Author Archives: beacon2019

This amazing city, the capital of Ecuador, ended up being a surprise. Not that I had expected it to be ugly, or boring, or uncultured, but because I had no expectations. I knew absolutely nothing about the city. What I found was a huge, colorful, exciting place filled with art, history, and beauty. I haveContinue reading “Quito”

A very delayed blog entry about a visit to a rookery in April. I spent two days there as part of a group of five photographers. Rookeries are a noisy and exciting affair. The trees were shared by five species: Cormorants, White Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons, and Roseate Spoonbills. The Cormorants were midway intoContinue reading “Rookery”

The moon is always a fun object to photograph, especially when it’s full. It’s exciting to get a good, crisp image and see the amazing details that are invisible to the naked eye. But when, as this week, there is a total lunar eclipse, things become really interesting. A few friends and I watched itContinue reading “Lunar Eclipse 2022”

A writer I listened to warned of writing clichés. Makes sense, I thought. And then: are there clichés in photography? The way to avoid writing clichés, the writer explained, was to stay true to your voice and to make sure that it comes out as you, not something you think readers want to read. ThatContinue reading “Cliché?”

It’s winter, and in the South that means mostly bearable temperatures, no mosquitoes, and lots of visitors who come to wait out really cold weather in a more tempered climate. For reptiles the cooler weather means that they become sluggish, which can be dangerous if they live near humans who kill any snake, no questionsContinue reading “In the right place at the right time”

In the State Park not too far from us there’s a tree stump in a lake. Part of the roots reach up out of the water, and sometimes turtles and alligators rest on the trunk. There’s really nothing all that remarkable about this fallen tree, but it’s somehow different every time I see it. I’veContinue reading “The stump”

When I walk through cities, neighborhoods, or parks, I often come across small items that don’t quite belong. Their unusual placement is part of their charm. They can be drawings like this bird on the beach, or a chalk message on a school parking lot. Behind a factory, I found Christmas ornaments tied to theContinue reading “Expect the unexpected”

Aaah! Anyone who lives in a hot climate knows what a relief it is to spend time in a place like Maine. The temperatures are less oppressive, the humidity manageable, and the food heavenly. What’s not to love? We weren’t far from the coast in a place that allowed us to just breathe and rest,Continue reading “Ah, Maine!”

A friend of mine has written a beautiful text about something dear to his heart, and there I found the perhaps best description of why caring about the environment makes sense. He calls it “taking care of our home.” People often see the environment as something separate from them, as something they are forced toContinue reading “Taking care of our home”

Restaurateur and food expert Alice Waters wrote this statement: “When we force ourselves to slow down, the world comes into focus.” I couldn’t agree more! When we slow down and look around us, we see wilted blooms in sidewalk cracks, and perfectly camouflaged beetles on flowers. We might notice how ducks fly in perfect unisonContinue reading “The world comes into focus”