To begin this exciting announcement, from the blog post, “Best Photos Of 2011,” four new Lightjet archival fine art digital prints are now part of the David Leland Hyde Portfolio:

Fountain, Main Courtyard, Sauk Institute, La Jolla Shores, San Diego, California, copyright 2009 by David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

- “Curved Shadow On Cliffs, Drakes Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore”

- “Thistle Heads And Pines, Northern Sierra Nevada,”

- “Tents, Dutton Hall Financial Aid, Fountain, Occupy UC Davis, Davis, California”

- “Grain Processing Plant At Night, Great Central Valley”

Additional NEW IMAGES added to the David Leland Hyde Portfolio at Philiphyde.com are:

- “Juniper Tree Skeleton Near Eureka, Nevada”

- “Panamint Mountains Near Panamint Springs, Approach To Death Valley National Park”

- “Granite, Pool And Maple Leaves At Indian Falls, Northern Sierra Nevada”

- “Daisies, Cracking Adobe Wall, Carmel Mission, Carmel”

- “Bicycle Church, Barrio Anita, Tucson, Arizona”

- “Historical Mansion, Downtown Santa Cruz, California”

- “Graffiti And Wall Art, San Francisco, California”

- “Self Realization Fellowship, Pacific Palisades, California”

- “Fountain, Main Courtyard, Sauk Institute, La Jolla Shores”

- “Wheelbarrow, Adobe Wall, Fall Leaves, Santa Fe, New Mexico”

- “Bell Tower, San Juan Bautista Mission”

- “Tokopa Falls, Kaweah River, Sequoia National Park”

- “Summit Sunset, Loveland Pass, Rocky Mountains, Colorado”

- “Sunrise And Volcano Along US Highway 6, Nevada”

- “Reflections Detail, Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic National Park”

- “Hay Bales, Pacific Ocean, Santa Cruz County North Coast”

- “Foothills Of The Rocky Mountains Front Range Near Eldorado Canyon State Park, Boulder County, Colorado”

- “Ghost Ranch In Snake Valley, Snake Range, Near Milford, Utah”

- “Sierra Wave Cloud Over Bodie, Eastern Side Sierra Nevada, California”

- “Tufa, Mono Lake, East Side Sierra Nevada Near Lee Vining, California”

- “Tide Pool Rocks, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, California”

- “Tokopah Falls, Sequoia National Park, Southern Sierra Nevada, California”

- “Bell Tower, San Juan Bautista Mission, California”

- “Foothills Of The Rocky Mountain Front Range Near Eldorado Canyon State Park, Boulder County, Colorado”

- “Snow And Grass Detail Near Angel Fire, Sangre De Christo Mountains, New Mexico”

View the photographs: “David Leland Hyde Portfolio.”

Please share which new photograph(s) you like best of the group and which you like least…?

(Pioneer landscape photographer Philip Hyde, his wife Ardis and son David in their Avion Camper on a 1968 GMC Utility Body Pickup. Continued from the blog post, “Denali National Park, Alaska Travel Log 16.”)

Part Seventeen: Fairbanks, Alaska to Donnelly Creek State Campground, Richardson Highway, Alaska

Cotton Grass, McKinley River Trail, Alaska Range, Denali National Park, Alaska copyright 1972 by Philip Hyde.

Thursday, July 15, 1971: The day started sunny and progressed to clouds and rain. At 7:00 am when Malcolm Lockwood left for work as staff photographer at the University of Alaska Museum, the sun was brightest. By 9:00 am when we left Malcolm Lockwood’s home, storm clouds were already gathering. After grocery shopping and gas pumping we drove out of Fairbanks a ways. We passed Alaskaland, then decided to turn around to take David through. Alaskaland combines an amusement park with museums, kids activities, restaurants, shops, educational shows and more. After eating lunch we ventured inside. David liked the paddlewheel river boat and the army helicopter most. At last he had a ferris wheel ride that he and Philip took together. When we got back onto the Richardson Highway and passed through Delta Junction. On leaving Delta Junction, the road became much more interesting than the flat country of the Alaska Highway. The terrain along the Richardson Highway, though also open, presented many wooded rolling hills with small lakes between. We had dinner at a turnout, then dropped down to the broad tree strewn Delta River bed at the base of the Alaska Range peaks. The fireweed and pea vine bloomed in mats out into the river flat. Philip took some photographs along here in the late light. We stopped to look at Black Rapids Glacier. We drove several miles beyond, then returned to Donnelly Creek State Campground. This way we could do that stretch again the next day. The air turned cold and the clouds were solid. We were out of the mosquitos. The temperatures dropped into the 50’s. We heard on the radio that it was 36 degrees in Anchorage.

