Photo:Engage

  “ I often wished I could capture and share the sudden moments of beauty that I would see around me."   - Caroline Mueller     It's been put many ways but we don't help our spouses as a nice-to-do, occasional thing. A marriage, or relationship, is best built as a complete partnership where both people, or birds in this case, work together selflessly for the good of the relationship or family. Nobody is doing a favor as both parties act without ego to help further the goals of the unit. As I wrote in my post on May 13, 2023...      Welcome back to Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge where the graceful great white egrets roost and rule. Both male and female egrets help with nest building. This elegant bird posed perfectly for me with a small stick in their beak as they prepared to fly back towards the rookery. I watched the whole congregation for a long time work on their nests together and care for their hatchlings. What a magnificent display and ...

  “ 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...

“ A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know. ”  - Diane Arbus     I didn't see it when I composed and captured this image that beautiful morning on the sands of Rehoboth Beach. And I wasn't certain I would process it in monochrome, although I had a suspicion it would work well that way, what with all the contrast.     But what I didn't see was how the pylons of the jetty would glisten in the rising sunlight revealing several little beings robotically clapping in unison at the coming of the light. I saw it clear as day, although not a single other person seemed to. I'm not sure the witticism in my title for the photograph helped either. Either way, I suppose it is now a private joke, one I'm sharing with you.     As for the quote from my old Roman favorite, it's of a different though related note. Even if something gathers no acclaim, it doesn't lessen its intrinsic value. It is beautiful all the same. Re...

  “ 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...

  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ Photography is not about cameras, gadgets, and gizmos. Photography is about photographers. A camera didn't make a great picture any more than a typewriter wrote a great novel. ”  - Peter Adams     The world watched in amazement this past week as global shipping was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The ongoing challenge at the Pacific Ocean docks of the United States continues with more than twenty-five cargo ships remaining backed up waiting for a berth to unload their goods, the result of the COVID-caused labor shortage and a surge in orders from American companies anticipating a big increase in consumer spending as the pandemic presumably winds down.      Far more interesting to the casual observer, though, was the drama in the Suez Canal. The cargo ship Ever Given of the Evergreen Line ended up stuck with its bow jammed into the sand on a particularly n...

Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow     “Photography is a love affair with life.” - Burt Uzzle      My wife and I have been taking morning walks this summer, stepping off from our house early to beat the heat. Leaving kids and dog behind has been liberating as we're free to roam where we wish at whatever pace we choose. Our pace was admittedly quite slow at first as we both needed many days to build up our endurance but we're now covering at least five miles a day as measured by our trusty Fitbits and actually passing other pedestrians occasionally. She often carries her water bottle on our walks. And of course, I take my camera.      Many days, we choose to walk through the neighborhoods as we stroll towards the beachfront boardwalk. But on this particular morning, we instead headed towards the avenue and walked through the heart of town. Sunrise was well underway but the yellow sun was still ...