Magic Lantern

JWise Photo of the Day

Audio tools for Magic Lantern

Today’s entry should feature much larger images. While they are as wide as I can fit in the frame, this is one entry in which visitors should click the images to see the larger captures.

The image on display above, one of eight, is the first screen one sees when starting up the menu system of the Magic Lantern software for a number of Canon HDSLR cameras. After the release of the first DSLR that was able to record HD 1080p video, there was a rush to see just what the camera was capable of. Trammell Hudson was the first to throw his programming skills at writing “enhancement” software on top of Canon’s firmware. The capabilities that were uncovered and offered to professionals and amateurs alike, were nothing less than astounding.

Back to the Audio screen above. We are no longer saddled with the limitations of the Canon software regarding audio. There are audio meters for monitoring what is being recorded in the camera. Many people have now started recording a secondary audio on something like the Zoom H1 microphone/recorder or they bypass the internal microphone entirely and instead are using the Rode VideoMic. Should one decide to record an external audio track, there is a piece of software called Plural Eyes that allows the audio to be synced to the internal audio track – great for shooting music videos where lip-syncing is required.

The Live View settings from Magic Lantern

Live View settings are the settings that affect the Live View monitor when a Canon HDSLR is in Movie record mode. Magic Lantern adds a Histogram or Waveform view of the video signal for measuring exposure values. Zebras are also a useful tool for evaluating exposure, and a personal favorite. False Color is one more method for checking exposure.

Cropmarks are another of my favorite additions to my camera. With them, I’m able to have an overlay on my video screen that identifies the title safe frame and the action safe frame. Stay within those boundaries and your video framing should capture all of the details you require. Ghost Image creates a transparent layer of a photo just taken, I believe this aids in creating panoramas but I could see it also being helpful in shooting stop-motion animation.

Magic Zoom is another tool I love from ML (Magic Lantern). Using the Magic Zoom when you are in manual zoom, preferred when shooting video, a center pop-up image is displayed on your Live View screen that magnifies an area of the video. This area can be moved to focus on a particular item, say a face that you are recording, using the arrow keys. Split Screen and Focus Peak are tools that aid in focusing.

Movie preferences from the Magic Lantern software for Canon HDSLR's

The Movie preferences screen. The most amazing part of the capability represented here is the Bit Rate selection. Users are able to select a higher bit rate for recording video. The standard bit rate from Canon is about 45mbit per second. Setting the Constant Bit Rate to a factor as high as 2.0x (recently limited to this speed as it has proven the safest in pushing the bandwidth higher) and disabling audio while using a fast memory card, I have read of some users achieving an almost 50% improvement with recording bandwidth. This increase in bit rate affects the spatial quality of the image you are recording which, if the shot is a green screen clip destined for compositing in post-production, can give the filmmaker much greater quality in his or her workflow.

The only other function I utilize under this menu is the Movie REC Key. There is an option to use the shutter as the record trigger with a half-press. This is great if you have mounted your camera on a shoulder rig and your hand is holding the grip of the rig. Simply plug in Canon’s cheap wired remote, attach it within easy reach, give the shutter button a half-press and you are recording.

One other thing, if you are using Zebras to verify exposure, it is nice to “Hide” the Zebras when recording so they don’t disturb your view while following the action.

The one menu specific to shooting regular old photographs with Magic Lantern enhancements

If you are serious about photography, there are a few things on the Shoot menu that are of super value. The first is HDR Bracketing. The photographer is now able to choose to shoot between 2 and 9 shots using between 0.5 and 5 exposure values (EV).

Built-in Intervalometer, yeah, we can shoot timelapse. LCD Remote shot allows the camera to be set up and with a wave of the hand near the back of the camera, we can trigger the shutter. Audio RemoteShot allows for the triggering of the shutter using a loud sound, say a hand clap. Motion Detect, try using this on a stormy night while trying to shoot lightning! Bulb Timer is what every night sky star photographer needs.

* Added August 24: There has been a recent update that allows timelapse photographers to shoot from day into night, with ML software calculating the change in light to adjust shutter speed and aperture – for those of you who understand this, it is AMAZING!

