Bad scanner day

As if the appearance of a brace of morning vultures weren’t enough to set off my day, my not-so-perfect Epson Perfection scanner was going AWOL. As I scanned old b&w negatives, it refused to scan certain images, it either chopped them up, or  cropped half-frames, or scanned them too dark. I was too tight to buy the Cadillac model and now it's payback time. Now, these negatives were perfectly good images. Not overexposed or underexposed. No excuses.

First, the scanner chopped off my head, and then it nibbled the top off a man’s head. He had really nice hair. Then in the next image, it whacked off the entire top of his head. Wow. My scanner is either possessed or taking instructions from Dr. Frankenstein. The guy with the nice hair didn’t deserve that. He was someone whom I vaguely knew, someone who once took my photo a long time ago. And I took his. A mutual snapfest. It was a bit of synchronicity at work. Our photos were placed next to each other in a portrait exhibit at the Falkirk Center. 

I deliberated what to do with the Epson scanner, aside from drop-kicking it out the window. I reset everything, no luck. Repeat. Still no luck. I went through every setting and function. I even reinstalled the software. The demented auto-trim button was stuck on the on position, and greyed out.

The scanner kept chopping up my negatives like Mad Sweeney Todd—it chopped off Carolyn Forché‘s hands, it chopped off Carolyn Kizer’s nose, and Michael McClure‘s entire body from the neck down. I couldn’t even get Kenneth Rexroth‘s face to appear. It ghosted on me. I tried everything I could think of—from drawing on the edges of the negatives with Sharpies, a no-no, to masking them out with tape, but nothing worked. 

To be fair, I often shot low light images in chiaroscuro mode—I like intense black and white photos. Especially when I’m shooting in poet mode. Maybe my scanner is stealing small pieces of their souls and is planning an ad hoc poetry assemblage TBA. The scanner is demented. My friend Miceál suggest ordering an online exorcist session.

Then I discovered that if I chose the normal “no thumbnail” option on the preview marquee, I could scan the entire strip of negatives. Not the best solution as the negatives were now out of focus. But apparently switching from marquee to film strip resolved the head-on-the-chopping-block problem. Not exactly practical, but it works. It also reset the auto trim button. Lo, as I flipped the Epson setting back to marquee mode, so I could make separate prints again, the negatives appeared in their dusty glory. 

Back to that guy with the great hair. Luckily I had written his first name on the proof sheet, but that’s all I wrote. What was I thinking? I can’t even remember people‘s last names. Except for Chester Arnold’s name, who was also there, but he has two first names in a row. He also entered so many pieces, he stole the show. Then I noticed I had taken a photo of the guy in question holding up a check. He had sold one of his photos and there was his name right on the check, Jay Daniel. Cool!

You know that I had to look him up on Facebook. And damned if I didn’t find him, as we had many friends in common: Mark Adler, Andy Giddings. Who is this guy? Then I discovered I went to high school with him. Oops. Oh dear. Ok, you gotta admit it’s been a very long time since 1985. Or 1970. A lot of water under that bridge. So naturally I befriended him. He probably doesn’t even remember me either. But you gotta admit Facebook works in mysterious ways. So does my scanner. Apparently.

I can limp along with my Epson imPerfection v.550 scanner to scan the rest of the news stories—my big Covid project. But I’m afraid the poet archives will just have to wait for a better scanner as it’s also not the sharpest lens in the toolbox. I will need to rescan the images I want to keep. Perhaps it’s time for a GoFundMe?

All these photos should have the same greyscale value. There is no reason why my scanner did this. None.

• 
  
• Bad Scanner Day redux, with Jay Daniel

Throwing myself a lifeline (photography)

For the first time in ages, I posted several albums of wildflower photos in two Facebook groups that I belong to, California Native Plant Society, and California Invasive Plants. I was feeling extraordinarily downcast the other day, to the point I was barely functional; I was so weighted with cumulative grief from my April to June fugue, I could feel the numbness in my cheekbones.

So I threw myself a lifeline, and took the long way home. The very, very long way home on the most obscure backroads I could find. It took me 4 1/2 hours. By the end of that journey, I was no longer despondent, nor was I crippled with grief. No matter that my camera no longer properly focuses, or that I desperately need a new one, I still managed to fight my way out of the descent of darkness with it in hand.

