Greetings from the Season

You'd think I'd forget you? This time of year? We've known each other longer than that. Well, here you go. A little something. Something I found. Merry Christmas.

Ice Palace

Turn off the waterworks baby, they don't move me no more. Especially when they are frozen. Almost. Did get most of the salt off the car despite the l'il penguin ice cubes coming out the end of the sprayer.

Palms In Paradise

The last time I was on the coast I contracted walking pneumonia and had to sweat it out on a 5 hour flight back to bed. This was the last thing I remember...

Skagit River Hikeathon

Back from a week of living with the rocks in the Cascade Mountain Range in Washington. From Mt. Rainier to Ross Lake (Ross Lake Resort) and the dams (Diablo, Gorge, and Ross) of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. Hiked and ate. Kept the fire burning every 2 hours in the cast iron Alaskan. Many images of mountains I won't post here.


And I have to say I'm ALL for the National Parks of the US. And the Great Lodges. Yes, I possess an annual pass. When I leave the community confines of the park I can't help but feel like I'm leaving home, into the unsanctioned unofficial world of back-to-school letdown.

Texaglo

In honor of the coming fall glow, an IR image from earlier in the year, out west. Near Bryce Canyon, UT.

Download American Tour PDF

American Tour photobook portfolio is available for download: www.mvlimbert.com/AmTourCover.html. Includes some old favorites from mvlimbert.com as well as new images.

Two For NYC Show

These are fun. Two photos selected to be in the ASMPNY "Close Up" show at Calumet in NYC this month. And printed BIG for the first time (44" x 31"). Check www.asmpny.org for details. Will try to make the opening if I can get away. And yes, they are for sale. UPDATE – photos of show can be seen here: http://galleries.stephenmallon.com/show/

Independence

The sun shines bright on the old fireworks stand. 'Merica.

Munich Match

Rambling outside the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich. There's a certain sense of style that never fails to impress in Europe. Now if he would have gone for the matching top...

Germany vs. Spain

German soccer fan walks to public square in Hamburg, Germany for the final match.

Sun Deck, Stena Line

On board the Stena Line from Goteborg, Sweden to Kiel, Germany (to Hamburg, then Munich). The trip continues.

Ice Cream

Norwegian ice cream icon (Diplom-Is) along the road. These are everywhere. Have yet to sample.

Cubits

And speaking of ARK, this was found driving near Beitostolen, Norway. A ship on top of the mountain, at the shore of a glacier lake. I'm sure there was some reason for it, but at 7am it was a vision of something else.

Experience The Nature

Nordens Ark in Hunnebostrand Sweden. "Meet endangered animals in a beautiful and dramatic Swedish west coast scenery." Had coffee, just passing through. http://www.nordensark.se/en/

Comfort Motel, HOST Gallery London

My photo of Detroit's Comfort Motel (in demolition stage) made it into the Foto8 Summer Show 2008, held at the HOST Gallery in London (1-5 Honduras Street, London, EC1Y 0TH). And of course, it will be for sale. Printed at 18"x12" (actual cropping wider than above). In other news, I'm on my way to Germany, Sweden and Norway for 2 weeks of photo gathering for a Saab print shoot.

Inside Glacier National Park, on the Saab shoot. Beauty trumped only by ingenuity. All that snow melt has to go someplace. But I must say, outside the park gates in Blackfoot country, trash abounds.

Flew out west to Montana for a Saab TV shoot and had to marvel at the tightly-wrapped breakfast from room service at the Great Falls Holiday Inn. I have several shots (you should see the pancakes). Here we see the breakfast burrito and OJ all snug under the Reynolds Wrap.

Little White Chapel

(And by the way, I got married.)

Grand Canyon Skywalk

Well I'll tell ya, if you're thinking about going to the Grand Canyon Skywalk on the western side of the Canyon, don't drive your own car. There are 14 miles of unpaved road (each way) that will tear your vehicle a-part. And when after over an hour of navigating ruts, dust and trenches, be prepared to pay $20 for the experience (parking). Then another $30 (per person) for a further bus ride to the walk itself. I couldn't justify it, no sir. Ate the parking fee and turned around. Especially since a rock flew up on the way back and dinged the windshield. Fortunately, it was a rental. I didn't stop vibrating for days. No wonder everyone I saw heading back had a look of "get me out of here" in their eyes.

North Vegas

Clarks TV Service

A perfectly banal scene, on a perfectly banal day, with 4 perfectly banal subjects. Making one perfectly banal posting. Was this shopping center doomed from the start?

Artist Statement Anyone?

Always puzzling is the desire by those in creative arts academia to possess a photographer's ARTIST STATEMENT. The danger being that much of what makes an image powerful is neatly defused in the explanatory prose. And some of the fun, the mystical, is removed from the equation. I love the feeling when an image stirs up questions; when it taps into some great internal resonant current of wonder. How disappointing it is to read an over-worded statement of creative intention that reduces a potentially magic property into a thesaurus of junior college art school ho-hum. In this day and age too many things are over-explained. Look into why any of the great photographers why they did what they did and chances are they'll say that they just wanted to see what a particular scene looked like on film. (Of course, you are free to completely ignore my OWN artist statement, ahem.)

Taqueria Munoz

West Michigan. I got gasoline here years ago and now, caught in the cold of the lake effect snow belt, it is hot and spicy with tacos. (There's a little food/snack shop down the road from this place that serves the migrant worker community. In the back is a cool case of small-bottle Cokes that are made with cane sugar.)

Sometimes...

Sometimes, you just have to give in. And when you do it's like fine wine. Memories flood back, colors look brighter, music is everywhere. The sun shines. Then you shake hands with the clown, excuse yourself and say you'll be seeing him again someday. Far down the road. Another time. Maybe we'll have something to laugh about. Then. Down the road.

Frozen Food Month

Did you know that March is National Frozen Food Month? Who knew? But it is. And to celebrate a local frozen food aisle pulled out all the stops and went tropical. From end cap to end cap it was fringe, hula girls and exotic animals. Some a little less lively than others. Picked up a box of frozen chicken patties in their honor.

From a recent assignment...the band takes dinner alone.

The New Leica Web Site

And speaking of German cameras, a question: have you seen the latest marketing effort over at Leica? http://www.leica-camera.us/ Seems that the way to sell a Leica nowadays is to treat it like soap. And pretend it's the opulent 1980s before all bubbles burst. Very puzzling.

IR Parade

Ah the joys and pains of infrared. Playing with an IR filter on the Leica M8 to see what comes out. Here, from a parade series last year in Niles, MI. Almost an atomic treatment of a color world at ground zero.

It may sound strange, but I just finished a 2-day jury duty and I enjoyed it. Started wondering if one could be a professional juror. Eat at the courthouse cafeteria, become familiar with all the jury rooms, acknowledge the judges silently as they pass in the halls. That knowing nod of yep, I'm back again. Collect, what, $40 a day.

From the sunshine of Venice, CA last year. Wandering between edits on a commercial television production. Trying now to remember what the warmth feels like. It was quite a walk from Santa Monica.


And since it's so gloomy out here in Royal Oak, I think I'll scan me a batch of slides and negs from the last couple of years. But that means sitting in the "cold" room. Well, let's just see how the day plays out...

Being shoveled-in and snowbound reminds me of an image I took a while back in South Bend, IN. A parking lot at a hospital had been re-paved while folks were inside. Wonder what happened to this guy...

2008

And the new year is here. Slightly desaturated and selectively focused. Hoping for full depth of field in a couple weeks when the mental fog lifts.