elements

Metamorphosis

How Photography Helped Me Overcome Grief

Cancer took my mother away. I was in a downward spiral until a chance encounter with nature set me on my path to recovery. I began photography as a means of prolonging the serenity I felt when surrounded by nature.

Trees are poems

A Landscape Series Focused on Trees: ‘Trees are Poems’

Back when I started photographing nearly a decade ago, my main subject was nature and landscapes. Over the years I continued to broaden my motifs to cityscapes, architecture, abstracts, and street photography. I still love to do them all, but there is one theme that has continued to evolve with me over the years, and that is trees.

David Southern Coastal Sandstone

Photographing Sandstone in the the ‘Secret Kingdom’ of Northumberland

Northumberland is called the secret kingdom for good reason. Until fairly recently this sparsely populated English county with Scotland to the north and a long stretch of North Sea coastline to the east remained undiscovered by the majority of holidaymakers.

Canyonlands National Park in 1988

Photographing Canyonlands in 1988: Land of Standing Rocks

In 1991, near the end of some book projects that took me on some lengthy photographic journeys through the American West by car for two years, I came up with the idea of creating posters of some of my black and white images for a few of our western National Parks.

Shimmering Wall: The Story Behind This Photo Taken in 1997

In my previous article, I walked you through the making of one of my signature photographs, Fallen Sequoias, exposed in 1977. I’ve decided to use the same process in the creation of another image, made 20 years later, on a one-day hike with two friends in 1997.

Dunes and Clouds: Photographing Symmetry in the Desert

In 1991, near the end of some book projects that took me on some lengthy photographic journeys through the American West by car for two years, I came up with the idea of creating posters of some of my black and white images for a few of our western National Parks.

Moon Over Zabriskie Point, or: Seeing Photos in a New Light

In 1991, near the end of some book projects that took me on some lengthy photographic journeys through the American West by car for two years, I came up with the idea of creating posters of some of my black and white images for a few of our western National Parks.

A Photo that Took a Decade of Trying: Sunrise at Angel Arch

In 1991, near the end of some book projects that took me on some lengthy photographic journeys through the American West by car for two years, I came up with the idea of creating posters of some of my black and white images for a few of our western National Parks.

Photographing Waves: One of The Most Rewarding Subjects

Waves are some of the most rewarding subjects for photography that I know. For starters, if you miss one, another will be along very soon! Of course, they are also unpredictable and can be dangerous.

Planning, Scouting, and Revisiting: The Hard Labor of Seeing

I am a self-taught photographer. I don’t believe you can teach someone photography unless they have the heart for it and they are willing to do the work required. As Brett Weston famously said: “Beyond the rudiments, it is up to the artist to create art, not the camera."

Photographers: Appreciate and Be Grateful for Your Captured Moments

The world clamors for our attention and technology demands our hard-earned money, but what has happened to the quality of the experience and the investment in ourselves? Our time is now owned by social media, competitions, and the need to prove how good and well-received our images are, usually to the detriment of the images and our self-confidence.

Different Approaches to Seeing the Grand Landscape

The development of personal vision in photography often gets mired in thoughts of what to avoid, the suppression of familiar ideas, and the desire to do something different.

Photography is Easy. Art is Hard.

You have a great camera and you practice precise photographic techniques. You explore desirable locations and shoot beautiful subjects but still your photographs leave you less than excited. What next? 

10 Tips for Photographing ‘Abstract Landscapes’

As a landscape photographer I’m a big fan of grand vistas and photographing with wide angle lenses. But sometimes the smaller things can be just as impressive. In this little article I'll be sharing some tips that will hopefully give you some inspiration when photographing abstracts. And when you start to see them, you can’t stop photographing them. It’s very addicting!

The Photographer’s DIET: The 4 Key Elements that Make a Great Photo

What's the 'recipe' for a great photograph? As we embark on this new 365-day journey called "2017," our friends at COOPH teamed up with photographer Craig Semetko to answer this question; and he believes it all comes down to 4 key elements: Design, Information, Emotion, and Timing.