Photo:Engage

  “ Visual ideas combined with technology combined with personal interpretation equals photography. Each must hold its own; if it doesn't, the thing collapses."   - Arnold Newman     If you find life and its many challenges difficult to keep organized and some things are out of whack, you're not alone. Staying focused with minimal distraction is a key life goal for many of us. How can we stay balanced, and not in danger of falling like the proverbial fiddler on the roof?      Some would suggest that we prioritize our activities, putting our first things first as author Stephen Covey taught. We should integrate all aspects of our life, meaning to rid ourselves of that which is incongruent with our principles and goals. We should set goals for ourselves, so we have the beneficial stress of something to work for, and a reason to celebrate when we succeed. We should ensure we practice self care, for a faulty body has a hard time having a sound mi...

  “ 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 words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence. ”  - Ansel Adams     For whom does the artist work? Of course, they create for themselves. But who is their actual audience? Certainly, if they have any, they work for their patrons, because supporters of this kind value the work enough to pay for it and display it. And an artist will always be grateful for their patrons. But beyond that, what separates the artist from all others with a creative impulse?      The key difference, to my mind, is that the artist puts their work out for others to see, to appreciate, and to criticize. The artist takes a chance on sharing their art knowing it might not work, and they will fail, and if they have purpose, they will improve, and try again, and again. Artists must remember the lesson taught by Thomas Edison...  "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how cl...

  “ The camera is much more than a recording apparatus; it is a medium via which messages reach us from another world. ”  - Orson Welles     This image is part of a triptych. It's my first one. What's a triptych, you may ask? Well, historically, it denoted a type of art composed of three related pieces, usually wood panel paintings which were hinged together such that they could fold or be allowed to stand upright on their own. The middle panel was usually the largest, although today that's not necessarily the case. Nowadays, a triptych can mean anything composed of three parts, but in my case, it's three images that are related to each other and that together tell an interesting story. Here, then is image number one of my first triptych, as I shared in my post from January 15, 2022...      Have you ever felt like you were emotionally falling? That everything happening in your life was just too much? More often than we might admit, many of us have that...

  “ Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation, and execution. ”  - Ansel Adams      So many passionate winds blow against us. One wind could be the stress caused by the underachievement of a colleague at work. Another might be the way our spouse is acting, or the way our kids are pushing our buttons. The buffeting wind from above could be how upset we are about the government, maybe having to do with the pandemic and vaccines. Whatever the winds you're personally dealing with may be, they can make you anxious and unhappy, if you let them.      I'm here to tell you that you do not. You cannot control most of those things. Truly, you probably don't even have much influence on them. You can only do your best at work, perhaps compensating for the weakness of a coworker in the same way that they may compensate for one of yours. Your spouse and kids are unique beings with...

  “ For me, the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity. ”  - Henri Cartier-Bresson     Sure hope the new year is starting out well for you! I thought I'd offer you a hope I have for you and a small bit of wisdom for the ages in this first post of 2022.     I want you to be happy. More specifically, I want you to choose to be happy, regardless of your circumstances.     That's a daring thing to hope for in the modern age, what with everyone's feelings controlling so much of what they are. But your feelings, if not managed properly, can really keep you from being happy.     Let me tell you a quick story... When the town I live in didn't pickup the leaves from the curb in our neighborhood like they announced they would, I was concerned about the possibility of leaves clogging our storm drains and about how the leaves were simply blowing back into our yards after many of us had spent much energy and mon...