Capturing Beauty. Telling Stories. Making Memories.

I am just back from a nearly 3-week trip to Alaska.

This wasn't a photography trip, but I took two cameras and two lenses with me anyway. And I did a lot of photography. I have completed a preliminary downloading, reviewing and editing the images.

What has occurred to me as I review these images -- all 2,500+ of them -- is that each image can serve a different purpose. Some images serve to document a place, animal or event.

Others tell a story, but not in words. Each person who views an image can create his/her unique story about the photograph. What story does this image of a mother brown bear and her young cubs tell?

Some images are portraits, whether of an animal, a person or a beautiful place. This portrait of an old bull elephant in Namibia is one of my favorites. This old bull, about whom i wrote a previous blog post, looked directly at me. I sensed a great sadness in his eyes, as if he were telling me goodbye. That's the story I envisioned as we connected on a non-verbal level..
 

A photo can present the broad perspective of a landscape or the details of an animal's eyes. And they all can serve to bring back the memory of where/when/with whom I took the photo. I will always remember the surprise and thrill of seeing this mother cheetah peering at us inside the safari vehicle as she sat atop the vehicle's spare tire on the back.

Sometimes a scene is so beautiful and awe-inspiring that it takes my breath away. This has happened while I stood amid the grandeur of some of 

America’s national parks. No photograph can truly capture the magnificence as seen by my eyes, but it can certainly bring back the feelings I had as I witnessed natures magnificent creations

That's one of the things I love about photography. It's both an art and a science. It's much like other art forms, where the message is open to interpretation. It allows both the photographer and the viewer to see the scene in his or her unique way. And what I see or like in a photograph may not be what another person or photographer sees. Have five photographers photograph the same thing, and you're likely to get five different interpretations of the subject.

It's the 'eye' of the photographer that determines what to capture and how the photographer sees the scene. And it's the science of using the camera's capabilities to compose and to capture the image in the way the photographer envisions it. People sometimes ask what kind of camera I use, because they like my images and think if they have the same kind of camera (I shoot with Canon mirrorless cameras) they, too, can take good pictures. I wish it were that simple. Both the photographer and the equipment are necessary.

The bottom line is this: photography allows me to express my creative side. It allows those who view my photographs to experience places and things they may never have the opportunity to see in person. And I am very grateful that digital photography allows me to share my work.

Photography also can be a source of frustration and challenge, especially when dealing with potentially uncooperative wildlife or difficult weather.

But that is a small price to pay for the pleasure it brings me. Photography always challenges me to do better. And nothing else can preserve the memories of what I have seen in quite the same way.