I’m an amateur photographer and getting better every day. Is it because I’m satisfied with making ‘amateurish’ looking photographs? I hope not. The word ‘Amateur’ comes from the Latin ‘amare’, meaning ‘to love’. I do what I do because I love doing it. (more…)
Or what constitutes ‘real’ photography? This is a hotly debated topic in the landscape photography community. The short answer is ‘yes’, in the sense that I believe that what I am presenting are ‘real’ photographs. But this is a lazy answer ;-)
“A man on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in a hundred miles.” ― Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire
I have a difficult time not being productive, not doing something that I can call an accomplishment. (more…)
“When everything from a cup of coffee to the Grand Canyon is awesome, what is there left to talk about?” – David Ward
As a photographer, how do you stand in front of such beauty as the Grand Canyon or Bryce and even contemplate taking a picture? (more…)
My wife and I went to southern Colorado for a weekend and stayed at an airbnb just outside of Salida, right on the Arkansas river. We woke up to a very cold morning, hoarfrost on all of the trees, the air was still and steam was rising from the river. It was beautiful just to stand there and watch the change.
It’s easy to stand in awe of a beautiful sunset that shouts at us ‘look at me’ with all of it’s brilliant color. But there are whispers of color all around us if we will just stop and listen.
I was having a bad day. I grabbed my camera and told my wife “I’m taking a walk before I hit something”. I pointed my camera at old leafless and seemingly lifeless trees and kept asking myself “what are you doing? you’re 58 years old and unsatisfied”. I kept reflecting on just where I had gone wrong. About 2 miles into a 3 mile route, I was attracted to a reflection of a tree in a small pond. All I could think about was all of the wrong choices I had made in my life that lead me to this point, and at the same time finding solace in the reflection of this tree. I spent more time watching than photographing, just looking at the reflection, watching how the wind changed the appearance of the reflection, sometimes rendering an almost mirror image and at others almost unrecognizable image.
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It’s not always about beautiful sunrises, majestic mountains, or even tranquil mountain streams. Sometimes I get frustrated, even angry about the sometimes harsher realities of life. The end of a season, cold, lifeless.
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Kara (my wife) and Maren (my stepdaughter) were busy making all kinds of Christmas goodies. While sitting at my computer I was overcome with the smell of cinnamon rolls, Christmas cookies and the like. Not being able to participate in any other way I grabbed my camera. I started by just looking through the viewfinder at the various ‘goodies’. Since the sun was shining in the living room I grabbed a table and located it in the sunlight and started moving the trays of cookies into the sunlight. Then I grabbed a reflector to bring some light into the shadows. Pretty soon I felt like I was part of the festivities.
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