Free Downloadable Publications The Daily Photograph Blog Postcards from the Creative Journey Blog Learn About Platinum Printing About Joe Lipka


Joe Lipka – A Personal Creative Journey


The Lipka Journal – A free PDF with several projects, published monthly


Independent Publications – Single-topic PDFs


Blog: Postcards from the Creative Journey – Thoughts on the Creative Process published every Sunday and Thursday.


Blog: The Daily Photograph Blog - A different photograph, just for fun, published daily.


Blurb Books – Print versions of selected Projects: New Book, Mostly True Stories  


Please sign up for news from Joe Lipka Photography.




The Lipka Journal is a Publication with two to four projects, two single image stories and Reflections on the Creative Journey. Published monthly since April, 2020.
All the features of these interactive PDF documents work best when you download to your device and use Adobe Acrobat Reader



Newest Journal!

Little Moments, Artfully Arranged, Mountain Tales
Three projects; Little Moments, Artfully Arranged, Mountain Tales plus two single image projects.

A free 39 page Publication issued March 1, 2024
Download The Lipka Journal, March, 2024

A Moment Later, Runoff, Elysian Fields
Three projects; A Moment Later, Runoff, Elysian Fields plus two single image projects, and a new feature, "Lessons Learned".

A free 37 page Publication issued February 1, 2024
Download The Lipka Journal, February, 2024

Overlook, Heidelberg Castle, Anonymous in Death
Three projects; Overlook, Heidelberg Castle, Anonymous in Death plus two single image projects.

A free 37 page Publication issued January 1, 2024
Download The Lipka Journal, January, 2024

Time Between, A River Portrait, The Edge of Visible
Three projects; Time Between, A River Portrait, The Edge of Visible plus two single image projects.

A free 35 page Publication issued December 1, 2023
Download The Lipka Journal, December, 2023

Hildegard of Bingen, Wyoming Territorial Prison, Hart Square
Three projects; Hildegard of Bingen, Hard Time, The Way It Was Done plus two single image projects.

A free 33 page Publication issued November 1, 2023
Download The Lipka Journal, November, 2023

Oregon Beach photographs, storms in Wyoming, Snow on the Rhine
Three projects; Visual Souvenirs, Storm's Comin' and A Grey World plus two single image projects.

A free 36 page Publication issued October 1, 2023
Download The Lipka Journal, October, 2023

Photographs from a week in September
One big project; Photographs from a week in September plus two single image projects.

A free 43 page Publication issued September 1, 2023
Download The Lipka Journal, September, 2023

Harmony, After the Memories
Two big projects; Harmony, and After the Memories plus two single image projects.

A free 40 page Publication issued August 1, 2023
Download The Lipka Journal, August, 2023

Aachen Cathedral, The Oregon Coast, Explorations
Three projects; Syntheses, Relentless, and Explorations plus two single image projects.

A free 36 page Publication issued July 1, 2023
Download The Lipka Journal, July, 2023

Les Portes d'Honfleur, The Touched Landscape, Some Time Alone
Three projects; Les Portes d'Honfleur, The Touched Landscape, Some Time Alone plus two single image projects.

A free 35 page Publication issued June 1, 2023
Download The Lipka Journal, June, 2023

Elk Creek, Leap of Faith, Everyday Things
Three projects; Elk Creek, Leap of Faith, Everyday Things plus two single image projects.

A free 40 page Publication issued May 1, 2023
Download The Lipka Journal, May, 2023

Grass Fire, Set a Spell, Street Mosaics
Three projects; Grass Fire, Set a Spell, Street Mosaics plus two single image projects.

A free 39 page Publication issued April 1, 2023
Download The Lipka Journal, April, 2023

Magic Garden, Familiar Ground, Sentimental Journey
Three projects; Magic Garden, Familiar Ground, Sentimental Journey plus two single image projects.

A free 36 page Publication issued March 1, 2023
Download The Lipka Journal, March, 2023

The Grand Carrousel, The Big Picture, To Each His Own
Three projects; The Grand Carrousel, The Big Picture, To Each His Own plus two single image projects.

A free 35 page Publication issued Februrary 1, 2023
Download The Lipka Journal, Februrary, 2023

Pavement Ends, Beyond the Parking Lot, Reverent Silence
Three projects; Pavement Ends, Beyond the Parking Lot, Reverent Silence plus two single image projects.

A free 46 page Publication issued January 1, 2023
Download The Lipka Journal, January, 2023

Nothing Simple or Assured, Rounded Edges, Heart of the Home
Three projects; Nothing Simple or Assured, Rounded Edges, Heart of the Home plus two single image projects.

A free 41 page Publication issued December 1, 2022
Download The Lipka Journal, December, 2022

Autumn Reflections, Waputki Pueblo, Wind Turbines
Three projects; Autumn Reflections, A Lasting Presence and A Conflict Between Head and Heart plus two single image projects.

A free 38 page Publication issued November 1, 2022
Download The Lipka Journal, November, 2022

Haleakala Sunrise, Paint the Desert, Early Snow
Three projects; Haleakala Sunrise, Paint the Desert, and Early Snow plus two single image projects and a bonus project filled with rejected images!

A free 47 page Publication issued October 1, 2022
Download The Lipka Journal, October, 2022

Off the Route, The Eyes Have It, Waiting for the Ferry
Three projects; Off the Route, The Eyes Have It, Waiting for the Ferry plus two single image projects.

A free 35 page Publication issued September 1, 2022
Download The Lipka Journal, September, 2022

A Tranquil Pond, La Bahia and Me and My Shadow
Three projects; A Tranquil Pond, La Bahia and Me and My Shadow plus two single image projects.

