By Lad Sessions | Opinion , Travel Photography
I have to admit that I stole the idea for this post (as well as the first line) from Kristian Wannebo. I don’t know Kristian personally, but a short while ago he published an entrancing essay entitled “Tree and Leaf” (Dear Susan #1242). His experience resonates with me. I too venture out into the woods […]
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By Lad Sessions | How-To
Roots. The word has so many fundamental connotations: ground, foundation, basis, cause, origin, source. Roots are plants’ way of being grounded in space, at a place, but all life is rooted in time, through its ancestors. So roots run deep, and they touch us deeply. Every living thing has roots, its temporal roots. All […]
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By Lad Sessions | Opinion
Serendipity is often praised but often not appreciated for itself. “Chance favors the prepared mind” said Louis Pasteur, and usually we fasten on the second part of his quip, the preparation, because there we are in control and deeply invested in what we can make of the happy chance. Whether in science, art or daily […]
Continue readingBy Pete Guaron | How-To
In part 1, Lad Sessions gave you a very good technical description – he’s researched the subject in depth, and anything I can add is likely to be shallow. So I’ve made this more anecdotal, instead. What do we understand about “bark”? First thing I ever understood was that it “doggish” for “hi there pleased […]
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By Lad Sessions | How-To
Bark is so common that we scarcely take the time to appreciate its wonders. It is of course essential to trees and vines—and very useful to humans in many ways—but it also intrigues at least two photographers, at different ends of the earth, who have contributed text and images. We have each spent much time […]
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By Lad Sessions | How-To
Mosses are boring—or so we may think. After all, “rolling stones gather no moss.” These days we take that adage to mean that mosses are dull and static creatures, a bothersome excrescence on dynamic entities like rolling rocks—and rock bands! But in earlier centuries the phrase had exactly the opposite meaning: stay put and flourish, […]
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By Lad Sessions | Art & Creativity
Adventures and journeys can be endless and aimless, but projects have an end—both a goaland a terminus. Life is an adventure, not a project, but life can be enlivened by projects. MyCovid Ramblings have been a year-long project. I will miss its many adventures and enjoyments. In March 2020 my only goal was to take […]
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By Lad Sessions | Art & Creativity
Winter is an austere time in the western Virginia forest. There are a few evergreens—some tired ferns, occasional pines, a holly or two—but mostly everything is bare and dormant, patiently awaiting Spring. It’s now that mushrooms shine. They seem to be in abundance everywhere, apparently oblivious to the cold and snow, running up and down […]
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By Boris Buschardt | How-To , Travel Photography
I have a background of 35 years of photography, the last 20 years focusing on classical landscape photography. Not long ago I found any video features in my cameras quite annoying. But recently I have changed my trusted Sony A7RII against the A7SII (to be upgraded soon to the A7SIII) and shot on my last […]
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By Lad Sessions | Art & Creativity
I spent nearly half a century learning and teaching philosophy, with a couple of detours into the wilderness of academic administration. The students were wonderful, the courses challenging, the friendships stimulating, and the research rewarding. You can learn a lot about the world—and yourself—by studying philosophy intensively, and I commend it to everyone. When I […]
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