This photo says it all, between a rock and a .... a photo I very nearly missed seeing, I had my eye on other prizes—Lupinus microcarpus, var. densiflorus, AKA Chick lupine going to seed. They make me giddy with their breakout lavender hues.

This quote below is what I wrote at the end of one of the photo albums I posted. I wanted to share it with you all, as the same premise applies to all of you, and to all of our posts. This silly little habit of people liking or not liking posts means much more than we realize, in this isolated land of no more hugs. For that, I am grateful.

“Wow, instant gratification, I love the fact that you are all loving this post. Sounds silly, I know. Sometimes it feels like we’re all in the dark. Sometimes the only thing that makes me feel a little bit better is the beauty that surrounds us. On this particular day, I despaired, and could not get out of my blue funk, the grief was palpable, so I took photos, and went the long way home. Sometimes the only thing I can do is to seek out that beauty and post it here. My microcosmic world. Thank you all. ❤ We are all walking each other home.

Scanner woes

OK, so my very, very elderly technology is biting me in the butt bigtime. The scanner I have does not have high enough resolution to scan negatives, and now the light table is off, so one side scans darker. So not OK.

I either need a GoFundMe project or find Patreon support (or both) to get a decent scanner that also scans negatives (Epson V800/850, around $1k used), and the time to scan. Any takers/supporters out there? I have some incredible photos of poets spanning 30+ years.

Luckily, I had already scanned most of the travel photos of John Oliver Simon earlier...

In the box: Harry Mattison & a poet flasher (aren't they all?), Will Staple & Gary Snyder at poet Robert Aitken Roshi's zendo on Maui...and that box is filled with photos. Mostly from Napa Poetry Conferences, and National Poetry Week, but also other events. Nice ones of Carolyn Kizer, Carolyn Forché, Galway Kinnell, Tess Gallagher, Frank Bidart, Janice Mirikitani & Cecil Williams, Jessamyn West, Meridel LeSeuer, Dennis Banks, Bobbie Louise Hawkins, Ann Waldman, Alan Ginsberg, Larry Ferlinghetti, Bobby Kaufman, Gene Ruggles, Judy Grahn, Derek Walcott, Shirley Kaufman, etc...

And somewhere I have negatives of Alberto Blanco, Otto Raúl Gonzalez, Elsa Cross, Carlos Orellano, etc.

Then there's Poetry International negatives as well: Seamus Heaney, Dmitri Prigovv, Iosip Brodsky, Breyten Breytenbach, Miroslav Holub, the two Adrians....Henri, and?

Happy Imbolc, let there be light.

New Panasonic camera with a Leica lens

New camera, next iteration from the last one which I returned, in disgust, after fighting with it for three months. It was so bad, despite glowing reports. I even traded it in twice thinking I had a defective lens. Not. I was so persuasive as to its sheer crappiness, replete with photos, I was able to return it to Costco after the three-month deadline. This latest ZS60 camera got so-so reviews, but it's light years ahead of its elder sibling. And it has a touch screen!

Lately I've been using the Panasonic cameras ZS (or F) series because of the Leica branded lens. I need a point and shoot camera body in order to keep it portable, If it ain't in my pocket, I won't carry it with me... you know the adage: the best camera is the one you have on you.

The mid-to high range cameras are still far too expensive, too bulky and are battery monsters. So finding a small pocket camera with DSLR features is almost impossible. Ironically the old school film Leicas were just that: svelte, tiny, but with fantastic lenses.

Panasonic cameras are sort of a bridge camera. I can control shutter, aperture, focal distance, F.stop, etc. and I can shoot RAW as wewll. The CCD picture imager is tiny so higher MP (18) compensates for it somewhat. That postage stamp sized CCD Imager could definitely be improved.

 My first Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS25 was pretty good (I fried the imager, I still use it as a back-up camera), however it did poorly in low light situations, no bueno, but the DMC-ZS40 was fantastic (lens got stuck), the replacement  ZS50 was a piece of crap. I returned it three times. Blurry side focus. So if you see a ZS40, let me know....

Apparently the new model is even-numbered, the following year's odd-numbered knock-off model is crappy. I suspect the uneven numbered versions are cheaper knock-offs of the even numbered versions. In other words, note to self, wait for the DMZ-ZS80, for the next iteration.

