Photo:Engage

Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ If a photographer cares about the people before the lens and is compassionate, much is given. It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument. ”  - Eve Arnold      My friend Brian died at home on Wednesday, September 1, 2021 surrounded by his family and his two dogs as his sister sang to him while she and their mother held his hands. Born on the same day as my father a year before I was, Brian and I served together in the Navy on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower back in the early nineties. He was a fun-loving guy with a wicked sense of humor who enjoyed his work and I’ll remember him as a shipmate forever.     Only two years ago, Brian had a kidney removed and began treatment for the cancer at his liver that eventually took him, but not without a fight. He battled with the disease for two grueling years. Like so many cancer patients, his treatment plan had many ups and...

  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera. ”  - Dorothea Lange     I get so discouraged sometimes from the pervasive divisiveness in our society. People so often seem to look at other people as obstacles...      Other cars going too slowly, too many others on the sidewalk or in the stores, wearing masks to slow the spread of the pandemic virus (the virus is real) or not wearing masks because of personal freedom (it's a conspiracy), vaccinations or no vaccinations, too much traffic, not enough workers, impatience at the restaurant or in line at the gas station or when waiting for a government service. Not to mention how everything is political nowadays. The list of ways other people bother us is seemingly endless. And yet, as I wrote in my post on July 24, 2021...      Other people aren’t problems; they’re fellow people with their own t...

  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ Quit trying to find beautiful objects to photograph. Find the ordinary objects so you can transform it by photographing it. ”  - Morley Baer     Clues. I'm always looking for clues, the little details that reveal the bigger picture. What can I find that shows me that something happened where I'm standing? Animal tracks, wind-bent tree trunks, matted grasses, and repeated patterns in the sand are all different clues to what an area is all about, what lives there, and what might happen next. I love this type of exploration and how it makes my photography such a personal, memorable experience. As I wrote in my post on May 8, 2021...           As our beautiful rotating Earth travels along it elliptical orbit, the sun and the moon exert their varying gravity on our planet. This celestial ballet raises and lowers the water level of our seas and oceans. In tur...

  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ Taking a picture is like giving a piece of your soul away. You allow other people to see the world through your eyes. ”  - Katja Michael     A temporary cessation of activity is how the dictionary defines the word quiescence , and I think that's an apt description of the lower Delaware town of Dewey Beach in mid-winter. Frenetic with youthful energy in the summer with packed hotel rooms, entertainment for every taste, and an endless array of water sports on the bayside and sandy fun on the ocean, Dewey Beach transform into a very quiet, tranquil version of itself in winter. No less beautiful, but far more peaceful...      I was reminded that these empty piers "will start filling up soon" as springtime ushers in the promise of warmer weather. So I say we should enjoy the break while we can. The throngs of happy tourists and endless brake lights on Coastal Highway will...

  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ Photography is a language more universal than words. ”  - Minor White      February is the month, too many years ago now, that my father passed away. And in March only a few years later, my mom suddenly left us. The sense of loss and agony of missing them is overwhelming sometimes but thankfully, those feelings are much rarer than they used to be. Still, even now I often find myself with a question about our family or an old recipe where my first instinct is to call my parents... it's hard, as anyone who has lost a close family member or friend knows all too well.      Many of us hope those gone before are in a better place and perhaps more at peace than they were while here, especially if the end of their lives involved failing health and pain. I hope everyone's final moments between here and there are peaceful and filled with embracing warmth and comfort. As I wrot...

  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ Don't shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like. ”  - David Alan Harvey      My friend David Benton remarked, " This has your unique stamp of composition. No one else would have seen that." This post blew up compared to most of mine. I received more than 500 likes on one Facebook group (my first photograph ever to do so) and hundreds more in my other social media and what's even better are the many comments where people described how much they too enjoyed the blessings of the bays.      Lower Delaware is lucky to have Indian River Bay and Rehoboth Bay, as are the many animals and plants that live in these remarkable estuaries. People also commented how they worried that the bays may become ruined from overdevelopment and their concerns are valid; many new homes and condos are being built on the bay shore as people flock to the area seeking waterfront living....

  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ In photography, there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality. ”  - Alfred Stieglitz      It's too easy to assume that we can do tomorrow what should be done today. Stephen Covey argued that we too often use our time on the urgent instead of the important, assuming we'll be able to deal with the important things later. A stoic would say to remember that we are going to die, or memento mori. Marcus Aurelius, in his Meditations, wrote, "You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think."      Let us realize how precious our lives and relationships are and try to treat them with the respect they deserve on a daily basis, remembering we may not be able to make amends tomorrow for hurt and pain dispensed today. None of this is depressing if we remember the point: our time is a gift and we shouldn't waste it trivially. My...