Photo:Engage

“ Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph. ”  - Matt Hardy     You probably know that President Theodore Roosevelt directed the creation of our amazing National Parks, but did you know he also founded the National Wildlife Refuge System in 1903? On March 14 of that year, he established Pelican Island NWR along Florida's Atlantic Ocean coast.      Since then,  more than 560 wildlife refuges are in place across this country, and they're all managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Each NWR unit can be a wildlife refuge, a conservation area, a marine national monument, or a waterfowl production area. The different units help with conserving native species that depend on that land or water to thrive by using scientific management  methods. And I think they're another of our many national treasures.     As I wrote in my post on Ap...

  “ I think of photography like therapy. ”  - Harry Gruyaert      I doubt there's ever been a time I didn't feel refreshed after spending some time in the woods. Tired? Sure. Dirty? Almost always! Hungry and thirsty? Of course. But always better. Yes, always better. Although there are those moments you wonder why you're there. As I quoted from one of my favorite authors in my post from January 7, 2023...      “There is no point in hurrying because you are not actually going anywhere. However far or long you plod, you are always in the same place: in the woods. It’s where you were yesterday, where you will be tomorrow. The woods is one boundless singularity. Every bend in the path presents a prospect indistinguishable from every other, every glimpse into the trees the same tangled mass. For all you know, your route could describe a very large, pointless circle. In a way, it would hardly matter.” - Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods Clicking on the im...

  “ 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 world moves fast, changing everything around us with each new day. Photography is a gift that can keep us in a moment forever, blissfully eternal. ”  - Ali Novak     Our world does move fast, with events sometimes overwhelming us with their speed and ferocity and urgency. So much is happening that it's all too easy to lose focus of what it is we want to do with our limited time. The events of the world outside ourselves pierce our attention and compete for our emotional energy, but are usually well outside of what we can actually control. So I ask you to think about what you're focused on, for that will let you know what you truly value.  As I wrote in my post on February 5, 2022...      Taking the liberty of translating into a modern voice the timeless wisdom of Marcus Aurelius, who was both emperor of ancient Rome and a moral man, he wrote in his personal journal the following lesson about focus:      “Concentrate every minute on...