Before that, I went through several versions of Nikon, but their lenses became progressively worse and worse on the point and shoot. Last good one was the P60. I did get a larger Nikon, and I absofuckinglutely hated it. It's OK in broad daylight, but otherwise, it's awful and you can't tweak it, not like the P60s.

In the old days, I carried Pentax K1000 cameras. Indestructible, and I had some great Vivitar lenses. But I ruined my posture carrying that monster camera bag. Right shoulder is still lower....

Added bonus of pocket cameras is that they're less likely to be stolen. Or your getting mugged for your expensive camera gear. However, the delicate zoom lens arrays are fragile, meaning they’re more apt to get stuck, or suck dirt and dust into their housing than other point-and shoot cameras.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS60

Know Your Rights Taking Photos in Public Places

At risk of plagiarizing the ACLU website, this is very important information for anyone taking photos in public places.

TO summarize the ACLU web pages: Taking photographs of things plainly visible in public spaces (including airports) where you are lawfully present, is a constitutional right – including federal buildings, transportation facilities, and it also includes police or other government officials carrying out their duties as long as you're not interfering with their operations. Unfortunately, there is a trend in law enforcement. with officers ordering people to stop taking photographs in public places, which often leads to harassing, detaining and arresting those who fail to comply.

Most significant line to remember, if you're ever detained, is to POLITELY ask: am I free to go? That changes the legal paradigm. Then things become formal. Law enforcement has to either charge you, read you your rights, or let you go. Any perceived hostility on your part changes that paradigm again—with charges.

Police officers may not confiscate or demand to view your digital photographs or video (audio sometimes falls under other laws, be careful) without a warrant. That includes cell phones. They may not delete any photos from your cell phone or memory card either.

However, the right to photograph does not give you a right to break any other laws. If you're standing on private property, this rule does not apply. You're trespassing. Make sure you're not standing on a corporate flowerbed when documenting law enforcement.

Please visit the ACLU site: Know Your Rights: Photographers - What To Do If You Are Stopped Or Detained For Taking Photographs

Since this post (originally on Facebook) generated a lot of conversation, I've added some related information on photographing in parks and forest service lands. By right, this should be a sidebar, but it does entail knowing your rights.

My friend Gail Armand asked: "I wonder about the constitutionality of the process that requires photographers to pay fees and obtain permits if they photograph public places with the idea of selling their art. In Hawaii professional photographers are required to obtain permits and pay fees." This instigated a lively discussion, and I realized more research was required.

Professional photographers pay for photographic access to local, regional, state, or national park in ALL states. And in BC, too. So I presume, by extension, all of Canada, as well. Who is considered a professional photographer, is subjective, and it is unevenly enforced by park officials.

It seems that if you have lots of camera gear, a camera with a big lens, a light meter, a model (or a prop), and a tripod, then the local, regional, state, and National Parks, the US Forest Service, (and the BLM) all want a permit. Not just in Hawaii. See the California information below. Repeat the same situation with an iPhone (sans tripod), no fee required—you're perceived as an amateur—go figure. The bottom line is: know your rights.

The professional photography rules are similar in all National Parks, websites and required forms are listed by actual park site, there's no general NPS webpage. And it looks like the professional photographer fee process was set in motion ten years ago, in 2006. I imagine that the rules will be amended some more, with the advent of drone photography.

Here are a few sample NPS photography permit pages:

Arches NPS photography rules.

Yellowstone NPS photography rules.

Here's a link to a forum on Large Format Photography from 2006, that's interesting.

When this photographer fee process was set into place by the United States Forest Service, the fee in 2012 was quoted at $1500 a day! General outcry (and massive pants-soiling) resulted in clarification. This is from a 2014 article.

Today, the team at Oregon Live exposed a new rule proposed by the United States Forest Service, that, if passed, will take effect in November. The rule calls for any member of the "media" to first apply for a permit before being allowed to take photos or video on 193 million acres of designated wilderness areas. Oh, and by the way, the permit costs $1,500.

