Learning to See Out Further and In Deeper
Images from my Daily Discovery of the Natural World
Why Photography
Fun with a Camera
I am (proudly) a hobbyist rather than a professional. Photography should be fun. Hot water and a polar vortex are much more fun if you add a camera. I don't want my hobby to become a job. When people have asked to buy or license my work, I have suggested a donation to a conservation-minded non-profit such as the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, or the Indian Creek Nature Center.
Travel Photography
Taking a camera on vacations can be enjoyable as well. Not for selfies with the Mona Lisa, but to accentuate and memorialize authentic moments.
Photography and Being
I didn't start taking wildlife photos to create art. I started taking photos to help me identify birds and insects that I saw. In so doing, I found that the act of photography focused my mind and caused me to be more deliberate and to look out further and in deeper. A walk in the woods is good for body and mind. When I carry a camera on a nature walk, I see more, and I experience more. Nature photography is transformative, in that the creative act alters the creator.