Exposure settings for the Magic Lantern software

Greater control of ISO settings, especially important with video where it has been shown that multiples of 160 ISO are the sweet spots for capturing video with fewer noise artifacts. Being able to use a shutter speed of 1/48 is also one of the techniques that give videos, that filmy look we people enjoy when watching movies. Recently Alex, one of the Magic Lantern programmers, added the ability to press the “Flash” button on the front of the camera while in Movie mode, which brings up an overlay on the Live View screen allowing for the easy changing of ISO and White Balance. It is a wow feature for convenience.

The Picture Style selection is not unique to ML, but it is still very important. My User Defined style is the Technicolor flat profile. This profile removes much contrast and deeply saturated colors, for the average consumer, this ability might only be frustrating. But for the aspiring filmmaker, this allows for the recording of details that are lost in consumer color profiles. This also requires that the artist understand that they will have to learn a little something about color correction in their editing software or in their workflow while working in Adobe After Effects.

* Added August 24: Another fantastic update, there is a new menu item that has been added to the above screen. This new function allows you to shoot in one picture style, but while setting up your shot you can preview using a different style so you can best judge what final colors you will be color correcting to should you be shooting in a flat style, such as the Technicolor picture style.

The Focus menu screen from Magic Lantern

Much attention is paid to focus. How can one make a good movie if the shots are out of focus? With the HDSLR filmmaking environment taking off, there are accessories helping with focus such as attachable viewfinders that magnify your LCD and shade it for easier viewing. There are those who opt for external HDMI-enabled monitors that are two or three times larger than the screen on the back of our cameras. But these are not necessary to get right to work. Using the magnification tools already on the camera and the assistance of ML enhancements, I am able to find perfect focus using the screen just as it is.

Trap Focus will snap a photo when an object in a scene comes into focus, say a tiger in the wild passing your camera while you have Motion Detect enabled!

Follow Focus uses the arrow keys to move the lens in and out of focus.

The big but still under development feature here is Rack Focus. Using a combination of selections including Follow Focus, Focus Speed, Focus Delay, Focus Direction, and Focus A Point, the filmmaker is able to shoot a scene with two objects or people, starting with a focus on the person in the foreground and then bring the focus on to the other person who is in the background, or the other way around. Rack Focus allows you to set the focal points and with the push of a button, the focus moves between the two points. Press it again, and you return to the starting focus point.

Hey you macro photographers, need to take a bunch of photos of an object but want a long depth of field with everything in focus? Try using Stack Focus. A series of photographs will be taken that you can stack into a single photograph – with everything in focus.

The Tweak menu for Magic Lantern

The Tweak menu. Not much to change here, it has been set up by the programmers to be the most functional right after install. Good idea to read the User Guide and learn about this stuff, especially before asking busy programmers who are donating their time for this project, about things probably answered in the User Guide.

The Debug menu in Magic Lantern

Not a lot here in the Debug menu for the casual user, but there are two new functions that are very helpful. The first is the Dim Display item. If it is not important for you to monitor what you are recording on the LCD monitor of your camera, this will allow the display to dim and thus saves your battery. You can also decide to turn the display clean off using the Turn Off Display function – selectable with times of 5 seconds to 15 minutes before the display turns off.

The second to last screen is the Config screen, which I’m obviously not including. With that minor screen with but a few selections, one controls the config files. We are offered up to four different configurations. You may decide to have a configuration with menu items that only pertain to filming using tools that help you when shooting on a tripod or dolly, while another config file is best suited to handheld shots. A third config can be created for night shots and a fourth for regular photography.

The final screen is the Information menu. Here you will find helpful hints, an FAQ, and other stuff. Another very useful recent addition to ML was the inclusion of onboard help files. When in the ML menus, if you press DISP while hovering over a function item, a help file will be displayed for those times you forgot how something works.

There is much more to this software than I have written about. I cannot truly convey the convenience and opportunity offered to an aspiring or even professional filmmaker that ML is giving us. When you consider that 1920×1080 HD video is effectively 2k video that can easily be scaled for broadcast in a movie theater, you start to realize that amazing things are happening in the film and storytelling industries.

