Pictures, Picture Collections and Stories

This weekend has been windy with a cloud covered sky and scattered rain.  The wind makes for interesting long exposure tree pictures.  For this self portrait standing next to the maple tree for a 40 second exposure, the tree shows us it is very much alive...

Click on image to view larger.. the way it should be viewedI'm back from a long silence on this website with renewed energy.  This image is of a very old and large oak tree at Claymont Retreat center outside of Charlestown, WV where Karen and I have been...

Click on image to view larger.. the way it should be viewedI'm stuck.  I can't seem to get things in line to write or to put pictures together to say something.  However, I do know that the longer I'm stuck the closer I am to getting un-stuck.  It may be I...

Click on image to view larger.. the way it should be viewed The weather had turned cool and windy.  I was falling. By the time I thought I could not fall further, I was caught by something I had never felt before.  How to get this Print:Send me an email...

Click on image to view larger.. the way it should be viewedSee below how to get this print.I was listening to music in the car this week when I heard the words - "We're all dry seeds, waitin for the rain". ( Bill Miller - Waiting for the Rain) I wasn't...

Floating in Water and TimeClick on Image to see LargerAvailable in Platinum/Palladium as well as pigment on paper printsLast summer I did a series of photo shoots based on a loose notion of "floating".  I had about eight to 10 different subjects agree to...

Click on the image to see it largerThis Image is available now in print"Not knowing means entering a situation with openness and listening deeply. You don’t arrive with the idea that you’re going to fix something."-Bernie GlassmanI've been aware of "not...

Click on the image to see it largerThe maple tree sits between Kwan-Yin and the Buddha.  What is this maple?  What is it made of?  Where did it come from?The maple tree is made of non-maple tree elements.  If you look closely you can see the water and...

Lake Ontario in NovemberClick on image to make largerSometimes I need to quiet my mind.  Stop the non-stop thinking.  When things are worried and hurried, an image like this can be a wake up bell to come back to the present moment and breathe.  If you...

Click on image to make it nicer and larger! Another study of Impermanence:I have been sitting with this statement for a couple of weeks now.  It started off as words spoken by an elderly lady's family member.  I've heard it many times before.  "That's...

I'm continuously amazed at the lessons available in the natural realm as well as the human realm. (they are one.. of course!)  What might look and feel rough and uninhabitable is at the same time soft and full of life.   Our hearts can be like this tree...

We are leaving home for a handful of days and this morning I wanted to get a picture of the cherry tree in blossom.  I do this every year now for the 15 years we have been living here.  I thought about the maple trees and the camellias and all the other...

Much suffering is caused by attachments to “permanence”.  We don’t want things to change. We like things the way they are.  The new car is wonderful. We don’t want to grow old. When we attach to permanence we ignore the true nature of all things.Looking at...

This is the title for a boxed set of fine art prints I'm giving to the Eastern Shore Literacy Council for auction at a yearly event.  They host a spelling bee yearly for perhaps the last 10 years.  Teams of two are selected and win bragging rights only. ...

This picture was made 5 years ago.  The tree fell into the James River at Chippokes State Park.  I'm reminded of a poem I've attached to other pictures involving water and I'll share it here:BREATHING UNDER WATERI built my house by the sea.Not on the...

Listening to wind Not knowing where it goes Seeds fly to new homes.

When I first looked at this image I made and processed it and posted it on Flickr I titled it "Tangle".  Thoughts now drift around and I think of a tangle of hair that is brushed out by a mother while her child fights back and grimaces all the while trying...

About a year ago I went to see an aged man who had just left the hospital and had arrived at a rehabilitation center for more treatments and physical therapy.  His son was with him and had brought some personal items from home to make his room look and...

Karen and I made an overnight trip to Annapolis and among other things attended our first "Death Cafe".  Yes.. this is a thing.  They are happening all over the country.  Hearing the title for the first time might evoke any number of thoughts and cause...

Along the edges of the marsh there is an abundance of life and death.  Standing back and looking at the big picture, the dead trees are surrounded by the living.  Getting in closer and closer one sees there is much life in the decaying wood.  Closer yet,...

Sunday is the last day of the week according to my schedule which has Monday as the first workday of the new week.  It is a good point to measure days.  I was outside doing yard work on this damp cold day.  I managed to pick up sticks and rake leaves. ...

There is no one answer to this question:  What am I doing?  At one level, I"m typing!  I'm communicating.  I'm exploring consciousness.  For anyone who knows me you might be asking, "what are you doing with this website"?  Again, there are many answers.I'm...

I wasn't feeling 100% today but I knew I had to get outside.  The sun was shining and the air was cool and clean.  I mustered up some energy and went out to do some yard work.  I also got some work done on getting my canoe ready for exploring the marshes...

I've been walking about a 3 mile circuit 3 times a week at a local Nature Conservancy area named Brownsville.  On my walks I'm collecting pictures.  Photographic assets.  Each time out I seek out what I know as well as new places.  I go back over and over...

On the Eastern Shore of Virginia the main road is Highway 13.  Many passing through never leave it.  There is a well known book written by a now deceased local author, Kirk Mariner, titled "Off 13".  In the book are descriptions and stories of places that...

In Chesapeake, Virginia there is a small park next to a golf course of the same name I believe called Stumpy Lake.  It is a visual treasure trove for image hunters like myself.  Here are a few images taken on a cold muddy walk in January.