A free 32 page Publication issued August 1, 2022
Download The Lipka Journal, August, 2022

From Smith to Paulina, A Chance Meeting, A Stop Along the Way, A Place to Fish
Four projects; From Smith to Paulina, A Chance Meeting, A Stop Along the Way, and A Place to Fish plus two single image projects. Also Introducing the "More Memories than Dreams" Projects.

A free 35 page Publication issued July 1, 2022
Download The Lipka Journal, July, 2022

Monument Les Braves, Mining Camp, Durffey's Mesa, Melvin's Shop
Four projects; Monument Les Braves, Mining Camp, Durffey's Mesa, and Melvin's Shop plus two single image projects.

A free 33 page Publication issued June 1, 2022
Download The Lipka Journal, June, 2022

Sunset Crater Volcanoes, Greenway Plaza, Houston, Steens Mountain, Colleville sur Mer
Four projects; Cinder Cones, Geometry Games, Ascending Steens Mountain, and Memorial Day plus two single image projects.

A free 35 page Publication issued May 1, 2022
Download The Lipka Journal, May, 2022

Mont St. Michele, small creek, Sky's the Limit
Three projects; Looking Up, A Small Creek, The Sky's the Limit plus two single image projects.

A free 32 page Publication issued April 1, 2022
Download The Lipka Journal, April, 2022

Castles on the Rhine, Japanese Garden, Wind Turbines
Three projects; Of A Time Past, Reflections and The Human Element plus two single image projects.

A free 41 page Publication issued March 1, 2022
Download The Lipka Journal, March, 2022

Locker Memories, Ribbon of Green and Ten Days
Three projects; Locker Memories, Ribbon of Green and Ten Days plus two single image projects.

A free 43 page Publication issued February 1, 2022
Download The Lipka Journal, February, 2022

The Sound of Water, A Cascade of Stairs, Please Stay on Path
Three projects; The Sound of Water, A Cascade of Stairs, Please Stay on Path plus two single image projects.

A free 38 page Publication issued January 1, 2022
Download The Lipka Journal, January, 2022

Budapest at Night, Photographing sunsets, petroglyphs
Three projects; Golden Memories, A Matter of Choice, and Stories Without Words plus two single image projects.

A free 31 page Publication issued December 1, 2021
Download The Lipka Journal, December 2021

Autumn Leaves, Cologne Cathedral, Ten Thousand Buddhas
Three projects; Near the End, Dedication, and The Destination plus two single image projects.

A free 30 page Publication issued November 1, 2021
Download The Lipka Journal, November 2021

Volkswagen Bug, Bristlecone Pines, Panoramas of the Oregon Coast
Three projects; Wrinkles of Time, Reflections on a First Love, and Resistance is Futile plus two single image projects.

A free 29 page Publication issued October 1, 2021
Download The Lipka Journal, October 2021

Palouse Landscapes, Door photographs, San Simeon
Three projects; After the Harvest, The House on the Hill, and Passages and Portals plus two single image projects.

A free 32 page Publication issued September 1, 2021
Download The Lipka Journal, September 2021

Bodie California, Danube River, Budapest
Three projects; Being on the Outside, Rolling Down the River and Spires plus two single image projects.

A free 29 page Publication issued August 1, 2021

Download The Lipka Journal, August 2021

Painted Hills, Oregon Coast Fog, Electric Transmission Towers
Three projects; The Time of Giants, Limited Distance and The Fallen plus two single image projects.

A free 30 page Publication issued July 1, 2021

Download The Lipka Journal, July 2021
Alabama Hills, Sun Yat Sen Garden, Ship Building
Three projects; The Alabama Hills, A Chinese Garden and a Manufacturing Facility plus two single image projects.

A free 30 page Publication issued June 1, 2021

Download The The Lipka Journal, June 2021
Seattle Japanese Garden, Palouse landscapes, Rocks in River
Three projects; Streamside, Land Abstracts and A Japanese Garden plus two single image projects.

A free 30 page Publication issued May 1, 2021

Download The The Lipka Journal, May 2021
Yellow Autumn Leaves, Cascade Mountains in Fog, Old Fieldhouse Notre Dame
Three projects; The Demands of Autumn, Walk Among the Clouds and The Fieldhouse Project plus two single image projects.

A free 30 page Publication issued April 1, 2021
Download The Lipka Journal, April 2021
Factory Butte, Durnstein Church, Wallace Idaho
Three projects; Ten Views of Factory Butte, The Blue Church, Durnstein and The Alleys of Wallace, Idaho plus two single image projects.

A free 34 page Publication issued March 1, 2021
Download The The Lipka Journal, March 2021
Shai Tin, Snake River, Hart Square Kitchens
Three projects; A Journey to Shai Tin, Following the Snake River and The Old Kitchen plus two single image projects.

A free 26 page Publication issued February 1, 2021
Download The The Lipka Journal, February 2021
Wooden Boat Repair, Double Cabin Pond, Clouds over the Palouse
Three projects; The Boatyard, Passing Time (at the Double Cabin Pond) and It’s All About the Clouds plus two single image projects.

A free 31 page Publication issued January 1, 2021
Download The The Lipka Journal, January 2021
1935 Bugatti Type 57S Aerolithe, Williamsburg Christmas, Oysterville Church
Three projects; The 1935 Bugatti Type 57S Aerolithe, A Community Place and a Colonial Christmas plus two single image projects.

A free 34 page Publication issued December 1, 2020
Download The The Lipka Journal, December 2020
Slough landscapes, photographs of circles, shadows on a boat deck
Three projects; When the Water is Gone, Circular Logic, and Music of the Shadows plus two single image projects.

A free 37 page Publication issued November 1, 2020
Download The The Lipka Journal, November 2020
Academy Street, Lake Abert, White River Falls
Three projects; After the Memories (Part II), Boundaries and Transitions, and Not Much of Anything plus a short picture story.