Why use an HDSLR and Magic Lantern? Because a Canon T2i, also known as the 550d only costs about $700 without a lens. Combine this with the great depth-of-field that can be had with SLR lenses and you have a powerful tool that in many instances can compete with cameras costing more than $10,000.

If you find yourself intrigued and own a Canon T1i, T2i, T3i, 50D, 60D, 7D, or 5D, there is a good chance you will fall in love with the capability given to you for free to explore more of the art you are learning and practicing.

If you own a 5D, check this LINK to find Magic Lantern for your camera. If you own one of the other cameras, check out this LINK to find a new Unified Branch of the Magic Lantern.

Good Riddance Mr. Cuke

JWise Photo of the Day

Dead cucumber's tell no tales

When a restaurant gets things consistently right, you know that you have found the place that deserves extra merit and respect. Well, that’s what I have found at Sabas Mediterranean Restaurant on the corners of Bell Rd and Tatum Blvd. Today, I ordered a salad and asked my server, George, to kill the cucumbers. For my appetizer, he delivered the proof that he had, in fact, honored my request. Dead and bleeding from its nose and mouth, the lifeless cuke-corpse was served to me on a platter. To taste the sweet victory over this ugly vegetable that is of little use to the likes of me, George poked a toothpick into its eye allowing any of my tablemates a clean grab and devouring of its now lifeless bitter wretchedness. Before our very eyes, this pathetic member of the gourd family started turning green, rotting right there on the table.

Dead cukes don't wear plaid

Little did I know that the best was yet to come. A filthy little cucumber cousin of the dead guy above tried to hide in a nearby salad, probably thinking it would find revenge by jumping into my dish. George was right there on top of things. With all the professionalism I would expect from such a reputable establishment, in a flourish of stealthy action, George moved in and with frontier justice, dispatched this errant cylindrical menace with a quick fork through the eye and into the feeble brain of Mr. Pickle Head. Score two for George!

Three guys at the next table, obviously impressed with the special service I was receiving enquired if I were a celebrity or famous writer; I had to tell them the truth, “This is the honor all customers of Sabas receive when placing special orders, we are all celebrities here.” The guys handed me their card, they were working undercover as investigators for their website; Sammich.es – that’s right, just the way it sounds Sammich.es, skip the dot com, they are dot es, as in Sammiches. Not to be confused with Sandwiches. They told me how by day they work as mild-mannered graphic something or others, but I didn’t buy that, they all looked like foodies to me, professional full-time kind of foodies. Anyway, they said, visit our site, we know all the great stacked dead veggie restaurants. Next stop, Sammich.es.

The American Dream

JWise Photo of the Day

Maria and Nelson Tello, owners of a local donkey shack.

This is Maria and Nelson, they are the new owners of a local fast-food Mexican restaurant as of today. Yesterday they were workers at this place, now they are living the American dream. Not that this was their big dream, but it is an opportunity to work hard, put some money away, and maybe have a better chance and making something that speaks to their creativity. Nelson and Maria have been friends of ours for over five years now and over that time Nelson has made great progress as a photographer and the occasional graphic designer. Maria has ventured into short video tutorials about makeup and flirted with some photography too. I know their real interests are in the arts and technology, not in working a grill and doing dishes, but we all start somewhere. I wish the two of them much luck.

The Workshops

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Wise at the Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

Here she is, my fiber-addicted wife, Caroline Wise. Metamucil, you ask; maybe oatmeal or whole wheat bread is her fiber of choice? Heck no, all that would be cheap compared to someone who has joined the flock of weavers, spinners, basket makers, dyers, knitters, and other assorted people who enjoy the hobby that takes over all of your space. Fiber artists don’t have anything like Knitters Anonymous; they have the exact opposite: Fiber Guilds.