Friday, July 16, 1971: Donnelly Creek Campground, Richardson Highway to Mile 65.5 Denali Highway, Alaska

We rose at 6:45 am. It had been raining hard in the earlier morning. When Philip looked out the back door of the camper he exclaimed, “Wow,” seeing the Alaska Range peaks visible through a lifting veil of clouds with fresh snow on the lower slopes. We left hurriedly to get down the road for pictures. First Philip made some 2 ¼ Hasselblad photographs before we pulled away, then a short way down the road he brought out the Baby Deardorff 4X5 camera. He drove on and stopped again near the Donnelly Inn Hunting Lodge log and sod cabins. He made more photographs at Darling Creek. At Black Rapids, he made photographs of Black Rapids Glacier upstream of the river flat. He also pulled over at Rainbow Mountain for more pictures. We drove off the main road into Fielding Lake. Fielding Lake was larger than other lakes along the way and surrounded by low brushy slopes and very wet meadows. Philip photographed the abundant wildflowers including Monkshood, Valerian, Mertensia, and Groundsel. On our way back out of Fielding Lake, the rain began again and soon increased to hail. We ate our lunch before reaching the main Denali Highway. Once back on the highway, we soon could see the Gulkana Glacier at a turnout. We also stopped shortly after at the Summit Lake Lodge for gas and propane. We watched a floatplane take off from Summit Lake. We did not stop again until Paxson, Alaska for more gas. We picked up two ladies who needed a ride about 20 miles with a repaired tire for their camper. The Denali Highway started and continued with attractive views of a beautiful alpine setting. The highway stayed high along the ridges, where we were above everything and could see in all directions. We saw rolling mid green tundra accented with darker spruce trees. Lakes and ponds lay in all the swales. The distant snow covered high mountain peaks with snow clouds and mist in veils crowned the scene. Philip made frequent picture stops. Showers continued. We stopped at Tangle Creek Campground to let our ladies put on their tire. We continued to McClaren Summit where it rained hard, but we could still see what a flower garden it was at the roadside. Beyond a short distance, after we looked down at the McClaren River Valley, we stopped for dinner and hoped for the rain to abate to enable photographs. The many ponds below were catching the light. The rain abates and the mosquitos become fierce. After we eat dinner, Philip and David go out on the Tundra for more pictures, both 4X5 and 35 mm. With David in bed we drove on along a moraine top, and stop abruptly for images of a cow moose browsing in the brush close to the road. We made it to Denali Highway Mile 43 by 7:30 pm. Our next stop was at a small pond on the roadside with grass growing in it. A Wilson’s Snipe sat on a post and “cheeped” continually. Driving along the road a few minutes later, Philip suddenly stopped and pointed out the high snowy peaks of the Alaska Range visible almost due west. He was sure we were looking at the slopes below Mount Denali. The light was just right to make Philip a show and having him hopeful that the clouds would part. More pictures at Mile 62 around 8:30 pm. We go on a short distance to Mile 65.5 where we pull off on a track dropping below the main road on the left side and still in view of the distant Alaska Range, which was less clear of clouds every minute. The mosquitos were terrible all night even though the low went down to 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Continued in the blog post, “Denali National Park, Alaska Travel Log 18.”

…And A Brief Summary Of How They Were Made

Curved Shadow On Cliffs At Drakes Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore, California, copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

Last Light On Mount Hough, Arlington Ridge, Indian Valley, Northern Sierra Nevada, California, copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

The Mayan Calendar signals not so much an ending, as many have misinterpreted, but a new beginning in 2012. The Mayan Calendar, besides merely dividing up and organizing time like any calendar, also measured the nature of time. Time periods were represented by architypal glyphs that described the nature of events likely to occur during that time cycle. According to the Mayan Calendar, the current time cycle has certain characteristics, as will future time cycles. Perhaps those who have been paying attention to events around the world have observed the nature of the transition between time cycles. The new beginning already under way in 2011 is characterized by upheaval of various industries brought on by the internet and transparency, development of green technologies, communications technologies and political regime changes.

The Mayans had two calendars. One for measuring in short time intervals such as 26 days, 20 days and 13 days. The 13 day cycle is the basis of this calendar. The Mayan’s second calendar measured longer time spans like 360 days, 7,200 days and

Granite, Pool, Maple Leaves At Indian Falls, Northern Sierra Nevada, California copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

144,000 days. This second calendar the Mayans called their “Long Count.” In 2012 the Mayan Calendar reaches the end of the current Long Count, which began in 3114 BCE, and begins a new Long Count. The year 2012, marks a transition from one world age to another. The smallest unit of time in the Mayan Calendar was 13 days. The next largest measurement was 20 days. The shorter calendar divided the year into 13 months of 20 days. In honor of the Mayan Calendars, the passing away of the old order and the transition to a new way of life on Earth, I have selected the best 13

Grain Processing Plant At Night, Great Central Valley, California, copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

photographs from 2011. Keeping time as the Mayans did, in 13s rather than 12s, as with the Gregorian Calendar, enhances creativity, connection with nature, grounding and expansion of thought to more awareness of the universe and the unity of all things. Whereas the number 12, used in the Gregorian Calendar and our daily time keeping system of clocks, encourages logic, systematization and conformity to the established order.

