I have decided to start a new blog category called “Obsession.” When I travel or even when I am on a photo stroll around town, I find myself drawn to particular subjects and themes and I like to photograph them from a variety of viewpoints and angles while also zooming in and spanning out.

This obsession.

Sanford Stadium on the UGA campus on a cloudy day. All taken with iPhone.

I have decided to start a new blog category called “Obsessions.” When I travel or even when I am on a photo stroll around town, I find myself drawn to particular subjects and themes and I like to photograph them from a variety of viewpoints and angles while also zooming in and spanning out. 

This obsession.

While on a hike in Boise at Hawkins Trail I got obsessed with these views of transmission towers juxtaposed against the natural skyline. I hope you enjoy this selection.

I have decided to start a new blog category called “Obsessions.” When I travel or even when I am on a photo stroll around town, I find myself drawn to particular subjects and themes and I like to photograph them from a variety of viewpoints and angles while also zooming in and spanning out. 

This obsession.

My spring obsession was throwing my camera into black and white and seeing what came out. Here are a handful of nature and other shots that I enjoyed and that caught my fancy.

I have decided to start a new blog category called “Obsession.” When I travel or even when I am on a photo stroll around town, I find myself drawn to particular subjects and themes and I like to photograph them from a variety of viewpoints and angles while also zooming in and spanning out. 

This obsession.

I fell in love with these puffy purple flowers on a stroll in the Bot Garden here in Athens this spring. I hope you enjoy this selection.

In May, I had the opportunity to return to Arizona! I went the first time in March 2020, right at the beginning of the pandemic. The day I was flying home was the day they were talking on the news about the spread of the virus in the US. Luckily, I did not catch it on the plane. No one was wearing masks that early.

This time, I got to spend one night in Tempe, then spent 3 nights in Tucson. I spent time taking photos in the cities and in the desert. This time around, the saguaro were blooming! And the weather was perfect. On one morning we rented e-bikes and had a great time wandering in the neighborhoods adjacent to our resort.

As I was processing my photos, I learned several things. I had some obsessions this trip: I got a little obsessive with the palms trees in Tempe and, of course, got obsessed with the saguaro blooms in the desert in Tucson. Sprinkled among those are my typical photos of urban buildings and their geometry, and shadows and light.

First, the palm trees. Loved these in black and white, for some reason.

Next, this particular building in Tempe really grabbed my attention. Likewise, I like these shots in black and white. I loved the angles and lines.

Here are some colorful shots of the architecture on the campus of ASU. I had such a great time wandering aimlessly on campus. So many unique and compelling designs. And, also, here are just some random shots on the way to and along the Tempe Town Lake.

I feel honestly like I cannot get enough of the Sonoran Desert. I was in awe the first time I went and I was just as much in awe this time. It is hard for me to fathom that this strange landscape belongs to the same earth that holds kudzu vines killing southern trees.  I enjoy taking pictures in both color and black and white, and really l loved the blooms! And I even got a pic of a road runner! That was fun.

I would say that one of my most favorite things that I have photographed recently is the San Xavier del Bac Mission. This particular day, with those bright blue skies as the backdrop, I got some of my favorite most recent photos. These final three being my favorite triplet that I’ve taken in awhile. I could have stayed all day and played around with the angles and the light.

In November I went to Nashville with some girlfriends to see Cyndi Lauper (!) in concert at the Bridgestone Arena just off of Broadway. It was the first time I had been! We stayed on Music Row on 16th Ave. very close to some historic recording studios like Decca and Curb. It was a very easy and safe walk to downtown so, as per usual, I got up early and went wandering with my camera. Likewise, I enjoyed taking pictures of my usual subjects: architectural lines with shadows and lights, funky reflections, and details that some people might miss. I really enjoyed throwing my camera into B&W and here are some of my favorites on the walk to downtown.

And here are some of my favorite color shots.

And my favorite funky reflections.

Cyndi Lauper was amazing. Of course. We ate some great food and spent one night on Broadway hitting some of the famous country western bars. Nashville is a trip! It reminds me of New Orleans or Vegas – of the South.

In September I went to Denver to hangout with  a friend who was participating in an artist market displaying his drawings. I had been to Denver one or two other times (once to see Nine Inch Nails in the late 90s!) but had not spent any length of time getting to know the place. The first morning, I took an Uber to the Denver City Park and then proceed from there to wander for the next 8 hours all around downtown! I also went to Meow Wolf – but honestly, not super impressed by that. *shrug emoji* Here are some shots from the Park.

