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Tulsa State Fair

The harbinger of fall, the Tulsa State Fair, opened on September 30.  After a summer that delivered triple digit heat in higher numbers (114 degrees) and longer duration (over a month except for a one day break) than anything I've ever experienced, it seems a dream that fall is finally here. 

For the last four months I have been a slave to the weather.  Running in the pre-dawn hours to escape the heat and sunlight, watering my plants and garden religiously, dealing with the jungle of my back terrace (weeds of every description, voluntary trees, and poison ivy), Asplundh coming into my back yard and cutting down three of my shade trees because they have grown too close to the power lines, and resigning myself to living in constant air conditioning, has made me want to move further north and have a smaller eco-footprint.  Deal with different weather problems.  I haven't been to the Tallgrass Prarie at all this summer.  I can't even imagine how the bison have dealt with the intense heat in their shadeless landscape.

Then, just as incredibly, after three months without rain or respite, the temperature dropped suddenly into the eighties and stayed there.  As I ran my usual route in the dim light, I felt chilled by the cooler weather.  I picked up my pace to stay warm.  I caught my first cold in years.

So, I was excited by the prospect of breaking my photography hiatus with the Tulsa State Fair.  Picking up my 7D with a 50mm lens on the front, I went to the fairgrounds around noon Saturday, October 1.  Thousands of trucks and cars, semis used to haul animals and equipment, communication dishes and trucks, all were parked in the fairgrounds parking lot.  Additional  land had been cleared to provide parking on smooth, clean, packed ground.  And a charming shuttle wagon hauled by a giant truck provided transportation to the front gates.  All for free: parking and shuttle.  Entry into the fairgrounds was only $10 for adults, small children enter free.  

OMG.  The Tulsa State Fair has to be the best fair in the world.  There are rides galore, food venues of every stripe and then some, and then there are the animals.  Seriously, how often do you see an animal that weighs TONS, is spotlessly cleaned and groomed, and docile enough to be petted?  And there are whole arenas full of them.  They put all the white cattle together, all the red cattle together, all the black cattle together, and all the fantastically spotted Belgian Blue cattle together.  New mothers are displayed with their calves.  It is pretty unbelievable.  People are super friendly.

Well, I've probably said too much.  A picture is worth....etc.  Here are a few of mine.          

Americana

It seems fitting this 4th of July to take a look back at some of the photos from a series called "Americana".  This series spanned a time from the mid-nineties to about 2006, and locations in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri.  It harkens back to a rural America not yet part of the great consumerism that spawned sprawling shopping malls and cheap, mass-produced, throw-away items.  Its what most people think of when they hear the word "Heartland", and it is quickly vanishing.  Almost overnight, it is being replaced by Bed Bath and Beyonds, Barnes and Nobles, Walmarts, and the ubiquitous development of MacMansions.  It makes me feel sad for the displaced wildlife and the countryside in general.  And, isn't this where all our food was being grown?  I hope they have that part worked out.       

Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July 2011.  Celebrate sensibly, and make sure to get the shot.

Konzertmeister

My newest image, "Konzertmeister", has been printed, crated, sent from the east coast, and arrived at Lovetts Gallery ahead of the June 11 deadline for the ten pieces of work created especially for OK Mozart Festival 2011.  It is a 60X40 print on metal with a high gloss finish.  The luminosity factor is off the charts.

Next week all ten of the special works will be taken to OKM Festival  2011 for the Patron's Dinner on June 18  http://www.okmozart.com/ .  This is the 27th season for what is one of the largest classical music festivals in the world.  The American Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the Amici New York Orchestra are but a few of the offerings during the weeklong musical celebration.

I am honored to have been chosen as one of ten artists from around the country to create a musically inspired work for this event.  Lovetts Gallery has kept a blog to document the progress of the work at http://on.fb.me/kK5N5t.

OK Mozart

Here is a link to Lovetts Gallery blog about progress on the ten artists work for OK Mozart Festival Patron's Dinner on June, 18, 2011.  Scroll to see mine at "High Times with Frank Lloyd Wright and Mozart". 
http://blog.lovettsgallery.com/

Supermoon Sunset

This is the sunset I photographed while waiting for the "super moon" to rise over the Tallgrass Prairie in March.  The grass was tall, the air was chilly.  The sun set but the moon did not appear for over an hour, and the prairie was plunged into a deep darkness.  Finally the moon appeared behind a thick cloud cover that raced across the sky, revealing only glimpses of its magnificence.