The Camera Doesn't Lie (or Lay Unused for Long)

Since moving to Washington three years ago today, I've become a near constant photographer, capturing landscapes and sights that were new and unfamiliar to me. Reaching for my camera—along with my binoculars in the last few months now that we have a 180 degree water view from our living room—has become a spiritual discipline for me. It's a way of paying attention to what's around me.

Later, once my photos are downloaded from digital camera to my laptop, I not only edit, but I use my photos to aid Google searches so I can identify landmarks, ships, and species of birds that have crossed my path. Cropping photos, especially of birds—eagles, mostly—allows me to zoom in and see features that were impossible with the naked eye, providing the gift of discovery even after the event or sighting.

Bald eagles in Kingston, WA

I've never taken a photography class, and my photos are far from professional, even with my liberal use of the "adjust" features in iPhoto—definition, contrast, and saturation being my favorites–but I'm enjoying experimenting with composition and subjects, glad that I'm not "wasting film." (My parents didn't appreciate the rolls I took of our dogs and extreme flower closeups with our Kodak Instamatic in the early 1970s that all came out indistinguishable and blurry.)

My cat Theo, helping decorate this year's Christmas tree

I winnowed down thousands of photos from 2014 to 90 of my favorites to share. In case you're wondering, my (very photogenic) family does not appear in any of the pictures, intentionally. In fact, there are very few people featured in the photos; I was less interested in sharing the personalities of humans, than I am in sharing the particularities and peculiarities of the neighborhoods I inhabit.  

St John's River from the Cummer Museum garden, Jacksonville Florida

The slideshow takes a few minutes, so pour a cup of tea, sit back, relax, and enjoy. I hope my photos will inspire your own creativity.

Happy Holidays!

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