And the clarification:

According to the Washington Post, Tom Tidwell, chief of the United States Forest Service says “If you’re news media, it has no effect at all,” he said. “If you’re a private individual, this doesn’t apply. Individuals who want to shoot on wild lands won’t need a permit, even if they plan to sell their photographs, except if it involves props. Fees for permits vary by size. Groups of up to three will pay $10 a day, while crews of 80 shooting movies usually pay around $800 a day. —Fstoppers Is The U.S Forest Service About To Charge Photographers To Take Photos?

How photography is interpreted and enforced in public parks is very subjective. Some agencies won't let an amateur photographer create a portfolio, or use photos for a contest, or even use their own photos on personal web pages. Of course, enforcing that last one is impossible.

An in-depth article by Jeff Conrad for the Large Format Page, Still Photography and Permits On US and California Public Land, is a must-read. He goes over these points and your rights in depth. At the end, he refers to many CA places/rules. Well worth reading. Here's a sampling.

Many public agencies require permits for photography done for “commercial” purposes, often without defining the term. most state and local agencies in California require permits for any photography for “commercial purposes,” possibly with the assumption that “commercial” is equivalent to “large-scale and disruptive.... 

Photography for personal use doesn’t usually require a permit, as long as the photographer follows the same rules as the general public. A few sites do restrict the use of certain equipment (such as tripods or artificial lighting).... 

Federal agencies do not consider commercial intent in determining when a permit is required for still photography; if the photography involves “models, sets, or props,” a permit is required. It is not yet clear whether photographic equipment other than a camera and tripod will be considered a prop.... —Still Photography and Permits On US and California Public Land

The stickler is: are you a professional photographer vs. an amateur. The answer: amateur—for personal use only—if questioned. Anything else opens too many doors for litigation if you're caught without a permit, and it's ruled that you're not an amateur. 

Under these definitions, I am definitely a rank amateur photographer—as I don't sell my work, nor do I have the equipment to take fine art photography. I like to shoot low profile, with a camera that fits in my jeans pocket. I also often shoot blind without looking into the viewfinder or LED screen. I never bring the camera up to my face if I feel I'm in a dicy situation.

Besides, I don't think fine art photography should be subject to photographer's fees, as the fees are not only steep, but the chance of your ever recouping those fees are next to nil, unless you're Ansel Adams, or Galen Rowell (may they RIP).

Claiming that your photography is documentary, or for news media is far too subjective. Theoretically it should be OK under most circumstances, but is subject to law enforcement whim. And you know how that goes.

Learn more about your photographic rights here at the ACLU site. See slide 8 for more legal language, and memorize it, if you're ever detained, you'll want that language.

Mt Barnabe, Castle Rock (photo)

Mt Barnabe, and what I called Castle Rock (my childhood playground). That's Eric Stone's old teepee at the bottom of Portola Road. Wonder where my childhood friend Bucky is now?

Throwback Thursday, me, all squinty-eyed the Tartan Ball, 2008, Floyd Busbee photo

Tartan Day Ball, 2008. Floyd Busby photo. Partying like rock stars.  Ironic, I view the world (and read) through my left eye, take photos with my right eye (it's a lazy bugger, I have a squandering eye)—and in photos my left eye is always the squinty one, working for two. And, no I didn't even need glasses then! I did have a "lazy" eye as a kid, but didn't wear a patch. Arrr! I think it has something to do with how our brains process information. I'm right handed but left-eyed. Dyslexic trait? Also left-footed . But I can switch-hit at baseball. Right eye information processed by left brain; left eye information processed by right brain. My eye teeth are all in a tangle too.

Lesser Goldfinch (photos)

I hold them to treat them for shock, the hollow of my hand is warm, dark, and safe. I can feel their racing hearts slow down, then it's time to let them go—yes, about 30 minutes. But for 30 minutes, I get to witness something amazing, as they relax, and begin to recover, they watch you and check you out. We are at one in that moment. 

This little guy hit the window so hard, he was out cold for 30 minutes. His heart was racing so fast, I thought he would surely die of heart failure. He took much longer to recover. I watched him come around. My arm was killing me, but when he was ready, he took off. OK, so I had to nudge his sorry ass into gear, he was parked in my palm for the duration. Does anybody know what kind of bird he is?

