Photo:Engage

  “ Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer and often the supreme disappointment. ”  - Ansel Adams How often we flail about trying to influence things we have no control over. What a great waste of our energy and time. Better to focus on the things we do control: our thoughts, our words, and our actions. Imagine how effective we can be then! As I wrote in a poem of my own in my post on February 11, 2023... I saw a twisted tree today with branches in every direction and thought how like some people it is. Unlike, I thought, most trees that grow naturally true and tall or animals that behave instinctively  like the particular animal they are.  People, gloriously infuriating and wonderfully complicated and emotional, wave about like fan-powered air dancers seeking to grab attention. The tree, limbs flailing about, is how like so many we folk are still seeking a direction in life as the tree searches for the sun. Clicking on the image will...

  “ When I photograph, what I'm really doing is seeking answers to things. ”  - Wynn Bullock      Another path to happiness, an emotion you control, may be found in my post from November 19, 2022...      One can’t answer how to be happy by reciting some creed or pledge. Best to demonstrate by what one does. And the thing to do is to be discerning. Judging well about what we do is the whole point.      Discernment leads to happiness, the direct result of a balanced mind and a soul filled with inner peace. The path to these treasures comes from important questions we ask ourselves: of what do I have control? and what do I not? what is worth my time? what isn’t? what really matters? and who?      If answered honestly at each successive moment of choice, questions like these lead to clarity. And so it is with discernment. It answers the question about what to do and who to do it with in the face of so many options. With r...

  “ There is no question that photography has played a major role in the environmental movement. ”  - Galen Rowell     Burton Island wasn't always the beautiful nature preserve it is now, near the northern side of the Indian River Inlet in Sussex County, Delaware. The island has had many uses and seen many abuses during the years, but at one sad point in its story, it was a polluted dumping ground for a major chemical company. The island was trashed and unsafe to explore. Only with dedicated effort was the island cleaned up and restored to the natural state you can visit today. It's a lesson we must remember in order to keep our lands and water clean. Today, enough time has passed to see the forest lifecycle back at work. As I wrote in my post on June 11, 2022...      Gentle audience, allow me to reveal to you a little sneak peek into the unexpected light revealing an old actor who once commanded the stage in the forest near the oce...

  “ I think of photography like therapy. ”  - Harry Gruyaert      Hello everyone. My friend Bob, who I wrote about in my last post, died peacefully on October 14, 2022 after fighting brain cancer for over two years. When I wrote about my not knowing how much more time he had here, Bob had already passed away. The world was much better with him in it. I will really miss my friend. Bob is survived by his loving wife and his three children.      All profits from any sales on my website Marketplace from now until January 15, 2023 will be donated to the Glioblastoma Foundation, in remembrance of Bob. It’s a nice way to add some art to your life and contribute to an excellent charity. Peace be with all of you.     So what does the Glioblastoma Foundation do? From their own website: The Glioblastoma Foundation was created to galvanize glioblastoma drug development . Glioblastoma is the most aggressive type of tumor that arises in the brain. It ...

  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ Only photograph what you love. ”  - Tim Walker      For whatever reason, this was my worst performing social media post so far. Perhaps the image was weak. Although I love this view of wild beach grasses glowing with golden hour sunlight, maybe it just didn't resonate with my audience. Personally, I am tired of seeing the same basic photograph of the beach at sunrise or sunset. They're beautiful, of course, and some photographers capture them better than others, but the look is repeated ad nauseum. I am trying to move my audience to something fresher... something unexpected. And perhaps by doing so, I am falling prey to my own pride.     Because maybe my images just aren't what my audience wants to see, good intentions and good writing be damned. Or maybe the photography I'm currently producing isn't that good, no matter what I think. The new editor of Sidetracked ma...

  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ The camera has always been a guide, and it's allowed me to see things and focus on things that maybe an average person wouldn't even notice. ”  - Don Chadwick      What peculiar names we give to places! Who could imagine a head or a gut being terms for an area of water? How can so many rivers and creeks in the Northeast end with the malevolent sounding kill ? (Hint: There's nothing violent to worry about; it's from the Dutch colonists who originally explored there.) Did you know an inlet is also known as an arm of the sea ? Some of these terms are for similar types of water features but depend upon their size... for instance, “you can step over a brook , jump over a creek , wade across a stream and swim across a river " as an old saying goes.      Where I grew up, a creek was actually called a crick , at least by my mom. In Scotland, a large stream is a burn , thu...