Clocks and factories developed in Europe at the same time in history. Factory

Thistle Heads And Pines, Northern Sierra Nevada, California, copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

management encouraged town citizens to follow a system of time schedule regimentation. Large clocks in town centers were installed to regulate workers in large numbers. The daily schedule regulated by clocks with time measured in units of 12, brought higher productivity and profitability to the factories, while instilling a certain order in worker’s lives and dependence on the factory system. Today in this time of transition, the human race is reinventing time and the system and thereby changing our lifestyle from

Tent Camp, Night Mist, Occupy UC Davis, Davis, California, copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

servitude to freedom. In that spirit I present my Best Photos of 2011, as suggested by Jim M. Goldstein’s blog project.

All of these photographs except “Dancer Pose, Natarajasana, Black Oak, Mount Jura,” are single image capture with minimal post processing, if any. To read my photography philosophy and artist’s statement see the blog post, “My Favorite Photos of 2010.”

The first landscape photograph comes from Point Reyes National Seashore,

Old Cabin Porch, Feather River Canyon, Northern Sierra Nevada, California, copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

California. I chose it as a tribute to my father, pioneer conservation photographer Philip Hyde, whose photographs originally helped create Point Reyes National Seashore. Point Reyes, on the coast of Marin County just north of the San Francisco Bay Area, is not an easy place to photograph because it is a low moor country of rolling grassland hills. The skies are often drab and the scenery rather subtle in its beauty. I have fond memories of backpacking with my parents on Drake’s Beach, renting bicycles in Olema and riding along the tree lined sleepy roads of

Dancer Pose, Natarajasana, Black Oak, Mount Jura, Northern Sierra Nevada, California, copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

the Inverness Ridge area. Despite the challenges, Dad made some timeless photographs around Point Reyes, including one “quintessential Philip Hyde” that he titled simply, “Drake’s Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore.” Many masters of the West Coast tradition photographed Point Reyes including Ansel Adams, Brett Weston, Edward Weston, Eadweard Muybridge and others.

During our travel adventure in Point Reyes, I was fortunate to arrive with my companions at Drake’s Beach while the low sun angle brought on the evening magic hour. I photographed until Sundown. Before we visited Drake’s Beach, my party and I had walked out to the top of the stairway down to the Lighthouse, but the gate at the top of the stairway was already closed and locked for the evening. On the way out to the Lighthouse, I made the tenth photograph in this blog post, “Sand Fence Near Point Reyes Light House.” After some group photos, rock climbing and other fun around the Point Reyes Lighthouse, we drove down to Drakes Beach where I made the first photograph.

The second landscape photograph of the Sun hitting just the very top of Mt. Hough in the Northern Sierra Nevada did not result from careful planning, studying a photographer’s ephemeris or long

Japanese Maple In Upper Garden Against Forest And Sky, Northern Sierra Nevada, California, copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

waiting for the right moment. I was driving home from Greenville one day and looked up and there it was. (View this photograph large: ”Last Light On Mt. Hough, Arlington Ridge.”) Photographs like this are gifts from Nature, God or whatever you believe in or call it. The photograph comes through me and I merely receive it. I am the creator, yet not the creator.

“Granite, Pool, Maple Leaves” surprised me. That day at Indian Falls I thought I had made a number of excellent photographs, but none of them turned out to be all that great when I opened them in Photoshop. However, “Granite, Pool, Maple Leaves” grew on me and people I showed it to liked it. (View large:

Sand Fence Near Point Reyes Lighthouse, Point Reyes National Seashore, California, copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

“Granite, Pool, Maple Leaves At Indian Falls.”) The seventh and 12^th photographs, “Old Cabin Porch, Feather River Canyon” and “Indian Creek Above Indian Falls” came from around the same area on a different day.

Rolling through Central Valley towns on California State Highway 113 on my way to Occupy UC Davis, I noticed these strangely shaped and colored shadows on this odd industrial farm building. I stopped and made, “Grain Processing Plant At Night, Great Central Valley.”

