Blast from the Past

It has been really fun for me to get back to some of my basics!  I've missed the smell of chemicals on my hands, and the day I developed this print I was happy smelling them on my hands a couple hours later.  Sad you might think, but hey, it's me!

I found this skull while hiking in a canyon while at Badlands National Park during my Artist in Residence position.  I was actually hiking with a group of kids from The Calhoun School in NYC.  The teacher was showing the kids different feathers of the skull after I took these shots..... or maybe before.  Anyways, I have been having a great time playing with the black and white film again!  I need to go out and take a lot more shots with both film and digital yet, but there are 4 more works of work ahead of me, w00t!

All of these shots are not touched up in Photoshop.  All I did was scan them in and a few I did crop, but that is all.  No special settings on the scanner, no dodging and burning (I'll do that in the darkroom on prints), not levels, exposure, etc.  Just a simple scan, a few crops and, oh yeah, the scanner didn't recognize the difference between black and white and color negatives so I did convert everything to black and white.

The End of the First Week is Nigh Upon Me...

Unnamed Night Sky Picture

It is amazing to think I have nearly completed my first 7 full days in Badlands National Park.  I have had an amazing week here though I have spent a lot of my time hiking and getting ideas.  It has been a really nice change being able to look around and let the ideas flow through my head.  I have been able to experiment with some new ideas and techniques as well.  This way, knowing if I can or can't make them work, I can add that data into my thinking of what I'm doing.  The picture above is one I just did tonight to prepare for a class I am teaching on Friday to a group of students from the Calhoun School in New York City. I can see something that I need to change, but I am not sure I'll be able to 100% remove the problem with this location, but I make due with what is readily available! Other locations though, it won't be a problem!

I have also been doing some time lapse photography while I am out hiking.  Some have turned out really well, others haven't.  It has been a lot of fun playing with it though. This first one was promoted by National Park Foundation on both Facebook and Twitter.  There support by sharing it was very much appreciated!

I also have a couple posted from the hikes and not just driving.

I am looking forward to this next week, working with the students, working on getting my camera attached to two telescopes that have filters for sun viewing.  I might be able to get some neat shots with that setup.  One is better at seeing sunspots and the other is better are solar flares.  I'm looking forward to the playing!

There are some great people here that I have met and talked with.  Julie, Sara, Tricia, John, Pat and Ed have all be great!  I have enjoyed talking with you, hanging out when we can, etc.  Looking forward to some more good times!

Nutty 3 Weeks Pt 2

Ok, it has taken me longer than I had planned to get to this next post,  but it just falls in line with everything going on.  I have arrived at Badlands National Park for Artist in Residence stay, though it was a long drive out, but I'll post on that another time when I manage to get the video done of the drive. Before I begin, if you haven't seen this yet, enjoy this video I made driving from the Northeast Entrance to Pinnacles Entrance at Badlands National Park.

The week before I was planning to arrive at Badlands National Park for my Artist in Residence position I, again, started to feel unwell.  This time it wasn't my gall bladder, but a bit of congestion, stuffiness and an itchy throat.  As the day progressed I also started to feel a bit warm.  On Tuesday I ended up with a fever over 100.

Immediately I started to use some Thieves blend of essential oils from Young Living on my chest and I would put a couple drops in water to gargle with and drink.  I also used some peppermint oil from Young Living on my chest and the bottom of my feet and put them both in my diffuser.  By morning, fever was gone, however, after being awake for a few hours it came back.  By the time I left work (didn't stay too long) my fever was nearing 102 so I went back into my room, continued the routine with the oils and diffuser and didn't do much of anything the rest of the day.  By Thursday morning I was once again feeling much better and this time it didn't come back. It did take a few more days to get all my energy back though, but that's better than being totally out for all those days.

The only thing I could think of that I caught was I had seen my brother the Thursday before and that day he was diagnosed with a viral bronchitis, I believe. He fought it for nearly a week before going to the doctor who gave him an inhaler to use as there wasn't much that could be done about a virus.

In the end, due to the gall bladder and fever I lost nearly 1 week of my last 3 weeks to prepare either from not being able to do anything for 4 days to being exhausted after just a little effort as my body attempted to heal itself.

On top of all that, I also had computers not working properly so I had to spend time getting them working again.  My son was supposed to fly home the day before I left, but his flight was canceled and I moved my leaving day back a day so I could see him for part of a day before leaving.

The day that I left I had to complete invoices and preparing pictures for a portrait client that waited until the last minute and another client that asked me to print a couple pictures from her daughter's wedding from the CD the photographer gave her because Shutterfly didn't give her what she wanted (granted, they didn't have much to work with) and I didn't finish those until that day.  I had a couple things go wrong at work that I had to clear up.  I managed to leave at 4pm rather than earlier in the day.

Yes, things went crazy, but in the end, it is all worth it and I will continue to have a great time here.  Just need to adjust to a different schedule as the sun is rising near 6am already and I do want some sunrise pictures...