If a critter needs rescuing, I tend to be the one to do it. Me and Mr. Mallard—he was caught up in fishing line, and beating me off with his powerful wings (very Leda and the swan), so I flipped him upside down—he went comatose (good way to calm chickens too), and I was able to cut the filament off his legs.

Finch: that much I know (the beak)—but he's a yellow-green one. Not quite ripe? I have not written about the fawn I rescued from a malamute, it died in my arms. Rich, thick blood covering my arms. I wanted to kill that dog. I was 19. But somewhere, buried in that story, is the original impulse for my becoming a writer, I just had to wait until I was 30 for it to jell. Bearing witness.

PURIM MOON, INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY (photos)

Bearded iris at dawn. It was on a traffic island on Stanford and San Pablo in Berkeley—I nearly got run over. I just want to be a bee and crawl inside this iris and roll over on my back.

Eden Landing Ecological Reserve at sunset. Full moon over the Coyote Hills. 

The moon is still in the earth's shadow at sunset. It was more rose-colored than orange-hued but the sunset was spectacular (see tide flats photo above) and it tinged everything orange. Also the zoom may have distorted the color. I was stuck on top of the San Mateo bridge in traffic and the moon had just come up. As it rose, it became a standard issue white moon. The magic, gone.

Purim Moon from San Mateo Bridge. Eden Landing Ecological Reserve. That blue line is the earth's shadow.



© Maureen Hurley photos 2012.

Standing on the San Andreas Fault, Crystal Lakes (photos)

Standing on the San Andreas Fault, I straddle two continents.

Rock wallflower in serpentine gravel at eye level, Crystal Lakes (San Andreas Fault). San Mateo County. Erysimum X? is a Brassicaceae related to mustard. Cream-colored E. franciscanum does come in bright yellow in its southern range (to Santa Cruz). About 6" tall.

 

Tidytips growing in serpentine gravel, like small artists painting the wind with perfume. Crystal Lakes, San Mateo County. Layia platyglossa?

Missed the pussywillows (again). Catkins calling out my name... mewling in the underbrush.
What I nearly stepped on...she had a lot to say and scolded me for my carelessness.

© Maureen Hurley photos 2012.

Lunar eclipse on the Solstice

Would someone please tell the moon she's late for a very important date?

Manual for about 1.5 seconds, auto is too overblown.

 I set my weenie Nikon on manual, forgot to check the F Stop & speed....it was on F400 @ 4.6. Ironically, I blindly pointed the camera shot—and it was the best one of the moon. Of course, there was more light. Even when the eclipse was barely discernible, the amount of light drop off was hug.  

Someday I want a real DSLR camera that has a low F Stop...it kills me to be stuck at F4.5. I tried Hi ISO too, and resorted to P (Auto for the red moon shots as Manual mode completely gave up with so little light. I had to lie down on the steps and hold camera to my forehead and not breathe—the movement is the moon itself. 3-4 second exposures.

I noticed journalists have been complete spazzes in reporting the actual time/date. Not knowing the difference between Greenwich and PST, for example. I'm sitting outside with my laptop. Chilly but noice.

 

It's looking a little nibbly at 6 o clock. And we have lift off!

the little rainbow tutu is the cloud cover—it was pretty thick so I held lens open for nearly 3 seconds...then I had to breathe...phew!

  
I've lost imagery—too much cloud cover. I'm shooting at 1/30th @ 4.5 (can't lower F Stop any lower—digital weenie camera. My poor little camera could barely cope. Seriously socked in now—a mooonbow! Ring around the moon...  

This cloud cover is killing me. I've gone & lost the frickin moon... Lunar eclipse on the shortest day, first time in over 400 years and it's hidden by cloud!

  I was going to use the binoculars to enlarge the camera lens...but one eyepiece came off the binoculars and bounced down the stairs and over the wall. So Neill was rootling around in the bushes for the lens during the time the sky was clear. Very Mutt & Jeff.

I have two very weenie Nikon 8.1 megapixel Coolpix P60s (one's CCD image sensor is better than the other—I keep the other one around as Plan B), and I have an older 7.1 MP Coolpix S200 which Neil was using. The P series, you can control the Fstop and shutter speed (sort of). The Automode was a bust until totality. Then it worked (sort of), but there was so little light, half the time I was shooting blind. 

