Phyllis and I like to take out slices of pizza, and eat them in the beautiful garden at Berkeley Horticultural Nurseries. The other day, after having our lunch while sitting on a bench, we wandered—and I admired some Icelandic Poppies, Papaver nudicaule, in first bloom. Imagine my surprise when Phyllis came home the next day with two pots for me to enjoy and photograph!

Two Icelandic Poppies (above) was photographed for transparency on a light box using a high-key series of bracketed exposures. Yum (below) was photographed somewhat more conventionally on a white seamless background using my nifty Zeiss 50mm f/2 macro lens.

I am heading to New York for several days for meetings with my publishers and sponsors, so most likely I won’t be posting stories for a little while. In the meantime, let me leave you with the thought that when news seems dark and gray, it is so important to remember the beauty and joy of the world as well. We stand up for ourselves when we do what is joyful, and don’t give into those who would enslave the human capacity for freedom and delight.

In that light, please consider traveling with me to Paris the first week in May (my group has room for just two more photographers), to Tuscany in October, and Venice in November. The Italian destination photo tours have a nice early-bird discount for registrations through the end of the month. Click here for my 2016 Works & Events Calendar as it is shaping up.