Taken circa 1990 on 35mm film with one of my favorite zoom lens, and the only one I could afford at the time, a Sigma 18-200mm. It finally bit the dust at the start of a wedding shoot, resulting in photos (all b+w) with some strange focus issues that the bride and groom nonetheless admired, “art shots” in the vernacular. One I loved was a portrait of the laughing bride in the middle of a row of kids, all equidistant from the camera, with some out of focus. Hopefully the images have retained their magic over the years.
Our friend Peter S had “First Leaf” in a prominent location in his home for the longest time, especially rewarding for me given his abilities and reputation in the field of interior design.
The water level was quite high for our annual Arches trek this year, and with the strong current, I didn’t even try swimming up to the falls, just off camera on the lower right. Unfortunately, that meant missing out on a wonderful last-all-year waterfall massage, one of the gifts of the place. But another – the sound of the waterfall itself – would settle deep into recesses of body and soul over a few hours time. The water itself was refreshing but sooo cold this late in August.
JJ meanwhile fell in love with my $20 “estate sale” guitar, and between us, we covered twenty or so songs, and made up a few originals along the way. Not a bad start for our “One World, One Guitar” tour, coming, perhaps, to a town near you.
Mike was one of my oldest and dearest friends, going back to undergraduate days at the University of Vermont. He passed away December 10, 2017, some thirty years after a diving accident left him a quadriplegic. But he hardly missed a beat, and continued to live a rich and full life in the midst of a wonderful community of friends and family, all the while writing and playing music and teaching at East Carolina University. You can hear him talk about his life in an interview from 2010 with Mark Helpsmeet of Northern Spirit Radio here.
A song we wrote, Lonely Surfer Boy from Vermont – recorded by the Ultra Brothers here, (turn it up! and try it in mono) – had some legs but, uh, never cracked the Billboard charts.
I hope you’re enjoying the Celestial Music, my friend. We miss you here.
Taken circa 1990 on 35mm film with one of my favorite zoom lens, and the only one I could afford at the time, a Sigma 18-200mm. It finally bit the dust at the start of a wedding shoot, resulting in photos (all b+w) with some strange focus issues that the bride and groom nonetheless admired, “art shots” in the vernacular. One I loved was a portrait of the laughing bride in the middle of a row of kids, all equidistant from the camera, with some out of focus. Hopefully the images have retained their magic over the years.