I set the aperature on Mountain mode—as that gave me the greatest depth of field (focus) but even still, there were a lot of out of focus moons. I found that the 5x optical zoom was necessary—I even used the interpolated zoom vs optical (real lens).

My cameras failed, the noise dots are stars. You can see some of them moving.

I remember once we were on our way to see Tom Stoppard at ACT in SF ca. 1999 and between the buildings, hung a red moon—my digital camera couldn't cope.  

The first total lunar eclipse like this one that I remember circa 1972 or 73, I'd stopped off at the Forest Knolls post office to get the mail and looked up and shrieked—my first thought: it was a dragon's eye, then, blood. In that moment I understood why the Chinese called it a dragon's blood moon. The Aha! And another one circa 1986. Both accidental events. I had no idea they were on the schedule. I do remember earlier eclipses when I was a child—but none where the moon turned red. 

Hard drive scanning woes

Mind, what mind? Where? After meticulously backing up a failing hard drive all day yesterday and into the wee hours and reconciling orphan files, only to have new hard drive not show up....I have no mind. No nails or hair left either.

I need an older, make that retro, G4 OS 9 bootable Mac to support an obsolete SCSI Nikon Coolscan on loan..it won't run under Classic mode. I need to scan some negatives for Pat Nolan's book on Black Bart Poetry Newsletter for Poltroon Press. Seems like I was the only one taking photos in those daze. And I need to liberate those images from the negative past. Alas, I haven’t had darkroom access since 1990. I don’t miss the chemicals.

My artist wishlist. A working modern slide/film scanner. Meanwhile my G5 iMac HDD laid down and died (you already know that) and I don't have the right OS Tiger install disks, and cloning no longer works—Daisy the sheep syndrome. Bad files promulgating bad files. And I'm waiting for my replacement Seagate drives to arrive... I'm thumb/hoof twiddling the night away, here, folks. And all this under deadline.

Lughnasa, Edinburgh, 2008 (photos)

In a Close off the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, 2008

Lughnasa. At the top of the volcano, Arthur's Seat (Àrd-thir Suidhe) overlooking Edinburgh, St Margaret's Loch and Leith. I hiked to the summit with a knee brace. It made the distance twice as far, it's only 823 feet but that's from sea level. That purple tinge in the distance is heather.

Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh

  
At the costume store, Edinburgh, with Ellie, Christine Ross's granddaughter.

Telephone box, Edinburgh Castle

At the pub, Royal Mile, with Frances Fischer

At the Scottish border

At the Scottish border

Caer Bryn Celli Ddu, Anglesey, Wales (photos)

Caer Bryn Celli Ddu, (the mound in the dark grove) was hard to find, it's a few miles south-east of the village of Llandaniel Fab, on the isle of Ynys Môn, (Anglesey, North, Wales) Cymru.

Bryn Celli Ddu is a chambered barrow that marks the summer solstice. It's linked to Maes Howe and Newgrange—that mark the winter solstice).

The mound's stone passage points to the midsummer rising sun. The rays light up a quartz-rich stone at the back of the tomb—like at Newgrange. An outer ring of postholes have been dated to over 6,000 years ago. A Welsh Stonehenge.

Caer Bryn Celli Ddu, (the mound in the dark grove)—a Stonehenge-like chambered barrow with a lightbox similar to that of Newgrange, that marked the summer solstice—making it linked to Maes Howe and Newgrange—that mark the winter solstice), near Llanddaniel Fab, on the isle of Ynys Môn, (Anglesey, North, Wales) Cymru.

The mound's stone passage points to the midsummer rising sun. An outer ring of postholes have been dated to over 6,000 years ago. A Welsh Stonehenge. The rays light up a quartz-rich stone at the back of the tomb.

In the early 5th century, Irish seafarers (OK, pirate) colonized Anglesey & were driven out 470 AD (or so they say), but Gwynedd has had a long history of Irish settlement. And many of those Welsh-Irish seafarers returned to Ireland with Strongbow's "Norman" invasion. Probably our Walsh ancestors.

