I think that those of us who photograph wildlife, sometimes get too caught up in the traditional view of our subjects. I have confessed before that I often don’t like those that abstract animal pictures.  I will see one every so often that I love, but mostly I want to see and enjoy the animal.  That is of course only a matter of opinion.  I do however, like non-traditional, yet non-abstract views of wildlife.  Every picture does not (to me) have to be like every other picture we have seen.  The back-end of animals are interesting too.  So are the ears or the feet. There a million ways to look at every subject whether you call it an abstract or just unique.

Getting Out of Town …Band of Brothers…Bighorn Sheep rams.

A fair percentage of the wildlife images that we see today are crops.  More and more I find reasons to use the pano crop when I do that. It is a great alternative to traditional rectangle/square crops.

Happy Couple…Sandhill Cranes

If you do like abstract wildlife images, public zoos are great places to play with shape and design.

Nature’s Designs…Giraffe

Whenever we do landscape photography, we generally feature the land.   Sometimes making the land take a back seat to the sky makes for a more powerful image.  This part of the west is known for it’s land forms, but it is also known for it’s “big sky” There are a thousand ways to tell a story.

The two images below belong one above the other.  They are the top and the bottom of one waterfall.  I did combine those halves in a vertical image, but I always preferred these two horizontals.

Every picture does indeed have a story and the above images are no exception. I was driving through the mountains of Colorado and I was very tired. Two days of constant movement, and little sleep meant I could not drive much longer.  I was not even close to a town with a motel and decided I would sleep in or near my car.  I found a small dirt road that seemed to climb vertically through the forest and into the sky.  I turned up the road. When I got to the second turn in the road I realized that nothing but a Mt. Goat would make it any further into the heavens.  As I was contemplating my next move I heard something. It was that sound I love so much.  Falling water. The nicest little vernal waterfall I could hope for.  Then something occurred to me.  I wasn’t tired anymore. I spent about ten minutes photographing my new-found friend, and about 30 minutes drinking in the atmosphere of being deep in the Rocky Mts. with an unnamed waterfall. I slept in my car that night, about fifteen feet from this artful bit of snowmelt.  The windows were open but I never slept better.

A waterfall exists anytime you have some water that is falling.  A few rocks and a little water, and nature has once again given us some natural art to enjoy.

I am frequently at least one season off with what that I show in this blog.  Here is a very traditional spring image of one of North America’s top spring photography destinations, Smoky Mt. National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina

Just a few words about Facebook. I have by Facebook standards, a small group of friends.  There are somewhere north of 300 of them which is about the same as I have on Flickr.  Many are people whom I have never met in person or electronically.  Some are photography pros that I enjoy reading/viewing their posts.  Some are good electronic friends and several are good friends from personal contact.  I do place some of those people on the “view only important updates” phase.  They are some of my best friends and I have a good reason for dong that.  I go to their Timeline pages anyway.  In other words I go to their personal page so that I don’t miss anything good.  I am following what they do anyway.  That removes some of what they do from my home page, and allows me to see the posts from those old and new professionals who’s careers I follow.  It is just a way of organizing how I go through Facebook.  I do place some people that I do not know, into that same “view only important updates” column.  Those are people who post constantly, but never post anything I care about.  Some are obnoxious.  I always care about what my friends and former colleagues are doing.  I also change my friends back to “view all updates” whenever I feel I am missing something on their Timeline page because they are deleting those posts.  I follow everybody that I know personally, and all of my electronic friends, especially those that I know from birding and other groups in this area, whether it is via my home page, or their Timeline page.

I hope that clears things up.  I always have a method to my madness, although I should talk/write about my reasons more often.

I want to say that when people I know, whether they are local photographers, close personal friends, those who took workshops with me, or any combination of the above, meet with success and get the acclaim they deserve, I am delighted.  On a regular basis I see you out there, getting published or selling art, and even sharing your words and imagery in front of an audience.  It always brings a smile to my face.  I went through three periods of photographic acclaim in my life, in the 1970s, and then the 1990s and one last time in the era of 2001-2008.  Those times do not always make you rich in money, but they enrich your life.  Keep it up, I am cheering for you every step of the way.

The mark of true friendship is how  much you truly want your friends to succeed.

Have a great day and stop back soon.  Wayne