The day started early as we left the hotel to go to Crack Canyon, the second of the slot canyons on our tour. After another ride over a pretty bumpy road we arrived at the trailhead. The hike in was the most challenging of the trip, and while in actuality it wasn’t that far, there was lots of up and down. It took us about 45 min to get into the start of the canyon. It was again a beautiful area, and the canyon itself was a bit wider that the previous day’s Leprechaun Canyon, and as we worked our way in, the geology changed along the way offering lots of interesting photographic opportunities. In particular, the walls had lots of variety of texture including different patterns of nooks and crannies, and the models seemed fearless climbing up and using them in posing, around them and in them. I again had an opportunity to shoot a while with Dasha and got some nice shots. 
We were also able to work with the models as a group getting some very cool shots as they climbed up into the patterned rocks. Shooting for a couple of hours takes some energy, and we had worked our way a ways into the canyon, so when time came to leave it was a bit of a slog getting back to the van, particularly as it has started to warm up quite a bit.
We headed back to Green River to have lunch in a restaurant there and grab some take-out to have later for dinner. Mid-afternoon, we left again for the San Rafael Swell and our next shooting location. Along the way (I think we were traveling the Buckhorn Draw), we saw a nice prairie setting with some dramatic clouds before a storm, so we all got out and did some shooting. A little further along the road we came upon the Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel, a site that contained some ancient pictographs thought to be created by the Barrier Canyon Culture as long as 2000 years or more older. We made a quick stop to look and take some pictures, then we headed to our final shooting destination, the Wedge Overlook. This was another beautiful vista overlooking a valley, known as “the Little Grand Canyon” of the San Rafael River. Before we could get out of the van, we got a bit of an afternoon shower so we hung tight for a bit. After the rain ended we got out, and the models braved the cold wet ground to crawl around and pose on rocks. 
This site was similar to the previous evening, but provided some variety landscape along the edge and some ability to climb down a bit to get some different perspectives. This also helped as there were more folks around here which made shooting with nude models a little more challenging. I got some really interesting shots including some of Kate Snig posing up in the branches of a dead tree right on the edge of the cliff. I was also able to get some nice shots after the sun set during the blue hour.
After shooting, we had our dinner there on a picnic table, but we didn’t hang around too long as it was dark and getting a bit cold. We then headed back to Green River and the hotel, arriving fairly late. All in all a very fun, but tiring day.
The second day of our adventure stated early with a move of our base of operations to a hotel in Green River, UT, about 3 hours SE of Salt Lake City. After checking in, we grabbed some lunch to go and headed south near Hanksville to 
After getting things sorted out, we neared the canyon. There was a large boulder, and the models started working and climbing. People got so enthralled with those shots that Dasha had to kind of nudge people along so we would actually get into the canyon itself. The geology and landscape is beautiful with beautiful red rocks carved straight down into a narrow canyon, at times so tight one person could barely pass. This provided an opportunity to take some great shots, and the models really knew now to take advantage of the backdrops. I got to shoot all the models at this location, and got some particularly nice shots with Dasha.
We spent a couple of hours shooting in the canyon, then headed back to the van and traveled to our second shooting location of the day, Burr Point. This took us over the first of many bumpy dirt roads leading to a beautiful overlook of the Dirty Devil River Box Canyon. We got there a bit before sundown, so we were able to get some nice golden hour light. It was challenging to shoot in the setting sun as the canyon edge threw shadows onto the landscape. But it was a beautiful overlook.
In mid-May, after I’d had about 3 1/2 months to settle into my retirement, I spent an amazing week in Utah with 
It was kind of amazing to see these sand dunes suddenly appear in the midst of what seemed like otherwise flat semi-green Utah desert. It was also my first chance to experience photographing art models nude in nature. This generally went quite smooth throughout the trip, with the tour leader Dmitriy keeping us pretty much away from the public and keeping models aware of members of the public that might be wandering near so that they could cover up. The models were great to work with, with seeming boundless energy and creativity. We shot till dark (or a little past into the blue hour). After that we had a little picnic with some sandwiches we’d grabbed a lunch, then we headed back to the hotel in SLC. This gave us our first hint of a lot of hours in the van each day, but it was a good first day.
I officially began my retirement on Thursday, and not much time elapsed before I hit the road on my first adventure. On Friday, I headed down to LA to attend a two day 
The workshop was built around doing three different “looks” for the model each day, with the goal and setup were described by Holly, followed by her doing some shooting and observing her directing the model. In addition to Holly and the model, there were more crew including a lighting grip, a makeup artist, as well as some other helpers. It gave you what it felt like to be working with a professional crew. After Holly went through her example, each of the students had 6-7 minutes to shoot, with any needed guidance being given by Holly. We had one model for the entire workshop, the very lovely 
Holly’s parents’ ranch where we were shooting had some great locations. I managed to get some really nice images, and learned some things as well. I enjoyed the experience very much. Day 2 was structured just like day one, but some of the students were different for both days.
I made it through Christmas this year without getting sick again, so a good trend is underway. As 2017 comes to a close, it marks the end of my LX year, and my primary working life, but I hope also signals the start of new opportunities and a new era of living. Since I’ve pretty much had some sort of job or predefined structure to my life for the last half century, I have some anxiety as to what is coming, but I’m also excited about the freedom I’ll have to pursue new interests and live life in a new way. I just have to make sure I don’t let my sedentary tendencies and procrastination take over. I’ll miss the folks I work with, and that will probably be one of the hardest parts of this life change. 
Since I was near the Florida Atlantic coast I decided to do a little sightseeing at the beach before I headed inland for my Monday meetings. I spent a few hours visiting the 
I managed to piggy-back a little sightseeing onto a business trip to Florida, and today I got to visit the 
In another extended season running into the fall, I managed to see quite a bit of theater this year and hit some fun milestones as well. I saw a total of 21 plays this year, 14 productions of Shakespeare plays, and 7 other plays, produced by 7 different theater companies, in 3 different states. The big milestone after 30 years was that I completed seeing all the Shakespeare canon of 37 plays. The count of live Shakespeare productions I’ve seen is now at 155. 
Tonight I took BART and trekked into the city to see what will likely be my last play of the year, Hamlet at 
Tonight I saw the last play of this year’s