A Couple more shots from our cruise. Both of these shot are from Manzinillo. I was very hesitant to go into this town. Where the ship was parked it was industrial shipping containers cranes freight cominging and going, I had my doubts about this place. Nancy and her folks went into town to do some shopping and had good things to say about the downtown area, so I went. I could have wandered arounf this place for a while, it was one of those places that I was wishing I had something more than just a point and shoot. The houses built into the hillside intruiged me, one next the other with a stair way clear up to the top off the hill. I want to go back and walk these stairs and watch as the light passes over them. The other shot is and example of the decorative iron work that was all over the place, you can see the the iron work on the windows in the other shot too, I could spend a lot of time exploring these designs, it was very cool.

Beautiful Sunday morning today. Too bad I have to work. A long time frame with very few teams, what a way to spend a Sunday. Wouldn't mind so much but it's in Beaverton, and I've decided that there isn't anything to take pictures there. Instead of hauling the Hoss around I think I'll take the Holga and see what happens.
This shot is a Holga shot, one of the few I have digitized. Not sure there is much irrigation equipment sitting around the city of Beavers, but the Holga can transform the oridinary, if you look at it right. Have a nice day.

My show has been up at the Silver Creek Coffee House now for a couple weeks, and will be there thru the month of April. The show consists of 12 traditional black and white prints, and 15 color prints which are all digital. The image shown here is the only one that's sold so far. Not sure what to make of that other than maybe a coffeee house isn't the place to sell a photograph. I'm pretty happy with the presentation, and it's pretty cool to walk down the street and see the sandwich board outside of the shop that say Artist of the Month Ted Miller, Jr.

Spring Break

What a week last week was. Went to on a cruise on the West Coast of Mexico, San Diego to Alcapuco and then other stops at Ixtapa and Manzinillo. I had no idea what to expect, was thinking it was going to be resort touristy, and to a degree it was, but it was also old and weathered and hard and hot. I didn't take any of my cameras, rather I used my mother-in-laws point and shoot digi....it did the job for the most part, a couple times I was wishing I had the 20-D. I might have to go back to manzinillo and spend some time there, the dragon street lights really caught my attention, as did the wrought iron work in the window of the apartments. An old town homes built on a hill accessed by stairs. I can show you better when I get back from my next trip there. The shots: Alcapuco from the ship,
the dragons on the street light in Manzinillo, our ship tendered of the coast of Ixtapa...more will follow. In the meantime I'm trying to get ready for a showing this Friday at the Silver Creek Coffee House and Wine Bar...wish me luck!

There it is. I now own a Hasselblad. So, now will I find my way back into the darkroom. Will it make me a real photographer?...I'm pretty happy though, I can't afford this right now, but the price was too good to turn down. Picked it up from a friend who was happy to pass it along to somebody he knows. It has a sentimental value to it, it was Hank's first Hasselblad, and now it's my first...The vibe is good and I'm anxious to run some film through it.

It's late, should be in bed--after 1am, but I'm having a belated St. Patty's beer and an early St. Pookies day beer, my best bud's b-day today, happy day Rob, Griz v BC what a present, the Griz head to the sweet 16. Enjoying a Widmer's '06 NW Red, very nice. Shot the OSAA State Dance (and drill?) I set and shot the teams, keep thinking I would rather be doing the action, but the teams is easier work. Might post a couple of the groups later, right now some things that are completely unrelated to anything, a shot of me, what the hell, by one Roland Simmons, photog extrordinaire....The other is a shot, pissed and waiting to get on Walker road, man I hate driving in Beaverton.

Goodnight now.

Another shot from the 4A boys. I really like this one, it has an intensity I love to see in athletes. #40 knows there will be a foul called, so he made sure to get his moneys worth. Not a dirty play, but a hard foul with a message. By the way #40 was named player of the game.

Spent this last week shooting the 4A boys state basketball. The 2A I shot last week is something special, but so is the 4A.......well some of it. The championship was kick ass, as was the semi-final game that South Medford was involved in, buzzer beater in OT, March Maddness indeed.

The championship featured teams with outstanding junior stars, Kevin Love of Lake Oswego and Kyle Singler of South Medford. The game was pretty good, came down to the end when South Medford missed a last second shot, but not by much. The 2 junior stars played pretty good, but both sides had outstanding supporting casts. I have to say I really enjoyed this tourney, more so than others I've shot in the past. Looking forward to next year.

