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.
A collection of images from my first ten years of photography already published in The Lipka Journal. With additionial photographs worthy of attention.
A free PDF with 77 pages and 6.5 mB, published September 1, 2024
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
A free PDF with 16 pages and 1.1 mB, published in August, 2006
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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.
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
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
