Red-tailed Hawk is Ready to Take Off

 

For a brief moment, the hawk balanced between stillness and flight, testing the air before taking off.

***

Yesterday, after three long months, I found my way back to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. The evening was warm and still, the banks empty, as if the refuge itself were holding its breath.

In the distance, in one of the marsh's most forbidding corners, a solitary Great Blue Heron hunted — and somehow, in that imperfect place, the return felt miraculous.

Generally, life is good.

Rock Wren Looking for Food

 

Rock Wrens are wonderfully adapted to life among stones and cliffs and search food there.

This Wren was carefully inspecting cracks and crevices, watching carefully for tiny movements.

When the bird noticed some motion, it lowered itself and used its slender, slightly curved bill to probe into narrow space to pick prey off rock surfaces.

Sometimes Rock Wrens will even flip small stones or bits of debris with their bill to expose hidden insects.

Generally, life is good.

Facades. What They Taught Me

Not long ago, I tried photographing buildings for the first time and discovered I had a real talent… for failing spectacularly.

The buildings refused to speak to me—they stood smirking, stubborn, offering nothing. Still, their facades ended up teaching me a few unexpected lessons.

One of those lessons was that the best camera is simply the one you have in your hands—the one whose limits you’ve learned and whose strengths you know how to gently push.

The photographs that find us come from our connection to what’s in front of the lens, from patience, and from a willingness to see things as they are—no more, no less.  

And in the end, it’s failure that teaches us the most.

Generally, life is good.

 

Portraits of Strangers. Favorites

"Why this portrait is your favorite?" I was asked. I simply replied: "Because it's my favorite", but the person who asked the question wanted more precise, more articulate reason.

If I were asked again, I think I’d say this: some portraits survive the slow test of time. They were my favorites years ago, and somehow they still are. Their longevity, I realize, may be reason enough.

Generally, life is good.