By Ted Grussing
… I was as undecided as I could be about what to send out tonight, so it was just open a folder, rapidly spin the wheel and click after it started cycling images in the folder and this is where I landed. It is a photo I took last December on a flight up to the peaks after a nice snowfall. I was cruising the mountain from more or less N to S flying tight in on the mountain to take advantage of the orographic lift of about a ten knot wind from the west being deflected up the mountain side. I repeated the run back and forth several times.
The peak in the photo is Agassiz Peak, which at 12,360’ is the second highest peak in Arizona and home to Snow Bowl, a beautiful ski area; this year they have a planned opening of November 8th. I love the light dusting of snow on the trees and the welcoming feel of the day. It was a good day to be up there.
Fun day with a friend today, washing cars and cleaning the garage … I even threw some stuff out including an old crock pot which for many years saw service in the kitchen and then in the garage, more years cooking Australian Andamooka matrix opal in a sugar solution, followed by cleaning it out and off and then cooking it in concentrated sulfuric acid. If all goes well, the sugar is absorbed into the matrix opal and then the sulfuric acid carbonizes the sugar leaving a black base against which the play of color pops off much better than off the milky white of the sandstone matrix. It looks better, it is worth more. Anecdotally, when black opal was first found in New South Wales, Australia (Lightning Ridge) there was very little market for it as the publics idea of beautiful opal was white opal, so it was a tough sale. Opal is classified as Black or White depending on the color of the silica gel and not the play of color. The color kicks off and is much more visible against a dark background than a white so it wasn’t too long before black opal became the most valuable and continues so today.
A great day is coming up … pretty sure anyhow … just arrived twenty five minutes ago, but reasonably certain it will be so. Enjoy the day and each moment you have for there is no other guarantee for us than now … this moment. Share a smile and in other ways help make it a good day for others too.
Cheers
Ted
Learn the music of a summer night by the restless wave of the sea, or surrender to the sunlight of an
open country where the illimitable sky at last meets to kiss the sweet, green earth, and stay till the
crimson shafts burn the western world.
And something will rise in you that is not connected with the tiring routine of your trade – something strange and calm.
— Max Ehrmann
###
The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
More about Ted Grussing …
This is an advertisement
