Category Archives: Composition
Backlighting Devil’s Club Overhead
Traveling to Seattle, a friend and I went to the John Bastyr School for one of their health and herbal festivals. A nature walk through the forest next to the campus intrigued me. It was incredibly informative, discussing how to use plants in the wilderness for medical treatments and health. The Pacific Northwest forest was […]
Photographing the Moon Eclipse 2008
It was freezing cold outside. And dark. Not the kind of dark that just comes with night but the dark that happens when the earth passes between the sun and the moon. It was February 20, 2008, and I was in our new temporary home in Gaston, Oregon, an hour west of Portland, in time […]
Cherry Tree Blossoms, Seattle Arboretum
The Seattle Arboretum is a glorious place to wander year around, but in the spring, the rows and rows of flowering trees are wonders to behold. I often led many nature photography tours in and around Seattle’s most famous park, a long green belt that starts near the University of Washington and Museum of History […]
Photographing Hands
I love photographing hands. I should dig through my collection and do a gallery post of nothing but hands. While old sages say eyes are the windows to the soul, I think hands speak even louder about a life lived. My own are covered with memories, scars from injuries, adventures, and risks survived. I’ve long […]
Lavender Festival: Photographing People and Hats
When I photograph people and I don’t have time for signing model releases, I take care to hide their faces. This beautiful woman, an artist selling her wares at the Lavender Festival, Washington County, Oregon, turned her head away to reveal the lovely hat she was wearing, which was what I really wanted to capture […]
A Reflection of Trees
A select few artists and photographers specialized in working with reflections, images captured in lakes, rivers, ponds, and puddles, then turning them upside for display, making what would normally be seen upside down be right side up, a portrait of abstract Monet-style photography. This particular image I took in spring at the Bellingrath Plantation and […]
Rows of Tulips – Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Rows of tulips at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. There were several intriguing things about this composition that compelled me to take it. First, the leading rows moving into the distance towards the cars. Then the cars at the end of the line. It’s like a strange parking lot in the flowers. Second, the building […]
Azaleas in Bloom, Bellingrath Plantation, Alabama
The azaleas in bloom are spectacular across the south. These are from the Bellingrath Plantation Gardens near Mobile, Alabama. Scrub flowers like these are hard to photograph. Closeup, the challenge is depth of field. Further back, it’s the clutter. It’s hard to keep the images simple while being interesting to look at. This flowering azalea […]
Bellingrath Plantation Home, Mobile, Alabama
I loved visiting the Bellingrath Plantation home and gardens near Mobile, Alabama. They have an amazing art gallery in addition to the beautiful art collection within the unusual house. But the gardens… The gardens are exquisite no matter what time you are visiting, but they are at their peak in the burst of spring and […]
Patterns in Nature: Spiral Kale
We are always on the lookout for fascinating patterns in nature to photograph. This beautiful ornamental kale at the Bellingrath Plantation near Mobile, Alabama, is a wonderful spiral pattern. I positioned the center of the plant in the traditional rule of thirds corner and the whole image popped off the viewfinder in my camera. Photographing […]
Judging Photographs – It’s Now About the Back Story
I’ve been working as a photography judge, reviewer, critic, editor, and even helped teach others how to judge and review photographs, since I was in high school. While there are a lot of points to consider when judging and evaluating a photograph, they basically boil down to: Composition Light Capturing a “moment” Focus Product Quality […]
Lens Perspective
Understanding lens perspective is critical to advanced photographic studies and skills. It is the skill of learning how the lens sees. For some, the concept of photography lens perspective is simple. The wider the lens the wider the view, the longer the lens the narrower the view. Yet, lens perspective is much more interesting and […]
The Art of the Door
There is “something” about a door. Growing up in Washington State, it was a summer and winter ritual of ours to stop along the way, crossing over the mountains to Eastern Washington to visit friends and family, at The Alps. The Alps was owned by a German immigrant family and they offered a rest stop […]