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Website Redesign: Metabolic Profiling

September 2015 update: The website has been redesigned since this post was published. If you’re running a pharmaceutical company, you want to know that the compounds you’re developing are safe for human consumption. If you’re a patient, you want the same assurance. Both of these needs are the concern of Metabolic Profiling Inc., a startup…

Event Photography: Shooting Chickens

Last week, I got a request from Tucson’s Food Conspiracy Co-op: Could I photograph their 5th annual Chicken Coop Tour? Well, sure! I’ve always wanted to shoot a bunch of chickens. What a great way to spend this past Saturday, which happened to be a lovely sunny day here in Tucson. The Chicken Coop Tour…

Travel Photography: Going Back to Bisbee

It’s been almost 18 years since my last trip to the mining camp-turned artists’ colony and tourist destination, Bisbee, Arizona. I’m pleased to announce that I broke my Bisbee fast yesterday. Bisbee is one of those places that’s easy to love — and satirize. Matter of fact, a local bumper sticker describes Bisbee as being…

Photo Essay: Living Off My Land

Yesterday was my eighth house-iversary. Meaning that it’s been eight years since I first became a homeowner. Being in charge of a 56-year-old house that sits on a small plot of land in central Tucson has been quite the learning experience. One of my ongoing areas of study is self-sufficiency. To what extent can I…

Bicycle Photography: El Tour de Tucson 2012

This past Saturday marked the 30th anniversary of El Tour de Tucson. Once again, this event attracted thousands of bicyclists and a a really fast guy beat out the rest. That would be Arizona’s speediest chiropractor, Scottsdale’s Eric Marcotte, who has won the 110-mile race for three years in a row. No Eric pictures here….

Event Photography: Fall 2012 Bicycle Swap Meet

It’s mid-November, the fall rains have returned, but wet weather won’t stop thousands of bicycle enthusiasts from swarming to the intersection of 5th Avenue and 7th Street near Downtown Tucson. What’s the occasion? The Fall 2012 Bicycle Swap Meet. Once again, it lives up to its billing as the shopping place with just about anything…

Nature Photography: Tripping at the Zoo

Just got back from visiting friends in Peoria, Arizona. Another great time with my host, Judy Vorfeld, and her ever-irreverent brother, David Crook. Case in point: We’re at the Wildlife World zoo in Litchfield Park. It’s the 1 p.m. feeding time for the Lory Parrots, and zoo patrons are encouraged to participate. So, David decides…

Event Photography: Homescape Tour 2012

Nothing like a sunny fall day for admiring low-water use landscaping in Tucson. This past Saturday’s Homescape Tour attracted more than 100 people to 13 private residences and one public elementary school. The tour was organized by Tucson’s Watershed Management Group (WMG). Although I wasn’t able to participate in last year’s inaugural event, I added…

Event Photography: Ride with Gary Fisher 2012

You have to hand it to Tucson’s bicycling community. When a cycling legend comes to town, they turn out in droves. Such was the scene this past Wednesday when Gary Fisher, the father of mountain biking, rolled up on Trek Bicycles of Tucson. The store presented the annual Ride with Gary Fisher, which attracted around…

Photo Essay: Rainfall 911

It’s been almost a month since we’ve had a proper rainstorm, and I’m starting to feel nostalgic. The last precipitation of note happened on September 11. With predictable effects on flags… After I took my flag back into the house — and hung it up to dry — it was back outside to observe the…

Event Photography: Fiesta en el Instituto Technológico de Nogales

This past August 24, I had the opportunity to travel to Nogales, Sonora, with the Tucson, Arizona-based Watershed Management Group (WMG). I’ve been a WMG volunteer for five years, and I also send them some monetary love via the monthly donation program. The occasion was a fiesta on the campus of Instituto Technológico de Nogales…

Photo Essay: Container Garden Expansion

The City of Tucson’s semi-annual Brush and Bulky waste collection is quite the event. All over town, the treasure hunters come out in force. Some load their pickup trucks full of castoff furniture, scrap metal, lumber, railroad ties, you name it. Count me as one of the two-wheeled Brush and Bulky treasure hunters. And what…

Photo Essay: A Post About Compost

One of the very best things you can feed your garden plants is rotten. Very rotten. We’re talking compost, people! The decayed remnants of your fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, tea leaves, coffee grounds, yard clippings, and why don’t we toss in a little straw for good measure? Point of information: You can get…

Event Photography: KXCI-FM 91.3 House Rockin’ Blues Review

In November 1991, a storm packing 60 mile-per-hour winds attacked Tucson. Among the casualties was one of our city’s most beloved concert and dance venues, El Casino Ballroom. The storm blew half the roof off the building, and that ended any sort of performances at the Ballroom for nine years. The half that still had…

Bicycle Photography: Free the Bike Racks!

There’s a big streetcar construction project underway in central Tucson. The construction is wreaking havoc on the smooth flow of vehicular traffic, the survival hopes of small, locally owned businesses in an already tough economy, and the ability of bicyclists to ride safely and find places to park. The hip and happening section of 4th…

Photo Essay: Underwhelming Monsoons

Part One: Martha is Totally Underwhelmed Last Saturday, we had a wee bit of rain during the afternoon hours. Enough to make me start worrying about whether I’d be able to head out for an evening of dancing at 2nd Saturdays Downtown. I mean, come on. Do you call this a measurement of rainfall? Looks…

Photo Essay: Front Yard Tuneup

Well, my plans for a quiet 4th of July afternoon at the computer were rather rudely interrupted. Our teaser of a monsoon season decided to let loose on drought-parched Tucson, Arizona. Loud thunder. Lots of lightning. Photo op… The sight of a flood near my front porch did not fill me with joy. But the…

Event Photography: Tucson’s 2012 July 4th Celebration

Well, Happy Birthday, USA. You’re looking pretty good for a 236-year-old. I started my Independence Day too darn early. Woke up around 4:45 a.m. Pretty soon,  it was light enough to do things like harvest mesquite beans and turn the compost. Such is the life of a micro-scale urban farmer. After breakfast, I rolled the…

Photo Essay: Mesquite Bean Harvest

As mentioned in previous posts, I have a nice big mesquite tree in my front yard. It’s in the Transition Zone of my xeriscape, and it has become one of my very best friends. When I look at this tree, I say “Feed me!” Here’s why… During June and July, Tucson’s mesquite trees are quite…

Photo Essay: Greywater Harvesting on the Cheap

Funny thing about those plants in the yard. Although a lot of them are native species of the low water using variety, they still get thirsty. They get especially thirsty at this time of the year, when daytime temperatures are in the triple digits and rain is scarce. A popular solution to the thirsty plants…

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