Notes To My Mother

When the first light of the day hits the underside of an arch in Canyon Lands or Arches National Parks they glow a beautiful shades of crimson much like those found in slot canyons. A magnificent example is Mesa Arch located in Canyon Lands, Utah. However, as with many of the more popular photography spots, if you want to get a good shot you have to be there early. We were staying in Moab and it was about an hour’s travel time from the motel to getting on site at the arch. But arriving at or near sunrise would not be sufficient, we had to be there at least two hours before sunrise in other to have assurance of a front row seat. This is one of the parts shooting sunrises that I enjoy tremendously. Getting up around 3 am, traveling to the site under the stars, walking in to the location in the dark and setting up without being able to see the whole scene that is going to unfold. On this morning we had a treat. We were the first ones there so we could pick our spots. But more...

When I began wanting to know more about photography a friend of mine told me it would be a good practice to look at lots of photographs. So I bought gads of photography magazines, perused the internet, and read books with great images in them. One evening I stumbled upon a picture of Bass Harbor Head and knew it was definitely a place I needed to visit.  Now, I believe that every place in the world is special, it’s just that some places are a little more special. One such place is Bass Harbor Head, a lighthouse on the Coast of Maine, not far from Bar Harbor. I had never been to New England so going to get an image of this lighthouse was doubly exciting. I booked a trip in early October to be there when the trees were in color and made my way to the lighthouse. The first night I was there it was high tide.  In the best of conditions there is not a lot of room for photographers to shoot this location, but at high tide the situation can get pretty dicey. Most photographe...

On the north side of the island of Kauai, just west of Hanalei Bay is a little beach called Lumahai. You can park along the road and walk down a well maintained trail to the beach. The beach is quite different from most of the others in this area as it slopes steeply into the ocean. This affects the wave motions, preventing them from breaking in the usual way. Watching them you can see that the water that is receding back to the sea is moving very fast, pushing against the incoming wave so that just as the wave crests, at the point it would normally break and wash onto the shore, the receding wave stops it and it just kind of collapses and washes onto the shore, without ever breaking. Here is a picture of it, just at the point most waves would break. I was at this beach in the late Spring and the surf was fairly mild. I can imagine in the Winter when the surf is much larger on the north shore that the wave action at this beach would be spectacular.  Because of the st...

One afternoon late in the day I was driving through Sebastopol on highway 12. The sun was low on the horizon, well into the golden hour, when I glanced to my left. I couldn’t have seen it for more than a fraction of a second, but it was unmistakable and it has been etched in my memory ever since. White blossoms set back in the dark of a thicket, framed by the trees and illuminated by the setting sun. Only the blossoms were lit, everything else was dark and undiscernable. I hesitated, should I stop, run back and see if I could get a shot of it? I had my camera, but the traffic, and where to pull off?  In the time it took me to debate it I was well down the road and I let opportunity slip away.  I have returned on subsequent occasions always looking to see if that scene would reappear. I am sure it has, but never again in my presence. Every time I think of those illuminated blossoms I remind myself, “If you see it, stop and shoot it”, even if I am a mile down the road: ...