— Please Take Note: well after this was all posted, I decided to merge some of the workshop images onto their date-appropriate pages so things coincided with when they were happening. I chose not to delete this post, which is mostly duplicated now, as this page has received so many visits that I don’t want it to just disappear from the search engines.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

And what do guilds do? They organize workshops, retreats, and classes. They write books and magazine articles and produce videos. Bands of merchants selling the hot wares follow this tribe around to encourage further consumption and great new projects yet to be spun, frogged, carded, and strewn about as dozens of UFOs – Un-Finished Objects.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

Ever heard of dyeing fabric with mud? Forget your Dolce & Gabbana; we’re going stone age and wearing mud again. I’m not even sure then why we must first put it on fabric instead of just rolling around in the stuff. To be fair, this method of dyeing with mud is called Bogolanfini, a traditional African method – albeit one modified by Judy Dominic. Judy particularly enjoys the inspiration of the designs used by the people of Mali.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

Try pronouncing Katazome or Shibori. Katazome is a paste-resist dyeing method using rice paste, soy milk, various pigments, and a lot of indigo. It was this class given by John Marshall here in Durango, Colorado at the campus of Fort Lewis that brought us to the Intermountain Weavers Conference. Every other year, IWC hosts a fiber hoedown that attracts members and non-members alike to spend three days trying new fiber drugs. Trust me, it is not uncommon to hear someone asking to borrow a needle.

Fabric coming out of the indigo dye bath still green - IWC in Durango, CO

John Marshall teaches his students this old Japanese art of Katazome that is quickly disappearing as modern manufacturing processes and the desire for inexpensive clothing make this a dying craft. After the students applied pigments and paste resist materials and probably some other processes in an order I have no clue about, they would dip their work into a vat of indigo. As the cloth is pulled from the indigo, it is still green, as were the leaves that went into the vat that makes indigo.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

The magic of indigo happens as the materials are exposed to the air; they begin to oxidize. This oxidation process is what turns the fabric that familiar blue we are all aware of. Depending on what is being dyed, the fabric can turn deep shades of blue, as do fingers and even the hair of one of the ladies in Caroline’s class. Hey Nancy, not sure what I think of blue bangs on white hair, though it wasn’t bad. Maybe this will inspire this grandmother-aged sweet lady to now consider a tattoo of an alpaca with crossed shears. Argh.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

The other word I introduced you to was Shibori. Shibori is an ancient Japanese fiber art similar to the Rajashtahni and Gujarati craft of Bandhani. These two styles of dyeing can involve an incredible amount of handwork. Small or even larger segments of cloth are wrapped, stitched, folded, twisted, and bound with string; at times, hundreds, even thousands, of the wrapped bundles are applied to a piece of cloth. This slows down and can stop the dye from reaching all of the cloth as it is dipped in dye to produce beautiful patterns. Now, think of where you may have seen or heard of a cloth that is a descendant of this process. It sounds a bit like Bandhani; how about the good old Bandana? Bet you didn’t know that it wasn’t the hippies of the 1960s who invented Tie Dye.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

After much work and a ton of international coordination, the board members of IWC were able to convince the renowned Scholar, Curator, and Artist Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada to lead a workshop teaching this art form known as Shibori. Ms. Wada not only taught an overflowing class of enthusiastic students, but she was also the Keynote Speaker of the conference. With nothing else going on that night, I stuck around to listen, good thing I did. While fiber arts may not be my specialty, I can certainly appreciate the craft and skill that goes into this work. During the presentation, we learned of the work of a number of artists working in Japan that elicited the oohs and aahs of the overheated theater that reached its seating capacity. Some of the artists who truly made an impression on me were Jurgen Lehl, Christina Kim, and the guys behind Sou.Sou; Tsuyoshi Wakabayashi, Katsuji Wakisaka, and Hisanobu Tsujimura.

Sign directing attendees to the 2011 Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, CO

The grounds of Fort Lewis are spread out, although it may have only felt that way because Durango sits at 6,512 feet above sea level (1984m). On one end of the campus was the Student Union building, where check-in, the cafeteria, and merchants were located. In a nearby building, five or six classes were being held; next door to that was the theater. On the way north across campus was another building where a few classes were taking place, followed by the Arts building where Caroline’s class and five others were going on. At the far north, a juried fiber exhibit was taking place.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

