I had the chance to some personal shooting while on Web business in Denver Colorado recently. The firm, a large aerospace metal refinishing and plating company is a whirlwind of production various parts coating and oxidizing techniques within large tanks of chemicals. Ones I didn't care to get "too close" to. I shot upclose and straight on to several of these coating tanks — with results than conjur up paint, op-op, mixed media...you name it. View the entire series at my fine art gallery VSonoma.

Just finished post production on the Thanksgiving holiday shoot. We bonsai'd down Interstate 5 to the Mojave Desert, Death Valley National Park and looped back up Highway 395 against a beautiful backdrop of the eastern sierras. An amazing factoid - Death Valley (the lowest elevation in the North America is only 90 miles for the base of the highest elevation, Mt. Whitney)! I had plenty of great photo opps (particularly the Stove Pipe Wells Sand Dunes) but perhaps the real keeper was the Chevron Gas station shot I grabbed at 5 am, Topaz Lake, NV. Shooting temp that morning was 28° F. The trip photography is posted at the PhotoLogue - Death Valley.

Chuck Close has changed his painting style since regressing to a full quadriplegic condition in the last 4 or 5 years. He literally attaches paint brushes to his wrist since he's lost control of his hands. Whats he do? In his new show that's part of LA's ongoing art explosion…the work is more brilliant than ever!

Tethered to my desktop most days, I really felt the need for "a real smart phone". That stinking-thinking changed in a hurry with my combo Christmas/Birthday present, the iPhone 4s.

Two distinctly separate shooting locations yielded some rich "rust". The first was an early morning shoot with full access to the classic Marin County restaurant,Nick's Cove in Tomales Bay. It sits right on the water smack in the middle of several oyster farms and even has it's own pier. The site is packed with an eclectic mix of nautical antiques scattered around the grounds of the restaurant. See the photos at PhotoLogue-Nick's Cove.

I visited Randsburg, CA shortly after (a semi-ghost town in the Mohave desert) and it made Nicks look like a tourist shop. The entire town is one run-on art show of rusted cars, make-shift building in varying stats of decay and numerous "self-styled" art installations scattered around. See this wild destination at Photologue-Randsburg.

>>> >Read Past Posts