sunset after storms
barefoot beach, fl
september 24, 2005

hurricane rita passed this area by, but the weather in her wake as she churned across the gulf of mexico lingered for days. she took a most of the extreme red tide fish kill with her, but the stench still lurks in pockets and my eyes burned as i walked.

even so, it was wonderful to stretch my legs and enjoy the color. too, too many days locked in the office.

hazy light that exploded into a bucket of red/orange/magenta paint in the sky. reward at the end of the day.

nikon 12-24 @ 12mm, 1/8, f/14

blood sun
new pass
bonita springs , fl
september 16, 2005

"you become things, you become an atmosphere, and if you become it, which means you incorporate it within you, you can also give it back. you can put this feeling into a picture. a painter can do it. and a musician can do it and i think a photographer can do that too and that i would call it dreaming with open eyes."
     --ernst haas

nikon 80-400VR @ 330mm, 1/40, f/18

calm morning
hickory bay, fl
september 1, 2005

"the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."
     --aristotle

slick water in hickory bay this morning. tower clouds building a few miles offshore in the gulf of mexico. the bay is quiet and serene.

i float and absorb the peace. the holiday weekend will unfold soon and this peace and solitude will give way to power boats, water skiers and wave runners. i am grateful for my time alone here.

the light is about to transition to a hard edge of contrast that will make a balanced exposure impossible. the clouds will blow out or the mangroves will turn black. for now, though, i love the reflections and the light exploding out of the leaves. my lens drinks it up. as i press the shutter, i see this image as a black and white. it just is. i just somehow see it that way.

ansel adams believed that some photographers "see" in color and some see in black and white. he considered himself among the latter and struggled with color photography, which he felt contained too much "reality". he wrote, "i have a problem with color - i cannot adjust to the limited controls of values and colors. with black-and-white, i feel free and confident of the results."

i paddle away, knowing this image, while shot in color, will spend the rest of its life in black and white. i wonder what ansel would answer if i could ask if a person can "see" both ways.

nikon 12-24 @ 20mm, 1/250, f/18, +0.07 EV