Arlington Ridge, Oak Knoll, Indian Valley, Northern Sierra Nevada, California, copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

Once I arrived at UC Davis that evening about 10:00 pm, I found the main Quad and made photographs there and in front of the Financial Aid building until around 2:00 am, then got up later that morning at 7:00 and photographed most of the day. I share more about the experience of photographing Occupy UC Davis in my blog post, “Occupy Wall Street At UC Davis.” Both of the Occupy UC Davis photographs that made it into the top 13 group here, I made the first night I arrived within a few minutes of each other. Number 13 at the end of this blog post, “Tents, Fountain, Dutton Hall Financial Aid, Occupy UC Davis” was one of the last few I made at the Financial Aid Building before I wandered back out to the Main Quad. On my way out to the Main Quad a group of campus Policemen pulled up in two police cars and asked me if I was photographing for my own purposes or for the media. I said that I was a blogger but I didn’t know yet how the photographs were going to turn out. I made “Tent Camp, Night Mist, Occupy UC Davis” shortly after.

Last week, after playing ice hockey and making a series of action photos at a local pond ice hockey game, I noticed these thistle heads next to the pond backlit by the sun. The beauty of the golden illumination around the edges of each thistle head caught my eye, but I made quick exposures not thinking much of note would result. The moment I reviewed this photograph after

Indian Creek Above Indian Falls (Vertical), Northern Sierra Nevada, California, copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

pressing the shutter, I decided it was one of my best of the year.

The ‘nude in nature’ photograph of a friend is a tribute to Edward Weston and Kim Weston, who showed me excellent hospitality last year when I visited Edward Weston’s home where Kim Weston now lives on Wildcat Hill in Carmel Highlands, California. Kim Weston leads photo workshops on the spot where Edward Weston lived. Kim Weston is also known for his nudes in nature, as of course was his grandfather.

My mother, Ardis King Hyde, descended from four generations of farmers in California’s Great Central Valley. She excelled in the art of gardening and farming, as did all of her three brothers. She studied and planted ornamental shrubs and trees, flowers and vegetables. She planted a number of Japanese Maples that put on a brilliant display every Fall color season without fail, even on a lesser Fall color year like this one, where most of the other trees leaves turned quickly from green to brown in a matter of less than

Tents, Fountain, Dutton Hall Financial Aid, Occupy UC Davis, Davis, California, copyright 2011 David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

a week without stopping at yellow, orange or red in between. I have made many photographs of Mom’s Japanese Maples, especially in the Fall the last several years. This year’s photograph, “Japanese Maple In Upper Garden Against Forest And Sky” in my opinion is the best.

Unlike this winter, which so far has proved to be mainly dry and cold, last winter proved heavier than many with snow after snow hitting the Northern Sierra Nevada. During the many weeks when not much else could be accomplished outdoors, I went out photographing often. “Arlington Ridge, Oak Knoll, Indian Valley” was one of the gift fruits of these labors of love. Thank you for sharing in this love. To view more of my photographs see the blog post, “David Leland Hyde Archival Prints Prelaunch” or my portfolio on the Philip Hyde website.

Description And Outline

(Continued from the blog post, “San Francisco Art Institute Photography History, Part 12.”)

Cumulus Clouds Over Indian Valley, Northern Sierra Nevada, copyright 1948 Philip Hyde.

Summer School, as Ansel Adams referred to it, first started in 1946. The course ran for six weeks of intensive instruction based on the regular day school in photography at the California School of Fine Arts now the San Francisco Art Institute. Minor White first taught with Ansel Adams in the Summer of 1946 with students including Philip Hyde, Benjamen Chinn, William Heick, Ira Latour, Pirkle Jones, Ruth-Marion Baruch, Don Whyte, Pat Harris, David Johnson, John Rogers, Al Richter, Bob Hollingsworth, Walter Stoy, Helen Howell and others.

In preliminary descriptions of the course for the CSFA School Board, Ansel Adams suggested: “It should be considered as part of the full day school year rather than… supplementary…” The Summer Session became what Ansel Adams described as “a ‘screening course’ for the main student body of the day school.”

Ansel Adams further described the proposed course:

It should be made very intensive and should reveal within its six weeks span the abilities – or lack of them – of the students. Only those should be admitted who have definite intention to take at least the first year of the main school sessions. The exact topics to be considered in the summer school will be basic but of course should not be too extensive. The first summer school period in 1946 will enable us to clear up various ‘bugs’ in the studio, lab, and general operation. The summer school of 1947 should be designed, I believe, as a buffer course to enable the regular day students to perfect their work and to round out missing or weak aspects of their knowledge.

Outline Of Ansel Adams’ Summer Session 1946

Department of Photography

California School of Fine Arts

Day School:

Week 1

Period:

1:            Organization, outline of study and general assignments, etc.

