Kevin and Ethan's Uncle Ryan and Aunt LaCee sent them each a kite the other day. This afternoon I took them up to an open area near Kevin's school to fly them. Kevin had cut the tail off of his kite, so it just spun in circles. Ethan's kite (a sweet teenage mutan ninja turtles one) flew remarkably well. It was great to be out with the kids.

Here are a few photographs from the weekend.


Interior of Burnt Farm Building, Newdale, ID


Wasp in our Garage


Tree with Irrigation Ditch, Roberts, ID

Saturday I went out to rephotograph a potato cellar I had recently photographed (here's the post), but didn't like all of the snow in the scene and I wanted to take a couple of interiors. On my drive out I noticed a big plume of smoke, which is not that unusual this time of year when farmers are often burning stubble. I was sort of happy to see the fire because I thought I would photograph it while I was out. As I got closer though I began to worry that the fire might have been coming from the cellar. The fire was indeed coming from the cellar and it was mostly gone by the time I got there. It was probably a dangerous structure, and fire seems a quick way to destroy it. I made some photographs despite the choking and tears (not for sadness, but from the smoke).



Burning Potato Cellar, Osgood, ID 2006

As a diversion from other photo projects I like to make still-lifes of things that grow in our yard. Tonight I made my first such photographs for the year. I sacrificed a few crocuses growing in our flower bed. To see other similar photographs you can go here.


Crocus, 2006

When I first became seriously interested in photography one subject of interest was interiors of abandoned homes. I loved the light that bounced around the enclosed spaces. I also enjoyed the artifacts left behind by the previous occupants. Though I don't photograph these places as often as I used to I still enjoy interior spaces. There is nothing like the light that bounces around in these places. Anyway, this afternoon I photographed a little bit in an abandoned home near Roberts. It was a lot of fun.



Abandoned Home Interior, Roberts, ID 2006

I stopped in Beaver, UT on the way back from St. George to buy Susan's mother some cheese. These signs were along main street.

We all went down to visit Susan's parents in Fayette, UT this weekend. I went down to St. George to do some birding. St. George is on the edge of the Mojave Desert. If you drive Southwest of St. George you find a landscape dominated by Joshua Trees, Cholla Cactus, Creosote Bushes, and Mesquite. You can also find wildlife associated with the Mojave including: Desert Tortoise, Mojave Rattlesnake, Gila Monsters, California Kingsnakes, Roadrunners, Cactus Wrens, and more obscure birds like Lucy's Warblers, Phainopeplas, Crissal Thrashers, and others.

I was surprised to find most of the desert along the road to my destination had been burned. I guess there was a pretty big fire last summer that burnt down a lot of Juniper and Joshua Trees in the area.




Joshua Trees, near St. George, UT

Within the Desert near St. George is Lytle Ranch, a nature preserve owned by Brigham Young University. It's an old fruit orchard that sits on Beaver Dam Wash, a lush stream that penetrates the desert. It makes for pretty good birding. That was my destination for the day. It was great to see a lot of birds that I don't get to see very often. It was a little early in the year to see many of the birds, but I did mange to see a few things including: Common Black Hawk, Costa's Hummingbird, Phainopepla, Verdin, Road Runner, and Crissal Thrasher (a life bird for me) among others.


View of Beaver Dam Wash near Lytle Ranch

The weather was o.k., temperatures were in the mid 60s, and I got rained out around 3 pm. Anyway, it was a fun day.

Kevin's first pet died this week. He was a beautiful beta named "Blue Lightning", although he didn't move much. It was a birthday gift from his Aunt Tracie back in October. Anyway, it wasn't too tragic. I think Kevin kind of forgot about him. Here he is in the kitchen sink. He should make good fertilizer for the flower bed.


Blue Lightning in the Kitchen Sink

I went out for a little bit tonight. It was snowing when I went left, but I could see a break in the horizon where the sun was going to set and thought there could be some pretty cool light. The sunset was pretty magical, but I didn't find much of interest to photograph in the light other than this tree.


