Looking out from above the Ives Flow, El Pinacate Reserva

Greetings!

It's hard to believe that spring is nearly here. In a more normal year, before the acceleration of global warming, we would be celebrating a display of wildflowers here in the southwest. Over the past month, we've visited desert regions spanning Tucson to San Diego and as far south as Puerto Penasco. Other than some vivid yellow brittle-bush, some sand verbena, a few Ajo lilies and a modest number of lupine in the Pinacates (northern Mexico) few wildflowers grace the landscape: a result of the extreme drought conditions that have obtained over the past several years.

On a brighter note, our travels have been more than a bit rewarding photographically. The beach and tide pools near Puerto Penasco provided rich opportunities for capturing patterns formed by ocean flora in the intertidal zone, as well as those produced by the gentle lapping of waves against the shallow beaches along the eastern shore of the Sea of Cortez. The landscape of El Pinacate -- filled with cinder cones and volcanic ejecta -- offered a stark contrast to Puerto Penasco. We were accompanied on our trip by Tempe photographer Richard Laugharn whose more than 50 expeditions to the Pinacates have led him to a powerful connection of the land, and a deep understanding of its history and culture.

Our most recent excursion was a brief one, taking in some parts of the Anza Borrego desert that we had not yet visited. We were blessed with rain and strong winds, both a consequence of the strongest storm to reach southern California during this fall and winter. The winds reshaped the low dunes in Inspiration wash, forming alluring, though transient, patterns on the surface of the rain-soaked sand below.

This month we will make another short trip to Death Valley, returning only a few days before we leave for a longer trip that includes Turkey, Venice, Barcelona and Bilbao!

Tide's out, Puerto Penasco

Celestial Siblings: Earth and Mars, images from Steve's Earth and Mars portfolio will be exhibited at the Bokeh Gallery at monorchid on Roosevelt Row in Phoenix during March. Steve will be in attendance during the First Friday Artwalk on the evening of March 7. On Third Fridays Collector's Night, March 21 6-9pm, Steve will be present a talk, A Fusion of Art and Astronomy, on his work, and will be available to sign copies of his books.

A gallery of Steve's paired images of landscapes on Earth and on Mars was published in the January/February issue of Orion magazine in conjunction with an article by Craig Childs. The story and images are not included in the free online version but you can request a free trial issue there if you have no subscription.

Steve will be available to sign copies of Secrets from the Center of the World, Sonoita Plain, Earth Forms, Tseyi, Sand Mirrors, and Observatories of the Southwest on Saturday, 15 March from 10:30 to 1 pm at the Arizona Geological Survey, Arizona Experience Store booth at the Tucson Festival of Books. The booth numbers are 274 & 289 (adjoining) in the Author-Pavilion in front of the Modern Languages Building.

Karen's new electronic book, An Armchair Traveler's Guide to Death Valley, has been completed and is now available in the iTunes bookstore. The book contains almost 100 photographs and 35 animated and interactive panoramas. The information pages cover the human history and natural history of Death Valley, including detailed popup notes. The website for the book contains a video showing the book "in action." A sample file of the book can be downloaded free at iTunes.

Steve has four images in the Birds, Blooms and Bugs exhibit at the Phoenix Airport Museum, The show opened on November 2 and runs through May 4, 2014.

One of Steve's photographs has been accepted into the Visual Narratives exhibit at the Minneapolis Photo Center. The show will open on March 7 and run through April 28.

Overview of badlands at sunset, Font's Point, Anza-Borrego SP

Sea of Cortez, pelican flight

Recent software changes in the iBook reader made the animation in Karen's ebook, Sticks and Stones: an alphabet book for the 21st century, inoperative. The revised version is available at the iTunes store; all previous purchasers will be notified to download the update.

We have now set up a website for our electronic books. Please visit and let us know what you think.

We want to remind everyone that prints of the images in Sand Mirrors are available at very reasonable prices from the Image Collective in Ashland, OR, in their TIC Collection. The photographs are all printed on archival materials, 8" by 8" centered on an 11" by 14" sheet, with prices starting at $25. All images in the book are available.

There is now an author page including all of Steve's books at Amazon.com.

Both Steve and Karen have created Facebook pages devoted solely to photography. We have each populated a 'timeline' where you can trace the development of our very different visions. For Steve, we invite you to visit: http://www.Facebook.com/StephenStromPhoto/ and for Karen, http://www.Facebook.com/KarenStromPhoto/). You can also follow our progress and view larger portfolios of images by visiting our websites: http://www.karenstrom.com/ and http://www.stephenstrom.com/.

The archive of our newsletters is now available on both of our websites.

To order Steve's books click on the book cover.