Tuesday, September 30, 2025

You had to be there

Brown Bear Diving, Brooks Falls, Katmai National Park, Alaska

As I watched a brown bear dive into the water of the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska, creating a splash so big it obscured most of its 1,000-pound body, I briefly acknowledged that I was lucky to witness what most wildlife photographers come here to see.

It is an experience to behold. There’s silence as the bear works to identify a salmon it hopes to catch, then a sudden burst of activity as it launches after it. The splashes grow larger and louder. The bear soon disappears behind a curtain of water, its sharp claws the last to vanish. There’s now a moment of suspense. We must wait a few seconds for the water to settle to see if the bear caught its fish.

But there is so much more to the bears. These moments of drama made up but a few minutes of my week with them, yet these displays of raw power are typically what we think of when we think of them.

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Snapshots and souvenirs

Sea of Clouds at Dusk, Topeka, Kansas

Today is World Photography Day — a day to appreciate “the art of capturing moments.” For me, photography was the gateway to appreciating the moments themselves.

Thursday, July 31, 2025

The truth is beneath the surface (and also above it)

Atlantic Surf Under Soft Light, Hutchinson Island, Florida

Between editing software and artificial intelligence, photographs are no longer trusted as presenting an absolute truth. It’s a different world from the one nearly 150 years ago when Eadweard Muybridge showed racehorses can briefly fly through the air. But even an unedited photo represents only one version of the truth. That’s because there is no such thing as a completely unedited photo.

Monday, June 30, 2025

Invasive inspiration

Wireweed in Shallow Water, Puget Sound, Edmonds, Washington

Fibrous strands of red swayed just below the water's surface with the motion of the incoming tide. I loved the color. I loved the lines. I loved the serenity. As I stood up to my knees in the saltwater of Puget Sound, I was struck by the beauty before me.

But none of it was supposed to be there.

Saturday, May 31, 2025

Getting beyond "the shot"

Filtered Sunlight on Spring Creek, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas

You will sometimes hear photographers talk about getting “the shot” — they captured what they wanted to get. If you were to compare photography to the way we commonly think about education, this picture is the equivalent of the diploma. It’s the reward. The achievement is complete. We’re done here.

This concept has some precedence in art history. Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer of candid scenes and he was known for capturing “the decisive moment.” The elements in his photographs were so perfectly arranged that a picture taken even a split second earlier or later would appear obviously inferior.

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

No such thing as small actions

Anna's Hummingbird Feeding at Apple Blossom, Snohomish County, Washington

There’s a saying about how Earth becomes smaller every passing year. There is an element of literal truth to that. Each day, several hundred tons of hydrogen, helium, and oxygen leak out of our atmosphere, more than offsetting the 40-some tons of asteroid debris and other space dust that enters. But the saying is really about how technology makes our world feel smaller.

With the internet, information travels across the planet at light speed. Commercial jetliners allow us to get virtually anywhere in under a day. But as the world feels smaller, we may feel smaller still. While the shrinking world puts more within reach, our influence seems to be shrinking, too. There are plenty of factors that make us feel personally insignificant.

Monday, March 31, 2025

Whispers and shouts

Cherry Blossoms, Soft Focus, Shelton View Forest, Bothell, Washington
In photography, we typically celebrate the dramatic. Landscapes with explosive colors. Powerful wildlife in the midst of intense action. But that’s not usually how I see the world.

Most of the time I’m in nature I’m thinking. About the meaning of life. About how everything is connected to everything else. How all of us — human, plant, or animal — are just trying to get by.