What I will be posting on my blog over the coming weeks will be comments on photographs that I have made over the many years that I have been pursuing this passion. I will be choosing one photo in each blog and talking about a number of things - why I made the photo, what inspired its creation, the qualities that make it good (or not), or whatever other relevant ideas I may have about it. Sometimes the photo will be a recent image, or at other times, an image from earlier years. I hope some of these discussions will help you in your pursuit of better photographs.

S_13_0121Morning mists This image shows that one does not have to venture far to make excellent photographs. In fact the majority of my better images have been made close to home. Why is this the case? There are a couple reasons for this: I am very familiar with the potential sites for photos; and when the weather conditions are interesting I'm able to access these locations, as opposed to when I'm travelling and relying on good luck with the conditions or chancing upon a setting. Many areas close to home I return to many, many times, often under different conditions.

This creek is about one kilometer down the road from my house. I've driven by here hundreds of times, and photographed it on numerous occasions. This photo I made two summers ago. I was out in early summer for sunrise. As I approached the stream, I noticed the rising sun's rays beaming through the mist rising from the cooler water. 

This illustrates the adage that one photographs the light, not the scene. Any time later in the day and this would have been a mundane image, one likely sent to the deleted items bin. Often this creek's water levels can be very low, so having the water running high was also important.

This image appears in the 2016 Inner Reflections Engagement Calendar. This is most gratifying to me because inclusion in this publication is one of the most competitive and sought-after credits among photographers.