I am posting this entry from a hotel room in Los Angeles where I have just returned from a ten day photo excursion into Ecuador as a participant in the Tao of Photography Workshop. The first segment of our journey, hosted by the eco retreat Samai, consisted of a one day hike into the rainforest, trips to multiple fishing villages and one extremely colorful surfing town, and a full day trip to the Isla de la Plata, the Isle of Silver or, as it is also known, the poor man's Galapagos. Our hosts at Samai were Ed & Tania Tuttle. Ed, the graqndson of Boston bankers, is a traditional shaman who was kind enough to lead our group through an ancient shamanic ritual..  For the second segment of our trip, we flew from Guayaquil to Loja, then taxi'd to Montesuenos, an eco retreat located in the Andean highlands just above the village of Vilcabamba. Montesuenos, run by Dr. Brian O'Leary, a former U.S. astronaut and his artist wife Meredith, is a truly magical plaqce straight out of the movie Shangra La. Brian and Meredith proved to be wonderful hosts. Our first full day at Montesuenos was spent photographing in and around the retreat itself. The second day, we hiked three miles to the village of Vilcabamba, a village renowned for the extreme age attained by its indigenouss residents. Some of our more adventurous Shutterbugs even took a horseback journey high up into the Andes. Being somewhat of a wimp, I opted out on that one. I n the next couple of weeks, I'll be sharing some of our experiences with you in more detail. For now, suffice it to say that I'll have my work cut out for me as I edit down the approximately 4000 images I brought back into a gallery show, Journey Through Ecuador, scheduled to open at Bizzart Gallery in Bisbee Az on June 14th. Details will be forthcoming.         

Well, it's Mother's Day. I'm posting this entry from Bizzart Gallery in Bisbee Arizona. I was privileged to photograph a very special baseball game yesterday. The Copper Kings. a local semi-pro team, sponsored a vintage 19th Century style exhibition baseball game at the Warren Ballpark here in Bisbee as part of the celebration of the Warren Ballpark's Centennial. Two Scottsdale area vintage exhibition teams, the Phoenix Senators and the Bisbee Bees, faced off against each other. Both teams were dressed in Nineteenth Century uniforms and vintage gloves, balls etc. were used. 1860's rules prevailed. the Tombstone Vigilantes organization provided umpires costumed in period dress. Even some of the spectators were dressed in period attire. Everyone had a great time. I was able to shoot tons of great photos. I will be processing the best of them and converting them to sepia in order to obtain an even more vintage effect. For tips on achieving a vintage effect with your own photos, see the photo tip (Adding a touch of nostalgia) on the PHOTO TIPS page of my website elkinsphotos.com. I'm leaving in a few days on a ten day photo excursion in Ecuador. Upon my return, I will be adding two new gallery pages to the website, Journey Through Ecuador and Vintage Baseball - Bisbee Arizona. My nest blog entry will most likely be posted from Ecuador. See you soon.

I'M POSTING THIS MORNING FROM TUCSON AZ. I HAD A CHANCE TO SHOOT AT THE REID PARK ZOO HERE IN TUCSON YESTERDAY. PHOTOGRAPHING WILDLIFE AT A ZOO PRESENTS A UNIQUE SET OF PROBLEMS, THE MAJOR ONE OF WHICH IS TO CAPTURE AN IMAGE THAT DOES NOT SHOUT "I WAS TAKEN AT A ZOO!". FOR INSTANCE, IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO TAKE A PICTURE OF A GIRAFFE THAT INCLUDED THE LOWER BODY BUT DID NOT INCLUDE ELEMENTS OF THE ZOO IN THE BACKGROUND. BY COCENTRATING ON THE GIRAFFE'S HEAD AND NECK AS IT PLUCKED LEAVES FROM A TREE, I CAPTURED INTERESTING IMAGES WITHOUT INCLUDING ZOO ELEMENTS. OVERALL, THE DAY'S EXCURSION WAS QUITE SUCCESSFUL. I MANAGED TO OBTAIN SOME INTERESTING SHOTS OF A SWIMMING POLAR BEAR, AN AFRICAN LION LYING IN THE GRASS, A DWARF CAYMAN AND SEVERAL OTHER EXCELLENT WILDLIFE IMAGES. THAT'S ALL FOR NOW. BE SURE TO VISIT MY WEBSITE AT WWW.ELKINSPHOTOS.COM.