A free 32 page Publication issued October 1, 2020
Download The The Lipka Journal, October 2020
Cataldo Mission, 1934 BMW R7 Motorcycle, Flower Market Road
Three projects; The Old Mission, Mobile Art, and Flower Market Road plus a short picture story.

A free 35 page Publication issued September 1, 2020
Download The The Lipka Journal, September 2020
Bratislava Castle, Toutle River, One Room Schools, Japanese Oscar plane
Four projects; Bratislava Castle, Clearing Storm on the Toutle River, Great Grandpa’s School and Survival plus two short picture stories.

A free 36 page Publication issued August 1, 2020
Download The The Lipka Journal, August 2020
Rocks in a stream, Fog on the Danube, Rice Museum
Four projects; Art Rocks, Early Morning On the River, A Quick Stop and Age and Context plus one short picture story.

A free 32 page Publication issued July 1, 2020
Download The The Lipka Journal, July 2020
Academy Street, Fort Worden
Three projects; The Chicken Shack, Free Your Mind, and A Neighborhood Walk plus one short picture story.

A free 33 page Publication issued June 1, 2020
Download The The Lipka Journal, June 2020
Amusement Park Baotou, St. Francis of Assissi Church Vienna Austria, Trees Tolumne Meadow
Three projects; Closed for the Winter, The First Church of Escher, and Yosemite Family Tree Portraits plus two short picture stories.

A free 33 page Publication issued May 1, 2020
Download The The Lipka Journal, May 2020
Oregon Coast, Hawai'i beach rocks, No Fuss Sculpture
Three projects; The Shape of Wind, The White Rock, and No Fuss plus two short picture stories.

A free 27 page PDF Publication Issued April 1, 2020
Download The The Lipka Journal, April 2020



Independent Publications


Single Topic Publications include ten to thirty photographs on a single topic. Published periodically since 1991.
All the features of these interactive PDF document work best when you download to your device and use Adobe Acrobat Reader.


Return to top of page



Hong Kong Bird Market
It's all gone now. Several Bird Flu epidemics and an aging population of song bird aficionados have made the Hong Kong Bird Market a thing of the past. Enjoy a stroll through recent history.

A free PDF with 30 pages and 6.5 mB, published July 1, 2020

Download The Hong Kong Bird Market
Fifty Great Photographs
When I turned fifty, I created a project for fifty friends with fifty of my favorite photographs. I went searching for photographs, but what I found was memories. The original version has the photographs, but revisiting the project includes the memories. Download the Revisited edition to enjoy the comments in Acrobat Reader.


A free PDF with 55 pages and 24.5 mB, originally published, August 2001, Republished April 2020

Download Fifty:Revisited
A Hard Land

The rain chased us out of the Fraser River Valley and we sought refuge in the dry land of Eastern Oregon. Life is difficult in the Oregon desert; coping with extreme temperatures, a lack of water and incessant wind makes survival a challenge in A Hard Land.

A free PDF with 15 pages and 4.3 mB, published in March, 2020.

Download A Hard Land
Roadside Attraction

Isaac Newton said it takes force to break momentum. Turning away from the beauty of the Fraser River (see The Road no Longer Taken) took quite a bit of creative force. But the reward was worth the effort in seeing the beauty of the intimate landscape on the near bank of the Fraser River.

A free PDF with 8 pages and 3.0 mB, published in February 2020.

Download Roadside Attraction
Fraser River abandoned road

Sometimes a new road means the old road is just abandoned. Being abandoned does not mean it is less useful. The Road No Longer Taken is useful to those that value the journey more than the destination.

A free PDF with 12 pages and 2.2 mB, published in January, 2020.

Download The Road No Longer Taken
Columbia River waterfalls

The camera records with unfailing accuracy and sharpness what is directly in front of it. What makes us different from the camera is that we can see something other than what the camera records. One afternoon the Water Spirits appeared in front of the camera.

A free PDF with 13 pages and 3.3 mB, published in December 2019.

Download The Water Spirits
Portland Japanese Garden

It started as a walk in a Japanese Garden on an autumn afternoon. But it became an opportunity to look at both the natural and the man made together. It ended with me wondering if the natural was growing around the man made, or was it the opposite?

A free PDF with 16 pages and 5.5 mB, published in November, 2019.

Download Harmony
Single trees in Yosemite

Sometimes the trees are more than trees. They can be symbols, metaphors, maybe even a thought. It is the same with rocks. Sometimes they have their own conversations and if we are lucky we might listen to their thoughts.

A free PDF with 11 pages and 19 mB, published in October, 2019.

Download Folio Xs and Os
cut to fit

Wooden boats weaken and rot with age but skilled craftsmen cut, form and shape wood making repairs at least as strong as the original. The world calls them boatwrights, but they are artists.

A free PDF with 15 pages and 2.4 mB, published in September, 2019.

Download Cut to Fit
Gone for a Minute

When tools are not being used they are put in a specific place and in a specific way to be picked up quickly and used once again. The user does not think about the aesthetics of the placement of their tools, just the convenience for their next use. Unconsciously, there is a distinct aesthetic to the placement of idle tools.

A free PDF with 22 pages and 19.4 mB, published in August, 2019.

Download Gone for a Minute
Yates Mill

We marvel at skills that are so different than the ones our generation prizes. We choose to learn these skills as a pass time something that we can pursue without consequences, unlike our ancestors, where these skills were very often the difference between life and death.

A free PDF with 10 pages and 18 mB, published in July, 2019.

Download Yates Mill Revisited
Lost in Fog

We cannot see through the fog. But we can hear the surf, the cry of the birds and smell the salt air and seaweed. This information is qualitative. We need to know where we are, but we haven’t asked ourselves why we need to know.

