Bodie- FOB Day Invites sent-RSVP

Honoring Bodie's Sesquicennial

1859-2009

For those that follow me regularly, you know
I love CA's Official "only" Gold State Historic Park.
I just received in the USPS, yeah and not by
Pony Express, the Official Invitation to this year's
Annual FOB- The Friends of Bodie Day - August 8th.
For those able to attend, this event is always
not only a FUN Day , but full of unusual photo ops
that we are not normally exposed to in the West.
On this Special Day, in this Special Place, in this
SHP that is such a HUGE Part of our Gold Rush
history, the town comes ALIVE again for one day.
Yearly Bodie fans, young and old come to share
their love of the town, meet old residents & friends,
and party with a Parade down Main Street wearing
old time period costumes (@ 1:30PM this year),
games & contests for kids, food & music and
for Actual Members of FOB the day culminates
with a BBQ and Evening Entertainment.
At 8,400 feet these occasions are Rare like
the air, and always new memories are made.

The Daytime activities are OPEN to ALL..
The BBQ and evening entertainment for
FOB members ONLY.....as the park is closed
by then and the public has left.
If you are interested in attending Please do.
If you wish to Join FOB and attend the BBQ
Please call the Park Office and get info on
how to join and then you can be part of those
Helping to Preserve our History and join in
on the evening's fun.
The Member's BBQ starts at 5PM
Call for Info: (760) 647-6564
RSVP by August 1st so your dinner will be ready.

Post with Official 2009 FOB Poster HERE
A report of last year's event is HERE.

Hope you can come join us not only for the fun
but also for reliving our history & the photo ops.

Who Ships Your Packages the BEST?

After Numerous recent events I am feeling compelled
to Get the Word OUT, as they say..

The USPS, once a Gov. agency, is now totally inept
and shredding shipments, NOT delivering them, and
now even irradiating DVDs sent by photogs to the
Library of Congress to register their image ©.
I have had them lose bank statements that got
returned to the bank and then shredded and
last week I even found out about a notice from
my broker that got Returned saying my address
was bad... -don't think so. Same place for the
last 30+ years... so I have just about had it with
them and because of all of these incidents of
BAD service wanted to notify all of my photog
friends and readers to use another method of
shipping anything they consider Important.

The ONLY method for shipping images prints, and
important things that I TRUST now is FedEx.
They are the ONLY service, I know of, that IF you
Pay for a Signature they WILL require it and get it....

UPS will NOT even wait at a door long enough to
ring the doorbell or get the signature...
I know, I had a lens delivered to a wrong address
and they simply left it on the wrong front porch,
then during the 2nd attempt I was at home, ON
the phone with UPS, when the drive drove up,
the dog barked, and before I could even get TO
the door to supposedly Sign for the lens, the driver
was Back in the Truck and taking OFF...
So do NOT pay them to Request a signature, they
will NOT get one for you....if you need "Proof of Receipt"

Sorry to be the bearer of these facts, but my main
purpose is to Hope that knowledge is Power and
being informed you will not suffer the same issues
I and many of my friends have..

Here is a recent post by another photog friend to
illustrate my point.....that I felt was VERY relevant
for Photographers.

I have a funny feeling that when this economy
recovers FedEx stock will let you KNOW.

Please feel free to comment and share
your experiences....

Thanks Jim Goldstein:
How to Irradiate a DVD to Death

a birthday re-present 4 me..TO you...

Having just Celebrated another milestone in my
own existence on this earth plane... Serendipity
reintroduced me to an old friend that had had
a profound influence on me years ago...
Sometimes Life brings important things back around
for you to see/learn again so you can go Deeper
and learn another chapter in Life's book of lessons.

We each never know how the little things we do
in our lives will effect not only OUR lives but
be like little ripples in the pond and what
those ripples might reach out and eventually touch.

So as part of my Birthday Toast I am raising a
glass to Dewitt Jones to "Thank Him" for being
true to himself and for sharing his best with us all
...and to US for letting those lessons seep INTO us...
So that our Cameras may "Always have Juice in them."
And may we all choose to have our days of
"Celebrations Unlimited."

