twin arrows

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Someone recently wrote to me and said that he wishes he lived in a place where he could take photographs of giant arrows and colorful ruins and miles and miles of barbed wire.

He lives in London.

I thought about this.

I lived in London and I took over a thousand pictures while there and it still wasn’t enough. I would love to return and shoot London in a totally different way now that my style has changed.

All of the Toronto photographers, whose work I admire greatly, and those who live in Vancouver (Canada seems to be rich with wonderful photographers) and those who live in Britain, Spain, South & Central America, and other places than here…I’ve been jealous of all of them. I’ve seen what they’ve offered and I’ve often sighed and wished I had something like THAT to photograph.

This morning I went out at 5 a.m. to catch the rising sun on the beautiful red stones of Wupatki National Monument. The sun is rising as I drive out. Dakota is sitting in the passenger seat, anxious to see where we’re going.

Nearly 40 miles outside of Flagstaff, we turn into the north entrance of the park. The sun is rising rapidly but there is a beautiful golden glow over the land. The sky is a piercing blue even at that time in the morning. It was still early, 5:30, and there was no one on the road or at the ruin sites.

We pull into Lomaki and I get out to shoot some pictures (I left Dakota in the car because dogs are not allowed on the trails).

The red stones of the ruins are glowing. My breath is taken away.

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. (Heh…musical reference there.) I am lucky. I am surrounded by things that people travel to from around the world to visit. We have the Grand Canyon that usually draws them in. We also have the beautiful mountains, the lakes, the ruins, the red rocks, and so many other things that surround us. Photographers have been coming here for more than a century because it is so picturesque.

One of the reasons I have been trying to take more pictures of diverse things is because I want to share my world with Jonathan. I want him to be able to see the beauty of the desert southwest. It’s not the greens of Vancouver. We don’t have the amazing water. It’s a different kind of beauty. It’s stark. It’s hard to see sometimes. Pay attention, though, and it will jump right out at you.

I give a piece of myself in every photograph that I take. Whether I’m here, at home, taking pictures of the Peaks or a flower or I’m traveling to some other beautiful place, a piece of me is in each photograph. It is telling you a story about me.

If you listen closely, you will hear it.