A free PDF with 13 pages and 1.40 mB, published in June, 2019.

Download Lost in Fog
Cerro Gordo Ghost Town

We were sitting around the campfire drinking cheap rye whiskey from battered tin cups. A grizzled old prospector began spinning tales of his miraculous escapes from claim jumpers and bear attacks while searching for the elusive mother lode in the White Mountains. How could someone survive so many harrowing narrow escapes? We sipped our whiskey and listened.

A free PDF with 13 pages and 2.90 mB, published in May, 2019.

Download Tales of the West
Passau, Artist's Alley, Hollgasse

GPS and smart phones are the modern way to navigate through a new town. Then there is the old fashioned way; following guides painted on the pavement. Where do the painted cobbles lead? The only answer is to be adventurous and follow them.

A free PDF with 10 pages and 2.9 mB, published in April, 2019.

Download The Way to Holgasse
Light Exercises
The ancients worshipped the sun. It made life possible by giving them warmth and illumination. Along with the illumination came the shadows cast by the sun. Shadows had precision, meaning and were used to herald the change of the seasons. We still see shadows today and wonder if they are significant indicators in our life.

A free PDF with 19 pages and 3.30 mB, published in March, 2019.

Download Light Exercises
Big Obsidian Flow, Deschutes National Forest
It is a pile of volcanic rock, obsidian, pumice and whatever else came out of a small volcano in Eastern Oregon merely 1300 years ago.
In such a harsh place we found something quite unexpected.

A free PDF with 9 pages and 3.8 mB, published in February, 2019.

Download Adaptations
Melk Abbey

Over the past six centuries countless numbers of people waited on the stairs. We shared the experience of marveling at the decorations and reflect on those that commanded the resources to decorate a simple stairwell with such beauty.

A free PDF with 12 pages and 3.3 mB, published in November, 2019

Download Waiting for the Bishop
A Boy's Dream

On a quest for landscape photographs in Central and Eastern Oregon we drove by a sign for the Erickson Airplane Collection. On a whim, we stopped by to look at the old airplanes and then spent the whole day photographing the planes I knew from my childhood books. This was the first time the dreams of my childhood became real.

A free PDF with 12 pages and 3.3 mB, published in January, 2019

Download A Boy's Dream
Academy Street Cary North Carolina

I did not make the only photographs of Academy Street. A chance rummage through the Town of Cary Archives opened up a whole new world of vintage photographs of the same places. Old and new meet in one frame to connect the Town’s past and present.

This is the eighth Academy Street Folio.

A free PDF with 16 pages and 7.6 mB, published in September, 2018

Download After the Memories
Academy Street Cary North Carolina

I’ve photographed Academy Street in Cary, North Carolina for over thirty years. After some major renovations on the street, I went back to seek what has changed. Quite a lot, I think, and not much has changed for the better.

This is the seventh Academy Street Folio.

A free PDF with 15 pages and 7.6 mB, published in September, 2018

Download After the Memories Part I
Wyoming, Hell's Half Acre

The Unspoiled Landscape is the Holy Grail for photographers of the American West. In that quest, we continue the Tradition of Nineteenth Century photographers chronicling the amazing scenes of the natural world. As our Legacy we leave our images for the next generation.

A free PDF with 33 pages and 3.3 mB, published in April, 2018

Download Traditions and Legacy: Hell's Half Acre
The Elegant Solution

“The hydrodynamic design of a propeller is accomplished in two steps ... In the second step, one finds the shape of the blade that will produce this prescribed distribution of circulation.” You may ponder the intricacies of perfect hydrodynamic design or, you can be mesmerized by the aesthetic design, shape, form, texture and the beautiful afternoon light on these propeller blades.

A free PDF with 10 pages and 4.8 mB, published in January, 2018

Download The Elegant Solution
Photographs of Numbers, Boatyard

In the Dakota Creek boatyard every part was numbered and sometimes numbers were incorporated in the final product. I thought about trying to work around the numbers but they are so integral to the life of the boatyard it was inevitable that numbers became part of my photographs.

A free PDF with 12 pages and 3.3 mB, published in January, 2018

Download The Inevitability of Numbers
Night time snow photographs

Hurricanes roar with the sound of a freight train.
Rain whispers you should take a nap.
Snow is so quiet, fog is jealous.


A free PDF with 11 pages and 6.9 mB, published in June, 2018

Download Silence of Snow
Bandon Beach seascapes

Listen to these photographs to hear the surf crashing against the rocks, hear the gulls cry. Feel the sea breeze on your skin grow cooler as the sun sets. The sun fights a losing battle to keep you warm as it nears days’ end. But you smile knowing you have memories of a beautiful afternoon to experience again and again.

A free PDF with 11 pages and 3.4 mB, published in January, 2018

Download Bandon Beach Reflections
Basilica of the Sacred Heart Notre Dame

Lessons in composition are learned both in the studio and in the real world. Beauty exists on all levels if we take the time to truly look at what surrounds us.

A free PDF with 11 pages and 9.9 mB, published in December, 2017

Download I Raise My Eyes
Craftperson's hands at Hart Square

For generations past, the unceasing labor of creating everything by hand made the need for exercise unnecessary.
Today, creating hand made goods is keeping the spirit of the past alive.

A free PDF with 14 pages and 8.8 mB, published in December, 2017

Download Made By Hand
Mono Lake landscapes

Landscapes sometimes take millions of years to evolve on their own. When man attempts to shape the land, changes can happen much quicker. This landscape was not visible one hundred years ago. It is visible now because man changed the level of a lake. The plan is to fill the lake and submerge these structures and this landscape will disappear again.

