Photo ABCs

Día de los Muertos: Oaxaca

Fernando and Fernanda were on their way to their family's tomb, pictured in the background. I felt privileged that they shared the time to pose for me. Photographed in Oaxaca City's Panteón General.

Día de los Muertos: Oaxaca

I neglected to record the name of this young lady with a fabulous and colorful catrina outfit, posing in the tombs of Oaxaca City's Panteón General. I believe she was a visitor from Mexico City.

 

Día de los Muertos: Oaxaca

Maribel, a visitor from Las Vegas, Nevada, poses for me in the carnival area next to Oaxaca City's Panteón General.

I shared the photo with her to make sure she was happy with the amusing background, a carnival ride featuring a character from the movie Despicable Me.

Día de los Muertos: Oaxaca

This year I traveled to Oaxaca for Day of the Dead. Day of the Dead is a special time in Mexico where families remember their family members who have passed away. It is a joyful holiday, if not joyful, at least it is a day which brings families together in fond remembrance.

It is a festive day, especially in the larger cities, where tourists and locals alike partake in celebrations, often painting their faces and sometimes dressing in elaborate catrina (skeleton) costumes.

This year I visited the cemeteries in Xoxocotlán and Oaxaca City. Xoxocotlán's cemetery is more active with families at the gravesites, whereas Oaxaca's Panteón General is less active with families, since a majority of the graves are very old (many from the 19th Century), thus having fewer living descendants.

The Panteón General, however, draws thousands of tourists and locals because of its beauty, especially its long hallways of tombs, each lit with a candle. Outside the cemetery the street is lined with food vendors, souvenir stands, and carnival attractions which after dark, are a shoulder-to-shoulder mass of very living Day of the Dead participants!

Here is Lemon, a tourist from England, posing for me in the tombs of Oaxaca City's Panteón General.

Art for the Park

This year's Art for the Park, a fundraising exhibition to benefit the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation, is on display from December 7, 2019 through January 3, 2020.

The show features nine invited artists, and includes a number of my photos.

Here is a nice video showing the exhibit. All of my pictures can be seen in the video, if you know where and when to look!

Thanks to Vicky Delong and her volunteers who always do such a wonderful and artistic job hanging the show.

The video seems not to fit completely within the margins of this blog, see it in its entirety here.

Orange-crowned Warbler

An Orange-crowned Warbler, photographed at San Joaquin Marsh in September of this year.

Mew Gull

A Mew Gull, photographed in Anchorage, Alaska in June of this year.

Canada Geese

A family of Canada Geese explores Potter Marsh in Anchorage, Alaska. Photographed in June of this year.

Arctic Terns

An Arctic Tern chick says "feed me!" to its apparently empty-handed (empty-billed?) parent.

Photographed at Potter Marsh in Anchorage, Alaska in June of this year.

A few minutes later it is rewarded with a large, winged insect.

Save the Date!

I will be presenting a number of photographs at the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor Center from December 7, 2019 through January 3, 2020, as part of the Art for the Park fundraising exhibition.

There will be a reception on Sunday, December 8 from 2-4 p.m. If you can't make the reception, feel free to visit from 9-5 any day of the week. There is excellent hiking in the area, and excellent birding there and at nearby Santee Lakes.

The address of the Visitor Center is 1 Father Junipero Serra Trail, San Diego, CA, 92119.

Other invited artists include Kathyrn Gail Ackley, Kenda Francis, Margaret Larlham, Julianne Ricksecker, Vanessa Rusczyk, Denise Strahm, Gerald Tietje, and Susan Weinberg-Harter.

I will be showing one photo of Arctic Terns (see the post beneath this one), but surprise! I'll be showing a number of non-bird photos, including this one, of a grove of trees at Cibola Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. Photographed in January, 2013.