"Celebrate What’s Right With The World" ™
teaches what a powerful force having a vision of
possibilities can be for you.
Do you have a vision for yourself?
One that gets you excited every...

You may track Dewitt down today or
find out about his upcoming workshops
at http://www.dewittjones.com/
or email tania at dewittjones dot com

BodieSHP Photo Workshop Organized

I have been busy this last week organizing
a workshop for the members of my online
photo forum. We have been lucky enough to
obtain 3.5 days in Oct. and access to
the INside of the buildings "will be"
Permitted in the ghost town of BodieSHP.

This should also coincide with the New moon
for night "star trail" images. If we decide
we can also get them around the tufas
of Mono Lake aiming at the North Star
from the South Tufa Preserve.

In addition, there should also be Fall color
on the nearby Aspens, so sounds like
a KEEPER of a trip. I am VERY Happy that
this week's efforts were so fruitful.
I am also very happy that I can share the
gem of Bodie with other photographers, so
her beauties will be shared with others,
and she will "live on" in their images.

Bodie is TRULY a part of OUR History and
the BIGGEST HUMAN Migration WEST due to
the Gold Rush. The buildings and their
contents are definitely an "endangered species"
as Mother Nature reclaims more yearly and
the CA State Budget threatens to CLOSE
over 100 of the State Parks.

So, GO This summer if you can..
..and experience YOUR history.
If you aren't familiar with Bodie
you can always check out some of the
Info and Videos on the
"Bodie or Bust" blog. Enjoy !

Here's just a "taste" of one short
video to wet your whistle at 8,400 feet....
The 3rd Sat of Sept & Oct will be
Photog Days where you can get in the
Park Early & stay Late to get that
Special "Quiet & First Light."
Info on the Bodie or Bust Blog.

So you too can say...
"Good, by God, I'm going to Bodie."

"Tranquility of Fall" Juried & Accepted by KVIE

I am SO Happy to say that my image
you see below, "Tranquility of Fall",
created in Yosemite in the fall 2008
(a 16x24" print, matted up to 24x30")
was just Juried IN and Accepted
for participation in the 2009 KVIE
Annual Art Auction.
The Jurors were Eric Dahlin and D. Neath.
D. Neath is one of the Founders of the
Sacramento 2nd Sat. Art Walk.

I could tell by the number of entrants that
they did indeed unfortunately have to
reject a large number of artists with
good hearts that wanted to donate their
artwork to our wonderful local PBS TV
station that we all treasure so much.
So that makes me feel even more gratitude
that I was accepted and will be part of
the televised event at the end of this August.
The event is viewed annually by an audience
of about 60,000 and is anticipated by many.

There will also be a Preview Party a few
nights before so the Public can view the
artwork up close and in person and leave
pre-auction bids on their favorite items.
The event is catered this year by
Amador Vintners and many local restaurants.
It is usually quite a festive occasion.
Tickets are available online.


This is my 5th year of donating to KVIE
and every year has been fun and the
Preview Party is as much fun for the
Artists as the Public. The Public gets
to view the Art, and the Artists get to
reconnect and as well as see each other's work.

My print last year was framed by
University Art, so I went there this year
to get my matting done. I was SO Happy
to Rediscover a long-time friend, and
one of the BEST mat-cutters I know, that
was working there with his lovely new wife.
If you are ever in Sacto. and needing
a mat-cutter Please ask for "Joe" and tell
them I referred you...anyway I am hoping
they they will be chosen to frame
my print that Joe matted this year.

The entire event, Auction et al is a WIN/WIN
for KVIE, Artists, and the entire Viewing Area.
I would like to Sincerely URGE anyone in the
USA to donate to whatever fund-raiser their local
PBS/NPR stations have. They are a real gem
for us in this day and age and I, for one, feel
that I Receive "way more" than I Give to them
whether via this print or my usual subscription.