Tree at Sunset, Cartier Slough, ID 2006

The other night we ate at Gringos, a Mexican restaurant in Rexburg. When leaving the restaurant I noticed a tree lit by the neon lights. It looked pretty cool and planned to photograph it later. Tonight on my way home I stopped and took this photograph.


Tree, Gringos Mexican Restaurant, Rexburg, ID 2006

Three weeks ago I posted some photographs of a collapsed potato cellar in Osgood. There was more snow than I liked last time, so I went out today to rephotograph it. I never relocated that cellar, but I did find a couple of different ones in the area that were interesting. The first cellar looks like it collapsed or was destroyed a few years ago. The only thing left standing is the old concrete facade.



Potato Cellar Facade, Osgood, ID 2006

The other cellar I photographed has recently collapsed. These old cellars are pretty simple but effective structures of dirt, wooden timbers, and straw. I liked this cellar because it really showed the materials (especially the straw). Both of these photographs are of the same cellar made from what was once the interior (the first photograph is looking south, the other north).



Recently Collapsed Potato Cellar, Osgood, ID 2006

You may enjoy this website if you are interested at all in potato cellars, which you probably aren't.

This spring seems to be arriving more slowly than usual. I went to Market Lake, a wildlife management area near Roberts, today to see how bird migration was progressing. I checked my notes from previous years and by now Market Lake usually has open water, and is full of waterfowl and gulls. Swallows have usually arrived, Yellow-headed Blackbirds are setting up territory, and Short-eared Owls are flying over the marsh. Today 95% of the water was still frozen, There was very little waterfowl, one gull, no swallows, two Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and no Short-eared Owls. There were a few signs of migration however; Tundra Swans were abundant, Sandhill Cranes have arrived, a Greater White-fronted Goose (a local rarity) flew overhead, and Bohemian Waxwings were stripping the Russian Olives. Another surprise was a painted turtle (not native to SE Idaho, but they seem to have established themselves in the upper snake river valley) that had emerged from hibernation and was resting lethargically on an icy bank.


Tundra Swans


Frozen Waterway, Market Lake, ID



Painted Turtle, Market Lake, ID

Spring is coming on strong, even though we've had snow the past couple of days. It does get warm enough in the afternoons to melt it off. I took a little drive up in the farm fields southeast of Rexburg this afternoon. The snow is melting off of the fields pretty rapidly. There was a lot of snow up there this winter and the quick melting is making for a big muddy mess, especially on dirt roads.


Field, Walker, ID 2006


Pond from Melting Snow, Walker, ID 2006


Road Paritally Washed Out (one of several washouts along this road), Rexburg, ID 2006

This beehive was also in Wilson Canyon. It was in an abandoned outdoor restroom. I would have gotten closer, but "the bees were angry that day my friends".


Bees, Wilson Canyon, Sylmar, CA 2006

As mentioned in an earlier post, we spent a little bit of time one morning near Los Angeles photographing in Wilson Canyon. Wilson Canyon is a bizarre landscape of coastal live oaks, an old miniature golf course and an abandoned and burnt down hospital. The hospital was a lot of fun to photograph. I made photograps of quite a few things, but enjoyed the bathroom mirrors (or what was once the bathroom mirros) most of all.


Bathroom Mirros, Wilson Canyon Hospital, Sylmar, CA 2006

Balboa Park in San Diego was our other major art museum destination. Balboa Park is where the Museum of Photographic Arts, The Museum of Man, the San Diego Art Museum, among others are located. I made a few photographs of the grounds, architecture, and exhibits.


El Cid Campeado Statue at Balboa Park


Palms


Museum of Man Interior Detail


Natural History Museum Sticker Depository


Mummy Case and Mummy X-Ray

We spent quite a bit of time at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. I could have spent a lot more time, but we had a schedule to keep. Here are some photographs of the architecture, grounds, and works of art.


gardens


interior





Details of Artwork; I didn't keep notes, so I can't remember what works of art most of these come from. Anybody know?

