I developed some photos today from my first homemade pinhole camera made out of a Bruichladdich scotch tin. The shots below are from a walk in downtown Grand Rapids and a wine pressing session in our backyard vineyard. I exposed paper negatives through the pinhole–40 seconds to 1 min–and then scanned them into the computer.
We drove to a spectacular park in the southwest Yukon today called Kluane (Kloo-WA-nee). It contains Canada’s highest and the world’s largest non-polar alpine ice field in the world. Kluane is also part of a chain of parks in Alaska, Yukon, and B.C. that make up the world’s single largest internationally protected area.
In the park, we camped on Kathleen Lake;
and hiked to the summit of King’s Throne, which had views of the glaciers and peaks in the interior of the park.
The ridge leading up to the final sumitt approach is a crazy steep path that gains 2,500 feet in one mile.
From the top we could see the back side of Kathleen Lake and Mt. Logan, the highest point in Canada at 19, 551 feet!
Mt. Logan is also the northern hemisphere’s pole of cold with temperatures recorded as low as -107.5 degrees F.
Here is Carmen taking a break on the knee busting route down the summit.
and another shot of the way down!
And now some words of wisdom from Andy B in the Uintah Wilderness…
“It is so nice to be in the backcountry away from things because I feel like there are no temptations, such as:
no place to spend money
no place to go out
no Martha’s Vineyard
no computer to waste time googling useless things (like what I’m writing here)
no indoor climate control
no beer to drink too much
no pizza around the corner
no wine (like that 05 Bordeaux that looks so good)
I can just focus on my surroundings and my oatmeal isn’t even good enough to want more.”
Here is some solid advice I read this morning from jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas that untangles the cultural climate in which musicians, artists, and other creatives are working out their livelihoods.
Dave Douglas: “Niches Brew”: Musicians Creating a Way Forward.
Check out the Greenleaf Music label for some inspiration!
It’s 20 minutes till 11pm. Andy and I are finally eating dinner after a long day and we want to make up for some lost practice time. So, we started “Music Nibbles” a short music study session while we eat. We pulled out the score to Berg’s Lyric Suite along with a recording by the Kronos Quartet with Dawn Upshaw.
What Andy learned:
What I learned:
Alban Berg and Anton Webern
Their height is proportionate to their music? Can you guess who is who?