Vegetarian trophy heads. I didn’t see this one coming. For those who enjoy a little stuffed head taxidermy of a trophy kill but would like to be animal cruelty-free while admiring the beast mounted on the wall, try knitting your own. That’s just what this young 22-year-old woman, Syndi Roberts, did. I wonder if I found a dead bear someday out on the trail that died of natural causes, and I shorn that old bear to bring the fiber home to Caroline. Could she spin my bear fur into yarn and knit me up a bear head? I’d imagine that I would be the envy of all my tree-hugging buddies.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

From furry heads to hot bodies. What kind of fibery workshop/festival event would be complete without a fashion show? A bad one, the Intermountain Weavers didn’t disappoint. This 80-something-year-old babe stole the show with her soon-to-be trendy again swimsuit that dragged out the wolf whistles. Betty relished the attention, strutting her figure while notching up the temperature in the theater another few degrees. She pranced left, sashayed right, and flaunted every bit of sexy she could muster.

Questionable as to what exactly is going on here at IWC in Durango, CO

From the bodacious to the lascivious. This show had it all, including this kinky master/slave display featuring elements of domination and bestiality from two bad-ass grannies who knew how to get the kink on. Sure, they wrapped it in some innocuous Mary Had A Little Lamb skit, but I knew the sub-context; nothing is lost on me or my vivid imagination.

The next day, things went back to normal, and the attendees got back to serious craft. Caroline was now ready to start dyeing her designs on hemp cloth. With her rubber gloves and apron, there would be no turning her skin or hair blue. John Marshall was pushing his students to complete half a dozen projects, teaching them the art of Katazome.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

During my relatively short stay on campus, I took some time to visit all of the classrooms to see what else was on offer. In this class, maybe a dozen people were working on improving their tapestry loom skills. It was also possible this was the first time on such a loom; I didn’t want to disturb the instructors, so I simply stuck my head in, snapped a few photos, and left.

Visiting one of the weaving workshops at IWC in Durango, Colorado

This weaving workshop was specializing in creating stripes. The patterns and techniques that have been developed over the previous 20,000 years by the hands of countless human beings across all geographical regions of our planet are as diverse as there are sunrises in one’s life. If we are fortunate, these women who are keeping these arts alive will inspire a new generation to pick up the craft, and with any luck, some of the history, skills, and methods will find their way onto video to be shared with future generations. You see, I have this hope that at some point in our evolution, we humans will become enlightened, and through the work of the many minds who are creating ever greater efficiencies, humans will learn to enjoy their time where learning and crafts lead the day as opposed to rushing around responding to non-sensical information and the demands of work.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

Advancing one’s skills or learning new ones is a goal of these workshops. Here, these two women are working to expand their knowledge of sewing. Maybe this is also an opportunity to rub shoulders with like-minded individuals and get away from spouses who may not be exactly supportive of these hobby crafts. The most striking aspect of my short visits to these events is the camaraderie exhibited between attendees. There is no hesitation to share tips and tricks; there is no bragging about statistics that put one person in a bragging position where their expertise creates celebrity – most of the time!

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

This is an example of the final outcome. Spend years perfecting the techniques that broaden the ability to discern the beauty in patterns and then deploy those skills to inspire your fellow artists. This handwoven shawl was on display in the non-juried Intermountain Spirit exhibit, with attending members encouraged to submit their best work, too.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

My vote for best of show would have been this handwoven basket. The irregular shape and southwest mountain colors with a fine band of green glass beads really worked for me. And people think basket weaving is a boring chore for retirees with nothing better to do, as though staring at a small screen and tapping out messages in 140 characters or less is a statement of the pinnacle of sophistication people have attained. Do I sound bitter about the neglect of our skills, intellect, and respect for those who learn? Well, I guess I am – oh, how I wish humanity would find its next renaissance.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

The culmination of Caroline’s efforts at the Intermountain Weavers Conference 2011 event in Durango, Colorado. Next year, she will likely attend Fibers Through Time 2012 to be held in Phoenix, Arizona. If we are still living in the southwest the following year, I wouldn’t imagine it as being too far a stretch that she will once again find herself in Durango attending IWC 2013.