A free PDF with 11 pages and 1.7 mB, published in July, 2017

Download Temporary Landscapes
Portraits of Dwight Holland

Dwight Holland’s castle holds beautiful objects that inspire and enrich his life. While you follow him into the heart of his castle (the kitchen; originally built in 1852) his art will tell you so much about him that when you get into the kitchen he seems like an old friend and you are merely continuing a conversation you have been having for years.

A free PDF with 14 pages and 2.44 mB, published in April, 2017

Download An Afternoon with Dwight
Photographs of doors

Doors are meant to separate two spaces. A partially open door only hints at what lies beyond. Photographs that long to capture the fullness of the space beyond cannot do so. They can only hint at what is on the other side of the door. I have been captivated by the hints of what is beyond the doorway for a very long time. I always stop and look at the partly open door. If I have a camera in my hand, I record the question to be answered later.

A free PDF with 17 pages and 15.4 mB, published in June, 2017

Download Passages and Portals
Shadow Photographs

Projects may take months, or even years to complete. Sometimes they take only minutes. All it took was a cup of tea, a smartphone, a pencil and a small notebook. And light, yes, light. A Gift of Light given as an inspiration on a spring morning.

A free PDF with 10 pages and 15.4 mB, published in May, 2017

Download A Gift of Light
Rocks in a stream

An afternoon’s photography passed by in what seemed like a few minutes. Too soon, the light was gone and I had to leave. With one last look over my shoulder, I climbed the hill back to the road and hoisted myself over the guard rail.

I was not able to find this place again. One afternoon was all I was allowed at Jump Off Joes.

A free PDF with 10 pages and 6.5 mB, published in October, 2015

Download Jump Off Joes
Art Deco Car Exhibit at North Carolina Museum

They look like automobiles. They have engines, wheels and you could drive them from place to place. I saw them neither as automobiles nor as sculpture. I saw them as music. Not baroque music, which has perpendicular lines and geometric structures, but jazz, where the lines are flowing, curved, smooth and rounded.

A free PDF with 19 pages and 2.7 mB, published in December, 2016

Download Rolling Sculpture
Bodie California

Bodie, California is a town where all the doors, save two, are locked.

A free PDF with 11 pages and 2 mB, published in December, 2015

Download The Only Open Doors
The Hughes House

Victorian homes fascinate me. The precise placement of the tall windows brings natural light into the rooms and provides an expansive view of the outdoors. The furniture is rich in detailing showcasing the skills of the furniture makers. I call them masterworks but the craftsman of that time would take credit for “doing their job right.”

A free PDF with 14 pages and 5.1 mB, published in October 2016

Download The Hughes House
Bristlecone Pines, White Mountains

Bristlecone Pines are the oldest living things on Earth having survived four millennia in the White Mountains of California. They have seen much in their lifetimes. We claim age brings wisdom, so these trees must possess the wisdom of an unparalleled variety. What do they have to say and how do they communicate with us?

A free PDF with 12 pages and 6.3 mB, published in August, 2016

Download Ancient Gestures
Shore Acres

Earthbound geologists can tell you these images are concretions in a bed of sandstone and explain their history and the mechanism of their creation.
Well, I don’t think so.
Even though these earthbound rocks are close enough to reach out and touch I consider them faraway worlds - within arm’s reach.

A free PDF with 18 pages and 11.5 mB, published in July, 2016

Download Faraway Worlds
Jones Cottage Academy Street Cary, North Carolina

There was no preparation and no grand plan for the day. The Winter Day's light was beautiful and this little cottage all but begged me to make her portrait. She remembered our encounter from decades ago and wanted to catch up on old times. We both changed since that first encounter.
It was time to get reacquainted.
This is the sixth of the Academy Street folios.

A free PDF with 17 pages and 4.2 mB, published in May, 2016

Download Victorian Lady
Ivey Ellison House Cary, North Carolina

We wait and bide our time for the proper moment. We use the time to think, plan and enjoy anticipating the arrival of that special time. Waiting for that special moment gives us time visualize and anticipate the result of our work.
This is the fifth of the Academy Street folios.

A free PDF with 10 pages and 2.6 mB, published in May, 2016

Download Southern Gothic
Capitol Reef Landscapes

The challenge of photography is to choreograph a dance among the subject, light and the camera. I danced with the light in Southern Utah for two weeks.
It was glorious.
The Dancing with Light folios are the result of two sojourns through the southern region of Utah.

A free PDF with 16 pages and 6.5 mB, published in April, 2015

Download Dancing With Light: The Vistas
Capitol Reef Rock Walls

To most people, it’s a rock face. To a photographer it is more than a rock face. It could be soaring arches of a medieval cathedral, a face in profile, roiling waters of an ocean storm or the resolution of primeval forces. It might be a representation of conflicting emotions, a struggle between good and evil or the photographer’s current inner turmoil.

A free PDF with 15 pages and 10.3 mB, published in April, 2015

Download Dancing With Light: At Face Value
Capitol Reef Arroyo near Factory Butte

Approaching a dip in the road, we slowed down, pulled off the road and looked down a dry creek bed. We pulled the camera gear out of the truck, checked our water and headed down this dry creek. A couple of hours, a half mile and a bunch of exposures later we climbed thirty some feet out of the creek bed and walked back to the truck.

A free PDF with 11 pages and 6.9 mB, published in July, 2015

Download Dancing With Light: Luck of the Draw
Capitol Reef Trees and Rock Faces

Sculptors bring Wood and Stone to their studios to create art. Landscape Photographers go to the material to create their art. Photographers use light as their sculpting tool, selectively used to show the natural beauty of the wood and stone.

