary experience and one that I will always remember. I'd like to thank Jon Miller, Chris Marquardt and Monika Andrae for their time and effort to organize this trip. Mountain Tribes was a fantastic expedition company to have as our foundation for the trek - thanks to everyone there, especially Babu, Sonam and Karma, for their accommodations and hard work to make our trip a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'd also like to thank my trekking friends (Steve, Megan, Steve, Kyle, John, John, Thilo, Jeff) for their support and encouragement.





Our last day in Nepal was spent organizing gear, having one last photography workshop exercise, and last minute shopping and errands. Steve and I went back to the jewelers to pick up my commissioned earrings and the chain for Steve's medallions. When we arrived, one of the owners was doing this cleansing rite with incense. I thought that was very interesting, and it's certainly not something one would see in the states.









Here are some of our Mountain Tribes staff members - the ones based in Kathmandu.

L to R: Babu (owner), Sonam, Pemba, and Karma.








Four of our friends from Germany were going to be staying a bit longer while the rest of us departed for home. That meant a transfer to another hotel. All their gear was loaded onto Rickshaws for the trip across Thamel.

It was really hard to say goodbye to our friends after having spent the past couple of weeks together on the trail.







Ready to move out. What a cool way to transfer to another hotel, but it sure is a practical way to transport gear on the crowded streets of Thamel.







And off they went.

The rest of us had a leisurely afternoon of packing and waiting for our ride to the airport. Then it was 36 hours of travel time to home for Steve and me.

The main thing I gained from this trip was a sense of living in the moment. I hope I can carry that with me for the rest of my life. It was so great to not be in the stress zone. I want to keep that a priority in my life. There are so many more things to experience in life - beauty, nature, friendship, love, and peace. One doesn't need to be in the stress zone. Three months after the trek, the lesson is holding. We'll see how I do as the academic calendar begins in a week or so.

At any rate, I hope my readers found this series worthwhile. Please do leave a comment to let me know your thoughts about my travel rambles.

The index to the Nepal trip by date or relevance to the date:

1 May 2009: Twitpic - waiting for flight to New York
1 May 2009: Twitpic - on the plane to New York
1 May 2009: Made it to New York
2 May 2009: Ready to fly to Hong Kong
2 May 2009: Twitpic - The view from JFK
2 May 2009: Twitpic - Steve and Megan
2 May 2009: Twitpic - Steve and Kyle
2 May 2009: Twitpic - Andi on the plane to Hong Kong
3 May 2009: Arrived in Hong Kong
4 May 2009: In Kathmandu
5 May 2009: Leaving Kathmandu tomorrow
8 May 2009: Namaste from Namche Bazaar
9 May 2009: Tengboche Monastery and Everest as a companion
12 May 2009: Stuck in the snow in Dingboche
14 May 2009: We're in Gorak Shep
15 May 2009: Climbed Kala Patthar today!
16 May 2009: Back in Dingboche
20 May 2009: Back in Kathmandu
20 May 2009: Decompressing in Kathmandu
22 May 2009: Going home this evening
3 June 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 1 - 3
5 June 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 4, Thamel (Kathmandu)
5 June 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 5, Part 1 (Swayambhunath)
6 June 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 5, Part 2 (Pashupatinath)
11 June 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 6, Lukla to Phakding
16 June 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 7, Phakding to Namche Bazaar
21 June 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 8, Namche Bazaar
1 July 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 9, Namche Bazaar to Tengboche
4 July 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 10, Tengboche to Dingboche
9 July 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 11 - 12, Dingboche
12 July 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 13, Dingboche to Lobuche
19 July 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 14, Lobuche to Gorak Shep
23 July 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 15, Climbing Kala Patthar
4 August 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 16, Gorak Shep to Dingboche
9 August 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 17, Dingboche to Loshasha
14 August 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 18, Loshasha to Monju
22 August 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 19, Monju to Lukla
28 August 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 20, Lukla to Kathmandu
4 Sep 2009: Nepal Trek 2009 - May 21, Kathmandu

And that's all, folks, except for Jon Miller's teaser episode for the Everest Trek 2009 season of The Rest of Everest podcast. Season four of the series is about to start, so please subscribe to The Rest of Everest. It's a great series and I recommend that you follow Jon's advice and start with episode "0" to get the whole picture of what Jon is trying to show about the Everest region, the culture of Tibet and Nepal, and the wonderful people of the region. There will be an Everest Trek 2010 - check in at Everestthetrek.com. It's going to be another once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wish I could go!

Leave a comment, please. Your feedback lets me know people are reading the blog. If you enjoyed the series you can also show your appreciation by purchasing my solo CD, Aisling's CD, or make a donation via my PayPal button up on the right. I do pay an annual server storage fee for posting the photos here on the blog. You can help my efforts by making a small donation. Thanks in advance for your help!

Nepal Trek 2009 - May 21, Kathmandu

Ah, Kathmandu - what a chaotic place. We had one and a half days after returning from our trek to decompress and get organized for our return back home. Megan and I decided that we needed to attend to our hands, so we went to a salon near the New Orleans Cafe to get manicures.

We look pretty happy about having the opportunity to get some much needed TLC for our nails. My hands were a wreck. The weird thing about this visit is that there was no power in Thamel at the time. The salon was on the second floor and the stairway leading up to it was pitch black. The only light in the place was from the window facing an alley - enough to see by, but it cast a gloomy pall over the salon.






