“To paint or to photograph —
That is the question:
Whether ’tis more to my advantage
to color
Photographic accidents and call
them paintings,
Or squeeze the bulb against
a sea of critics
And by exposure kill them?”*

“It is only a general tendency towards the mysterious and bizarre which these workers have in common; they like to suppress all outlines and details and lose them in delicate shadows, so their meaning and intention become hard to discover. They not only make use of every appliance and process known to the photographer’s art, but without the slightest hesitation, …overstep all legitimate boundaries and deliberately mix up photography with the technical devices of painting and the graphic arts.”†

A plea for Straight Photography by Sadakichi Hartmann, 1904. 
Quoted from Photography: Essays & Images Edited by Beaumont Newhall, 1980, p.185. 
*Sadakichi Hartmann, Camera Work 6 (April 1904), p.25.
†Originally printed in American Amateur Photographer 16 (March 1904) pp. 101-109. 

I’m guilty. I carry on working with the mysterious and bizarre that Hartmann complained about for eight pages 112 years ago.

Sun crashes to the ground
Throw colors far and wide
Yellow into red consumed by graying blue
Fleeting moments embers glow
Caught by shutter passing clouds
Big sky calling 
Look at me

My primary care doctor is retiring. I stopped by his office to pick up my medical records. I didn't see my doctor, but I did photograph his dog.

Najar: "Can't a lady get a little beauty sleep around here? Stupid paparazzo!"

Marble has no problem getting her beauty sleep.

Silver: "Who sez cats are shallow and one-demensional?"

Loki pondering some kind of trickery.

Spunk: "Yeah! Right! I'm supposed to look like those #%!@&#$ coasters when I'm surrounded by cat-like vermin?"

Le long chat

Lola: "How's my Spunk look?"

Paparazzo: "Your head isn't tilted quite right."

Lola: "Is THAT Better?"

Paparazzo: "Almost perfect. Smile!"

Lola: "Stupid paparazzo."

Marble: "Ahhhh! Nothing like beauty sleep."

I stood on the bank
Called for the frogs
Frogs? Hey frogs are you there today?
The sun is shining, rays are warm
Can you all come out to play?
I stood, I listened oh for so long
All I heard was the silence of the frogs

I stood on the bank
Called to the turtles
Turtles? Hey Turtles are you out today? 
The sun is shining, flycatchers wait
Muskrats sit ready to play
I stood, I listened, the turtles are sleeping 
From back in winter still tucked away

A pterodactyl flew overhead
Looked prehistoric floating on the wind
Soared away toward the clouds
Then swooped so low it touched the ground
On the edge of the bank it landed
Stood straight and still 
Watching waiting without a sound

A pterodactyl stood on the bank
It called for the frogs
Frogs? Hey frogs where are you today?
The sun is shining, warm are its rays
I need a quick meal then I’ll be on my way
It stood, it listened, but not very long
It heard the silence of the frogs

The Rio Grande is running high and fast from spring runoff. The muddy water has a lot of red in it from the red soils found northern part of the watershed washing into the rivers. A combination of moss on the bottom of the clearwater ditch and grass growing on the banks made the water look bright green in the harsh morning light.

Loki the black kitty formerly known as Midnight

30 degree free fall
Warm skies turn cold
Blue to gray, gray to white

Hailstorm blinds
Muddy water
Speed slowed a restricted flow

Weakened state
Joints ache
Rake claws at drowning leaves

Clouds part
Slivered sunshine
Blue skies peek through

Sun falls
Dusk settles
Gray clouds devour reds and yellows

Darkness covers
spreading waters
A long night lies ahead

Murder in the alley
A bloody mess
Dead donut impaled
C# concertina
Stollen wheels
Sad loss for homeless 
Infinite arches
Screened for the fight
Madrid in daylight
Castle and Bar
Dreams cancelled