Ordinary Magic

To me beauty appears when one feels deeply.
Dorothea Lange 

Abandoned But Not Forgotten

The Start Of the New Year

I pass these old buildings whenever I walk down to the park.  They represent days long gone when houses were small and land was large.  The property is for sale so it won't be long before they are bulldozed down and multiple house will be crammed into the same space. What stories these walls could tell if only they had a voice. 

Time marches on .................

Week #52

Looking In

Well I've completed another year of the my 52 week photo challenge. Looking back on these 102 pictures, I can see how I have progressed in my ability to "see" what is around me and in my ability to capture it with my camera. 

One of the elements that I love about photography is that there is always something new to learn. One of the photographer/teachers that I owe much of my growth to is Miriam Hall. Miriam is my instructor for my Nalanda Miksang classes.  Miksang is a Tibetan word that translates as "good eye." It is a form of contemplative photography that brings together the art of photography, the discipline of meditation and the Dharma Art teachings of the meditation master and scholar Chogyam Trungpa. Miriam is wise and gentle and has been instrumental in my inner growth as a photographer.

Week #51

Winter Tree With Bird

This week, on December 21st, we will experience the winter solstice. The winter solstice marks the rebirth of the sun and is an important turning point in both the natural and spiritual world. It marks the shortest day when the hours of daylight are at their least. But it also starts the increase in the hours of daylight and darkness becomes ascendent once more.

The natural world shares this reminder to all of us - light will always come back to us and illuminate even the darkest night.

Week #50

Don't Let the Rain Stop You

"Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it."

Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

Week #49

Young Boy in Chinatown

Do you have the patience to wait till the mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?

Lao-Tau - from the Tao the Ching

I often don't have the patience to wait " to the mud settles" but what I have found is that when I do, when I can be centered and mindful and fully present, wonderful images appear. This young boys face reached out to me through the window and caught my heart first and then my eye.

Week #48

Man Feeding the Birds

"At our best and most fortunate we make pictures because of what stands in front of the camera, to honor what is greater and more interesting than we are. We never accomplish this perfectly, though in return we are given something perfect - a sense of inclusion. Our subject thus redefines us, and is part of the biography by which we want to be known."

Robert Adams - Why People Photograph