Going Home

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

The small cabin on the dock was our home away from home here at Five Branches Camper Park in Bayfield, Colorado on the Vallecito Reservoir

That sweet little cabin over on the dock was our home away from home for the past five days while we stayed at Five Branches Camper Park on Vallecito Reservoir. Our lakeside view, the beautiful forest, and the ride through the woods every day are hard to leave behind. Lucky for us, we leave with fond memories. The two bears that had been visiting the camp nearly every night didn’t have the chance to eat us or any of our neighbors. The sun rose, it set, and in between, we saw the sun unless the stars were out. This place could easily stay on our list of places to return to someday. Sadly, we never had the opportunity to go out kayaking or canoeing. The problem here is that no one can take a boat out before 8:00 a.m., by which time we were already gone, and boats had to be returned by 5:00; we never got back much before 6:00. No matter, though, we enjoyed our stay.

Two osprey starting to build a tree top nest next to Vallecito Reservoir in Bayfield, Colorado

Today, Caroline was sporting her eagle eye as while we were driving along the narrow lakeside road; she spotted two large birds sitting atop a barren tree. I turned around so we could inspect (and verify her rare find – think myopic); sure enough, she had seen two ospreys, also known as seahawks. The bird coming in for a landing is carrying a branch that we watched it snatch off a nearby tree with a pronounced snap. It circled around and was about to deliver the beginnings of a new nest for momma and poppa birds.

Aspen stand off the Redrock Highway in northern Arizona on the Navajo Reservation

The next hours we drove through the Ute Reservation and their town of Ignacio. Next was Aztec, New Mexico, and the first and one of the last Starbucks we would find before passing through Flagstaff, Arizona, later in the day. So, I’m addicted. It is a long drive from Durango, Colorado, to Phoenix, Arizona. After Aztec and nearly the same town, we drive through Farmington. It was in Farmington back on October 19, 2000, that we had the chance to spend a night at Kokopelli Cave while my mother-in-law Jutta was visiting. The cave is one of the most unique places in all of America to stay at. But today, we are going home.

Looking south on the Navajo Reservation in eastern Arizona

We have left the Redrock Highway with some great views and beautiful red sandstone bluffs but quality photos were not in the cards this trip. Back down on flat land, we were afforded some tremendous vistas; even a little rain was spotted way off in the distance left of the centerline. No rivers, no trees, and not much of anything out here. Can you guess why this made perfect Indian Reservation land? The answer is easy: there was nothing our forefathers wanted from this land. Caroline and I find it infinitely gorgeous; sadly, most tourists do not. The casual observer gets distracted by the poverty, desolation, and inane stereotypes that have been propagated over the years regarding the indigenous people of North America.

Two dead calves roadside on the Navajo Reservation

Two dead calves lie in front of the gate that leads to Keams, Arizona – they are a warning not to trespass on Indian lands. Even if one were to want to open the gate to take a shortcut to Keams, how would you maneuver the carcasses?

New Native American pictographs of Mickey are replacing the more old fashioned Kokopelli, dear, or sign for the sun, water, or some other dumb stuff

This is the new face of Native American rock art, also known as pictographs. Out with Kokopelli, the sun, water, dear, or other tired, old-fashioned symbols from the previous thousands of years. Modern Indians are putting down new icons, like Mickey Freakin Mouse. Strangely, Mickey is almost across the street from the two dead calves. Could this be some mysterious signal to passing native motorists that running down animals to leave subversive and superstitious-looking roadside messages is right on? Then they throw out Disney characters to disorient us, tourists, into fearing the red man. Maybe the tide is turning, and the Indians are getting wise to our wacky right-wing belief systems and are starting to toy with our heads. Native Americans, rise up and take over the media landscape; it’s time for revenge for what was taken from you. The first step, corrupt our icons.

A curve in the road on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona

With the aerosol bombardment of peyote starting to wear off, a curve in the road returns me to my senses and out of the hallucinations I was obviously having back there deep on the Rez. I’m sure that later when I look back at those photos, the dead calves and Mickey will have proven to be a figment of my imagination. You can bet I’m happy to be returning to normal.

Dead horse on the Navajo Reservation, Arizona

And just then, in that moment of doubting what I was seeing, here’s the remains of a horse that will be ridden no more.