From there I meandered downtown. As per usual, I have to capture some interesting architectural views like funky reflections and compelling patterns and textures. Grabbed these wandering around with no particular destination in mind.

I also wandered just a bit along 16th Street but it was sorta hot and also some of it was under construction.

Oddly, one of my very favorite finds was this installation of brightly colored umbrellas. I could not seem to get enough photos of them with that bright blue sky in the background and sunlight shining, making them so brilliant.

I rounded out my walk for that day, ending up at Union Station. And then took the train back down toward the convention hotel.

And finally, my last morning in Colorado I went to Garden of the Gods and rented an e-bike and tooled around the Garden a couple of times enjoying the road and the view and snapping some photos. I was in awe! As I typically am when faced with the wonders of our beautiful planet. And when I visit these sorts of places I always think, “What can I possibly add to the aggregation of photos – that already exist – of this natural wonder?” I questioned the same when I attempted my shot, for example, of the LA skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge. I am never sure that I can bring anything different to the collection. And I try! But if I fail then I remind myself that these photos are also mine – they don’t have to belong to the world – and so here are some of my personal favorites from that morning.

And here is my panoramic with my iPhone. Such an incredible natural wonder!

In April 2024 my son and I ventured on an epic trip to NYC and then on to upstate NY and Vermont to be in totality for the solar eclipse. It was my son’s first time in the city. The day we arrived it was very rainy and windy. But before the worst of it set in we made our way from our Flower District hotel through Madison Square Garden area and to Times Square and got some great pics of the bright lights reflected on the wet pavement. 

Despite the continuing rain the next day, and against our better judgement, we made our way to the top of the Empire State Building. It was so windy on top that it felt like your phone was going to fly right out of your hand. My one regret was not having Will take a slo-mo video of the wind blowing my hair around. It was insane. Despite it looking like this, we had a good time:

Our third day the skies cleared and we made the most of it. We made our way from the Flower District through Chelsea Park to The High Line and Hudson Yard. Then we worked our way through the Garment District for a brief stop in Bryant Park and a pop in to Grand Central. Here are some random pics from all of our adventures that day.

I’m revisiting my travels over the last several years and finally posting a few trips I’ve taken since post-COVID. Like most people, I took the quarantine very seriously so there is definitely a gap between pre-COVID and post-COVID travels. Plus some really intense personal issues interfered in my leaving my hometown for a very, very long time. Finally in 2022, I ended up taking a couple of small and rather local trips. I always love traveling because it inspires and ignites my interest in taking photos. This blog post is dedicated to just a couple of small trips I made to North Carolina. I started small. 

First up is a girl’s grip to Asheville in June. My best friend and I traveled all around the city on an e-bike with The Flying Bike.  These pics are from our e-bike tour but also from our hotel room and a walk we took down by the river and near the River Arts District. 

My second trip in 2022 was also a hyper-local trip to Highlands, NC with my son in July. These pictures were taken in and around downtown Highlands. 

Laura is my “oldest” friend. We met in the 5th grade, which means we’ve known each other for nearly 40 years. That is almost unfathomable to me – not only that we are *that* old but that our friendship has endured for so long. Late in 2019 I decided that 2020 had to be a year when I let go of almost everything else and instead committed to traveling and to re-connecting with friends. So I told Laura and Mark that I was coming to Arizona! I had not seen them in 10 years! And I bought my ticket in early February and I flew on virtually the same day that everyone started freaking out about the Corona Virus. So the flight over and back was filled with internal reminders not to touch your face! And constant hand sanitizing! And hoping I didn’t end up on the plane next to someone who was coughing or sneezing. 

I arrived at the Tucson airport around noon and my friends had a full weekend planned for us! We went directly to the good stuff: Saguaro National Park. Because we were getting a late start we just did the driving tour and got out of the car for a couple of small forays off the road and into desert to take a closer look at things. Of course, this was like nothing I’d ever seen before! I was immediately in awe at the beauty of the Sonora Desert. 

Day 2 we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and saw a variety of different animals in addition to all the unique cacti. I was so enamored with the landscape and those Saguaro littering the hills in every direction you looked. And I don’t think I could begin to count the number of different types of cacti that I saw. 

Day 3 we were threatened with rain but we drove over to Sabino Canyon anyway and took the open air shuttle tour up to the top.  I didn’t snap too many pictures because I didn’t want my camera to get wet. I think the rain clouds made for some very dramatic scenes. It was another day of feeling in complete awe of the beauty of this planet. Sabino Canyon was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It was pretty magical.

On the morning of my last day we drove over to Tubac, Arizona, which is a small artist community with tons of small stores full of local art.