photography

When Accurate Insight Had To Prevail

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The farmer landowner and I were about to part company after a good visit. I had seen firsthand how he was reclaiming land in eastern Tennessee that had been strip mined for coal.

But before we went our separate ways, I got his okay to stay a while longer to make a few pictures of a couple of houses just down the hill on his property. Simple and nearly identical, they appeared to have been at one time homes for tenant farmers. What struck me most, however, was the curtain that with each occasional puff of wind was blowing outside … Read the rest “When Accurate Insight Had To Prevail”

It Was All About A Little Bug

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As illogical as it seemed, there he was, standing next to a tree, his camera on a tripod, its lens focused on an object only a few inches away.

The day before, Ernst Haas who many considered the world’s greatest color photographer, had electrified a group of his contemporaries with his photographs. They weren’t just ordinary images, but rather the same ones that appeared in his book, The Creation. As described in the scriptures of the Holy Bible, his book visually depicted what the earth must have looked like as it was being created.

To get those pictures, however, Ernst … Read the rest “It Was All About A Little Bug”

Connecting with Philip Hyde

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We always hear about the power of connections, the effect they can have on both our professional and personal lives. Not only does travel do much to make new connections, it also reminds us of old ones that still serve us well.

So there I was at the Dinosaur National Monument visitor center in northwestern Colorado. I was slowly walking through the gift shop when my eyes locked on a book describing the events that led up to the building of Flaming Gorge Dam in Utah. The dam is on the Green River that flows eastward into Colorado and through … Read the rest “Connecting with Philip Hyde”

The Big Fire

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One evening in mid-town Manhattan, a professional photographer in his third-floor apartment was hunched over a light table editing some pictures. A fire truck went by with siren blaring. Because sirens are usual in New York, he barely noticed. Within two minutes, however, another raced by his window, then a third, and a fourth.

Each time, he noticed the sirens didn’t drift away but, instead, stopped suddenly a few seconds after they had passed. Instinctively, he grabbed his jacket and camera, stuffed film into his pockets, and took to the stairway two steps at a time. Once on the sidewalk, … Read the rest “The Big Fire”