A free PDF with 13 pages and 7.9 mB, published in December, 2015

Download Dancing With Light: Wood and Stone
Devil's Garden Utah

The road noise on the way to Devils Garden was deafening and it took me more than a few minutes for my hearing to settle down and the rest of me to stop feeling the jostling of the road. The quiet at our destination was wonderful. My mind was not capable of fully comprehending what this looked like in the Jurassic Period, or how the intervening eons eroded these rocks. All I had to do was photograph.

A free PDF with 12 pages and 5.7 mB, published in August, 2015

Download Dancing With Light: Devil's Garden
Capitol Reef Small Landscapes

The world in front of us starts at our feet. It goes on from there to the limits of our vision. We walk around without giving much thought to other than what is right in front of our fee while we scan the horizon for the grand view. Near the end of the day I'm tired of looking at the Grand Landscape and am happy to look at the world right in front of us.

A free PDF with 12 pages and 5.9 mB, published in June, 2015

Download Dancing With Light: Near the End of the Day
Capitol Reef Slit Canyons

Landscape Photographers flock to certain places for the “Great American Landscape Photograph.” Yosemite, Point Lobos and Zabriski Point are three well known places to photograph. In the American Southwest, slot canyons are the latest “in” places to photograph. While in Utah, we saw a slit canyon. Well, of course I just had to photograph my version of a slit canyon. It was a compulsory.

A free PDF with 18 pages and 3.3 mB, published in December, 201

Download Dancing With Light: The Compulsories 5
Reflections from a rear view mirror

“Serious Photographers” sometimes forget having fun with a camera and friends is part of our art life. When someone in the group sees something no one else sees, we can only wonder what they see and we need to do something in the meantime. While they are out photographing something we can’t “see” it’s time to take a lighter look at the landscape.

A free PDF with 10 pages and 3.0 mB, published in November, 2015

Download Dancing With Light: Objects in Mirror
Gobi Desert landscapes

We try to make our presence felt in a place that is unwilling to accept our presence. In an effort to make this experience more accessible to the masses, men have tried to establish permanent structures in the desert. The structures try to fit in, but they are not of this place.
The first of three folios from Inner Mongolia made during the Chinese Photographer's Spring Meeting in 2011.

A free PDF with 13 pages and 3.4 mB, published in March, 2014

Download Not of This Place
Buddhist Temple Baotou

We arrived at Lvzu Temple, in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, on market day. Outside the Temple walls we waded through myriad street vendors selling everything from George Bush’s biography (in Chinese, of course) to cow parts (yes, you read that right). Inside the Temple Walls we processed through a quiet oasis, a world away from the market outside.

A free PDF with 17 pages and 10 mB, published in March, 2014

Download Inside Temple Walls
Snow in the Gobi Desert

Snow in the desert is a meteorological rarity. On one special day, the snow and I were visitors that did not last very long in the extreme environment of the Gobi Desert.

A free PDF with 13 pages and 6.1 mB, published in June, 2013

Download Desert Snow
building and trees

The underlying structures of natural and man-made objects are different and complimentary. Viewed together they establish a pattern and rhythm of the place where they coexist

A free PDF with 15 pages and 7.7 mB, published in December, 2013

Download Pattern and Rhythm
landscapes in a tidal estuary

Time and Tide wait for no man. The photographic opportunities in tidal estuaries are determined by the tides. We make an appointment to photograph. Landscape Photographers like to think they have control over this environment, but Mother Nature is willing to suffer our conceits.

A free PDF with 15 pages and 8.8 mB, published in June, 2013

Download Time and Tide
The Grotto at Notre Dame

As humans, we seek to understand the unknowable and to visualize the invisible. We seek guidance to make sense of our confusion and search for answers to eternal questions. When logic belies the mysteries we attempt to unravel, we turn to the spiritual world for guidance and answers.

A free PDF with 14 pages and 8.9 mB, published in June, 2013

Download ...despise not my petitions...
The Shoshone Building Wallace Idaho

The thing about old buildings is they had many lives. No buildings, especially those in small towns, have a single purpose. Come walk through a building with many lives in the past, some in the present and being prepared for a future. The building is there to fill many purposes for its inhabitants.

A free PDF with 16 pages and 1.6 mB, published in April, 2012

Download The Shoshone Building
Cary Elementary School, Cary Arts Center

The building is abandoned, but not forgotten. A place that has meant so much to a town cannot be abandoned to decay and die.
This is a story about the restoration of the Cary Elementary School as a Center for the Arts.
It is the fourth of the Academy Street folios.

A free PDF with 21 pages and 2.3 mB, published in April, 2011

Download An Icon Transformed Part Two
Cary Elementary School, Cary Arts Center

No people are in these photographs, but their presence continues in the Cary Elementary School. It has been a home to many students for many years. The evidence of all past students is worn stairs, empty lockers and carpets worn thin.
It is the third of the Academy Street folios.

A free PDF with 24 pages and 3.1 mB, published in April, 2011

Download An Icon Transformed: Part One
Ansorge Hotel Curlew Washington

Photographing the old structures is often following in footsteps of the past. Who are we following, what did they think, where were they going and finally, how are you adding to the history of a place?

A free PDF with 12 pages and 5 mB, published in February, 2011

Download Ansorge Hotel: Reflections
Ansorge Hotel: Something in the Kitchen

When you want to feel at home, head to the kitchen. The kitchen is where there are no formalities and we all are one family. Kitchens are the heart of the home and this is where we show the world who we really are.

A free PDF with 14 pages and 1.3 mB, published in December, 2010

Download Ansorge Hotel: Something in the Kitchen
Columbia River photographs

There are those that claim moving water creates negative ions causing humans to feel refreshed and relaxed. I am in no position offer a scientific opinion on this phenomenon, but there may be a truth to it as I am always drawn to photograph by a river.

