7 Days of River Birch Tree Photos

Today I have completed 7 Days of River Birch Tree Photos in my personal 30 day challenge to photograph the same subject each day for 30 days. Each morning I wonder “How shall I photograph the river birch tree today?” And each morning I pick up my camera and simply look. Then I begin making photographs, not worrying whether I’ve already made a similar photograph. I make many of my photographs of the birch tree through one of the windows of my house. But I have also gone into the backyard and made photographs from various vantage points. And I’ve Read more…

The Task of Life

I was cleaning my desk and office this morning when I found a quote that I had jotted down on the back of an envelope some time ago. For the life of me, I can’t remember when I wrote the quote down or who said it. But it still rings true for me today. Here is the quote… The Task of Life and the task of human evolution and the task of human well being is to connect to things that are larger than the self and I think that’s what awe does. It opens your mind … Find the Read more…

Graceful Dance

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I call a Graceful Dance between seeking answers and solutions for life’s challenges and practicing acceptance of life and all of the myriad of painful and difficult things that happen in life. Recently I came upon a poem that stopped me in my tracks. It filled me with conflicting feelings. I started to write about it last week but couldn’t find the words to express how right and how wrong it felt at the very same time. But the more I’ve pondered it, the truer it seems. And the more I read it Read more…

Day Three

Today is Day Three of my personal thirty day challenge to photograph the same subject every day for 30 days. One way to do the challenge would be to take a single image each day for 30 days. But I chose to make several images each day and then to pick my favorite image of those I make each day. This gives me the fun of trying several different ways to photograph the tree each day. And I get to play around with lots of different techniques. The image at the top of this post is my chosen photo today. Read more…

Blue Jay Summer

On my walks this summer I’ve found three blue jay feathers on various paths I’ve walked on. And I’ve seen more blue jays in our backyard than ever before. They sail across from tree to tree, bright blue beacons in the air, tree branches, and on the ground. So I’ve taken to calling this my Blue Jay Summer. I feel connected to the birds that spend time in our yard and at my bird feeders. And I love the bright colors of their plumage. Speaking of birds, as I sit here in my office I just saw a downy woodpecker Read more…