Tag: #freedom

What Creativity Means

I’ve been thinking that Creativity really means that you let your mind go. Let it spin. Close your eyes and wonder where can you go next. You try something new and find out if it works. You give yourself freedom to experiment. It comes from having time to reflect and the guts to try a new path. Selectively, you embrace some rules and discard others.

With Infrared Photography, the new path I’ve chosen, I continue to embrace the rules that define strong composition, but I throw away the rules that tie photography to the way things truly look to the eye. Realistic color goes out the window. Green trees can be white…or yellow…or gold…or magenta. Just like they can be any color in a painting. But you say, “This is photography, and photography is realistic, journalistic, a witness to truth.” I say, “Before we had color photography, we had black and white photography, which was not true to life. It was and is widely accepted as an art form.” Right?

In that spirit, I present my latest Infrared Photograph: “Isle de Jaune.” I love this image for reasons I’m not sure I can explain in words. It is one of my favorite images of the past year. The complimentary colors and composition work for me. Are you with me?

Infrared photography at the Naples Botanical Garden. “Isle de Jaune,” combines complimentary colors and a balanced composition with interest in the sky and the lake. I find the image peaceful and meditative.

If you are interested in a Fine Art print or even better — a metal print of this image, please visit my website and place an order online. Thanks for joining me on my creative journey.

Pelicans: Freedom to Fly

During the Covid-19 pandemic when our mobility is suddenly limited, I think about the enviable mobility of the birds around us. Here in Florida, we often see brown pelicans soaring through the sky and flying low across the Gulf of Mexico. For birds, mobility equals escape from danger, or the slightest perception of danger. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could fly away from the virus that threatens our health right now?

#pelican, #brownpelican, #florida, #beach, #gulf, #naples, #flight, #inflight, #birdphotography, #wildlifephotography
Brown Pelican in flight over the Gulf of Mexico just off the beach in Pelican Bay, Naples, FL. 2020

Pelicans are fun to watch. They fly in V-shaped formations with numbers ranging from 3 to 20 or more. They are silent, and they never bother people, given us the impression that they are gentle creatures.

#brownpelicans, #pelican, #birdphotography, #wildlifephotography, #formation,#flight, #birdsinflight, #sky, #florida, #naples
Brown Pelicans flying in formation, as seen from the beach below. Naples, FL. 2020

When they forage for fish, they fly close to the surface of the water and then make a steep climb and nosedive to stun the fish with their beaks. Then, they scoop up the fish and a gallon or more of water with their stretchy pouch. Keep watching to see them tip up the beak and swallow the fish whole.

Normandy American Cemetery

More than nine thousand service men are buried and memorialized here at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville sur Mer, France. It is sobering to see the lines of crosses that mark each life lost in a courageous effort to defend freedom.

#American, #cemetery, #France, #memorialday, #remember, #fallenheroes, #dday, #freedom, #courage
The American Cemetery is located in a peaceful and beautiful spot on the coast of France.

 

#liveslost, #dday, #memorialday, #france, #American, #freedom, #1944, #honor, #fallenheroes
Reading one name, date of death and home state inspires reflection.

D-day on the Normandy Beaches

From the Normandy American Military Cemetery in Colleville sur Mer, France, I share with you two maps displayed on the walls showing the Allied Landing on the Normandy beaches on D-Day and the Allied Invasion of Europe that continued until 1945. Most all of us are too young to remember those days, but we should never forget the “Greatest Generation” who liberated Europe, defeated Hitler and restored freedom to the Western World.

I shot these photographs of the wall maps at the Normandy American Cemetery shortly after the 60th anniversary of D-Day in June 2004.

#American, #Allies, #Normandy, #dday, #cemetery, #greatestgeneration
From American Cemetery in Normandy, map showing Allied Forces landing in Normandy on D-Day.

This second wall map shows the movement of Allied forces through Europe from 1944 to 1945. If you want to read a tremendous book about this story, pick up Stephen Ambrose’s D-Day.

#America, #Alliedforces, #Allies, #Europe, #Hitler, #liberation, #endofthewar
Map from Normandy American Cemetery  showing Allied military operations in Europe 1944-45.

 

*Reference to Tom Brokaw’s book, The Greatest Generation.

Feeling like a bird in flight

After I captured this image of an ibis taking flight from the beach, I began to wonder what it would be like to take flight to the sky at a moment’s notice. Only birds can do this, but what a gift! I think the closest I can come to that feeling is to glide through the water while swimming. As I glide weightless with the water rippling through my hair and the cool water skimming over my body, I feel that magic combination of freedom and relaxation. I wonder, why don’t I swim more often?

#birdinflight, #ibis, #florida, #fllying, #feelings
As I approached the ibis, he took flight, but I still captured this image — looking even better in flight.