Dreams of Fields

The very first set of poppies were taken in Bethania, NC at the home of gardening friend, in May, 2009, and you can see them if you dig back into the archives of this blog. My friend has a magic touch for color and design that stupefied me as I looked at them for the first time, and I spent two lovely early morning hours photographing them with my 200mm macro lens.

Several days ago I was in Provence, near Sault, looking for elusive lavender sitting in the fields, not yet in bloom. Here was a farmer’s field with wild European poppies instead, and they were equally enchanting. The challenge was the whipping wind, so I tried soft focusing instead of using my macro lens. With a 80-400 lens and a borrowed Canon D 500 focusing filter, I started to learn a new technique. There’s lots more to learn, but isn’t that the name of the game with photography? Using the focusing filter, the challenge is to get something sharp, sort of like a Lensbaby, I guess. I know two things that I’ll be ordering from B&H when I get home, the filter and a ring flash.

A family gathering in front of the homestead

Little did I know when my friend Carol told me about her husband’s family homestead that it would be a photographer’s dream!

Carol’s husband’s ancestors were among the first founders of Bethania, a Moravian settlement on the outskirts of Winston-Salem.  The Moravians tried unsuccessfully to settle in Georgia first, and  then moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,  along with settlements in New Jersey and Maryland. In 1753, the first North Carolina settlement was established in Bethabara, followed by Bethania and Salem. The skeleton of  the city of Winston-Salem was laid out.

The family history is fascinating. After settling in as a miller, Carol’s husband’s ancestor built a gristmill near Muddy Creek, a part of Forsyth county. Later on, in the 1800s, a fever epidemic caused him to drain his pond to please his neighbors! One William Leinbach moved to the property from nearby Salem and built a new log home, which is part of what still remains of the property. There must have been a wedding involved here. The family farm was built on a raised hill, above what was a familiar landmark in town for years and years, a farm tools company.

I am currently enrolled in a photography portfolio class at Better Photo. My teacher, William Neill, is an inspiring instructor and famous photographer. He won’t allow his students to be complacent, and old pictures just don’t meet his approval. Originally I had considered building a portfolio either of shots of the Blue Ridge or of the coast of North Carolina. This is not the winter to be going back to add to the portfolio. Last time I checked, most of the Blue Ridge Parkway was closed due to snow and other weather. The coast is even getting snow this weekend! So…a local theme just evolved.

I have visited the farm three times in the past 3 weeks,  originally as the first flakes were starting of the “big snow.”  It was a cold Friday afternoon after school. The next morning I raced to my car at dawn, envisioning fantastic shots in the newly fallen snow. After realizing how dangerous the conditions were, I barely made it home, my tail between my legs. It was Monday before I got out again, thanks to a school SNOWDAY! Many of the first shots were my favorites. Just two days ago, Winston-Salem was surprised by a very light dusting of snow, and I went back again. It was magical, perhaps bolstered by a little history lesson from Carol.

I look forward to a warm summer’s night for another visit, this time at sunset.

The remains of the old homestead

The old red barn

Home on the hill

Detail

Homestead and barn in background

Icicles by the barn

Locked forever

From the most recent snow, another angle

Driving into Chamonix was simply spectacular, and it was such fun to see the mountains in the winter time after summers of watching melting snow. There are mountains on both sides of the road, and it’s hard to know where to focus.

From the highway, with a wide angle lens

The first thing that struck us was how much colder it was, and after lunch we put on long underwear…a really good idea. The trip up the train was crowded and fast, and after passing the ski area, we began to notice that many of the pine trees seemed to be in distress. Is it the result of acid rain or something else?

Chamonix

Downtown Chamonix

Sick pine trees

At the top, the views are breathtaking, but the glacier has been shrinking drastically in my lifetime. The first time I visited the Mer de Glace was in 1966.  From the top, looking down, it’s obviously reduced in size. After checking out the top spot and all the vistas, we descended on the tele cabine, and then began the 350 step descent to the bottom. I secretly laughed at the people passing on their way up who seemed to be panting.  There were people carrying their dogs in arms. It wouldn’t have been easy with Lester and Earl, golden retrievers, but little poofy French dogs do well being carried. Still, while missing Bella, the wonderful wonder dog, we were glad that she as at home visiting her friend Phoebe.

