Category Archives: Photography
escapement
My family find it hilarious that I have a collection of thesauri*. That just shows the narrow-minded way some people (“some” people) have. Imagine how funny it would be if they knew that I actually have a favorite thesaurus**.
But how in the hell else do you think I’d find a word like “escapement” if I wasn’t browsing around looking an actual (non-online) thesaurus for a better word for “flight” because I was thinking about that bird in the middle of the photo as well as the way the narrow ranch road stretches out on the right and a road is a way for non-winged animals to take flight.
And also, it reminds me “escarpment” which is also an excellent word.
Fort McKavett State Historical Park
Fort McKavett, Texas
photographed 4.12.2026
*That’s the funniest word I’ve typed in a long time.
*Thank you for asking. My favorite thesaurus is Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus in Dictionary Form. Fun fact: I purchased a thesaurus in Cambridge the first time I went to England. It was my souvenir, which probably confirms a lot of things you already assumed about me.
the night reflection
I think I’m figuring out the technique of using puddles and reflections…
It was very dark in the puddly vacant lot and I wasn’t even real sure what I was going to end up with. What I like is that the night, the reflections, and the puddles worked together to turn an extremely ordinary setting into something that’s unexpected.
And just as I was walking back to the place where I was staying it started raining. The rain, which brought its friends thunder and lightning, lasted nearly all night. I slept very, very well.
Mason, Texas
photographed 4.11.2026
the gloom of twilight gathers fast
Here’s the last one – for now – from the South Solon Meetinghouse. It was a transformative few days and I am grateful that I was able to attend the workshop.
One afternoon while we were in the meetinghouse, I sat in a pew and looked through one of the hymnals. I was looking for words, for phrases that caught my eye. By the time I was done, I had filled two pages in my journal with pieces of songs that appealed to me. I often title my images with a few words from a song and my intent that afternoon was to mine the words for future photo titles.
And from that list, I drew the following list of titles:
- thanks + love + faith + grace
- our strength proved false
- since happier light
- of unseen things above
- wondrous grace
- the gloom of twilight gathers fast
So, l will gently leave my meetinghouse photos here. They are filled with thought, with intention, and with the unrelenting joy of seeing. It is my hope that you found something in them that was meaningful.
South Solon Meetinghouse
Solon, Maine
photographed 3.19.2026
wondrous grace
The afternoon sun through the windows gave a nice sideways light to the mural on the wall, which is why I made the photo. (Of course.)
I am often realizing things about my photographic style seem new to me. That’s sort of silly, right? I mean, I take a LOT of photos. I try to be purposeful with them. I think I carefully compose and understand what I’m seeing in the viewfinder before I press the shutter. So it seems like my style would be established by now, and further, that I would know why I do things the way I do.
These series of images from the meetinghouse has reminded me anew how much I depend on the darkness in the images – the darkness that is complete black. The darkness that is, technically speaking, “too” dark. But in my mind, what good is the light unless it’s balanced with the dark? How much less value does the known and clearly visible parts of an image have if it’s not offset by parts you can’t see?
Which leads me to wonder how much more joyous the bright parts of life are when they are balanced against life’s darknesses. It’s the balance that makes it work. In photography. In life.
South Solon Meetinghouse
Solon, Maine
photographed 3.19.2026
of unseen things above
One of the contemplative things I did during our time here was to sit on the (cold) floor and look at views from a new, lower angle. This is something that I don’t do often enough but it proved to be the perfect place to settle in, to take long and careful looks around me. And to enjoy the way the light reflects on the old wood floor and bounces from the ceiling. And to think about the mystery of how perfect that all seems, how harmonious all the elements felt. And to wonder what makes current real life – away from meetinghouses – so clamorous and strident.
And, to reflect on how it’s up to each of us to find our sense of balance and harmony and to carry that with us when we go back home from the place where we found it.
South Solon Meetinghouse
Solon, Maine
photographed 3.19.2026
One Day | One Image 