Phase Transition

Form changes while substance stays the same For me, every element of this image provides opportunity to reflect. The color alone evokes the sensibility of winter, the time of year when, for many of us, the often overcast sky tends to dampen the desire for activity. The lines where snow meets ice and water recalls […]

Space

It’s not nothing; nowhere is it empty   Photographing on the American Great Plains was heavenly—not only for what was on the ground but especially for what was overhead. In 2012 I ambled the backroads of South Dakota and Nebraska for ten days, intent on capturing space, in addition to landscapes. My interest in “space” […]

Wisdom Of The Spheres

There is no chance and anarchy in the universe. All is system and gradation. Every god is there sitting in his sphere. Ralph Waldo Emerson     From atoms to galaxies the sphere is a prominent form because it requires the least amount of energy to form and has the least possible area for the […]

Reality Mirrors Beliefs

“The world reflects back to you what you deeply believe.” I wasn’t sure of the source of this quote, but it recently prompted me to wonder. Could the negative belief that my three novels of the ancient Maya are not being widely read is actually creating that reality? Some research explained that subconscious beliefs shape the […]

The Aspen: A Model Of Interconnectedness

When I began using a camera creatively, I approached trees and forests mainly as objects to facilitate the development of my aesthetic eye. Recently, Peter Wohllenben’s book The Hidden Life Of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate expanded my appreciation by describing their acute sensory and communication processes. After reading that book I discovered […]

XIII. Pattern

Patterns are pervasive. Visually, through repetition, they set up a rhythm that suggests order. We see them in the most fundamental energy fields within the atom, in the immensity of the cosmos, and the way we function, behave and spend our time. Machines, computers, and time itself reveal patterns in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, […]

Shifts In Perception

  One of my long-standing pet peeves has been littering. I even won a speech contest by ranting and raving about it in my high school years. Linda and I were running errands recently and we saw several places strewn with litter. Two years ago when I contacted the person in charge of cleaning up […]

Appreciating The Aesthetic Dimensions

A blog series featuring form, line, color, contrast, texture, gradation… Television tower This posting begins a series that will focus on the aesthetic tools that visual artists and others use, singly and in combination, to create still and moving images that accomplish specific communication objectives. Knowing the purpose of an image before we pick up […]

The Atmosphere

  A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed… It feels an impulsion… this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see […]

Space: Nowhere Is It Empty

  Photographing on the American Great Plains was heavenly—not only for what was there but also for what was not there. In 2012 I ambled the backroads of South Dakota and Nebraska for ten days, intent on capturing space—rather than landscapes or objects. My interest in “space” as a creative challenge was sparked by readings […]