Windhover
Photojournalism }

walking in the light: a life in photography

PHOTO JOURNAL

I plan on sharing some thoughts on photography based on my nearly 30 years of teaching, 50 some years being around cameras, and the last 10 years freelancing. Former students might hear some echoes of comments made in class. My favorites remain the same: Eugene Smith, Father Don Doll, James Nachtwey, Jim Richardson, and of course, for pure art--Ansel Adams. This is the starting line-up, but the bench is full and plenty of other shooters are first-teamers in anyone’s book. Periodically, I may comment on a particular photo, its ripple effect in the world of writing with light. Photos, when all the planets are aligned, can become--to paraphrase Thoreau--a moment’s monument. Those of the masters don’t really NEED my words commenting on them, but I like to think about photos, and these journal comments will be my solitary standing ovation, clapping alone here in my study, to some photographs and photographers I admire.

Anyone wanting to share a response, can reach me at windhover_b@yahoo.com

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Fighting those winter blahs

We have had one of the worst winters in recent history in Platte County: lots of snow, extreme temperatures, and wind that commanded we mimic the horses and mules; we turned our backs to it as we walked sideways down to the barn, trying to stay vertical.

Yet, after the weather has moderated, Mother Nature left us a gift--drifted sculptures as pretty as anything in the Louvre. Sure, we had to ignore the drifts that forced us to extreme measures to get up and down our driveway, but some drifts when they caught the morning light were worth all the bitter cold and propane dollars. And they had to be documented with the camera.

Here then are some of Mother Nature's gifts from Winter 2009-2010.