Thoughts and Musings
Wildness and Wilderness
Rain came today, a harbinger of monsoon season. Lightning and thunder and gentle drops shining like precious gems on tree branches and the radiant green of new foliage. I went out for a drive, not so much for photography but to revel in the scents of wet earth, sagebrush and pine. I hiked to a [...]
Creating in Isolation
“A creation of importance can only be produced when its author isolates himself, it is a child of solitude.” –Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Toward the end of a recent workshop, while hiking through one of the canyons outside of Moab, a participant approached me and commented that he didn’t see me expose a single image [...]
No New Label Necessary
This secret spoke Life herself unto me: “Behold,” said she, “I am that which must ever surpass itself.” –Friedrich Nietzsche I write these words on the edge of a storm. To the east, a wall of slate-grey sky is slowly making its way into the canyon country and toward Colorado; to the west the Mummy [...]
The Grateful Mind
This essay originally appeared in Landscape Photography Magazine. ~~~ Friedrich Nietzsche is perhaps the most prolific of Western philosophers on the topic of art. In his mind, art is a means of coping with the chaos, tragedy and imperfection that are the true nature of reality and, as such, makes life itself not only tolerable, [...]
The Image and the Experience
My first “nature photography” experience occurred nearly thirty years ago, when for reasons I can’t even remember I borrowed my father’s old Minolta and went to play outside. Not a single image from that roll of film turned out, but the joy of seeking photogenic subjects and fitting them into the finder frame was intoxicating. [...]
Attention Overload
I recently parked at a roadside pullout to retrieve a cold drink from the ice chest in the back of my truck. I turned the engine off , thinking that this will be a good place to perch on the tailgate for a bit and appreciate the beauty of the day and the place. I [...]
Journal
2012 in Retrospect
I struggle with the concept of grouping my work in arbitrary time slices, but I always find value in self-examination and introspection and so, I suppose the beginning of a new year is as good a time as any to look back and ponder. 2012 was a year of new creative directions for me. Beyond [...]
Heal Thyself
I sat on my porch in the dark this morning, bundled up against the cold, listening to the wind in the trees. I didn’t want to be inside. I didn’t want to read the mundane emails and social media streams. I didn’t want to listen to the news, anymore. I didn’t want the comfort of [...]
Listening to The Stories
Many thoughts were on my mind as again I took to the long and empty roads, en route to meet with Michael and our Visionary Death Valley workshop group. A train of thoughts was set in motion just days before my departure, sparked by a startling revelation. I once suggested that the most important question [...]
Making Hay
It’s been a very mild winter here so far. Although we had a few flurries in the last couple of weeks, the big snows seem to be running late this year. These last few days, the air has been perfectly clear as the low winter sun accentuates every little detail in the landscape before fading [...]
The Phase of No Emotion
Today is different. I’ve been home for a couple of days now after two weeks on the road. There is something about this place that I always love coming back to; something that goes beyond the veneer of the red rocks and the big cottonwoods – a deeper sense – a feeling of home. These [...]
Relics
I celebrated another birthday last week. As has been my habit in recent years, I asked for no presents or special celebrations, and, instead, headed into the wilderness for a couple of days of quiet contemplation. Unlike many of my other outings, the purpose of such trips is not so much to make art, but [...]
Workshop News
2013 Moab Photo Symposium
Registration is now open for the 2013 Moab Photo Symposium, which may well be the best one yet. I’m honored to be part of this fantastic panel of presenters and instructors. Book your spot early. I’m sure it will fill up quickly.
Workshop Highlight: Canadian Rockies, Oct/Nov 2013
Some years ago I had the pleasure of meeting photographers Darwin Wiggett and Samantha Chrysanthou in Alberta. This was my first visit to the area, and they were generous enough to take me on a gorgeous hike in the Rockies. We stayed in touch over the years and finally decided to design a unique workshop [...]
New Visionary Workshops Site
Following up on the success of our Visionary branded workshops in 2012, Michael Gordon and I decided to expand our offerings with additional dates and additional locations. New in 2013 will be a Moab workshop, and we are in the process of designing one more summer offering that will be announced soon. Please visit our [...]
Eastern Sierra Workshop – October 15, 2012
As demand for our Eastern Sierra workshop exceeded our capacity, Jack Graham and I decided to offer an additional date this coming fall. Join Jack and me for an exciting four-day photographic tour of fall color, spectacular scenery, ancient bristlecone pines, the Bodie ghost town and, of course, the majestic mountain scenery of this beautiful [...]
2012 Workshop Roundup
For anyone interested in attending a workshop this year, there are still a few openings available: June 10th, 2012. My one-day workshop at the Sedona Photo Fest will focus on creative skills, both in the field and in the digital studio. While you’re there, you can also partake in many other photo-related activities and presentations [...]
2012 Moab Photo Symposium
It is my great pleasure to join a fantastic panel of presenters and instructors in this year’s Moab Photo Symposium. Please join us this May for three days of photography and inspiration in one of the most spectacular settings on Earth.
Other Recent Posts
Words Matter
This is a post about the manipulation of reality. No, it is not about Photoshop. I was recently invited to showcase my work at a site proclaiming to promote art. The first thing I noticed as I brought up the page is that it was divided into “Artists” and “Photographers.” When I inquired with the [...]
The Wonderful Lightness of Being
Every so often, I receive inquiries from High School students charged with writing about an artist of their choice. It warms my heart to know that even at that early age, some already have an appreciation for beauty and art. My own High School experiences are, for the most part, best relegated to the dusty [...]
Balancing Breadth and Depth
A strange thing happened recently when the social media site LinkedIn introduced its new skill endorsement function. Among other skills, some well-meaning connections endorsed me for Travel Photography – a skill I have often claimed not to have, for reasons I explain here. As I mentioned to editor Brooks Jensen in a recent interview for [...]
Course Corrections
In my earlier post recounting some thoughts about the year that was, I mentioned realizing that my thoughts on photography and art required a few course corrections last year. This is certainly not the first time and I thought it might be helpful to further elaborate on some of the ones that made a significant [...]
The Concept
The following essay was originally published in Landscape Photography Magazine. ~~~ When teaching photography workshops I always emphasize the importance of starting an image with a concept – the thing that stops you in your tracks and whispers in your ear “there’s something here worth photographing.” A concept has no visual characteristics, and the role [...]
The Missing Dimensions
Questions and answers are powerful means of gleaning information and opinions. Still, while answers are often scrutinized and validated before being accepted as truth, such examination rarely is applied to most questions. If an answer seems plausible, the question is seldom deconstructed. Thus, it is quite easy to lead a curious mind down a futile [...]
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