Carscapes
I did the unthinkable and walked in a city as a pedestrian.
Sandhills
Monahans Sandhills State Park, Windmill, Texas & Pacific Railroad Section House
Gear
Sometimes photography feels like it’s 10% taking pictures and 90% watching camera reviews.
Happy
A dog barks, tin clanks, and wind whooshes across dormant branches.
35, 50
Wide and telephoto touch somewhere between 35 and 50, which means every lens over 50 is called a telephoto and every one below 35 is considered wide, making 35 the longest wide-angle and 50 the widest telephoto.
Auxiliary Viewfinders
Forget new lenses and camera specs. One of the most freeing things we can add to our photography is an auxiliary viewfinder because it removes precision.
New York Town
I caught the subway and went downtown. Helvetica lettering pointed the way. Passenger cars rocked, rattled, and clanked in the dark, and a platform musician sang Country Roads. People smiled on the boat to the Statue of Liberty, and Manhattan’s mountains rose above the harbor, where I later walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, picturing it as I would in a dry, dusty town.
The Bigger Picture
There are many things to learn. The point of the arts isn’t to make a living doing art. Instead, if done well, we’ll witness the lived reality of the person making something become more widely known.
In our lifetime
We’re only our age for a little while, yet the present is eternal.
Sunset Limited
With a ticket, backpack, and several rolls of Kodak Gold, I watched Amtrak’s Sunset Limited coast to a stop at Alpine, 2 PM, would reach Los Angeles at 9 AM, December 2005.
The problem with mirrorless
Someday we’ll call it a camera with interchangeable lenses.
35 is a lonesome focal length
A 35mm pushes backgrounds away and magnifies foregrounds.
Completely covered with graffiti
Old age is the ultimate new cool. Be a little bit of kindness and friendship walking around in the world.
Heaven
Heaven is out here, working in Odessa.
Wildly kind and kindly wild
How do we remember a place?
Burgers, Fries, and Onion Rings
To see a photograph, we must forget that we’re viewing one. To see photography, we must acknowledge mood and atmosphere.
Studio
A note is a few words in a sentence or two; a picture is an individual frame, and a finding blends text with imagery.
Influence
Despair is progress misinterpreted. Focus on what you enjoy more than the attention it brings. Make a stranger laugh.
The Rule of Thirds
View something, then around and past it.
Education
The kids are smart and will do just fine. It’s grown soreheads like me who I worry about.