Today’s title probably should have been the ones that got away. With all of the pictures I have made in my life, there are even more that got away from me. No matter how hard I tried, and I did, I could never be in two places at once. I have however, many times had up to three cameras set up to capture the variety of a scene.  Different lenses and formats.

Somewhere in the 1990s I was in New Mexico. This was the only time I visited this state and then stayed there for my entire trip. I flew into Albuquerque, grabbed my SUV rental, and was down the road to Bosque del Apache NWR. Then White Sands. Then old Spanish missions. Then Sitting Bull Falls. After three or four days, I was headed north in the west-central part of the state, racing to reach a remote set of Indian ruins. They sounded great and I needed time to get there, check out the photographic possibilities and make my pictures. In places like that, I also need some time to absorb the atmosphere. Very important to me. As I traveled, my vehicle was buffeting around with some odd cross winds. I looked out the left window and there were hundreds of whirling dust devils spaced across the desert. What a great opportunity.  I needed to set up and make my pictures before I wound up right in the middle of these little tornadoes. The problem was, I needed to get to those ruins, and make my pictures so I could be sure not to miss my sunrise on some distant lava beds the next morning. I decided to pass on the dust devils. When I finally got to the tiny, winding road that would take me up to the ruins, the sign read “road closed for repair”. Of course by this time the winds had subsided, and my dust devils had disappeared. I did get my sunrise pictures the next morning, but no dust devils. I had let it get away never to be found again.

Planning is important when you are on photo excursions.  So is serendipity.  When in doubt, make the picture at hand.

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Photography is like anything else in life, there are always more sheep than Sheppards. I see a lot of great work out there today but most of it suffers from the cloning effect. Not digital cloning, but one photographer copying what others are doing. Photographer/poet Xue Di is not one of the sheep. His imagery is pretty much straightforward. In other words he is not an abstract artist, but his subject matter and how he interprets it, is that of a Sheppard. He seems unaffected by the photographic world around him.

Sometimes there is nothing more powerful than a full frame portrait. Jack Zievis captured this image of a very stately “King”.  I’m glad that stare is meant for you and not for me.

Once again a Guy Tal image makes the pages of Earth Images. He is a landscape star and this image helps to show why in my last post, I chose the high desert of the American southwest as my favorite place to make pictures. 

Guy proves what usually seems to be true.  Great photographer/artists tend to be profound thinkers.  I am remembering Galen Rowell.

Let’s finish today’s guest shooter section with a beautiful desert image by Kurt Budliger. This is the Arizona desert and those are Cholla Cacti. Notice how he has managed to create some separation between the individual Cholla plants. The same is true with the background rocks. There is a lesson in composition in this picture.

I have been to this region of Arizona on three different occasions. The images you find here are not as automatic as the red rock country to the north, but it is well worth the visit. The landscape photographer who doesn’t mind a little work will prosper here. There is also great bird photography in this area.

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A few pix of my own.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.
– Robert Frost

A Missouri forest in spring.  Mingo NWR.

A Wisconsin forest in autumn.

Let there be light. An Illinois coniferous forest.

Lush is more than just an adjective, it’s a place.  The Hoh Rainforest in western Washington State.

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I recently came across this image of a very wet, and apparently miserable Common Grackle.  I made it in my own backyard in 2007.

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For every negative there is a positive. Over the last few years I certainly have not lived the kind of life I would choose. I am as opposite of a person from this lifestyle, as you can get. Still my current way of living has forced me to do things like, write this blog religiously. As many of you know, I’ve said what I have felt like saying, and let the chips fall where they may. That produces more freedom than you can imagine. On occasion I have slipped over the edge and I have apologized for that. Still, some of my most vigorous statements I remain vehement about. Through my thoughts come writings, through those writings come growth. With every negative there will be a positive. I appreciate those of you who have stayed the course on this sometimes rocky journey. Many of you I have never met, and know nothing about. We finds friends in many different ways.

Thank you and may God Bless,                                                                                                  Wayne