David’s Blog
How to Write a Book
Since you didn’t ask, I thought I would give you, my lone reader, a personalized insider’s view of the hows, whys and wherefores of writing a book. I have done this 12 times in the past and I still don’t really know how it happens and I certainly haven’t learned how to not torture myself through its completion. Ok, you’ve decided you want to write a book....
Huh?
'Going to Hell in a handbasket' Where did that come from and if you think about it, literally, what the heck does it mean? I know that the phrase means to deteriorate rapidly, to go to Hell but why would you go in a hand basket? The phrase seems to have arisen in the Civi War era in America but why would a hand basket be a rapid way to go to Hell? Surely,...
Recap Crossroads Sitka, 2015
Crossroads Sitka was a really great workshop experience for leaders and participants combined. We had a very good group of photographers who enthusiastically embraced the essence of a Crossroads workshop and plunged in with wonderful energy on the shooting list scavenger hunt that we all developed and reviewed every day. Plus, as an added bonus, the...
Hardware Abstracts
I was out doing my errands today and stopped by thehardware store. When I came out I had a new sprayer and 4 new photos! Any idea what this is? I'll give you a few pics of it to help. It's a 13 year old pile of paint drippings! The blob is about 4 feet high and a couple of feet wide and it sits on a paint shaking machine. In the top pic you can see the...
What would you do?
A couple of days I go I pulled into my local gas station/general store on my way to a well deserved treat. As soon as I got out of my car I was approached by a well dressed, clean, nice looking young man, probably in his late twenties. His car was at one of the gas pumps and there were several people standing around the area visiting with each other. He...
Smoking Walt!
Okay, I couldn't resist. Play time with two of my pics from Sitka. You all really ought to go to Sitka with Crossroads next year, there are some really far out sights up there!
Walt is at it again!
It is time for my now annual celebration of the fantastic photography of my friend and former student Walt Duvall. I use the world fantastic sparingly but in this case it rings true- remember the etymology of fantastic is fantasy as in unreal, as in wonderful, as in dream-like. this is fantastic photography! Walt is a resident of the Oregon Coast and he is...
Fall in Vermont & Maine
It is about that time when we all start to think about and get excited about photographing in the fall. I, for one, can never get enough fall photography- the brilliant colors, the beautiful reflections, the tumbling streams, the red, orange and yellow mountainsides- what is not to love? Now I might be biased but I think the best two places to photograph...
Giving some space- Wildlife Photography
One of the things I consistently notice about wildlife photography is the desire by most wildlife photographers to get as close as they can and fill up their frame as much as they can. This is why all photographers lust after telephoto lenses and use blinds whenever they can. There is nothing wrong with this approach. Seeing a wild animal up close and...
A Feather in Indian River
Sometimes the simplest subjects are the most wonderful and most beautiful to photograph. Most of the times they are also the hardest to notice and hardest to make yourself photograph with everything else pulling at your visual attention. Last week I was walking up the Indian River in Sitka, Alaska leading some Crossroads photography participants on a photo...
Salmon
Salmon are amazing animals, almost mystical actually. they are born in fresh water, grow to maturity in salt water and then return to their natal stream, to the very gravel bed in which they were born to spawn. It is a journey of thousands of miles driven by a powerful imperative to return home and threatened daily by innumerable dangers including gill...