Author: Robert Winslow

For some reason you have to double click on the photo in order to get the proper paragraph spacing. In 1971 Robert hiked the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. By completing this 2000+-mile journey, he became just the 36th person to have walked the entire trail continuously in one year. Along the way, Robert carried an old Argus C-3 camera that he borrowed from his grandfather. It had no light meter so Robert wrote down all of his exposures in a notebook so that he could learn the best camera settings for different light conditions. Upon completion of the Trail, Rodale Press contacted Robert to contribute to a book called “Hiking the Appalachian Trail”. One of his photos appeared on the cover of the second volume along with thirteen other photos on the inside. While Robert was completing his graduate work in biology, he entered a photo contest run by Nikon and won a fourth place. Later, while teaching at Idaho State University, Robert took photography courses in the Art and Journalism departments. At this time, he also began teaching nature photography classes. Robert is an internationally known nature photographer with thousands of published images. He holds a master's degree in Biology and taught Outdoor Education and Wilderness Studies as a full time faculty member at Idaho State University for six years. Since moving to Durango in 1981, Robert has been a full time freelance photographer. His work has appeared in/on many books, magazines, gift items and in over 20 different calendars in one year. His photos have been used in national ad campaigns by such diverse entities as Adobe, Amtrak, The National Audubon Society, The National Geographic Society, The Nature Conservancy and Phillips Petroleum. Several of Robert’s photos are in a new video presentation produced by the WildEarth Guardians and narrated by Alan Arkin to facilitate efforts to protect and restore wolves. The 2011 International Wolf Center Calendar was exclusively Robert's photos. He has won numerous photo awards including Grand Prize winner in the National Wildlife Cover Photo Contest out of over 10,000 entries. He is also the First Place Winner in the Wildlife Category In Outdoor Photographer's Magical Adventures Photo Contest. Robert has run customized individual and private group photo tours to select locations around the world for over 20 years. He is semi-retired from leading these tours so please contact Robert directly if you are interested in traveling to Kenya or other locations. Robert is currently retired from teaching advanced photography programs for The Mountains and Plains Institute for Lifelong Learning and Service. Since 1981 Robert has lived in Durango, Colorado where for some unknown reason he is included in a list of Famous Faces of Durango at www.durango.org/durango-area/people He has been married to the amazing Marilyn S. Leftwich, PhD since 1987. Contact information Robert Winslow Robert Winslow Photo, Inc. Mail: PO Box 334 Durango, CO 81302-0334 Courier: 235 Oak Road, Rafter J Durango, CO 81303-7655 Phone: 970-259-4143 Email: rwinslow@mydurango.net Robert's Facebook address: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?ref=name&id=100000550352839 Bob and Marilyn's personal website: www.marilynandbob.smugmug.com

Photos and Haiku for 12 May 2021

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Dusky Flycatcher

Notice tertials short, stubby

Birding – so much fun

Dusky Flycatcher, Empidonax oberholseri, Pastorius Reservoir, La Plata County, Colorado, USA, North America
Dusky Flycatcher, Empidonax oberholseri, Pastorius Reservoir, La Plata County, Colorado, USA, North America

 Went birding again today and for the first time I photographed a Dusky Flycatcher…..It is an Empidonax flycatcher……

“But the toughest group of North American birds to identify in the field has to be the assorted Empidonax flycatchers.”  – from the internet

“Dusky and Hammond’s Flycatchers are so similar that telling them apart is a true challenge. Color and pattern do not help. Even the voices, usually the most helpful character in distinguishing Empidonax flycatchers, are quite similar. In the field, birders use “primary projection” to distinguish the two species visually: the tips of the primary feathers that stick out past the innermost flight feathers (tertials) are rather short and stubby in Dusky Flycatcher, notably longer, narrower, or pointier in Hammond’s.” All About Birds – The Cornell Lab

I’ll throw in a couple of images of a Hammond’s, which I am sure that you are all extremely excited to see. NOT!

Photo and Haiku for 03 April 2022

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Dancer wearing mask

Mani Rimdu Festival

Scares children, tourists

Mani Rimdu Buddhist Festival, Tengboche Monastery, Nepal, Asia

Mani Rimdu is generally celebrated by Sherpa in autumn at the Tengboche Monastery in the Everest region. Lamas and Sherpa gather at the monastery for five days. They gather for the welfare of the world. There are plays, masked dances, prayers and feasts. Demons are quelled and the pious are rewarded. It is a very colorful and ideal festival to combine with a trekking expedition in the Everest region.

The dancer in this dance portrays one of the Four Protecting Ghings, defending the Buddhist faith against attack by demons. Shining paper masks hide the faces of the dancers, each a different color and each displaying a constant smile. The dancers’ hops are rhythmically accompanied by the beating of cymbals.

The dancers charge at children in the audience and scare them for fun.  I managed to get a front row seat (on the stone floor) and got good photos and was also teased by the dancers.

Photos and Haiku for 31 March 2022

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Long Tibetan horns

Played by two young Buddhist monks

Haunting at 4 A.M.

These long Tibetan horns called dungchen are used in Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies.  It is the most widely used instrument in Tibetan Buddhist culture.  It is often played in pairs or multiples, and the sound is compared to the singing of elephants. 

We camped for about a week outside the Thyangboche Buddhist Monastery during a festival called Mani Rimdu.  Every morning about 4 A.M. they would play these horns.  Usually, at this location in the mountains and at that time of the morning the entire area was engulfed in a misty cloud…..like a dense fog. Imagine lying in your sleeping bag inside your tent inside of a cloud….floating in and out of consciousness……. half awake….. half asleep….. and hearing these horns being played…. It was very very eerie, other worldly, transformative and wholly peaceful.

Tsuitrim Allione described the sound:  “It is a long, deep, whirring, haunting wail that takes you out somewhere beyond the highest Himalaya peaks and at the same time back into your mother’s womb.”

Here’s are some brief YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIiM7qOHkrk

and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1_C3TLXRlI