I didn't get any Mexican food in California, so a couple of students and I went to the taco bus for lunch today. The taco bus is a school bus that's been gutted and turned into a diner, half of it is a kitchen, the other half is seating. They serve some pretty good food, I recommend the taco platter which comes with three tacos and a side of rice and beans. You also get complimentary pickled carrots. You can't beat that.



Taco Bus

Well, we had a good trip to Los Angeles and San Diego this past week. The weather was terrible most days, but we had good company, ate good food, saw good art, and got out of Rexburg for a bit.


Approaching Las Vegas

We spent Tuesday night in Las Vegas, by the time we had dinner we ran out of time to go to the art gallery in the Bellagio. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then most of us were tired and went to bed.


Abandoned gas station betweeen Las Vegas and Los Angeles

Wednesday we left for Los Angeles. Laura's (one of the students on the trip) father works as a sound mixer for NBC. He was kind enough to get us tickets to a Jay Leno taping. The features guests included Tim Allen and Bon Jovi. It was a lot of fun, but I'm still a Letterman man. He then took us on a little tour of NBC studios. Afterwords we went to Universal Studios for dinner and shopping.


Driving to NBC Studios (the only time the thermometer broke 70)

Thursday morning we travelled to Sylmar to photograph Wilson Canyon. Wilson Canyon is an interesting mix of native and ornamental plants, an abandoned miniature golf course, abandoned and burnt hospital buildings, and other assorted buildings and trails. It was nice to wander around a bit. We then travelled to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and saw some nice work by Robert Adams, Courbet, and assorted works from their permanent collection. Later that night we went to ashes and snow, an installation of photographs and video. It was a pretty interesting show, that seemed more about presentation than substance, but it was good for the students to see. We then travelled to San Diego to sleep.


Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Friday morning we went to Balboa Park in San Diego, where we visited the Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) and other assorted museums and shops. MOPA was o.k., it was much smaller than I thought. They were featuring the work of Graham Nash (yes, the musician). I also visited the natural history museum, the museum of man, and wandered the park and gardens. That evening we visited Atkinson Studios, a commercial photography studio owned and operated by Brian's Uncle. We then had dinner at a great Italian restaurant (one of the highlights of the trip).


Palm in the rain, after dinner in San Diego

Saturday we checked out of our hotel and went down to Seaport Village, a nice little area with galleries, shops, and restaurants. It would have been a lot of fun if the weather would have been better. It rained and even hailed for a good bit of the morning. After a morning of shopping and trying to stay dry we headed for our last hotel stay in Cedar City, UT. Before getting to Cedar City we stopped at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas to look at the painted ceilings, the gondolas, and the shops. We left Las Vegas pretty late and drove towards our hotel. 20 miles before reaching Cedar City it was snowing. Unfortunately, I was tired and a student was driving at the time. She did fine, but I felt bad for making her drive in the weather. The roads were covered with snow and ice for our last ten miles or so. We finally made it to our hotel safely at 2:00 am.


Hail Storm, Near Seaport Village, San Diego, CA

Cedar City had two feet of snow on the ground and we feared the worst for our trip home, but we made it safely without much bad weather at all. We arrived in Rexburg ca. 6:00 pm. It was great to go on the trip, but it's always nice to come home.


Holiday Inn, Cedar City, UT

In conjunction with our faculty publication Perspectives, in which I had a few cave photographs and a short statement about the work, I've hung a selection of cave photographs on campus titled Underseen: Lava Tubes of the Upper Snake River Valley. It runs from March 6-27 in the BYU-Idaho Atrium Gallery (2nd floor of the Spori Building). Enjoy a couple of my favorite photographs and snap shots of the installation.


Dragon's Breath Cave, Fremont County, ID 2005


Toadstool Cave with Ladder, Clark County, ID 2005



Installation Views

To view more cave photography and for a statement about the work go here.

I will be heading to southern California tomorrow with some students, so I may not update this for a few days unless I do it on the road.