At Work

It's purest trivia, but Margaret Bamberger sent a few photos of me at work, shooting panoramas on the ranch. It's not a perspective I've ever had before, not least because, like anyone without prehensile eyes, I can't see the back of my own head, which may be its best side.

The panorama being shot above was a complete failure, due to a wind that just would not stay gone long enough to let me shoot the whole thing before it resumed waving the near-field trees back and forth. And I waited hours. I did, however, manage to shoot that scene successfully months later: Bamberger Ranch, Jacob's Ladder Tank, David's Overlook. If you've seen the book Water from Stone, that's the scene David and his dog would have seen from their location in the sketch on page 46. Except that those bloody trees hadn't grown large enough to be in the way, back then. It must have been a much better view without them.

The panorama I was on my way to shoot in the photo above, "Bamberger Ranch, West Slope Middle Grassland, no. 2", turned out very well, I think, and after only two takes. I had to be careful to walk out into the hip-high grass in such a way that my trail would not be visible in the pano, so I moved along the fence first, then zig-zagged my way into the scene.

That panorama will be one of the four that I'll have on display (and on sale) at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, from October 6th to November 11th. I wish I'd been able to show more than four, but those 60" X 18" archival-grade canvas prints are expensive, and four was about all I could manage. If they sell well, I'll be able to print additional works for future shows. If not, ouch ... but the walls of my house have never looked better. By the way, all of Margaret's sketches from Water from Stone, and then some, will also be on display/sale, including the aforementioned item on page 46.