The mound's stone passage points at the midsummer rising sun. Postholes outside, previously thought to be contemporary with the tomb (c3000BC), have been dated to over 6,000 years old. A row of five postholes in front of the barrow appears to be much older. A Welsh mini Stonehenge. The rays light up a quartz-rich stone at the back of the tomb. More 

Afternoon light striking the menhir inside the passage tomb just after the summer solstice. Not much light so I resorted to B&W. Photo below this one is a flash—it washed out detail, but also revealed the modern red ochre ogham on the cement lintel. Top of stone is also covered in red ochre.

The freestanding menhir inside the barrow is an oddity—there is no other example anywhere. There was a fire pit at the center of the henge (probably about where I'm standing to take this photo), covered by a stone slab with a human ear-bone beneath. (Stirrupbone?) Ear to the ground! Thought to be a re-dedication offering. 

Also found inside the barrow was a stone with wave and spiral designs across its surface—a replica is at east entrance. The much older standing stones were deliberately damaged when the tomb was constructed. Also nearby, there was an ox burial inside a three-sided shelter, with quartz pebbles (pavement?) like Newgrnge, but this is a summer solstice passage grave, not a winter one. The reconstructed mound is one quarter of the size of the original chamber.


©Maureen Hurley 2008

Nota bene: Newgrange, Grianstad inniu, The winter solstice date is normally considered to fall on the 21st of December in the northern hemisphere, however during the winter solstice, the position of the sun remains the same for three days. At Newgrange, the passage and chamber of the 5000-year-old monument are illuminated by the winter solstice sunrise. A shaft of sunlight shines through the roof box over the entrance and penetrates the passage to light up the chamber. The dramatic event lasts for 17 minutes at dawn from the 19th to the 23rd of December.  More




12/2013: After being MIA for years, my lost Scotland/Wales pix showed up on an old hard drive—so thrilled to see them again. I only had the one I posted (above) earlier. Now I have a choice, oh my!

added 2/2017

Jacarandas in bloom (photo)

The Jacarandas in bloom were visible from 10,000 feet in the air! Entire blocks of Long Beach were clouded in purple.

Neil O'Neill at the Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA, May 2008 (photos)

Neil O'Neill at the Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA, May 2008

Maureen Hurley at the Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA, May 2008

Neil O'Neill and Frank McConville, lurid sunset, Alameda Island, Alemeda, CA (photo)

Neil O'Neill and Frank McConville, lurid sunset, Alameda Island, Alemeda, CA

Daffodils for St Daffyd's Day (photos)

 A potted daffodil opened in time for St Daffyd's Day. Backlighting seems to be a more interesting visual approach.

Daffodil (related to narcissus) admiring itself in a mirror.

Some garden flowers and leaves—good subjects to learn digital photography as they didn't squirm or complain too much. I've always inherited really old technology—people's cast off Macs and cameras. In 2006, I got two small KQED SPARK art grants, which allowed me to buy an iMac and 2 cheap digital cameras. That technology upgrade changed my life and it's been a huge exponential learning curve ever since. I spent off moments lurking in my neighbors' flowerbeds or grabbing photos on the fly. 

My little digital Nikons aren't all that great but they do fit into a jeans pocket and half the battle is being ready to catch the light. I find that the older CoolPix L4 4.1 megapixel camera (dropped dozens of times) is much better at focusing while my S200 7.1 MP camera captures more color info.

My $29.95 made-in-China trainer-bra camera, little better than a cell phone, was half-dead after I accidentally watered it in a creek at the 2005 Kate Wolf Festival (it was 114 degrees) in Memdocino Co. I was sad to see it go as it did such a terrffic job in full sunlight. Though I was able to kick start it on the iMac, it was never quite the same.

It was terrible grainy (3.1 MP) to begin with and had a blue color cast but it had a great macro lens. That's what got me into taking photos of flowers. So I kept it for sentimentality's sake until a fellow Freecycler coming to collect books spotted it. Last I heard, it had a new lease on life and was working perfectly.

Here's hoping the technology fairy will soon send a L14 or a D40 Nikon my way as the trusty little L4 CoolPix that I carry into every class I teach (to document student work), is having a harder time focusing these days.