A free PDF with 13pages and 2.0 mB, published in March, 2010

Download By the River
Small Churches

In the American West, churches were important to settlers not only because of their spiritual relevance, but because they brought a community together to build the structure where they would worship. In small towns there is no need for a grand structure when a simple wooden building would do.

A free PDF with 9 pages and 1.5 mB, published in April, 2010

Download A Modest Grace
Academy Street Cary North Carolina

A change in pace could be a different daily routine in the morning or, it could be something as simple as getting up and walking outdoors. The act of physically getting up, going outside and walking around often clears the mind. As your mind clears, you see different things and more importantly you see those things differently.
This is the second of the Academy Street folios.

A free PDF with 17 pages and 6.9 mB, published in February, 2010

Download A Change of Pace
thirtymile fire, Methow Valley

Earth, Wind and Fire are the ancient elements. When Fire rampages over the earth, changes are drastic, but not permanent. The rebirth of the forest begins at the water’s edge.

A free PDF with 14 pages and 6.3 mB, published in January, 2010

Download Elements of Change
Alkabo North Dakota Ghost Towns

Abandoned places are always silent and still. Some places like Alkabo, North Dakota have a silence that is accentuated by its isolation and the wind off the prairie. These are photographs of silence.

A free PDF with 15 pages and 6.3 mB, published January, 2010

Download Stillness Borne on the Wind
The Hastings Building Port Townsend Washington

Balancing precariously on the precipice of being neither completely abandoned nor fully utilized, she is in a struggle for survival. Her opponents are many: gravity, neglect, dust and cold. Her most relentless foe is time. How long can this grand dame survive balancing on the edge of forgotten?

A free PDF with 23 pages and 3.9 mB, published in October, 2009

Download The Edge of Forgotten
Graffiti at Fort Worden

Upsetting your creative process is a good way to keep from getting stale. Whether or not the end result of your changed creative process is good, great, bad or just plain awful, you have to try something different.
Moving away from the concrete reality to the abstract is one way to upset the creative process.

A free PDF with 13 pages and 6.0 mB, published in October, 2009

Download Abstract to Concrete: Graffiti at Fort Worden
Alkabo North Dakota

Nature marks the passing of time with seasonal changes. Our lives change, much like the seasons of a year. This and the three following folios illustrate A Sense of the Seasons in the places and things of Divide County, North Dakota. The small school is where we have our first memories of life. The students have been gone for decades but the evidence of their time in this school lingers on.

A free PDF with 24 pages and 2.8 mB, published in October, 2008

Download A Sense of the Seasons: Spring is Soft with Fragrance
Alkabo North Dakota

Summer is the best time of the year. The weather is mild, the sun shines and crops are growing. We enjoy this time because we know the crops will eventually be harvested in preparation for the fall and winter.

A free PDF with 19 pages and 2.4 mB, published in October, 2008

Download A Sense of the Seasons: Summer is Warm with Sunshine
Alkabo North Dakota

Fall is the harvest. Crops are harvested and in the fall of our life we reap the rewards of a hard life’s work. The Pioneer Village is a collection of the rewards and objects acquired by the people that worked the land. We can see what they thought was necessary and valuable to make a life on the prairie farm.

A free PDF with 19 pages and 2.4 mB, published in August, 2008

Download A Sense of the Seasons: Fall is Bright with Colors
Alkabo North Dakota

Winter is the end of the year and for all of us, the end of our lives. We no longer have need of the possessions acquired throughout our life. Those who survived us don’t quite know what to do with our treasures. The emotional bonds far transcend the economic worth of what we left behind.

A free PDF with 21 pages and 2.5 mB, published in July, 2008

Download A Sense of the Seasons: Winter is Peaceful with Memories
Wide Wyoming

The scale of the American West was difficult for the first Americans to take the land route to the West Coast. The Eastern part of America was heavily forested, and once the settlers reached the Great Plains they had trouble coping with wide open spaces. So it is with Landscape Photographers. Happily, the digital age provided us with software to create panoramic photographs. Photography is always a balance between art and science and in this case, science makes the art possible.

A free PDF with 10 pages and 1.9 mB, published in January, 2008

Download Wide Wyoming
Saint Paul Oregon

You won’t know until you get there. Life and Art are subject to the whims of nature and randomness. Sometimes you arrive at a location and the photographic components of light, structure and your readiness to accept the good fortune is true serendipity.

A free PDF with 11 pages and .8 mB, first published in April, 2007. A second publication with an updated presentation was published July, 2019.

Download Serendipity of Saint Paul
The Labyrinth

This is the experience of the Labyrinth. Make a decision based on the information at hand. Go left, right, up, down or turn back and retrace your steps. In the Labyrinth you can retrace your steps. Our lives are a labyrinth of alternatives, choices and decisions we face each day.

A free PDF with 21 pages and 2.0 mB, published in March, 2007

Download The Labyrinth
Sun Yat Sen Garden Vancouver BC

The quiet of the mountains was immediately lost when we were jostled back to the frantic pace of life in a big city. We sought refuge in the Sun Yat Sen Garden and were immediately transported to a place that transcended the quiet and peacefulness of the wilderness. Even the noise of the city disappeared for the afternoon we spent in the Garden.

A free PDF with 12 pages and 4.1 mB, published in October, 2006

Download An Afternoon in the Garden
Roundup Montana

It could be any small town Main Street, but this Main Street is in Roundup, Montana. Come on an early morning walk, while the sun is low in the Big Sky, the shadows are long and the aroma of sagebrush and pine are still in the air.

A free PDF with 18 pages and 2.2 mB, published in August, 2006

Download Main Street
Roundup Montana

The early morning walk continues down Main Street in Roundup, with a stop by the flower shop.

