Talking Pictures

One of my favorite art galleries is the Jellies Gallery in California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium. The “art” is constantly moving and endlessly fascinating. On my last visit I stood mesmerized in front of the giant sea nettle exhibit for about 20 minutes, trying to capture the sinuous grace of these incredible creatures with my D-SLR. It wasn’t until I stepped back that I...

I return to Ireland each year, since my parents were born there and most of my family reside there. I try to capture the essence of this beautiful island year after year, mostly through landscape photos of Ireland’s emerald green patchwork fields, majestic mountains, and glorious scenery. One day, this window caught my eye, and to me, captured everything that Ireland appears to be: a nation...

Hustling down through the forest looking for a bald eagle picture opportunity on the Skagit River in upper Washington state, my head spun around as this old 1941 Studebaker truck called out to me.

Being an eye doctor, my first impression was, "Oh, he's blind." Both headlights were busted out, with the wires hanging limp out of the...

Sometimes you can become so consumed with the horizontal plane of good composition that you seldom experiment from different perspectives.

One afternoon while trekking around Black Hill Regional Park with my daughter, Allie, I decided to hold my camera in the vertical position and place it on the ground. While she kept an eye on a grey heron, I kept my eye on the road...

A few years ago, on a hot summer afternoon, I was roaming the streets of New York City when I came across a lively group of domino players. They had set up a table on the corner of 91st and Amsterdam and were enjoying a game in the shade. Charmed by the scene, I watched from a distance while I built up the courage to ask if I could photograph them. I knew I couldn't let...

In New Orleans, during happier times, I was walking around the French Quarter and noticed a group of street performers. This particular man was deep in concentration; eyes closed, he was obviously "feelin' jazzy." I felt that the audience related to him and realized that he loved what he was doing. I knelt down on my knee to shoot up and slowed the shutter to...

On vacation in Abaco, Bahamas, we were painting buoys we found to hang on the trees of my sister's vacation home. After just a few minutes I noticed my niece's hands and it became obvious the shot I needed to take. I had her hold her hands out so I could shoot a few frames at various apertures. The result, I felt, captured exactly what I intended. The photograph...