Blog (Commentary)

Categories:
Is the EPA's
Is the EPA's "Final Determination" the Final Word for Bristol Bay?
January 30, 2023

In 2010, a group of Alaska Native tribes, commercial fishermen and others petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to exercise its authority under the Clean Water Act to stop the mine. Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act authorizes the EPA to prohibit, restrict, or deny the use of any defined area in waters of the United States as a disposal site whenever it determines, after notice and opportunity for public hearing, that the discharge of dredged or fill material into the area will have an unacceptable adverse effect on fishery areas (including spawning and breeding areas)...

Read more ...
Pondering the Question
Pondering the Question "Is that Photoshopped?"
January 19, 2023

One of the evils of the digital age is that professional nature or landscape photographers have to respond to the question, “Is that Photoshopped?” There are two problems with the question. One problem relates to meaning...

Read more ...
Goodbye to Antelope Canyon
Goodbye to Antelope Canyon
January 13, 2023

There are many iconic landscape photography locations in the American Southwest: Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park, the Horseshoe Bend near Page, Arizona, or the Wave in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness...

Read more ...
Favorites from 2022
Favorites from 2022
January 12, 2023

With 18,307 images captured (and still on my hard drive) from 2022, you might think it is a little challenging to select a few favorites from the year. But for me, selecting a core group of favorite images involves more than selecting images that I think are technically good or creatively compelling...

Read more ...
National Bird Day - What should we celebrate?
National Bird Day - What should we celebrate?
January 5, 2023

My maternal grandmother was a bit of a stickler for grammar. So when I see the title National Bird Day, my grammar-sense kicks in. Are we celebrating our National Bird, the Bald Eagle, or are we as a nation celebrating birds in general?

The correct answer, of course, is the latter - we celebrate our love for birds as a nation...

Read more ...
Photography Helps us Make Deeper Connections to Nature
Photography Helps us Make Deeper Connections to Nature
January 1, 1023

What is Nature? Are people a part of nature? Why do we value nature or wild places? Why do we enjoy photography?

These are all deeply personal, subjective concepts. We each connect with nature in different ways, and we assign different values to it...

Read more ...
All Creatures Great and Small
All Creatures Great and Small
May 10, 2021

I am sitting on a rock, with the tripod set so that the camera is at eye-height, remaining motionless as I watch and wait. I saw him scurrying around just a few minutes ago, so I am hoping that by sitting still long enough he will come out to forage again...

Read more ...
Photographing in the
Photographing in the "Ugly" Season
April 30, 2021

There comes a time when we transition from winter to spring. In the time between the last snow melting and the trees starting to bud, things can be brown. Trash starts to show after a winter of hiding under the snow, decorating highway medians and lake shores...

Read more ...
Reflections on Earth Day
Reflections on Earth Day
April 22, 2021

Astronaut photograph AS17-148-22727, the first "Blue Marble" photo, taken on December 7, 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission. Courtesy of the NASA Johnson Space Center (public domain)

I was born into the environmental equivalent of a horror movie, at that time when you realize that there is a threat but you don't know what to do about it...

Read more ...
Why I Love Winters in Alaska
Why I Love Winters in Alaska
January 24, 2021

I see on the news and social media a general hysteria about winter temperatures and conditions in the Lower 48, and I chuckle to myself a bit. We have more often than not had unusually warm winters in Alaska as of late...

Read more ...
Developing the Gallery
Developing the Gallery
January 17, 2021

Along time ago, in a career far, far away, I had a small gallery downtown. It was at a time when I was doing any kind of photography work that would pay – commercial, portraits, weddings, sports, events...

Read more ...
Why Wilderness is Important to Me as an Artist
Why Wilderness is Important to Me as an Artist
April 22, 2020

In his book, The Singing Wilderness, Sigurd Olson said:  Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons. It is what we leave behind that is important...

Read more ...
National Parks Help Shape Our Personal Stories
National Parks Help Shape Our Personal Stories
April 20, 2020

During this National Parks Week, I wanted to take time and think of how our National Park System has influenced my life over the years. This is something we should all do from time to time, because it is likely we can all find a thread that the parks have woven through our personal fabric over the years...

Read more ...