As I’m writing this, all sorts of “summer” songs are running through my head.
Fun in the Summertime is a classic one, nothing at all deep, just singing about that special feeling that summer brings, “End of the spring and here she comes back Hi hi hi hi, there Them summer days, those summer days.”
My summer days have been full of travel, adventure, family, and learning which always inspire me. It seemed like a good time to share what’s been filling the well lately.
We started out the summer with family in Switzerland, including an amazing trip to see the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland. As you may have gathered if you’ve been following for a while, I’m more interested in details than grand scenes. This was GRAND! The panoramic image below was the view from Gonergrat with the Matterhorn off in the distance to the far right (the pointy peak). Click on the image to enlarge it and you can see the small red circle over to the left of this image, understand that it highlights a 6 story building. I only took one other set of panoramic images during the 3 hours that we spent at the top. To me, there was no way to fully capture that grandeur so I just let it soak in to my soul.
Matterhorn_Panorama_Gail-Haile. — Click to enlarge
I couldn’t resist sharing this image from the Stork colony in Uznach, on the east end of Lake Zurich. We were driving around one day and we noticed a stork on the roof of a church. As we looked more we saw storks everywhere, in huge, really huge, nests on the roofs and chimneys of houses and churches. It turns out that there is a whole colony of about 30 storks that the villagers allow and encourage to nest there. It was such an unexpected delight!
Some travel on this side of the ocean brought us to this beautiful beach where I taught my grandson to be comfortable with the waves.
I was able to be on the other side of the learning equation and be inspired when I went to a workshop taught by John Paul Caponigro, a fine art photographer, advocate for the environment, and son of photographer Paul Caponigro who was a friend and colleague of Ansel Adams. Check out his website. You will be amazed by his work and his generosity with resources.
Another learning opportunity was spending a week at the PPSNYS Imaging Workshop and studying with Richard Sturdevant. He taught his detailed techniques for creating complex works of art using multiple images. My unfinished class project, below, involved over 25 different images and many techniques in both Photoshop and Painter. I’m excited to see where these two inspirational experiences will take my work.
©GHaile_Sturdevant class project — Click to enlarge
YOU are an inspiration! What a fun filled Summer!