Old Friends

After 34 years you’d think the fascination would have faded. It hasn’t. Every time, there is the same wonder about its life story. I actually do not know for certain how old the cedar is but it has changed very little in the time I have been around. I can’t say the same for me.

Probably started by a bird-carried seed, the decades of long summers, tough winters and ceaseless wind have imbued the lone cedar with a personality far richer than most of its species. Standing solitary near the crest of a prairie hill in a nest of granite boulders it is easily overlooked in the search for bison, elk and longhorn that most people come to the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge to see. It was its character and setting that originally attracted me to stop. In those 34 years I have photographed the lone cedar in all sorts of light and weather. In each image I have attempted to capture the real meaning of the tree and its surroundings. I get close at times but have yet to make an image that for me reflects the fundamental nature of its being – that feels the way the tree makes me feel. And to be honest, I am looking forward to the next 30+ years visiting this old friend in an attempt to create an image that shows its simple beauty and profound nature.

A Special Refuge

"Feeling and photographing what causes feeling is no assurance that others will feel. But after once discovering what one wants to arouse in other people, the knowledge that one may frequently fumble in trying is only a challenge." ---- Minor White

Mounts Sheridan & Roosevelt

Jed Johnson Lake

I have been spending a fair amount of time lately exploring and photographing in the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge is for animals but I have been going there to retreat, relax and recharge for many years.
I believed I knew all about making a good landscape picture. Now, I again realize that I need constant practice and refocusing. For good and not so good reasons as well as some legitimate and some spurious causes I was out of touch with my photography. But, slowly the concentration and patience to work in a way that for me leads to good photographs is returning. I have stopped trying to see or do too much. Go to every place that I liked or where I knew there might be photo opportunities. I got the old, heavy tripod out and lug it around so that when I go to a place I take time to explore it visually and thoughtfully. I watch the animals and the way they interact with each other and their environment. I watch the Light, and I pay attention to what it is that is interesting and attracting me. I strive to be open to the questions that each moment and location poses and the multitude of answers that each image provides. I am reconnecting with photoself and the natural environment.

Thank goodness for the Refuges of this world.

Extremes

66⁰ temperature swings and 60 mph straight line winds are a few of the excitements of Spring in Oklahoma. And Spring it finally seems to be with a vengeance. I always tell beginning landscape photographers that the second most important piece of photo equipment to own is a good tripod. I need one made of depleted uranium to keep the camera stable in the wind gusts we have had here lately. So… I shoot when I can and try to find subjects that are telling of the conditions.
Wildfires can be dramatic and dangerous. Kind of like photographing a wild animal – Be wary, Be smart and always have a safe way out.

I stayed in the car to get this beast -- and so was safe ...... from the wind

Taken In

"Of all my photographs, the ones that have the most meaning for me are those I was moved to make from a certain vantage point, at a certain moment and no other, and for which I did not draw on my abilities to fabricate a picture, composition-wise or other-wise. You might say I was taken in." ........ Paul Caponigro