“The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box.” -Henri Cartier-Bresson

“Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing looks photographed.” -Garry Winogrand

i had a teacher way back in a former lifetime named fred sway, a sort of mr. rogers type guy, who first put a 4×5 camera in my hands, and astonished me by knowing what settings to use without the aid of a light meter. he came up with the notion that the act of making a photograph was far too passive an act for the common term “shooting,” and that “accepting light,” was more accurate. that is what a camera does after all – accept light. and that is what photography is – accepting light. i can manipulate how my camera accepts it, and i can do all sorts of amazing and strange things to what i have told my camera to accept. but, fundamentally, the light itself can only be what it is.

these are some of the things that have appeared in front of me over the years. they have been captured by a number of means – digital, 35mm film, 120 film, 4×5 film, some camera-less. if you want to know about technique and equipment, just ask. from time to time, i will add more.

a photograph is the affirmation of a moment in time. as cartier-bresson said, each click of the shutter is saying “yes!” i try to say yes as often as i can. people ask what is that a picture of, i say it’s not a picture of anything, it’s a photograph, an entirely new object.

the world is my museum. if you like any of these images, i’d be honored to know that they were hanging in your home or trailer, or sent through the mail, conveying your deepest thoughts (or party invitations) to another human, or even holding up the shopping list on your fridge. all of these images are available as prints, cards, fridge magnets, even hats and t-shirts i bet. let me know, and we’ll figure something out .

my flickr archive is here. comments are ALWAYS appreciated.

there are a million photographers out there, and most of them post to the web. if i tried to list everyone’s work i’ve seen and liked, i’d never get anything else done. as with most other pursuits in life, it’s better if you search on your own. try photoblogs.org, or coolphotoblogs, or put stumbleupon on your browser. or just go out and look at stuff.

there’s more about me at my other blog, one life, and you can see my resume here.