Landscape photography often involves chasing grand vistas, dramatic light, and exotic locations. While these images can be genuinely arresting and are always crowd favorites, the appetite for them can become a trap in itself. When I have that feeling, I try to look for interesting compositions within mundane scenes. This photo of what is basically a puddle (technically a wetland) would have been easy to just walk past. But by looking carefully, I was able to find a composition that tells a small story where none was obvious, while raising questions about what lies beyond the frame. I find looking for these compositions to be a creative challenge and a potent antidote to the pull of repeating the same clichéd images over and over.
Hourglass
Hourglass
“One should not only photograph things for what they are but for what else they are.”
—Minor White
Two Skies
Two Skies
“It was so clear, Jenny, it looked like there were two skies, one on top of the other.”
—Forrest Gump
A Stillness Comes
A Stillness Comes
Everything in us withdraws, a stillness comes, and the new, which no one knows, stands in the midst of it and is silent.
— Rainer Maria Rilke
A Room of Light
A Room of Light
Hydrangea—
in the thicket’s small garden
a room of light.
—Matsuo Basho, 1694
Forgiveness
Hydrangea II
“The hydrangea does not refuse the rain; it deepens in color.
Perhaps forgiveness is not the erasing of a wound,
but the quiet changing that happens while carrying it."
—Anonymous
A Sense of Connection
The Old Oak at Pleasant Grove
Our best research suggests that plants and trees may be conscious on some level. I’ve been returning to this same spot to photograph this old oak for over ten years now, and I can’t help wondering if it recognizes me in some way—not as I recognize it, but in its own quieter language. It’s a comforting thought. To me, there’s certainly a sense of connection here, like greeting an old friend.
Hydrangea
Hydrangea
“In the spring beyond time the withered tree flowers.”
— Zenrin-kushu
Among the Trees
Coastal Live Oak on Dry Creek
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
—Mary Oliver, When I am Among the Trees
A New Beginning
Cloudburst Over Saugstad Park
It’s been nearly 10 years years since I’ve posted to this website. For various reasons (family, work, other interests) I went away from serious photography and mostly only captured images with my phone camera for many years. Now that I’m retired and I have more free time on my hands, I’m planning on dedicating more time to creative pursuits, including photography, among others. This image is a first tentative step in that direction.