Mental Margarita - Red Columbine

I'm really pleased I bought the light tent. My neighbor was highly suspicious when I asked if I could snip this bloom to bring it home to take picture of it, but I'm glad I overcame his weirdness to get it. This is one of those subjects that is so funky on its own, that to have any kind of distraction in the background would be, um, distracting.

This, by the way, is a columbine. My relationship with this flower was limited to the massacre. Until this year, I had no idea that a columbine was such a space-age, trippy looking bloom. So I'm glad I have a new association. (BTW, Wally Lamb's new book on the subject, The Hour I First Believed, is brutal but worth reading if you don't mind getting your a bit heart bruised.)

These are my two other favorites from the bunch:





Peonies are so riotous. I love their disorderliness.

Please check out my fotos site for the rest of the newbies.

Happy July!

Mental Margarita - White Dogwood

I heard this great thing about considering new avenues. If you feel really good about it, and it feels like the right thing, then do it. If you have no strong reaction, don't do it. If you resist it... do it. There's something for you there.

Last summer I saw a photographer's work who also does nature shots on canvas. But she shot them with a black background in her studio, taking them out of their natural element. They looked amazing. But I was jealous. She was cheating! It's much harder to get the light right, to get that great shot when you're outdoors.

But her images stuck with me, and I've been pondering ever since. My favorite images that I had made were the ones where there was very little background from the subject, like this calla lily which has become my signature shot. So I finally gave in to the nagging impulse to try it myself. To "cheat." Most of the new images on my site were taken in the studio (by which I mean a light box on my desk but it sounds much sexier to say "in my studio"). Please go to fotos de karina - new to see the latest images.

It's still a new avenue for me, and one in which I will continue to grow, but so far I'm really feeling it. It eliminates the challenge of rain, wind, or shifting light. I can do long exposures, allowing for deeper focus. I can backlight or toplight, really play with the formula for evoking all the beauty my subject is offering up. Oh, and it's fun.

Your feedback is very welcome and appreciated - thanks!

Mental Margarita - Grupo

Most often, something catches my eye because of its singularity, or its color or shape. But it's usually a single flower or leaf that jumps out at me. Here, it was the overall pattern of these little succulent stars that grabbed me. And I liked that even though there are numerous plants in this group (grupo, en Espanol), a few of them seemed to glow just a little brighter than the rest, giving the eye a resting spot, if you will.

Now regarding the singularity theme, I have been experimenting with isolating subjects in a light box. This does seem to allow their essence to be brought forward with no distractions in the background. And another benefit in creating studio shots is that I'm no longer limited by the weather, the light, etc. I create my own conditions, which on a blustery day like today (when a flower wouldn't be able to hold still for me to have its picture made) is the difference between getting the shot or not. But my preference is still to find that little piece of nature right where it is and to share it with you. I'll be creating and sharing more of these studio images soon. Stay tuned!

Phoenix in the the Spring (inside joke, not a typo)

I must thank Shirley, Tara, and I think there was one more person for PRESSURING :-) me to go see the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens while in Phoenix. (It runs through the end of May dbg.org)


It was a lovely coming together of my old home and my new home, as I grew up loving the desert, and now I live in the land of Chihuly. His studio was right down the road from my Mom's old place. His glass art is very aquatic, generally, and for me, very evocative of the NW.

I really loved how he got inspired by the desert flora.


This is a pretty good representation of the wicked pure heat that is a Phoenix summer:


My friend Dory and I had a great time at the gardens, and most of the rest of the weekend was spent with the family. It was great to see all the little ones of the youngest generation tearing it up. So glad we could be there. And yes, again, we hit the Barrio Cafe for Mexican food and came home with about 10 pounds of freshly roasted green chiles from Food City. Ahhhh.....

Mental Margarita - Vivid Blue

Everyone keeps going on about what a cold winter it was, but being our first, we had nothing to compare it to. We loved the snow and ice (well, we loved it except when one of us had to slog uphill to catch the bus in it...) but it's official: spring has sprung!

I took this and many other images at the Conservatory at Volunteer Park in Seattle. The greenhouse rivals the one in Golden Gate Park but it's free. So these plants and flowers on my new page, had they been out in the elements, probably wouldn't be doing their spring dances quite yet. But things are blooming all over and the sun's been out and it's been lovely. I know we may get more cold weather yet but I don't care. Spring is here!

I also shot a bunch of succulents and cacti at the Conservatory (I will never tire of them as subjects, apparently) and I'll be sending those in the next Mental Margarita. We're coming home to the desert for a family reunion next weekend, so I suspect I'll be in a desert plant mood when I prep the next batch of images.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out all the new images at fotos de karina - new.

Mental Margarita - Ice Swirl

God is in the details.

I've been pondering that one lately, especially as I witness winter's effect on nature. As a desert-dweller for most of my life, I didn't get to see much snow and ice. Here in Seattle, winter is hanging on and everyone's talking about being ready for spring, including me.

But the upside is that I'm still learning about and discovering the interplay of light and snow, or ice, or frost, and it's gorgeous. (Granted, I do have to go outside when it's really cold out, but I'm learning how to dress right!)

So as I become transfixed by the winter beauty sparkling around me, I am reminded that God is in the details. And really, when I look at most of my images, that's what I see. It almost feels like cheating because I'm simply finding and capturing some aspect of nature that God already perfected. There is so much beauty around us. We just have to look.

Kitten Yoga

OK, so this has nothing to do with photography -- I just had to share.

I had the pleasure last week of kitty sitting our neighbor's kitten, Max. One day I did some yoga, which as you know is about both strength and relaxation. Having a kitten tearing about, leaping from couch to chair to table and back again, attacking everything in sight, makes the relaxation part a bit more challenging.

My yoga pants have a draw string on them that was fun to bat at while I was in an inverted pose. The yoga mat was great to chew on and attack and kick. I took out my ponytail holder to do a stretch on the back of my neck and it was immediately reassigned to "toy" status.

And of course the final pose, called corpse pose, where you lay on your back under a blanket, consciously relaxing every part of your body, is particularly interesting when each part of your body is being systematically pounced upon. (I don't know how Max's people sleep at night!)

This is my no-longer-relaxed foot under the blanket. At least laughter is good for relaxing!!!