Why I Like Photography

Lake Evans sunset in Fairmont Park After the Storm

I've actually been out taking photographs...or capturing images as I like to think of it.  Taking photographs is just take, taking a picture of someone or something in order to remember an occaision or event.  Capturing images is more like trying to tell stories.  It is creating something that has within it a message or messages that are open to interpretation by the viewer.  These images may cause a viseral response such as "Wow" or "That makes me remember when..." or "I wonder what the story is behind it."

I went to Venice Beach on Saturday with the Redlands Camera Club for a photo scavenger hunt.  It was great fun. They gave us a list of things to find and photograph.  And where better than Venice Beach to find just about anything?  (The one thing I know I didn't find was strange or unusual footwear).  I am working on the images from that and will post them on this website soon.

On Sunday we had some torrential rains from Hurrican Norbert sweep through Riverside.  Flooding and falling trees and downed power lines everywhere.  I went out with a friend in the evening to capture some more images of the day.  I also took some with my cell phone.   Again, I am working on those images also and will post them soon.  I already posted some to Facebook.

I really enjoy capturing images and sharing them.  I really like it when people respond.  It sometimes surprises me what people respond to and how they respond.  What I really like, though, is that they respond.  It is as if we are connected by the image somehow and a dialogue, no matter how short, transpires.  

One problem I have is sitting down and working on the post-processing of my captures.  It takes discipline.  And it takes saying no to some things...things that I may not really want to do any way.  That part is getting easier.  Like the image displayed here, there is always a calm after a storm.  It may take a storm to shake things up.  But it is the afterward that we can find meaning.  We find gratitude for having survived.  We find the dirt and smutz has been washed away and we can see more clearly.  That is what I like to find in my images: a clearer view of life and how to live, meaning and the satisfaction that can bring.

Now back to work on those images.  Thanks for listening as I "show my work".

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