Up that way is the Navajo Rez, behind the camera is America. Fuck yeah!

In front of the camera is the Navajo Nation, and behind me is America, where I feel like a white guy. Soon, we will approach gas stations with hordes of hot tourists driving down Interstate 40, clogging some of the grimiest bathrooms your nose wants to experience in the summer. Flushed of their overflowing bladders, they will flock to the freezer for ice creams and coke – good old American food, no more of that sinewy old mutton and fry bread cooked in lard for me. Just me and my America, going home. Makes me well up and think about listening to this when I get home.

A Working Day

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Vallecito Reservoir on an early morning in Colorado

The sun will soon be fully over the mountain horizon behind our camp, but until then, we enjoy our breakfast, watching the calm water of the lake in front of us. By the time the sun is up, we’ll be on our way into town. Stay here a few days, and you’ll have a growing respect for the retirees who drag their 5th wheels and motorhomes out this way to act as camp hosts for the season. For the entire summer, they call this view home.

A man fishing next to the reflective waters of Vallecito Reservoir near where the waters of the Los Pinos River enter the reservoir

An early riser out lakeside looking to compliment his breakfast with a fresh trout. I don’t know if he was successful; Caroline and I were in the car about to drive up the hill and around the lake. On the north end of the lake, a wayward pony was walking along the road, seemingly lost and bewildered. I stopped, rolled down the window, and offered the horse a lift, but it just kept on walking, oblivious to us. I admit that the horse didn’t have a thumb out, so I can’t say it was actually hitchhiking, but you never know. The rest of the drive into Durango was uneventful, but we did see a bunch of turkeys in a meadow heading for the forest.

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Train getting ready for another day of work taking people on a historic ride to an old mining town

While Caroline has nerves that are able to deal with the trauma of caffeine withdrawal, I have no such inner strength and must heed the call of Starbucks. Like the old steam train above loaded with coal and water, I’m properly tanked up on my espresso shot that was carefully blended with the right amount of steamed soy milk and three splashes of sugar-free hazelnut syrup so that I am now able to take on the tasks that await me. Like a hunting dog distracted by a squirrel, I don’t get far before – “TRAIN!” Does it matter that I already have no less than 83 other photos of the D&S? Of course not; this one could be better than all the rest. But it’s not; I blame it on the jitters of too much coffee. The remainder of my morning into the afternoon was spent photographing the various workshops for the Intermountain Weavers over at Fort Lewis College.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

Ever heard of dyeing fabric with mud? Forget your Dolce & Gabbana; we’re going stone age and wearing mud again. I’m not even sure then why we must first put it on fabric instead of just rolling around in the stuff. To be fair, this method of dyeing with mud is called Bogolanfini, a traditional African method – albeit one modified by Judy Dominic. Judy particularly enjoys the inspiration of the designs used by the people of Mali.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

Try pronouncing Katazome or Shibori. Katazome is a paste-resist dyeing method using rice paste, soy milk, various pigments, and a lot of indigo. It was this class given by John Marshall here in Durango, Colorado at the campus of Fort Lewis that brought us to the Intermountain Weavers Conference. Every other year, IWC hosts a fiber hoedown that attracts members and non-members alike to spend three days trying new fiber drugs. Trust me, it is not uncommon to hear someone asking to borrow a needle.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

John Marshall teaches his students this old Japanese art of Katazome that is quickly disappearing as modern manufacturing processes and the desire for inexpensive clothing make this a dying craft. After the students applied pigments and paste resist materials and probably some other processes in an order I have no clue about, they would dip their work into a vat of indigo. As the cloth is pulled from the indigo, it is still green, as were the leaves that went into the vat that makes indigo.

