My camera is a fairly constant companion, a way of walking in the world and gathering image seems in some ways for me an important part of processing and valuing the world around me. What I do with the image if far less important then being with it in the time it takes to photograph. People will often ask me about what equipment I use and to this day, other than the one constant which has been I use a pentax (for no particular reason other than it was the first brand I purchased and it became familiar in my hand) I have to go and find the camera and read the body info to answer the question. The same is true for each lens except in my head they are the big one, the mid sized big, the silly big and the really close one.

The close one does a nice job with super sharp tiny hard to see with the eye things. Some times, in some instances, i like that.

The loon in the distance, is more about creating a feeling, that softness between space and time, the solitary being in an expanse of quiet rain on an open lake. Sometimes, I like that too.

There are the moments when I am closer and the image could be brought to that crisper sharper place. Others where the light on the water is as important as the loon in the water in telling the story of that particular instance I want to hold in my memory, so I open it up a bit more and have something more like this…

I have a few photographer friends, each with their own unique styles and incredible skill sets, each that really control their shots by their knowledge and commitment to understanding the mechanics of making their camera work. While I admire that ability and sometimes envy it enough to pull out manuals and pretend I will go that route, that has proven time and time again not to be the kind of photographer I am.

My brain just does not work that way.

There is a dance between the eye and the heart and the hand that sometimes creates something just right and probably more often  misses, but the moment the dialogue in my head starts asking whats your setting I loose the connection from heart to hand and I cannot enjoy that trade even for a superior outcome.  That said, I am off to the shore for a bit, thermos the last thing to add to my bag, and yesterday I found a link again to share with you the sounds of the loon, which once experienced, lives strongly in your heart, it is as simple as that.

My best shared knowledge as a photo junkie, do not take anything too seriously, stay joyful and present in the moment, breathe deeply, be in the sun and the rain and the wind and the snow, walk softly in this world, we are all fragile things.