2:            Functions of the Camera and Lens

3:            Demonstration of above

4:            Photographic Visualization

5:            Demonstration

6:            Basic Photographic Esthetics

Week 2

Period:

1:            Resume of Photographic History and Esthetics

2:            Philosophy of Exposure and Development of the Negative

3:            Demonstration Including Darkroom Mechanics

4:            Demonstration Including Orthochromatics

5:            Problem: demonstration-Visualization through execution

6:            General Discussion

Week 3

Period:

1:            Presentation of a photographic problem  (1^st assignment)

2:            Execution of the problem – exposure and development of the negative

3:            Printing

4:            Demonstration

5:            Printing of the negatives of the above problem

6:            Discussion and criticism of problem-assignment results

Week 4

Period:

1:            Elements of photographic Composition

2:            Presentation of 2^nd Photographic Problem (2nd assignment)

3:            Field or Studio work under direction

4:            Printing under direction

5:            Toning of prints

6:            Discussion and criticism of second assignment

Week 5

Period:

1:            Expressive fields of photography

2:            Presentation of the 3^rd Photographic Problem (assignment)

3:            Field or Studio work under direction

4:            Mounting and spotting of prints (presentation)

5:            Philosophy of Artificial light in photography

6:            General Discussion and criticism of assignment 3

Week 6

Period:

1:            Assignment using artificial light and analysis (4^th assignment)

2:            Assignment: Three interpretations of the same subject (5^th assignment)

3:            Minor darkroom techniques (reduction, intensification, bleaching, etc.)

4:            Survey of contemporary directions in photography, Critical basis.

5:            Resume of philosophy of technique

6:            General discussion, exhibit work and criticism.

Four periods devoted to work in addition to the six periods outlined above are required. The exact assignments will be worked out well in advance. An emphasis on regional subject material to be maintained throughout. Full demonstration of all work required. Laboratory assistants will be on constant duty five or six periods out of the total of 10 periods per week.

Pumpkin, Melting Snow Patterns On Deck, Northern Sierra Nevada, California, copyright 2011 by David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90.

Dear Pilgrims and Natives, the Turkey is a little slim this year, but we all still have much that deserves gratitude. Every day, even in the darkest of times, each of us can find something for which we are grateful. This Thanksgiving I am grateful for good neighbors, good friends, a good guitar or two or three strummed or picked around a warm wood stove with a glass of wine and more food than anyone needs. I am also grateful for Lumiere Gallery and the Messages From The Wilderness Show. I am grateful for all other photography galleries and venues that have hosted exhibitions of Dad’s photographs in the last few years, as well as each of the photography galleries that now represent my father’s pioneering conservation landscapes in the form of vintage black and white prints, archival digital prints, dye transfer prints and Cibachrome prints. I am also thankful to the following bloggers and websites for either Tweeting, Twittering, Re-tweeting, putting on Google+, on Facebook, embedding in their website or photoblog, or otherwise linking to or mentioning the ALL NEW PHILIP HYDE SHORT VIDEO. Dad would be shocked, humbled, amazed, and when he got used to the idea, happy to see his photographs shown around the world. Thank you to each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart…

Note: Those names below in blue are links as customary. Those in black that are not links I either could not find again or they were buried in a long list of shares. Topsy and some other social media search sites are currently having technical difficulties. Even the Holy Grail, Google Search, does not seem to crawl all tweets and shares, even on its own platform Google+. Also, as I am not yet a participant of some of the social media, not all searches are available to me. If you are one of those listed below and would like your name linked to your share or post of the video, please send me the link in the contact form above or in an e-mail. Same goes for those who I have accidentally omitted from the list and deserve my apologies.

Jim M. Goldstein

William Neill

Sharon and Dirk Van Lieu

Robert Rodriguez, Jr.

Guy Tal

Art Wolfe

PJ Finn

Richard Wong

Stephen Gingold

G. Dan Mitchell

Steve Sieren

Seung Kye Lee

Dan Baumbach

Greg Russell

Michael Frye

Paul Dickenson

Michael E. Gordon

Jim Sabiston

Carl Donohue

Q.T. Luong

Russ Bishop

Sven Seebeck

Michael R. Reynolds

John Paul Caponigro

Paul Colangelo

Sean Arbabi

Buzztail

Atlanta Celebrates Photography

Alltop

Creative Live

F8 Daily

Networked Blogs

World Panorama Stock

Fox News Travel Section

Newsodrome

Technorati

Shootplex

Photo Life Magazine

Photogravity

New School of Photography

Gaia Gallery

Byte Photo

Orlando Photography

Travelscenics

Mitrasites

Bob Yellowlees, proprietor of Lumiere Gallery, is a genius. Why? Well, among the reasons has to be that he hired Tony Casadonte as gallery manager. Tony Casadonte runs the gallery, builds the Search-friendly website on WordPress, presents and sells vintage prints and digital prints, oversees matting and framing, coordinates events, activities and a lecture series with the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, a large number of other tasks and accomplishments… and… oversees the recording of videos. He coordinated and designed the ALL NEW 3:18 MINUTE PHILIP HYDE VIDEO…

Philip Hyde from Lumière on Vimeo.

