From Sokcho to Santa Fe: a winner and a runner-up

My summer break is over. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, day one of the new school-year with my students...

So, briefly, two snapseeded iPhone photos for tonight.

The first one just won (!) one round of AFAR travel magazine's "Catch" contest;

a scene of a meal from last summer, in Sokcho, Korea:

And the one below was a runner-up--from Santa Fe last week:

I continue to be amazed at the possibility of discreet restaurant-shots with the iPhone...


To work!

Sunday at the Farmer's Market

Sunday morning at the Farmer's Market--a relaxing way to get your locally-grown fresh produce...and fun with unobtrusive iPhone photography...perfect for 'snapseeding'...

Even here in the desert, Tucson has several open-air markets throughout the week, and the one on Sunday morning at St. Philip's Plaza is perhaps the best--by this time of year, the monsoon is adding to the bounty...

 --an overview of part of the market--stitched three iPhone photos with AutoStitch before 'snapseeding'...fun to see the movement of several of the people in the lower right...

 --gotta love 'stupid hot' salsa; truth in advertising

 --a new vegetable for us: 'purslane,' aka 'verdolagas' in Spanish--very high in omega fatty acids--hmm, a plant with 'fish oil' that grows like a weed here in AZ after the monsoon rains have begun...

 --'prickly pops' on dry ice--'prickly' as in the purple 'prickly pear' fruit of the cactus...

--more edible cactus: cholla buds--high in calcium; who knew?

--some of the steps in St. Philip's Plaza

...and some caffeinated paper cranes;
fun detail noticed at the counter of a local coffee shop...


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And...AFAR magazine recently published a little interview/profile with me.
In it, I briefly talk about iPhones, travel photography, and snapseed.

deep-fried at the Ritz-Carlton...and tapas in Tucson

No shortage of food-blogs out there...and smart-phone-photography is making it easier than ever to post food-photos...So, a couple of snapseeded restaurant-shots from around Tucson recently:

No matter how posh, there's always a place for something deep-fried to go with cocktails, eh?

Tucked into its own private canyon on the far northwestern edge of Tucson, the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain resort is the epitome of understated desert chic... Each February, world champion golfers come to the foothills of the Tortolita Mountains to compete in the Accenture Match PlayChampionship, the spa has recently been ranked one of the best in the world, and it's been open for two and a half years now...So, curious, and since we live less than an hour's drive away, S. and I thought we'd spend an afternoon here...

...and on the patio of "Ignite" (the lobby lounge/café), we noshed on "Avocado FRIES!" With a three-chili aioli and an "Arizona Greyhound," (grapefruit and vodka), cactus wrens and cardinals darting about the blooming saguaros, the fried avocado wedges were an unexpected accompaniment to relaxing in the shade...

And now for a tapa: 

"Casa Vicente" is an institution in this desert city--Tucson's outpost for tapas a la española. Just south of the downtown core, this restaurant also features live music on different weeknights: classical guitar, flamenco, even tango lessons. This particular evening we tried "chipirones rellenos," a trio of baby calamari, skewered and stuffed with green tomatoes and spices. In a town more known for its tacos and burros (a.k.a. 'burritos' elsewhere), it's appropriate, if somewhat uncommon, to find Iberian fare--Tucson was founded in 1775 as an outpost of the Spanish empire, decades before it became Mexican, and then in the mid-19th century, finally part of a U.S. territory...And, by the way, the sangría here rocks. 

tea and gelato

A couple of scenes from earlier this evening here in Tucson:

First--some of the teas in "Seven Cups," recently named by Travel and Leisure magazine as one of the best places in the U.S. to get authentic Chinese tea...

...and then some gelato, from a few blocks away at "Allegro Gelato,"

where the flavors literally rotate:

C'mon--isn't this the coolest frozen dessert display you've ever seen? Ahh, Italian style...And yep, that's an avocado you see front-and-center. Some other unexpected flavors--anise, lavender, saffron...


(Both of these photos were taken and edited completely on the iPhone, using the iPhone version of snapseed--tilt-shift and vignette filters, along with some 'ambiance'-tweaking for the bottom photo, using the 'tune image' filter.')