I haven't posted regularly in some time. Back in January, I tried to chalk it up to hibernating.  It's not an inaccurate assessment, but it doesn't fully capture the story.


Sometimes, things happen in life that shift our priorities. Sometimes, these are shifts of tectonic proportions. 


Beyond the occasional commission or collaboration, I haven't been able to work with my camera much. I have faith that I'll come back to it eventually, but I've also learned that it's not something I can force.


In the meantime, thank you for you reading. I hope to have new shots and stories to share sooner rather than later.

Sometimes Only Video Will Do

From condors to eagles, the world is watching our avian friends rear their young.

Now the Great Blue Herons have joined the action.

Given my history with herons, you can imagine how excited I am about this latest addition to the fledgling feeds.

Watch live streaming video from cornellherons at livestream.com

The Principles: To Edit or Not to Edit?

Recently, I was chatting with a friend about my work when the P Word came up:

"Photoshop"

My nose crinkled instinctively. Taking note of the puzzled look on his face, I explained my reaction:

"I don't edit my photos. That's a non-negotiable thing for me."

I feel that editing, airbrushing, colorizing, enhancing, and all those other '-ings' steal away from the integrity of the image.  To me, editing my work would feel like a betrayal of my subject, like saying that something could be just good enough to be my inspiration, but not good enough to be my final piece. 

We bantered back and forth, using pieces from the collections as discussion points.

Exhibit A:

Vietnam Roses

Roses Redux

Months ago, I tinkered with this image as an experiment in editing (pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone all the while). Blurring out the names brought the roses further into focus, but I struggled with how this literal blurring of names played against the intention of the memorial from whence they came. Could I be reading too much meaning into this otherwise simple act of altering the image? Surely. But what are we doing we when create but making meaning? I appreciate the idea of removing the names so that the roses stand out against the reflection of the cobblestones. However, for me, that takes away the heart from the greater image that comes from the fact that they are roses left at that memorial. Otherwise, it could be any other slab of black marble.

Can you create gorgeously amazing pieces with the use of Corel and Photoshop?  Absolutely.  Do those images exist in nature?  Absolutely not.

And that's what comes down to for me.  I want to capture those moments, those scenes, those places *as they are* - not as they could be with the help of advances in modern software. I want to preserve those scenes at that time, at that place, in that moment.

And so, there you have it. What you see is what I saw. I work to put the precision, framing, and composition into capturing each of my shots in real time.

In the end, he labeled me a purist and perhaps that's true. But that's surely a P Word I can get on board with.

The Sites: Millennium Park & The Bean

Chicago is a city of breathtaking architecture.  It tells the story of America's growth and prominence through its very skyline.  Monumental towers and facades dot the landscape.  It's a magical place and, personally, my favorite city in the US. 

Chicago Skyline from Lincoln Park

Nestled within all those soaring spires is something relatively new that's become as much a symbol of the city as the Hancock building or the tower-formerly-known-as-Sears.  


Adjacent to Grant Park, with its Buckingham Fountain gracing the credits of Married with Children (anyone? anyone?), Millennium Park is a swath of land reborn to host swarms of tourists, concerts, and general urban gathering.  It sits on the north side of the Art Institute of Chicago and offers a stunning panorama of some of the most iconic buildings in the city.


But everybody comes for The Bean.

Its formal name may be Cloud Gate, but let's be honest: nobody calls it that.  Mention "The Bean" and everyone knows exactly what you're talking about. Its steel plates are immaculately polished to create a seamless surface that reflects everything around it, especially the people swarming its perimeter.  Light dances off its silvery canvas and you cannot take the same picture twice, as the details are always shifting between the people, the light, and the angle of the buildings around it.


It's easy to spend a lot of time here.  I did & it still wasn't enough.

Lessons from Nature

In the winter, when all the trees are bare, the weather is gray, and the ground crunches underneath your feet, it's hard to remember what all the fuss was about over those warm - even hot! - days in August when all you wanted was a cool breeze. 

I mean, really, what the hell were we thinking?  It's cold out there & by golly, could we get some sunshine?!

But there's a rhythm to it all.  Nature knows what she's doing.  And sometimes we could learn a thing or two from her ways.

I haven't posted in a few weeks.  There are several reasons for this, but I'm going to take a cue from Nature and simply say:

Sometimes we just need to hibernate.