The Making Of The New Video

One day Tony Casadonte told me I would receive a recorder in the mail. Seemed a bit strange, but everything is strange these days when it comes to technology. Sure enough, one day this box about 6″ X 10″ X 8″ arrived in my mailbox. I opened it up. Tony explained the contraption, “It’s only a couple hundred dollar recording machine, but we shipped it FedEx to be sure it arrived safely.” It was digital. No tapes. OK, I know I am hopelessly stuck in the 1980s when I remember my father picking up the first tape recorder commercially available from Sony. Anyway, no moving parts, amazing. Just press a button and start talking.

Tony gave me an outline of his interview points and I started speaking into the microphone to answer them. Every so often Tony interrupted and said, “Well, what about this?” or “That?” In a flash, seemed like, we had an hour and a half of me rattling on about my father pioneer landscape photographer and conservationist Philip Hyde and his work. I burned a copy of the recording right to my computer for backup, put the recorder in the box and done. Tony said he would have to edit it. OK, I agreed. He sent me several versions of the audio, cut down to three and four minutes. The editing shined in one version. Tony said, I’ll have my guy Neal go to work on this and cue up a video with music and your father’s photographs. Hopefully we will be able to make a video or two more out of the rest of the recording.

In a day or two Tony and Neal posted the newest version of the video on Vimeo and a slightly different version on YouTube. Take a look. I am amazed at the results. From my convoluted ramblings, they somehow cut a very focused, concise statement about my father that would have made him proud. Hats off to Tony Casadonte and his team, or is it Bob Yellowlees’ team? Anyway, great job gentlemen, thank you. Take a look yourself… and… don’t miss the current exhibition at Lumiere Gallery, “Messages from the Wilderness,” prominently featuring Dad’s conservation photography and the work of other great conservation photographers such as Ansel Adams, Edna Bullock, Peter Essick, Robert Glenn Ketchum, Tom Murphy, Bradford Washburn, Edward Weston and Brett Weston.

Messages From The Wilderness Exhibition

November 12-December 23, 2011

Lumiere Gallery
425 Peachtree Hills Avenue
Building 5, Suite 29B
Atlanta, GA 30305
404-261-6100

For more information about the exhibition see the blog post, “Messages From The Wilderness Opening At Lumiere Gallery.”

Messages from the Wilderness

Saturday November 12

10 am – 4 pm

Opening All Day

Exhibition: November 12-December 23, 2011

Messages From The Wilderness Installation At Lumiere Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia, Copyright 2011 by Tony Casadonte. Note the 32X40 archival digital print of Philip Hyde's "Great Overhang, Moqui Canyon, Glen Canyon, 1964" in the center flanked by 11X14 digital prints of "Virginia Creeper, Northern Sierra Nevada, California" and "Mt. Denali, Reflection Pond, Denali National Park, Alaska." Two Robert Glen Ketchum prints outside of that between the Philip Hyde prints with Philip Hyde's "Cathedral In The Desert, Glen Canyon, Utah" and "Dogwood, Sequoia National Park, California," on the outside far ends of the main wall. Other areas of the show feature Philip Hyde's hand made vintage black and white prints of Glen Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park and others.

Lumiere Gallery
425 Peachtree Hills Avenue – Building 5
Atlanta, GA 30305
404-261-6100

See the Lumiere Gallery website for a new video featuring David Leland Hyde talking about his father and the birth of modern environmentalism.

This exhibition features works deploying the visual power of photography to communicate and understand an appreciation of the great American Wilderness. These photographers have captured the beauty and form of nature using straight photography, documentary, pictorialism, abstraction and unusual lighting effect to communicate a story or to stimulate the viewer’s innate imagination. The work involved often has provided the foundation for major conservation campaigns.

The show includes photography by: Philip Hyde, Ansel Adams, Edna Bullock, Peter Essick, Robert Glenn Ketchum, Tom Murphy, Bradford Washburn, Edward Weston and Brett Weston.

Indian Creek Above Indian Falls, Fall Color, Northern Sierra Nevada, California, copyright 2011 by David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90. Single exposure. I saw this scene with the sunlight on a large area of the trees making an array of reflections as I drove home from the annual Apple Harvest at the Dawn Institute near Indian Falls. By the time I turned around, came back, parked and set up, the sunlight had faded down to this one small spotlight. There were no more still afternoons on Indian Creek when I looked before the trees lost most of their leaves.

