Of Gardening and Mice

Spring is the time for wildflowers, planting the vegetable garden, and mice.

Hoping to get an early start on this year's garden, I bought some starts for peas, lettuce, spinach, and artichokes. There are three raised beds with one sprouting chard and parsley from last year, another with a nitrogen-fixing bean nearing harvest, and an empty bed readied for the starts. The garden tools are kept nearby in a converted horse stable with garden gloves in a mouse-proof cupboard. This proved convenient not just for me but also a mother mouse who discovered the cupboard wasn't mouse proof and contained most excellent material for a nest: my gloves.

On opening the cupboard a gray object moves rapidly from behind a box and backs into a corner - with two baby mice still not fully disengaged from mom; she is in the process of giving birth. I changed my plans and ran for camera and surgical gloves. Momma was still hugging the corner when I returned and I was able to take a few shots before she ran and disappeared behind another box. A minute later she reappeared sans babies, scampered up the inside of the cupboard, and out through a very small hole. I then removed the box and ... no babies! I removed every item in the cupboard and looked at the bottom and sides of each object removed... no babies.

It is a mystery to me. I can only presume she was either able to reverse the birthing process or (gasp!), she ate them.

Red Bubble T-Shirts

A little self promotion: I've put some photos on Red Bubble that work with T-shirts.

A Vision for Restoration

"A Vision for Restoration" shows a portion of the former Sakai Brothers Rose Company that the City of Richmond plans to incorporate into the site development as a reminder of its agrarian past. It will be displayed at the Bucci's exhibit with photos from photographer Dale Mead and me.

The Sakai nursery started in 1906 with 2.5 acres in Richmond and a single greenhouse salvaged from Berkeley. The Oishi nursery started shortly after. The combined nurseries grew as more land was acquired and more buildings were added, and were shut down in 1942 during World War II. They resumed operations when the families returned after the war and continued until fairly recently.

"The property, located near Wall Avenue across I-80 from Home Depot, is not only the last vestige of a once thriving
industry that spread along the Richmond-El Cerrito border, but it is arguably the last of the intact pre-WW II nurseries in California"

I have visited the site several times, beginning in January 2007 and most recently in September 2009. Roses still bloom in abundance even though unattended.

Exhibit at Bucci's

Yes, it's official. Dale Mead and I will be exhibiting some of our photos at Bucci's Restaurant in Emeryville (1601 Hollis St) starting with a reception on December 10 (4-7pm) and running through January 15. So if you haven't found that perfect Christmas gift yet, come on by and see if there's something you like.

construction Choreography

Pile driving noise can be bothersome to those who work or live nearby, but build we must. Or, if you have a camera, join the fun!

LOcal time

High Tech Noon

The Annual Laboratory Christmas Party-Luncheon 2008

Big Bang Theory - The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization

Worth watching - even if you are not a physicist! And if the subtitles work, a great way to practice your Spanish.

On Location Model Shoot Aboard the USS Nokomis

A portrait studio offers great control of lighting and a skilled photographer can create wonderful images, but for a story to go with it, on-location shooting offers greater opportunities and challenges. Together with photographers Jon Bauer, Dave Lund, and Vic Miller, I had the opportunity to learn some techniques for on-location photography using ambient light, reflectors, and off-camera flashes. Of course it helps to have truly elegant models, as we did with Reina Lam and Zarif Sadiqi together with the makeup artist, Erika Zunon.

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Chicago and WEFTEC 08

I love Chicago, in October at least. The rest of the year I'm told the weather in Chicago is either too hot and humid or too cold. But October is great. I went there for the annual Water Environment Federation (WEF) conference and give a talk. with 33K attendees there was a lot to see, hear, and do - especially if one decides to get out and walk and use the transit system, which I did.

The Palmer House is grand, especially so after a very expensive ($300M) remodel job. Fellow presenter Saskia V was on the 20th floor, so I got some night shots from there in addition to the grand hall, ballrooms, staircases, etc. I did get out and walked a bit, taking in the "Bean" (aka Cloud Gate), Museum of Art, and the Field Museum of Natural History. Back at the conference, I caught Mayor Daley's keynote speech and heard how a big city can get 'green.' I found an unoccupied walkway and shot a panorama of one of the exhibits. It's really hard to see the layout when you're on the floor. The Op's Challenge was on the floor, so I got a couple of shots of the action. So on with the show...

Sounds of Paris - A Concert in the Church

http://www.cweb.com/audio/Sounds_of_Paris_-_Concert_at_the_Church

Special District One and the Annual BBQ of 2008

The Drive to Ione

High Dynamic Range Photoshop Tutorial

High Dynamic Range Photography Explained - A Tutorial - Get more Business Documents

Abandoned for Now - Large Format Slideshow Test

On-Demand MDLs for the Environmental Laboratory

On-Demand MDLs for the Environmental Laboratory - Get more Business Documents

You Call Them Interesting

Castle Lake Reunion 2007 - 50 Years

The Castle Lake Research Group reunion - a celebration of 50 years of limnological research and integrative investigations of freshwater lakes beginning in 1959 when Dr. Charles Goldman cut a hole in the ice at Castle Lake. More at caes.ucdavis.edu/NewsEvents/News/WebNews /jun_castle.htm

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/misterken/sets/72157600976459663/