Every day I am amazed when I sit down at my computer to connect with people from all over this planet in some small way.  They are simple, brilliant, funny, complicated, emotional, practical, talented, angry, happy, bewildered, kind and beautiful.  And so much more.  They are my extended family.  I like to share their joy, sympathize with their problems, marvel at their creations, laugh when they’re funny, shed a tear and send a virtual hug when they’re sad.

I’m trying to be a better blogging friend but because I’ve spread myself so thin and followed so many incredible people, there are days when I don’t have enough intelligent comments in my brain to go around.  I’m lucky to make two or three passably interesting observations a day.  But if I click that LIKE button, I’m not joking, I’ve done it because I LIKE you and I like what you have to say.

The other thing that amazes me is…

Every so often, a novice photographer tags along with me in the field.  At the end of the shoot, they almost invariably say the same thing to me—you move around a lot!  Yes I do.  I think the biggest shortcoming for photographic newbies is the tendency to settle for the first shot they see.  Part of that “settling” is the propensity to shoot every scene at eye level.  Much of the time, this inclination leads to ho-hum imagery, and it’s a habit I think every photographer should break, immediately.

I’ve discussed this elsewhere, but years ago I attended a John Shaw photo seminar, and one of the things that stuck with me was his description of how, as a workshop leader, he noticed that the vast majority of his participants would approach a scene and immediately set up their tripods at full height.  I made a point of keeping…