A free PDF with 16 pages and 1.1 mB, published in August, 2006

Download The Flower Shop

A free PDF with 16 pages and 1.1 mB, published in August, 2006
Old Oakwood Cemetery Raleigh North Carolina

Exploration is one of the things we do as photographers. We can explore new physical places, emotional places or just go out and explore with a new camera. What a pleasant surprise when all these activities coincide.

A free PDF with 12 pages and 4.1 mB, published in October, 2005

Download Old Oakwood Cemetery
Stonework

It is common to photograph the work of other artists. Architecture and sculpture are two genres that photographers seek to claim as their own. But it is not ours to claim. By the time the photographer gets to the subject, the major task facing the photographer is to honor the work done by those who created the subject of his photographs.

A free PDF with 13 pages and 1.0Y mB, published in August, 2005

Download Stonework
Pavement Ends

The motto and guiding light for our Photo Safaris has (and will continue to be) “Photography starts where the Pavement Ends.”
Outtakes from the early Photo Safaris, showing that while we didn’t know a lot about photography way back then, we did know how to have a good time.

A free PDF with 17 pages and 1.5 mB, published in May, 2005

Download Pavement Ends
Carpenter Feed Store Cary North Carolina

The buildings are old, the service is old fashioned, the inventory eclectic, but there is enough here to keep the Carpenter Feed Store in business as the neighborhood evolves from rural to suburban.

A free PDF with 29 pages and 9.5 mB, published in October, 2004

Download The Carpenter Portfolio
Officers Row Vancouver Washington

Winter in the Pacific Northwest is dominated by clouds and rain. On a very rare day when the sun shines low in the sky, light and the old homes on Officer’s Row in Fort Vancouver create shadows on these venerable structures.

A free PDF with 9 pages and 1.0 mB, published in February, 2004

Download Pattern of Shadows
Dunes

Our photographic journey takes us through many phases. In the early phase we begin to imitate those we admire. When we are mature we look back at our early work and think how young we were.

A free PDF with 15 pages and 7.0 mB, published in August, 2001

Download Dunes
Old Machine Shop photographs

Melvin is a life-long bachelor farmer. When he needs to repair his equipment, he has a complete machine shop to make these repairs. To refer to the equipment as antique would be to slight antiques.

A free PDF with 11 pages and 7.0 mB, published in October 2002

Download Melvin's Shop
One Room Country Schools

“Oh, the Memories,” a sentence scrawled on the walls of an abandoned school says more about the impact of these one room schools than the photographs. That doesn’t mean that I won’t try to make photographs worthy of these unknown memories.

A free PDF with 24 pages and 4.3 mB, published in April, 2002

Download Prairie Schools
Academy Street Cary North Carolina

A walk down an old street on a spring day initiated many long term photographic friendships. This is the first story about Academy Street, one of the oldest streets in Cary, North Carolina.

This is the first of the Academy Street folios.
A free PDF with 15 pages and 3.1 mB, first published in July, 2001. A second publication with an updated presentation was published January, 2019.

Download A Walk Down Academy Street
Portraits of Civil War reenactors

The dark cloth of a view camera is a device that separates the photographer from the world around him. The reality is only that which is displayed upside down and backwards on the ground glass. Sometimes the reality transcends time and the camera takes us somewhere else, or in this case some time else.

A free PDF with 14 pages and 3.3 mB, published in October, 1994

Download Presence of the Past
The Ark Duke University

Unlocked doors and the kindness of strangers allowed access to a space where the light through tall, old windows illuminates the most common objects in an uncommon manner

A free PDF with 22 pages and 1.0 mB, published in November, 1991

Download Light Through a Window





Photography Books



Landscape photographs of Utah

Dancing with Light



Two things matter in landscape photography: where you stand and when you press the shutter. A great landscape photograph is a dance between the photographer the scenery and the light. The challenge is to choreograph alignment and timing. Sometimes it works well. Sometimes not. Other times the results are more than memorable.

Preview/Purchase Dancing with Light
Farm Life in North Dakota

Sense of the Seasons



Nature marks the passing of a year with seasonal changes. We can mark the phases of our lives in terms of seasons. See the Seasons of Our Lives reflected in the farmland of North Dakota.

Preview / Purchase Sense of the Seasons
Academy Street Cary North Carolina


Memories of Academy Street



We turn to photography to create the future memories with the hope that we can avoid the fragility of our mental processes. We capture the present to make our future Memories. These Memories serve to remind us of Academy Street and the passage of time in Cary, North Carolina.

Preview / Purchase Memories of Academy Street
Academy Street Cary North Carolina


After the Memories



People go away
Buildings are demolished
Memories are forgotten
After the Memories are forgotten
All we have left are the photographs

These photographs of Academy Street document the changes made in the past thirty years.

Preview / Purchase After the Memories
Passages and Portals


Passages and Portals



"It's a dangerous thing to open a door," says Bilbo Baggins. But we go through doors and down passages everyday. Do we really know what lies on the other side of the door? We open a door and the adventures begin."

Preview / Purchase Passages and Portals
Hell's Half Acre


Hell's Half Acre



We continue to photograph the American West because we want to share the beauty and wonder with that part of the world.


A Blurb ezine publication.

Preview / Hell's Half Acre
Harmony


Harmony



The objects are symbols, and they exist together in harmony with the natural forms around them. The natural and man-made reflecting the shapes and forms in perfect harmony.


Preview / Harmony
Mostly True Stories


Mostly True Stories



The photos are true, and so are the words, but they may not be true together. Read the Mostly True Stories told by an old man.


Preview / Mostly True Stories

Return to top of page






Please sign up to learn about new content!

I will use your email to notify you only when I add new content to the site. That's my promise.

* indicates required

Return to top of page