The magic of indigo happens as the materials are exposed to the air; they begin to oxidize. This oxidation process is what turns the fabric that familiar blue we are all aware of. Depending on what is being dyed, the fabric can turn deep shades of blue, as do fingers and even the hair of one of the ladies in Caroline’s class. Hey Nancy, not sure what I think of blue bangs on white hair, though it wasn’t bad. Maybe this will inspire this grandmother-aged sweet lady to now consider a tattoo of an alpaca with crossed shears. Argh.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

After much work and a ton of international coordination, the board members of IWC were able to convince the renowned Scholar, Curator, and Artist Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada to lead a workshop teaching this art form known as Shibori. Ms. Wada not only taught an overflowing class of enthusiastic students, but she was also the Keynote Speaker of the conference. With nothing else going on that night, I stuck around to listen, good thing I did. While fiber arts may not be my specialty, I can certainly appreciate the craft and skill that goes into this work. During the presentation, we learned of the work of a number of artists working in Japan that elicited the oohs and aahs of the overheated theater that reached its seating capacity. Some of the artists who truly made an impression on me were Jurgen Lehl, Christina Kim, and the guys behind Sou.Sou; Tsuyoshi Wakabayashi, Katsuji Wakisaka, and Hisanobu Tsujimura.

Caroline was ready to start dyeing her designs on hemp cloth. With her rubber gloves and apron, there would be no turning her skin or hair blue. John Marshall was pushing his students to complete half a dozen projects, teaching them the art of Katazome.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

During my relatively short stay on campus, I took some time to visit all of the classrooms to see what else was on offer. In this class, maybe a dozen people were working on improving their tapestry loom skills. It was also possible this was the first time on such a loom; I didn’t want to disturb the instructors, so I simply stuck my head in, snapped a few photos, and left.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

Advancing one’s skills or learning new ones is a goal of these workshops. Here, these two women are working to expand their knowledge of sewing. Maybe this is also an opportunity to rub shoulders with like-minded individuals and get away from spouses who may not be exactly supportive of these hobby crafts. The most striking aspect of my short visits to these events is the camaraderie exhibited between attendees. There is no hesitation to share tips and tricks; there is no bragging about statistics that put one person in a bragging position where their expertise creates celebrity – most of the time!

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

The grounds of Fort Lewis are spread out, although it may have only felt that way because Durango sits at 6,512 feet above sea level (1984m). On one end of the campus was the Student Union building, where check-in, the cafeteria, and merchants were located. In a nearby building, five or six classes were being held; next door to that was the theater. On the way north across campus was another building where a few classes were taking place, followed by the Arts building where Caroline’s class and five others were going on. At the far north, a juried fiber exhibit was taking place.

This is an example of the final outcome. Spend years perfecting the techniques that broaden the ability to discern the beauty in patterns and then deploy those skills to inspire your fellow artists. This handwoven shawl was on display in the non-juried Intermountain Spirit exhibit, with attending members encouraged to submit their best work, too.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

My vote for best of show would have been this handwoven basket. The irregular shape and southwest mountain colors with a fine band of green glass beads really worked for me. And people think basket weaving is a boring chore for retirees with nothing better to do, as though staring at a small screen and tapping out messages in 140 characters or less is a statement of the pinnacle of sophistication people have attained. Do I sound bitter about the neglect of our skills, intellect, and respect for those who learn? Well, I guess I am – oh, how I wish humanity would find its next renaissance.

Intermountain Weavers Conference in Durango, Colorado

The culmination of Caroline’s efforts at the Intermountain Weavers Conference 2011 event in Durango, Colorado. Next year, she will likely attend Fibers Through Time 2012 to be held in Phoenix, Arizona. If we are still living in the southwest the following year, I wouldn’t imagine it as being too far a stretch that she will once again find herself in Durango attending IWC 2013.

Caroline Wise and John Wise's final dinner lakeside at Vallecito Reservoir in Bayfield, Colorado

When that part of the day was finally complete, Caroline and I made our way back to the lake for our final dinner to be enjoyed on the dock. Up for tonight’s dining pleasure: mixed beans with Grand Canyon-style Dutch oven-baked green chili, corn, and cheese cornbread. We toasted the fun getaway with some sparkling cider. Word of warning: we dragged this bottle of Martinelli’s from our refrigerator in Phoenix (elevation of about 1100 feet) to this lake (elevation of approximately 7600 feet) and popped open the bottle with no idea that I would be wearing a quarter of the sparkling apple cider as the pressure release jettisoned off a nice glass full of juice from my knees to my chin. Laughter made for a great appetizer.