Autumn 2011 has been the strangest Fall color season yet in the Sierra Nevada of Northern California. Many types of trees in the Northern Sierra have had a leaf disease. I have seen it mainly effecting black oaks and some maples, but also showing up on the leaves of some Indian Rhubarb. The leaf disease has caused many deciduous trees to turn brown and not produce any Fall color at all. Because of erratic weather and temperatures, some trees without leaf disease dropped their green summer cloaks slower than usual, others changed into their Fall color dressing much faster than usual.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service puts out a report called Pest Alert. The following is what Pest Alert said about this leaf disease:

A phenomenon known as Sudden Oak Death was first reported in 1995 in central coastal California. Since then, tens of thousands of tanoaks (Lithocarpus densiflorus), coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia), and California black oaks (Quercus kelloggii) have been killed by a newly identified fungus, Phytophthora ramorum. On these hosts, the fungus causes a bleeding canker on the stem. The pathogen also infects Rhododendron spp., huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), bay laurel (Umbellularia californica), madrone (Arbutus menziesii), bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita), and California buckeye (Aesculus californica). On these hosts the fungus causes leaf spot and twig dieback. As of January 2002, the disease was known to occur only in California and southwestern Oregon; however, transporting infected hosts may spread the disease. The pathogen has the potential to infect oaks and other trees and shrubs elsewhere in the United States. Limited tests show that many oaks are susceptible to the fungus, including northern red oak and pin oak, which are highly susceptible. On oaks and tanoak, cankers are formed on the stems. Cankered trees may survive for one to several years, but once crown dieback begins, leaves turn from green to pale yellow to brown within a few weeks. A black or reddish ooze often bleeds from the cankers, staining the surface of the bark and the lichens that grow on it. Bleeding ooze may be difficult to see if it has dried or has been washed off by rain, although remnant dark staining is usually present.

Indian Rhubarb Near Indian Falls, Northern Sierra Nevada, California, copyright 2011 by David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90. Single exposure. The wild Indian Rhubarb had just begun to change color as I made this photograph. I probably missed the peak of the Indian Rhubarb because I haven't made it back since.

I have seen the red ooze or the dark stain on many leaves of many trees this Fall season. Some disease has also infected the aspens, the leaves of which in many cases this Fall turned straight from green to brown, or from green briefly to gold and then to brown. Before the last storm, some of the Indian Rhubarb looked like it was starting to show some good color. At first, in early October, it seemed all the tree species leaves were turning faster than usual, then for about a week everything turned very slowly. It was unusually warm into early October. We went skinny dipping in Indian Creek on October 1. It was a bit too cold to feel the elation Walt Whitman described in Leaves of Grass, but it was the first time we have ever swam in Indian Creek that late in the year without wetsuits and river rafts. In early October the oaks were just starting to go yellow and I’m sure the aspens were already turning up high. In the second week of October I heard that the aspens at higher elevations had gone straight from green leaves to brown. Here the few my mother planted were normal: their leaves turned from green to yellow and gold.

Maple Impressions, Northern Sierra Nevada, California, copyright 2011 by David Leland Hyde. Nikon D90. Single exposure. I tried a number of soft focus images of this composition. This was the frame that seemed to work best, but I'm still not sure if it is as I would like it to be.

After being warm enough to skinny dip on October 1, it snowed the morning of October 5. The temperatures dropped from 85 plus degrees Fahrenheit in a few days down to 34 degrees with a light dusting of snow. The temperature drop brought on the Fall color. During the first week of October, in a sea of green leaves I saw only one yellow Indian Rhubarb leaf. Today I will go check on more patches of wild Indian Rhubarb, but I believe I missed the peak of the Fall color for the Indian Rhubarb, which is a shame. I had looked forward to a lot of Fall color photography this year, but it has been for the most part a disappointment, except for in my mother’s garden right around the house where her dogwoods and Japanese maples were consistently brilliant in oranges, yellows, and reds as usual. The Virginia Creeper also proved disappointing, changing straight from green to red without much in between this year. For more contemporary landscape photography see the blog post, “David Leland Hyde Archival Print Pre-Launch.”

Was your Fall color season unusual this year? Where did you photograph?

The exhibition will be on view from Thursday November 3rd through Saturday, December 31st.

Brett Weston, born December 16, 1911 inherited his father Edward Weston’s love and gift for photography. In the fall of 1925 Edward Weston loaned Brett Weston a 3 ¼ x 4 ¼ Graflex camera. After a few basic instructions from his famous father, Brett Weston’s first photographic explorations gave way to an active career spanning over 68 years. Brett Weston not only assisted Edward Weston, but also collaborated and influenced his esteemed father.

