karen maze photoblog

Human population = 4 million

Sheep population = 40 million

Exciting times at Karen Maze Photography!

Nubs & Brian Dennis

Back in April 2008, I was assigned by Dog’s Life Magazine to photograph Major Brian Dennis of the US Marines and his dog, Nubs, for a a story called “Dogs of War.” Brian and Nubs met in Iraq, where Brian was stationed. He told me that when Nubs tracked him 70 miles across the Iraqi desert, he knew he had to bring him home to San Diego. So began their journey together.

I am happy to announce that four of the photos from that shoot - including the one that appears on the cover - were chosen for the upcoming children’s book entitled Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle. It is an amazing story that has captured the attention of dog lovers everywhere, and with good reason. For more info, please visit the book’s website.

I noticed that it’s available for pre-order on Amazon…

My favorite photo from the shoot. -km

To see images from the my photo session with Brian and Nubs, click here.

Pixelmint (that’s me) on Etsy

Another new development is the recent debut of my Etsy store. It gives me an outlet for fine art sales that I’ve been looking for. Etsy is a great site with a lot to offer. I’m looking forward to making additions and changes to my little corner of it as as soon as things settle down a bit. Settle down, you ask? Read on.

Off to the land of the Kiwi

Next week, I’m off to New Zealand. I absolutely love to travel and New Zealand has topped my list of must-go’s for many years now. I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally be taking this trip. I’ll be posting photos when I return in November.

Turn that frown upside down

And finally, a bad news/good news scenario. I was at a friend’s party, taking some casual shots, when I heard the sickening sound of my trusty Nikon D80 hitting the floor. An accident completely of my own making. The 24-70 f/2.8 lens fell off and took the lens mount from the camera body with it. I am still thanking my lucky stars that the lens weathered the impact just fine. The D80 body is at Nikon hospital in El Segundo right now.

Thing is, I knew I’d never have it back in time for New Zealand…which brings me to the good news.  All this bumped up my timeline for purchasing a new camera, the Nikon D700. I’ve had my eye on the D700 and its low-noise, full-frame, 51-focus-point goodness since it came out. And now it’s mine! It’s probably the only thing that could have made the prospect of going to New Zealand better than it already was. Woohoo!

A couple of early shots….

See you in thesouthern hemisphere!

-km

I made a short photo trip to Fresno in July. It’s in the Central Valley (as in, San Joaquin Valley) of California, about 200 miles north of Los Angeles. I had never been there before and what I found was a hub of trade, transportation, and agriculture.

1) Fresno Train Station. This is the new facade, a revitalized version of the classic. 2) "Fresno" is the Spanish word for "ash tree". The leaf of the ash tree is featured on the county flag. 3) Marquee of the Tower Theater in downtown Fresno. 4) A veritable tree of forklifts.

Drive five minutes out of the bustling downtown and you’re suddenly surrounded by grape, apricot, corn and a host of other crops as far as the eye can see.  Along with several hundred photos, I came home with a car full of local produce, including grapes and pluots - fresh, organic and local - alive with flavor like I’d never tasted before.

1) Farmers Market peppers.2) Grapes grow along the side of a road in Fresno. 3) Fresh Fresno peppermint plant.