This year's first trip to the coast, with Ken Rockwell, included a great group of photographers, all of whom can create some fine mages, and all of whom were game to stay out until the last rays of light faded from the sky.

We called the trip "En Plein Air," the French term for "outside." It's also the phrase that describes the French Impressionists. The was made special by the addition of several gourmet meals prepared for us by Irene Shibata. Her meals blended perfectly with the idea of the trip, with some wonderful French-themed dishes, and a couple of amazing picnic lunches that we did indeed enjoy "en plein air."

I've become enamored of making photographs with my iPhone. Although I don't hold a candle to the likes of Cézanne, Degas, Renoir, etc, I tried to come up with some Impressionistic images of my own, with the help of the "Hipstamatic" app. The iPhone photos, at least those made with the Hipstamatic, are square.