At sixteen he had his first exhibition at UCLA along side his father, Edward Weston. International recognition followed, eighteen of his photographs were included in the influential German exhibition “Film and Foto” in 1929, which brought together an international group of artists with a highly progressive outlook. He also was part of the Group f.64 show at the M.H. De Young Museum in San Francisco in 1932. By the time Brett Weston was in his early 20s his photographs were exhibited in Europe, Japan and throughout the United Sates.

Brett Weston set himself apart from his father by pushing his work into the realm of abstraction, and thus participating in the mid-century movement of abstract art. Brett Weston bridged the gap between representation and abstraction by creating images that were realistically rendered yet composed in such a way as to emphasize abstraction in composition and form. His accomplishments in photography could be seen as a key to understanding the basic tenants of abstract art as expressed by artists working in more obviously interpretive mediums. Merle Armitage wrote of Brett Weston’s work in 1956:  “Here are the patterns, the arrangements, the designs and the evocations sought by the finest abstract painters.”

Generally considered one of the finest printers in photography, Brett Weston produced sixteen portfolios of original photographs, starting with San Francisco in 1939. He believed passionately in the power of his original black and white prints and chose the photographic portfolio as the way to reach an expanded audience while still maintaining control over image quality.

Brett Weston’s photographs have been exhibited in hundreds of galleries and museums including the J. Paul Getty Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Modern Art New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, George Eastman House, the Whitney Museum, Amon Carter Museum, National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian Museum among others.

Scott Nichols Gallery

www.scottnicholsgallery.com

49 Geary St. #415
San Francisco, CA 94108
415- 788-4641
Copyright © 2011 Scott Nichols Gallery, All rights reserved.

(Continued from the blog post, “Minor White Letters 1.”)

Minor White’s Letters And The San Francisco Art Institute

Piers, San Francisco Waterfront, Bay Bridge, San Francisco Bay, City of San Francisco, California, copyright 1948 by Philip Hyde.

(See the photograph large: “Piers, San Francisco Waterfront, California.”)

Philip Hyde first met Minor White in the 1946 Photography Summer Session taught by Ansel Adams at the world-renowned California School of Fine Arts, now the San Francisco Art Institute. Ansel Adams soon after made Minor White lead instructor of his photography program at the San Francisco Art Institute. Ansel Adams’ photography program was the first of all photography schools to teach creative photography as a full-time profession. Philip Hyde enrolled in the full time day student photography course taught by Minor White in 1947 and earned his certificate of completion in the Spring of 1950. The letter correspondence between Philip Hyde and Minor White began shortly after in May 1950. The letters of Minor White to Philip Hyde are clearly responses to letters from Philip Hyde to Minor White. However, the first three letters from Philip Hyde to Minor White appear to be missing.

Minor White’s Letter To Philip Hyde

(From Philip Hyde’s correspondence file with Minor White. Permissions in process from the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey, copyright by the Trustees of Princeton University?)

13  July  1950

Dear EXTATIC Youse Both,

The voice of the Junipers

Articulate the stars

You the words and the wisdom of the moon over sleeping bags

OH BROTHER

You sure have it bad.

And so I shall leave it to youth and vinegar – the whole outdoors. Otherwise I should enjoy a night or two contemplating nature – I think some of the the sting of camping out is slowly going away – not so much that I plan on doing anything about it, but it is going. And I trust that is of great comfort to you.

Your letters to Duggins – great stuff. I was feeling mean the other morning so wrote a letter to above twerp also. And my answer was interesting – he wanted to know what I meant by “creative photography” and who the big names of the state were and who ought to be nominated for judges. And he mentioned that a couple of other SFers [People attending or graduated from photography schools in San Francisco, in those days essentially California School of Fine Arts students.] gave him the impression that Salon stuff was considered the rankest of amateurism. Not bad – in fact I loved it. So you were one of the SFers. Whoops!

The wording and quiet tone of explanation is just plain good. Keep it up.

I expect to answer the required info very soon. Judges is a hard one. In fact outside of some class mates I don’t know of any competent ones in town.

Summer Session is in the midst of utmost confusion. I am shooting five days a week – though only a few hours each day, running film at night and letting the negs pile up unprinted till it scares me. All over town, landscapes, fog, industry, people – anything that gets in the way that I can get. Even the cable car on Market Street. And incidentally I am feeling much better.

But hardly EXTATIC.

Minor [Hand written signature]

Do you agree with or apply Minor White’s approach to photographing, “All over town, landscapes, fog, industry, people – anything that gets in the way…”?

(Continued in the blog post, “Minor White Letters 3.”)