I have spent much of the past 25 years “spreading the word” about nature photography.  I have always felt that doing that is my one true purpose.

Nature photography like anything else is just what you want it to be.  For me it is many things.  It is a reason to get out of the house.  For many years it has been a way to make money. It brings with it the express purpose of exploration.  It is hard to find all those subjects if you don’t have an explorer inside somewhere.  It is a place to meet new friends and enjoy the company of old ones.  It is a place to be alone.  A reason to go out and get away from it all. Peace and solitude are a healing force.  It allows one to develop a respect and admiration for all living things.  It is a way to express myself.  Our pictures are just that, our pictures.  We can interpret and then share.  Sharing is an important part of nature photography.

I have taught workshops and sang from the mountain tops (metaphorically) in an effort to convert people to the art and enjoyment of nature photography.  As I look around me on the internet, from Flickr to Facebook and all of the thousands of avenues for millions of nature photographers to share their work, I would have to say that those healing powers, those opportunities for fun and excitement, are being found and shared by many.

For a while in the past few years I was actually getting selfishly dismayed at all of those new nature photographers.  I know!  How hypocritical can I be?  I enjoyed infecting and affecting everyone I could with this joy and love of nature photography.  Then I realized how many new nature photographers there were in the world.  I got selfish. I have never enjoyed traveling the same path as the masses and now this thing I loved so much was becoming common.  Common has always been a dirty word to me.  The truth is that I was correct way back when I began to convert everyone I could find into a brand new nature photographer.  It simply means that there are millions of more people who are understanding the environment.  They learn the personal joy of spotting a new species of bird for the first time and then creating an image to share.  They once again (like I did) re-discover that wide-eyed wonder of the child that lives within.

I am once again at peace with myself and others like me.  I do think that  we have always been doing the right thing in spreading the word about nature photography.   I do believe that this has been my purpose.  Maybe it is your purpose as well.  Go out and fulfill your destiny. It is a feeling like no other.

Water

What % of your images, contain water in one form or another?  Look carefully.

It became clear to me a while ago that I should have kept my website open for another couple of months.  I didn’t….so now there is the Earth Image’s Blog.  Like everything I have done in 2010 this blog is temporary.  For that reason above all I am eternally grateful to all of you who have supported it.  You may be small in numbers but you are giants in my heart.

Wayne