Photo:Engage

  “ 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...

  “ For most people to be happy, there has to be a person, place, or thing involved in their happiness. In true happiness, there are no things involved. It's a natural state. You will abide in that state forever. ”  - Robert Adams     Forgive the long gap since my last blog post, dear readers. The topic involved in that June post was absolutely dreadful and required me to take some time to recommit to my purpose. But I'm back now, although in truth I never really left. I continued to photograph and write. And found happiness again. Here is work from my post on April 30, 2022... Happiness Is When by William Arthur Ward Happiness is our heritage when Faith becomes our constant companion; Self-discipline our tireless teacher; Integrity our competent coach; Truth our trusted tutor; Discernment our careful critic; Optimism our able advisor; Goodness our gifted guide; Beauty our infallible inspiration; And love our blissful benediction. Clicking on the image will open it ...

  “ 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...

  “ Photographs open doors into the past, but they also allow a look into the future. ”  - Sally Mann     There's not much that's better than knowing something fun and exciting is about to happen. Remember the last time you had a big vacation planned? Just thinking about all the amazing things you were going to do away from the cares of work and home would fill you with joy. Looking forward to the thing was often as good, or better, than the thing itself.      I love that aspect of anticipation. And once the great thing occurs, when we've had the great experience we so looked forward to, we feel the appreciation for all the effort it took to make it happen, that the thing exists to be appreciated, for all the people who make the thing extraordinary.      And no matter how the event actually turned out, because maybe that vacation had a few off days or a few things that didn't quite work out, we can still be happy about the experience ove...

  “ 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...

  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...