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Most of the month of May found me teaching photography as a U.S. State Department Speaker in Vladivostok, Russia. The many Master Classes and other programs I gave there were in conjunction with the Russian Federation opening of my touring exhibit of UNESCO World Heritage Site exhibit.  I want to thank the Vladivostok Mission for inviting me, and specifically Bridget Gersten, one of the officers there, who was the guiding force behind my trip.  

I also visited the Kamchatka Pennisula, home to some of the world’s most spectacular volcanoes, but weather and an illness I picked up precluded me from  following through with my plans there.  I went to see a doctor for the first time in my more than 100 overseas trips over the last 20 years.  I’m not used to being shut-out photographically on a  trip, and although some photography was planned around Vladivostok with local photographers, that was cancelled due to enchepalitis-carrying ticks.  

Fortunately,  my classes and other events were very well-attended to say the least.  All were standing room only, and I attribute this not so much to me personally, as a burning interest in photography among the artistic community of the city and at the University.  Many of the attendees were young women,  a group that is not well-represented among aspiring landscape photographers in the United States. I was honored to have a personal tour through the archive of Master Photographer Sergei , to judge a wonderful photo show done by young people, and to attend a “ball” where I was the guest of honor.  I was definitely not in Kansas anymore.  If anyone had told me when I picked up a 4×5 camera in 1977 that it would lead to attending a ball in Russia and dancing to a live orchestra playing my favorite Tchaikovsky waltzes,  I would thought them totally daft.  I was also shown by  Sergei  one of the most beautifully pristine Linhof Master Technica  ( the king of 4×5) cameras I have ever seen.  It certainly made me nostalgic for my 4×5 days.  I have an older Master Technica myself,  and it is one of my most prized possessions. The camera is still being made by Linhof, and though heavy, is the most solid and indestructible view camera made.  If you see one on Ebay and have any leanings toward 4×5, and you can handle a lot of weight, I would snap it up.

Although I didn’t see much of Kamchatka, what I did see was impressive: perfectly shaped volcanic mountains, covered with snow, and spewing steam and ash. Since a flight now visits the area from Alaska, I hope to return someday, perhaps from that route. 

Some holdover remnants of the old Soviet days remain in Russia.  One of my speeches was cancelled for no particular reason, and there are restrictions on freedom of movement making it more difficult to visit some areas than we are used to.  I found the people to be warm, friendly,  and most seemed to consider Americans as friends. They were eager to learn about the latest advances in digital photography and Adobe products. The photographers of Vladivostok do wonderful work. I was presented with several books of  their photographs, which were stunning.  It seems every community in the world now has a group of local landscape photographers doing outstanding work. I think this is a phenomenon that would not have been seen twenty years ago and I think it’s a wonderful thing.  

Before going to Russia I did a workshop in Canyonlands with Jon Fuller from Moab Photo Tours.  John is amassing a lot of knowledge about the photo opportunities in the Moab area, and one of his talents, which he demonstrated on the trip, was amazing. I need to preface this by saying that I have run into maybe three beautiful, photographable collared lizards in my career.  Sometimes I have gone years with out seeing one the beautiful turquoise or lime-green creatures in the field. On the last day of our workshop, and as a complete surprise to me,  Jon was able to find at least three magnificent specimens for our clients along the road in a ten-mile drive.  Now granted, Jon has had a lifelong interest in amphibians and reptiles, but I was still flabbergasted at his skill in finding these highly photogenic lizards seemingly whenever he wants to. Amazing!

A bookstore in Salt Lake City owed me some money, and I was able to take the fee out in store purchases. As a life-long bookstore fanatic,  I was like a kid in a candy store.  I was able to fill all the holes in my Eliot Porter and Sierra Club Exhibit Format collections, and I also got a couple of new books. One I had not seen before was done by Utahan Willie Holdman on Mt. Timpanogos, and it is a great book—one of the best Utah landscape photography books  ever, and maybe the best book of the landscape photographs ever done on the Wasatch front.    Holdman has devoted a huge amount of energy to  Timpanogos,  also my favorite Utah mountain.

Though I have always had very mixed feelings about Lake Powell,  I can’t ignore it as a photo subject, and especially as a tool to access vast areas Utah wilderness.   I recently did a short trip and had amazing hikes in Explorer Canyon,  to one of the most unusual and beautiful arches in the world, and to the lush riparian areas in Cha Canyon.  I’ve included a couple of images from that trip here.

Yesterday I visited the most beautiful perennial waterfall in the Moab area for the first time.  More about that next time.