A number of years ago I wrote about photography and fishing, and like my fishing experience during my youth, photography has provided an important means to an end for over 50 years. I talked about how fishing was a means to an end. This was my special private world, void of expectations, but full of daydreams, fresh air, old timers to talk to while siting on the dock with my legs hanging over the water, snacks and soda pop, and if I was lucky, sometimes some “keepers”.

I also talked about being in another special world when I photograph, a world I have written about several times. This is my special world of seeing and just taking in life’s moments that are surrounding me as I walk, hike or drive.  It’s wonderful and another means to an end, just like it was when I was fishing, even if I don’t end up ever snapping the shutter or getting any keepers. Seeing the world and taking it all in, on your own terms, in your own time, is really special and an opportunity to be grateful for.

Another aspect of photography that is incredibly important to me is the many friends I have made by in person and through this website.  Interacting with others because of photography, discussing our work and the joy of doing what we do is wonderful, and all part of “my photographic life”. But what are really special are the friendships that come about and grow as a result of these interactions.

Last week I received a beautiful handmade New Year’s card from a new friend of mine. Inside the card was a handwritten message. Attached to the outside of the card was a small black and white abstract image of what appears to be ice forms upon the surface of a stream. Visually beautiful and sensitively captured; I just keep on looking at it!  It turns out that the photograph is a small cropped section of an 8×10 negative that I am sure has been contact printed. What a special gift and one that will always have a special place in my heart! Receiving it provided a perfect bookend to what has been great year in my photographic life and it will serve as a special inspiration as the New Year begins.

We live in strange and challenging times. Along with family, my dog Sparky, and the values and beliefs I hold dear, my photographic life and all the things that are part of it – especially the friends I have made – these are what I matter most to me.

I wish you all the best for a meaningful photographic life in the year to come.