Looking down from the top

Another family portrait

Summit

Previous line of the glacier

Climbers

Entrance to the cave

At the bottom (it takes some time to climb down 350 steps) we realized that we would have to hurry in the glacier caves, since the last ascent of the tele cabine is at 4:00, and it was then 3:30, with 350 steps to climb first.

The color show inside the glacier is fast paced and I was so happy to have a camera that can shoot at 5000 ISO. There is an ice fireplace, and  a polar bear sculpture, and I admired the guy taking pictures using his tripod. I certainly didn’t envy him his trip back up those steps.

In the cave

Polar bear sculpture

Light at the end of the tunnel

All too soon, it was time to leave so as not to be stranded on the mountain. As you can imagine, the trip up, with snow, cold and camera gear was difficult, yet exhilarating.

At the risk of sounding political, it is truly frightening to see what has become of the Mer de Glace in my lifetime. It is still awe inspiring, but there is something funereal about signs we saw along the way: the lack of very much snow, the sick pine trees and the glacier itself.

It all began with a rushed driving trip from Winston-Salem to Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. despite all kinds of weather warnings. As it worked out, the blizzard hit the east coast within hours of our departure.  Whew!

Geneva was really cold when we landed, and we found about three inches of snow in France when we arrived at our fantastic house, complete with beautiful Christmas decorations and wonderful dog, Bella. It had always been lonely on trips before without a resident canine, so we’ve been in heaven with a small bed/ lap dog. We’re cozily settled in with a fire in the fireplace, but alas, probably no skiing.

Savoy cabbage

Snowy scene

Annecy shopping

Romanian cabbage

Swans of Annecy

Purple Christmas lights in Annecy

More purple lights

Lac d'Annecy

Buche de Noel

Sunrise at home

Bella, wonder dog

Since my last blog about birds, the bird theme has continued. Last week we traveled to Berkeley and San Francisco to visit John and Mattie. While climbing down from Coit Tower, high up on Telegraph Hill, we heard the famous wild parrots. They even flew over the tops of our heads, but it was impossible to take a picture before they were gone, elusive as they must be. Sorry Homer, I couldn’t capture your cousins, as much as I wanted to.

A Family Portrait at the beach

There were brides in our hotel, the wonderful Claremont Resort in Berkeley, and we saw at least three wedding receptions getting in gear in the lobby. I celebrated once again that I’m not a wedding photographer! There were plenty of them all around, looking stressed and serious.

Bikes began the summer with the Ironman in Coeur d’Alene, and bikes, highly stylized ones, were a big part of the four days in California. John, our son, is a journalist and video producer, and he had an important job on Saturday, to videotape and report on a Scraper Bike celebration. The video is finished as of today, and instead of me reporting about it, you must, dear reader, travel through this link to that experience. Mattie (a talented photographer) and I got out our cameras, and our shots are used in John’s video, but it’s his moving shots and music that “make” the experience. I’m in awe of the job he did with this, all while holding a video camera and skating backwards on inline skates. Consider carrying a borrowed video camera worth thousands of dollars on skates… I guess journalists do whatever it takes to get the story, whatever the story.

http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/scraper-bikes/

Other highlights of the trip were a trip to Sonoma, including a visit to a wine tasting, and the giant redwood trees in Armstrong State Park.

Nap under the redwoods

On our last full day, Billy went to Mattie’s French class, where I’m sure he talked too much, and I went to Link TV with John, where I watched him get covered in makeup, and then make a videotape asking for money (some things never change!!!!!)

Asking for money at Link TV

The last night, we took John and Mattie to a four star vegan restaurant in San Francisco, called Millennium, where we celebrated their second anniversary with organic vodka and organic espresso and amazing vegetables and grains. My starter was Fried Green Tomatoes with spicy Creole remoulade, arugula, roasted corn and leek confit salad. Main course was Mediterranean Stuffed Ronde de Nice Squash with bulgur, beluga lentil and walnut farce, sautee of roasted cherry tomato, zucchini and English peas, za’atar spiced tahini cucumber pickle, cardamom and parsley zhug, crisp capers and fried squash blossoms. It was an amazing experience. It certainly eclipsed tofurki. What a wonderful restaurant!

Blueberry glazed smoked tempeh

Seared Potato Scallion Cake

Mediterranean Stuffed Ronde de Nice Squash

Oh, to be starving grad students again…Or, perhaps not starving, after all…