Champions

Spent most of last week in Pendleton. Long beautiful drive down the Gorge, with no time to stop and take any pictures, took plenty while I was at the 2A tourney, plenty. Shot every game in the tourney, 22 games in all. I was happy with most of the stuff I shot, although I got a little burnt out the last day, the championship games. Kinda felt Like I had shot everything there was to shot and everything was looking the same. This shot was different though. This is from the 2A Boys championship game, Santiam Christian vs Oakland. Santiam was ahead most of the game, and by 9 or so points most of the time it seemed. Oakland would battle back and get close and Santiam would extend the lead again. Somehow with a minute or so to go and Santiam seemily comfortably ahead, Oakland dropped in a couple of 3 pointers and were all of a sudden down bu 3 three with a couple of seconds to go. Anyway they made a 3 as time expired, true March maddness stuff, and that's when I took this shot. The funny thing about the shot is that I caught the Oregonians photogs strobes and lit the whole scene up quite nicely for me. The kid who made the 3 is being hugged by #15 in white, center right of the pic. Oakland went on to win in double OT.

watered down

Spent most of last weekend shooting a swim meet, 11-14 year olds, long days, and it all looks the same after awhile, like the first race! Didn't want to post photos of that, mostly because I did think I did a very good job shooting it, but the people selling the pix said that sales were pretty good. Thought I would post something not sports related. I have a thing for railroad tracks and roads and views with a vanishing point in general. These tracks are somewhere between Woddburn and St. Paul, Oregon. This view would be very non-descript if not for the sky. Had to wait for a train to pass by before I could snap the 10 or 12 shots to get this one.

Well I managed to make it to both games last night. Left Theo's game a little early and made it to the HS game right around half time. Missed the senior night tribute, but what the heck. Theo played some pretty tough D and hustled after some loose balls, I was pretty happy I went.

The HS boys won a tough one against Woodburn. They did so by making a ton of free throws and attacking the basket. Woodburn made a couple of charges and hung in, but the Silver Foxes took care of business at the foul line and won.

Tonight is the final home game for the Silverton HS boys bx team. I shoot action photos for them which I sell at the end of the season. I probablyhave enough shots to offer a pretty good collection, but would be happy with a few more. At the same time tonight my oldest son has a basketball game. I don't get to see too many of his games as my schedule usually conflicts withhis game schedule. Now I have a problem....not sure which way to go here.

It's been a while since I've posted here, it's been a while since I've written period. Instead I've been napping once I have the house to myself in the morning, a very bad habit. Mayber I will start posting more pic and more words. maybe maybe not, we'll see

Fill

Every day, every day, we are on the verge of making those small changes that will change everything. If it all changes, will it eventually all be the same? Eventually.

I've been looking on the map trying to find the road to Nowhere. It's a destination goal of mine I've been looking for for quite some time now. E told me it was East of here a ways. It is, yes it is. Somehow, being nowhere will get me somewhere. That is the elusive nature of that journey, the expectation of nowhere. The want for the lonely wind and sting of it's cold clear honesty. What will I do when I get there? I'll do what I do, point my camera at it and say smile. I'll float around and pick off candid glimpses, adlib portraits of the void I love so much

flash

Natalie ask me to talk about when I had magical powers. I never had the magic that I have now, now that I feel and trust in myself. I feel and understand my tools and have slipped from the skin of the traditions of my craft. Maybe the magic doesn't affect all that stand in my presence. At times it looks like a blob a mess of streaks of light contorted slipping by the way of reason into a swirl of nothing. I realize my magic when I realize that the swirl of nothing was as much of me as the shot set on a tripod and thoughtfully composed and exposed. I have magic tools that enable me to take the ordinary, even the poorly composed and exposed the "so what" and work it into a thing of beauty, if not beauty at least a curious image to ponder. I am magical now, I have created other being stemmed from me steeped in my being and nurtured to hopefully be good people that is magic, that smile that hug stopping the crying when something hurts is not mere illusion but true magic. I have influence over the future and dominion in the present, even though often I fail to exercise such capacities.

"If we are awake, the whole world is shimmering and giving us guidance." Natalie Goldburg

Magic is being awake to the shimmering world even on a miserable damp morning when every thing is pissing us off.

slip

Just write and it will come, whatever that is, whatever the thread we are to follow it will come if you just jump in don't look for it don't create it, it's already created. It's not waiting, it's in there it's out there, it's alive and you just have to grab on to it like fish in a stream you grab with bare hands slippery and elusive swimming away by instinct you grabbing out of impulse, splashing chaos. Maybe you have dinner, maybe you have slimmy hands and a glimpse of beauty in a flash of silver.

big sky

Doubt many reading this know wherre Denton Montana is. It's a speck of a town located just off the center of the state. A couple of bars a bank no stop lights only a couplke of blocks wide sourounded by endless fields of wheat. Cold and dusty I wish at this very moment that I was there. Face raw from the wind nose cold and waiting for the snow.