Arrived at Badlands National Park

I still have more to write about what happened as I prepared to leave for the park, but I am on the tired side tonight after my first full day in the park.  I did a little bit of hiking and have some ideas on where to do some night and sunset pictures, but I also took a bunch of time lapse pictures along the scenic bypass in the park.  I have put one set together as a video.  I will post some more data later, but enjoy this short clip.

Nutty 3 weeks!! Pt 1.

Around the Bend

Wow, it seems like whenever I need to prepare to be gone for any period of time something in my mind makes life go nutty for me.  There also appears to be a relation between the nutty factor and the length of time I'll be gone.  Just a day, slightly nutty but deal-able without much difficulty. 1-2 weeks, well that gets more interesting. This 8-9 weeks of being gone has reached an entirely new level of nuttyness in my life!

Since my proposal for this Artist in Residence included blogging about this trip from acceptance until I complete the work I've decided to write a couple blogs going over some of this nuttyness and what I've been doing to overcome it.  Hopefully, once I leave it will disappear and I can focus on my art.

This specific blog will deal with some health things that have come up recently.  Something you should know about me, I think drugs and surgery are a last resort.  If they are needed to save my life because I'd die very soon without them then I'll consent to it.  I do, on occasion, take some Excedrin Migraine when I have one after I try heat and oils first. Many times, those work and handle what is going on, but not always :(

On Feb 16th I started to have some discomfort in my abdomen, but didn't think too much of it since it's been off and on for a few months and I was told I had a hiatal hernia and usually I would feel it when I put pressure on my abdomen, like bending over to tie my shoes. Pain was in the same general location so I just figured I just aggravated it.  Friday morning the pain was much greater and within 30 minutes of waking up I couldn't take it and went to the ER.  My system took over a week to deal with the drugs they put into me and they told me I have gallstones.  The doctors solution, the ONLY solution, was to have it removed.  I had no signs of infection so it wasn't an urgent need. I asked about other solutions and the ER doctor said the drugs were really expensive, had horrible side effects and weren't reliable.  He then walked out of the room so I couldn't ask anymore questions, told me I was good to go home and to follow up with my primary care physician. I put off that call until they called me actually.

I did call a naturalistic practitioner and she was reluctant to do anything citing that the treatment isn't often helpful and it can cause an acute attack. I can understand that and I appreciate her being upfront with me about it.  I would hate to be in her shoes trying to help someone and they have an attack during it and need emergency surgery. I have no qualms to see her again for help or exercise classes because she was honest and stuck with her integrity. I wouldn't even want to try and change her mind on it.

I talked with my chiropractor who told me to take something called Beta-TCP as it has some of the pancreatic enzymes and research has shown that beets have an amazing ability to thin the bile.  He did a kinesiology testand and my body loved it so I have been taking these with every meal.

In the past I also did some work with essential oils from Young Living Essential Oils.  While I haven't done much with the company over the past many years, I still keep a supply of peppermint oil as it helps me with heartburn from my hernia and my migraines.  I drink a couple drops of the oil in water (after shaking it up to mix it up or it isn't pleasant) Within 30 minutes any heartburn is gone and I love it.  In the past I would put some on the back of my neck, temples and forehead when I was getting a bad headache or migraine, but if you get it too close to your eyes the fumes make them water.  Lately I have used some mixed with their V-6 massage oil and wintergreen.  Within 10 minutes of rubbing it on my neck, shoulders, chest, temples and forehead my neck and shouldn't muscles are loose and I can move my head trying to touch my ear to shoulder and I'll feel the vertebrae in my neck move right back into place.

Majestic

When I did some research online it was recommended to drink Frankincense and lemon in water every hour. I did this for several days, though not always hourly.  I stopped for a couple days and started to feel the same discomfort that started the first time.  I drank some more while waiting for the other oils to arrive.  Never went beyond a mild pain.  Other research from Japan showed that the essential oils of citrus plants (lemon, orange and tangerine were mentioned specifically).  In those studies the oils were shown to soften and dissolve the stones over time.  One of the naturalistic remedies I've seen also include a lot of oranges to help soften the stones so they can be passed. I've not had any more problems for almost 2 weeks now and I'll continue to drink my water with citrus oils in them.

I added some other core supplements to help my body get balanced again so it can heal itself.  I truly am a believer that the body will heal itself if you handle the crud in your mind and give the body the nutrients it needs. I'm starting to feel better than I have in years, I'm having more energy and sleeping more soundly and less until.... well, this one is long enough so the next blog will get into the until....

I will be posting pictures, videos and other bits on this blog regarding my Artist in Residence at Badlands National Park. As of the publishing date of this blog I am still trying to raise some funds to help with this program as it is volunteer.  I have a Kickstarter campaign going until 4:24 EDT March 14th

The information in this blog isn't evaluated by the FDA nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.  It is only my observation from my own experience.

Why I was picked as the Artist in Resident for Badlands National Park

Julie Johndreau, Education Specialist for Badlands National Park, stated "Steven was selected for both his ability to interpret natural landscapes through his photography and for his commitment to educational outreach. Choosing just one or two artists is never an easy decision, but Steven's interests and background just fit great with our program."