Photo:Engage

  “ With photography, a new language has been created. Now for the first time, it is possible to express reality by reality. We can look at an impression as long as we wish, we can delve into it and, so to speak, renew past experiences at will. ”  - Ernst Haas     This was a wonderful time, nestled into a nook in the sand far back from the gentle surf, watching the light of the setting sun play on the sky over a beautiful corner of Hilton Head Island. It was unusually warm for the time of year, and I was dressed in sandals and shorts as I waited for the color to peak. As I passed the time on a Facetime call with my wife, three older ladies strolled up the beach towards me.      They seemed in a happy mood so I said hello and asked if they were locals. It turns out they were actually on vacation and were enjoying the warm evening with a walk in the sand. I offered to take their picture and one of them passed me their phone. Afterwards, they asked a...

  “ The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but having new eyes. ”  - Marcel Proust     I must admit I didn't realize how important the creation of watering locations by people was to the sustaining power of the refuge system. Like many, I simply assumed that they had always been there, that they were natural features. Without the water, the many avian, aquatic, and terrestrial species that depend on the refuges would have little choice but to compete with people and lose. People built and maintain many of the ponds, lakes, tributaries, and watering holes in the refuge system and it's to them and their hard work that I salute. As I wrote in my post on May 6, 2023...      Let’s take one last look for now at one of the many manmade water sources in Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge. This section of the Oxpen Branch, a small tributary system between the Refuge’s various ponds and lakes, is near the curiously ramped v...

  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 “ Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph. ”  - Andre Kertesz      Few man-made structures stand the test of time in both beauty and function. It's r are when design and engineering unite in perfect synergy. When I think of beautiful architecture, places like the Taj Mahal, the Chrysler Building, the Sydney Opera House, and the Golden Gate Bridge come to mind. Locations like these have not only enduring beauty but also perfect function.     The Taj Mahal was built as a glorious tomb for the wife of a heartbroken Indian emperor. It is resplendent like no other. For admirers of Art Deco, the Chrysler Building in east-central Manhattan is unequaled in elegance. Sydney's Opera House, with its famous silhouette of soaring "shells," is an archetype of modern expressionistic design and a symbol for Australia's most populous city.      And the ...

  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 “ 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...

  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...

  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself,  for what we see is what we are. ”  - Ernst Haas      Who doesn't enjoy watching and listening to the waves crash against the jetty? Even a gentle surf becomes something special and powerful when it has something immovable to break against. The amazing colors in the predawn sky make a spectacular backdrop for the blues and white highlights in the wave curls and jetty spray. Although it requires an early morning wakeup, a fair amount of preparation, and a wee bit of luck to capture an image like this, I find the experience gratifying even I never get to release the shutter. As I wrote on December 19, 2020...      It’s mornings like this one that make my efforts as a photographer so filled with joy. The clouds at the horizon helped pump a lot of creamy color in the sunrise sky w...

  Photo:Engage     a photography blog you  want  to follow “ To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them. ”  - Elliott Erwitt      Written shortly before the new year began, the day after Christmas in fact, I tried to describe how the years pass connected to each other but also commemorated by themselves for their significant events. 2020 doesn't stand out as a particularly good year considering the pandemic, the continuing racial strife, the uneven policing, and the polarized political environment. I was hoping to see better things in 2021, but perhaps I was too naïve. The more things change, the more they stayed the same. One can only hope that we see things get better especially with the COVID vaccination program ramping up. As I wrote on December 26, 2021...    ...