One bright spot was provided by this adorable little girl - dressed in a shirt and no pants. I think her name is Alicia, but I can't recall for sure. She was pretty interested in my camera - especially after I showed her picture to her.













Much, much, much better. This manicure involved a hand and arm massage and a lot of scrubbing of grime out from the nail bed and under the nails.










Late morning saw us back on the bus for a trip over to Boudhanath Stupa.










I took some photos from the bus -


is that "bus photography" rather than street photography? I felt like such a voyeur on these bus rides, my nose pressed to the window so I could snoop into the shops. You see little vignettes of interactions in bits and pieces - flash - what was that?






We couldn't get close to Boudhanath because the street was under construction. We parked and then walked several blocks to the entrance. The traffic was all jammed up, trying to navigate through the blockage. I was interested in the skeins of wool on the back of this motorbike.








Paving the street is quite entertaining, apparently. I've never seen so many people crowd in to see asphalt being laid down.











Street photography - this guy might have been taking a break from construction.













Married Sherpa women on their way back from visiting the stupa? Each of them are carrying prayer beads. You can tell they are married from the aprons they are wearing.










Ummmh, there's a trash problem in Kathmandu?













I loved the colors in this little vignette.












I think he's contemplating an empty bag of chips.













We had lunch at a restaurant that was to give us a wonderful view of the stupa from the patio. Unfortunately, the weather was stormy and so we had to move indoors.

Fanta - the drink of choice for us trekkers.
















Boudhanath stupa















Sonam, practicing his photography skills.













The eyes of Buddha











A Sherpa matron, making the circuit. You complete a kora (I have no idea how to spell this word) in a clockwise direction.

















After lunch, we walked to a monastery before returning to visit the stupa. The streets and alleys were lined with beggars. This woman's cataracts were so bad that I'm sure she was able to only see light and shadow.








Vegetable and merchandise sellers lined the streets as well.












I think business was slow for this woman.












I hadn't seen this type of head gear until this day. Maybe she was using a cloth as a rain hat.













Plastic bucket, anyone?













The local barber was set up on a corner.












Another of the myriad beggars in the area.














I think these boys are happy to be out of school for the day.











Maybe these young men were also out of school for the day, or, perhaps they were on an errand for the monastery.












I don't remember the name of this monastery, but it's very close to Boudhanath stupa.
















I think they were late to something.
















I was curious as to where they were running to, and they had ducked into one of the rooms.

















There was a lot of chanting and music coming from here. I wish I could have peeked in to see what was happening.















We did a tour of the grounds and then went inside the temple. We couldn't take photos inside, but it was very similar to the monastery at Tengboche. I posted pictures of that visit.











The old monk in the background was our keeper while we visited the temple. He was very sweet and he laughed a lot.









On the walk back to the stupa I poked around in the stalls where craftsmen were at work making things from metal.











There isn't much light, and they are working in timeless craft traditions. This was my favorite photo of the day.











Hammering the design is meticulous work. I would have liked to watch this for a long time, but we were on a schedule and I was already far behind the others at this point.








There was such a wide variety of fruits and vegetables for sale - mostly in plastic bags. I don't have room on the blog to post all the pics of interesting plants, but I'll try to provide a link to my Facebook or Flickr albums when I put together an index of the postings for this trip.

Ginger root









A variety of peppers - everything is spicy!













This group of children spontaneously posed for me when they saw my camera.












Our next stop was at a Tanka painting studio. These paintings represent an overhead view of stupas, monasteries and temples in Nepal. There is an incredible amount of symbolism that goes into each painting and there is a long apprenticeship from student to master painter.











It doesn't look like a comfortable way to work, but, then, I have westerner's knees.












I enjoyed watching the artists paint. They have such amazing skills with the brush and also for concentration in the midst of throngs of tourists.














Myriad prayer flags - just not the same as up in the high alpine, but so relevant to the sacredness of this place.










Worshipers were meditating and prostrating all around the stupa.












I would like to have known the significance of the stones - a meditation aid, perhaps?










Contemplation of a prayer book.















Some very photogenic monks.

















Warding off of evil spirits at the entrance to a shop.
















Tourist shop with cheap prayer flags that don't hold their color in sunlight.









Walking the circuit around the stupa.











This was a happy street vender - roasted corn, anyone?













Managing a heavy load on the sidewalk.

















Sideline action.
















Like father, like son.














Our celebration dinner was at Rum Doodle.









If you summit Everest, you eat here for free. We just signed a Yeti print and hung it on the wall.

This was a bittersweet evening - a celebration of all we had accomplished, but we were sad it was ending. I made some life-long friends on this trip, but we knew it would never be the same as what we had experienced together in Nepal. It was a lovely penultimate evening together. The next day we would be dispersing different directions - some staying, some leaving for the airport early, most of us late in the evening. We still had one more workshop scheduled, but it was clear that it was time to look ahead to returning home.

Another bit of photography practice

IMG_3706, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

I'm processing these photos on the dark side intentionally for effect. This and the last batch from my previous posting have high color saturation and deep contrast. I like the sensuality this gives to the images, but I'm interested in feedback. You can leave a comment here or on my Flickr page. Thanks!

Photography practice

3601.20090830.park of roses, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

Steve and I have been getting in some photography practice at our local parks. Here's an image from one of our excursions to Whetsone Park of Roses. I've been working in manual mode recently and am going for the dramatic effect in my post-processing. Let me know what you think of this effect.