• Candid Portraits,  People/Portraits,  quotes

    Love is…

    Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us.

    Marianne Williamson

    It was just after 7:30 am and the morning light on Adriana’s auburn hair was radiating around her! She was in the spotlight. Love is shining on her and in her. She agreed to let me take a shot while she continued to work on her computer. The subject, the light and the moment, all make this image a meaningful moment. Thank you, Adriana.

  • Candid Portraits,  coffee life,  coffee shops,  People/Portraits

    All is a Miracle

    ““People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

    Thich Nhat Hanh

    It is so easy for us in our society to miss the miracles, big and small. For some there is no concept they exist. Wonder how many of us would we see the miracles if we put down our smartphones?

  • Candid Portraits,  Documentary/Street,  People/Portraits

    Stories We Create

    sitting quietly at a table
    solitary, head bowed
    a coffee and scone
    lost in his thoughts

    without speaking with him
    I created my stories, was he
    remembering the past
    dreaming of tomorrow, praying?

    yet, only he can tell his story.

    as I sat alone at my table
    with my journal and camera
    I began to wonder what stories
    about me do others create?

    ms
  • Black and White,  Candid Portraits,  coffee life,  coffee shops,  Documentary/Street,  haiku,  lifestyles,  writing/reading

    Grin of Success

    the barista’s craft
    carefully pouring steamed milk
    grin of success

    ms

    I have wondered at times where coffee baristas go after making my life a bit more enjoyable? Seems there is always a turnover as many work at these jobs for some short period of time. I find many are college students studying to be a writer, artist, school teacher, archaeologist, forester and more. For many it’s usually not a fulltime job but provides spending money and can be a lot of fun for them. This young lady was not only my barista but also a budding photographer. I took this five years ago and hope she is still grinning and successful.

  • Black and White,  Candid Portraits,  Documentary/Street,  People/Portraits,  quotes

    Contrivance

    New York City – 2008

    “Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.”

    Henri Cartier-Bresson

    Contrivance? Now that is a big word for me. So, I had to look it up. It means: “deliberately created rather than arising naturally or spontaneously.” For the image above, the microsecond after pressing the shutter button this scene was gone, never to exist as it was in that one moment of time. I see that as a gift given for a short period of time so I must accept it at that moment.

    It’s -1 degree right now. Not expecting it to be above 10 degrees until Tuesday. We also have a dusting of snow. Stay warm!

  • Candid Portraits,  coffee shops,  People/Portraits

    Happy Halloween

    Maggie and Jack – Love their smiles

    I’ve never been too excited about Halloween and that’s true today. However, I know that there are many who feel differently and celebrate the day with enthusiasm and style. I’m making another assumption but with masks as a requirement for much of the world we probably will see more people dressed down from previous years, or not. Anyway, enjoy your Saturday and the candy corn pieces.

  • Candid Portraits,  clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  People/Portraits,  photographers

    Visitors

    Tom and Kathy Dills with breakfast smiles at the Chicken Coop

    No landscape images this morning. Instead I’m going to post a couple of images of Tom and Kathy Dills from the short visit we had.  Pretty impressive smiles from both of them considering the road miles they have put in. Driving from North Carolina to the northwest coast and back is not the same as a jaunt to the grocery store. And, include a pandemic and the fact most of the west coast seems to be on fire and you can understand the task they took on. This was yesterday morning at the newly opened Chicken Coop, a American Mexican restaurant nearby.

    Kathy checking out the uncomfortable rock

    They arrived Sunday afternoon. After connecting up we drove to the Pineridge Natural Area and then to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area where we took a short walk to the rock. This is a location I enjoy because of the quiet and solitude I can experience. At the present time it’s not as quiet because they’re using the open field south of the natural area as a staging area for the helicopters battling the Cameron Peak fire. Kathy tried sitting on the uncomfortable rock and agreed it’s purpose is not long term sitting. They left yesterday morning and expect to arrive in Charlotte on Thursday. It was a short visit but hopefully there will be more opportunities.