Category Archives: Commentary

Do You Have a Free Day or Two?

If so, find some time to wander about in Jim Goldstein’s list of ‘the best of 2008’ from 92 (!) photograhers. Amazing! And thanks, Jim!

Yes, my 2008 favorites are in the Jim’s list, too.

Printing is on my Mind

There are so many more opportunities to see so much more photography today, given the astonishing number new electronic ways to share photographs and to find the photographs of others. Through blogs, Flickr, the many photo web sites and discussion forums, photographer’s web sites, email, you name it, we all experience a flood of visual media. While not all of it is great stuff, quite a lot of it is interesting and the sheer variety is astonishing. I don’t know how much time you spend intentionally looking at photographs, but I suspect that I may look at over 100 per day. (I’m not counting the images that we are exposed to by don’t actually give attention to – add those to the mix and the total would be much, much higher.)

But one thing has perhaps been lost in all of this, and that is the appreciation for the printed photograph. Continue reading Printing is on my Mind

What the Heck is Dan Shooting!?

Some of you who like my landscape/nature work may wonder what the heck I’m doing with the “urban photography” that I’ve posted here during the past few weeks. Get ready for more – there are currently about 10 photographs of similar subjects in the pipeline. Perhaps some explanation is in order.

This isn’t really a new thing for me – I’ve posted urban and “industrial” photographs in the past. (See the night photography section in my Gallery for some obvious examples, and also take a look at some of the “City” photographs while you are there.) Quite a few of them are what I think of as urban landscape photography, and to some extent I approach making these photographs much the same way I approach nature and landscape shooting. I wander about looking for stuff that appeals to me, often looking for effects of light, pattern, or color – and then I photograph it.

Besides the obvious subject differences – yes, I do realize that dilapidated buildings are not the same as aspen forests – I shoot differently, at least for some of this photography. While I do sometimes cart a tripod into urban environments, more often I travel light – ironically perhaps, usually lighter than I do when I go out for a weeklong pack trip! I generally do not use a tripod, I virtually never carry all of my lenses, and sometimes I just go out with a prime or two.

I hope you enjoy this change of pace, and that in some way you can see connections to my photographs of the natural world. (There is actually a long philosophical discussion I could have about that very topic, but I’ll spare everyone…) In any case, I’m sure that the flow of landscapes and nature photographs will resume in a week or so.

2008 Favorites

(Updated on 1/14/09 to add comments to some of the photographs.)

Since it is the last day of 2008 I guess it is “now or never” if I’m to put together the obligatory “best of the year” list. I thought of doing a “Best 10” or “Best of Each Month” or similar, but I finally gave up and just tossed a whole bunch of links in here, undoubtedly forgetting to include a few other favorites. (A few have 2007 dates – they were published here for the first time in 2008.) Despite the fact that there might seem to be a slight hint of grumbling in that first paragraph – just my sense of humor at work – I look forward to this end-of-the-year ritual every year. It is really great fun going back and reminding myself of what I’ve seen and photographed, and I frequently rediscover an image that I had somehow forgotten or overlooked.

By the way, if this is the first time you have visited my my blog

Anyway, on to the photographs… Continue reading 2008 Favorites