© 2007-2009 Maureen Hurley All works of art and photographs in these albums is © copyright 2009 by Maureen Hurley and may not be used in any endeavor or context.

added 2/2017 from Facebook

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• The cultivated history of daffodils as we know it 2023

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus! A daffodil for Dewi Sant 2021

• Letter to Gregg Dunnett 2021
• How the Welsh language was really invented 2014
• Daffodils for St Dafyd's Day (photos) 2008
• St. Daffyd's Daffodils 2004

Facebook photo album: Mo's Flower Pix (photos)

Not a milk thistle, a cardoon, a member of the artichoke family. The color is outrageous.



A weed, but a morning glorious one

The light fairly pulsed through the heart of the morning glory, only it was late afternoon.



Morning Glory on the refuse heap.



Hollyhock...related to hibiscus...look at the stamen









I had never really taken photos of flowers before, and so I became fascinated with composition and light. Georgia O'Keefe certainly was an influence but I found myself unable to really focus in tight and crop off parts of flowers (or people's heads for that matter). It was hard to chop off the prettiness of the center of the dahlia in order to focus on the petal structure and raindrops.



One intense cosmos. I never realized how many blooms have blemishes and flaws until I started taking photos of them. The human eye is more forgiving than the camera lens, or should I say, the computer screen—because that's where the flaws show up. I came away from this exercise with a profound respect for still life master photographers and the F 16 school of Edward Weston. I wonder how he and Ansel Adams would've taken to the digital revolution? I was primarily a black and white photographer so color often distracted me. I sometimes turned the jpgs into B&W in order to see what I was doing.



Pansies with cat whisker stripes.



Gazania, African daisy



Foxglove. No foxes didn't wear them. They were called folk's gloves, fairy fingers or fairy hats. We used to put them on our fingers. Digitalis by any other name, used to regulate the heart arhythmia. Very poisonous.



One of the few times the old camera did a good job. Depth of field wasn't its forte. I figured that it was little better than a throw away camera with an ASA of 100.






Then the wind came up right before sunset and it lacerated the poppies.



I had to do a rose cliche, get it out of my system.






Two calla lilies (or Aram lilies) so like dancers. I love the forms. Very Martha Graham



Narcissus. An overcast or a rainy day was too much for the camera, I rarely got anything in focus. I miss my old SLR Pentax K-1000 and being able to focus my good lenses but I don't miss the darkroom chemicals. This was my training ground switching over to digital. I took a lot of photos before I figured out what would work. The digital SLRs were still in their infancy and were pretty lousy.




What's summer without basil? A member of the prolific mint family, some 2000 species and counting.



An urban succulent outside a Berkeley office. I loved the stark contrast of plant and door and wall. The people who worked there wanted to know why I would want to take a picture of a scrawny plant. They couldn't see it with fresh eyes. The pot was merely an outdoor ashtray to them.






Same leaf. The camera couldn't pick up the intense reds and greens next to the black edges of the leaf. I didn't know about photoshopping with layers or jpg deterioration and so the original pristine image is lost. I may try & salvage it at a later date. I was so desperate to capture is extraordinary color that I even scammed the leaf.




When I saw the rays of light streaming through the canna leaf up at the compost heap, I thought I was seeing things. I ran for my camera and was able to get a few shots before the sun moved and all was restored to ordinary light.

Most of these photos were taken in the fall of 2005 and 2006 with my first 3.1 megapixel digital camera that was so bad, it cost a whopping $29. The memory card cost more than the camera. But it had a great close up lens, better than my Nikon, but off color and pixellation was hard to work around. In this fall leaf resting on a black car hood, the graininess works. Very Seraut. See the shafts of sunlight streaming through the leaf as if it was a prism?

Someday I'll get a decent digital camera that can focus on what I actually see. it seems most of my best photos are taken with poor field of focus challenged cameras. The light fairly pulsed through the heart of the morning glory, only it was late afternoon. Unbelievable, the new 7.1 MP Nikon camera iisn't as good as the 5.1 MP Nikon I was using after I watered my cheap made in China camera. Ah well...training wheels.




added 2/2017 Google killed off Picasa, where I had the bulk of my photos stored, and left orphans all over the place. A nightmare for me, as I lost all my album prose, identifying people and places. To add insult to injury the photo albums also lost their creation dates, they were moved to the last edit date of the photo. These are salvaged from Facebook, so I'm saving them here for the prose as well. They're extremely small files. Loaded with artifacts. No use printing them.

Facebook photo album: Mo's Landscape Pix (photos)...