"I have always listened wtih admiration, if not envy, to the declarations of citizens who tell how they have lived for twenty or thirty years in the same section of town, or even the same house, and who have never been out of their native city. Not to feel the torturing need to know and see for oneself what is there, beyond the mysterious blue wall of the horizon, not to find the arrangements of life monontonous and depressing, to look at the white road leading off into the unknown distance without feeling the imperious necessity of giving in to it and following it obediently across the mountains and valleys! The cowardly belief that a man must stay in one place is too reminiscent of the unquestionin resignation of animals, beasts of burden stupified by servitude and yet always willing to accept the slipping on of the harness. There are limits to every domain,and the laws to govern every organized power. But the vagrant owns the whole vast earth that ends only at the nonexistent horizon, and his empire is an intangible one, for his domination and enjoyment of it are the things of the spirit."

from "The Oblivion Seekers" by Isabelle Eberhardt

Thought I'd throw a couple of new images up here from the past day. The one one the left was generated as I played with a tulip from the vase on the kitchen table. The Boreal Chickadee was taken at the Alaska Bird Observatory this morning when the low morning light was sliding through the trees around the bird feeders. Oh and the whole Valentines connection with the shot on the left, well it wasn't purposeful, in fact I was hesitant to post it since the image has hint of Hallmark card cheesiness about it. I just try not to picture it on a greeting card.

About the photo: We have a handful of chickadees that visit the bird feeders at my work place that have deformed bills from some as yet unknown cause. I spent a few m inutes out in the morning sun trying to get a decent shot of their sad beaks and failed utterly. However, I did manage to capture this lovely little Hoary Redpoll as it waited for an opening on the feeders.

I’d like to say how idyllic it was to sail from island to island, enjoying the sun and breeze. But as this was a family vacation, and the Shaw family likes to be active, very active, I'm afraid I can't. In fact an unoccupied moment in our family is most often viewed as a wasted moment. This relaxed pace was beginning to wear thin by…well by the first morning when the wind picked up and we didn't immediately set sail. It turned out that the boat’s skipper either thought we were the typical beach-sitting tourists or he simply was oblivious. To say the least we spent several (many?) very frustrating moments waiting.

We did eventually come to terms with this…well kind of. Putting up with the surly “hostess” was another story. My mother dubbed this woman "Benson" after the grumpy and abrasive butler of early 80's sitcom fame. The secret of coping with such a person? Don’t ever ask for anything that you may want from the kitchen. Grabbing the coke or bottle of water when no one was looking was much easier than facing the glare you were sure to recieve if you asked. It was just easier to be sneaky.

On day three it got worse. That evening, my camera broke. Something got messed up in the CF card reader/writer and the card would not read or eject. Then as I fiddled with it, I bent one of the pins over at a right angle. It was gone, kapoot, and not a damn thing I could do about it. I was screwed. I spent a miserable night, kicking myself and the situation, dreading the rest of the trip, naked without my camera. When I woke in the morning I tried to turn that part of myself off. From that moment on, I was no longer a photographer. My new 70-200 f2.8L and my new Sigma 30mm f1.4 sat idle in their cases and I tried my best to forget about them. I picked up my binoculars and tried to remember what it felt like to not need a camera. In the end I was moderately successful and by the end of the trip I was able to pass full minutes without thinking about my broken camera.

Never, ever again will I travel without a backup. Never, never, never.

In typical Shaw family fashion we have not had an unoccupied moment. Yesterday we visited the new Denver Art Museum. This structure is an impressive expanse of angles, protrusions and light. I quite liked it, though apparently it has gotten mixed reviews by architecture critics. If you haven't seen it in person, the three images above should give you some idea of the patterns. There was of course a nice selection of fine art, some more fine than others. Though I will note there was a marked lack of photography.

Oh, and its snowing again...but I'm off to Panama. God willing. More when I return.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

I am in the second day of recovery after an incredibly nasty bout of the stomach flu. For about 12 hours I was entirely non-functional, lying on my back on the couch because I couldn't make it up the stairs. I'm sure most of you have been in that place once or twice, and yet it is one of those experiences that does not improve with repetition. Every time, it really, really sucks. But now I'm up and moving around again, sorting images. I ran across this photo from my files and felt like sharing it. I took it in my parent's front yard outside of Denver a couple years back. Well I'm going to get back to my recovery. Stay healthy everyone, may my virus pass you all by without harm.

I stumbled on this photo recently as I was going through my images from last year's trip to Bhutan. I don't really remember making the image and I certainly don't remember acknowledging it before. When I made and initially reviewed this image, I must have tossed it aside as unremarkable. Now, a year later, I really like it. I like the way the angled light comes through the cloud and clashes with the glacier cascading from the left. I like the feeling of light and angle. It is imperfect, the dark area in the lower left is a bit overwhelming and it could probably due with a bit more work in the digital darkroom, but I still think it is good. The lesson? Perspectives shift, changing how we perceive our work. Like wine, it is important to let our art age for a time, then go back to it. When you do, you may not find the same piece that was left behind.

The image above was taken a few weeks back. I was playing with an off camera flash and a plume of smoke rising from an incense stick. This is one of my favorites from the series and is also an image that is now available for sale from the stock agency Alamy, where I was just accepted as a contributor. I don't have high expectations about getting rich through stock sales, particulary not with the proliferation of low-quality, cheap, royalty free imagery, from photographers willing to sell their work at a pittance (pardon the rant). Still, I'm excited because it is one more step toward where I want to be.

An image from Thanksgiving Day. During our post-dinner, pre-dessert dog walk last night we were treated to a really nice aurora display. So after friends departed I grabbed my camera and tripod and headed out into the-20F air and went to take photos. This is my favorite of the series.

Welcome to the new Wild Imagination Photography website. Over the year since the first site was launched I've proven to be a somewhat inconsistent blogger, so bear with me if you find me taking the the occasional hiatus. Enjoy the new site and send me an email to let me know what you think.