Photography has been a serious hobby for almost 40 years. And yeah, it’s a hobby, not an all encompassing passion or mode for making money online.
Just a serious interest in making a variety of types of photos and having some fun doing it.

Five favorite places to shoot, so far?

#5 – By a window with light. It rains a bit where I live, so shooting indoors was a natural pursuit on those days when I couldn’t get outside, let alone out of bed. I have some simple lights I can set up, or I use natural light from a window. Still life, pet portraits and macro got a lot of attention early on.

#4 – My garden. I have a lot of roses and perennials that pop up each summer. I try to find stuff to grow that attracts bees, hummingbirds and the like. And I have spend many an hour just sitting and shooting in and around the garden plots, flowers and veggies, and creatures that show up on their own. I got really into shooting little birds that came by for a snack and a bath for several summers. And the hummers love the red crocosmia in the front garden – just sit on the steps and wait for one to come along and you get 20 minutes of hummer shots.

#3 – The ocean and big rivers. I live about an hour from the Pacific shores of Washington. And 15 minutes from the Puget Sound. We used to have a boat that we restored and motored around the Sound on the weekends. Shooting the shores, the birds, the seals and the inlets around Seattle was a favorite way to spend a Saturday and to learn more about my photography. Oh, and the Columbia is just down the road.

#2 – State and national parks. I live about a hour from Mt. Rainier and some very nice little state parks and refuges within a reasonable drive. No excuses for not getting out when I can – each place is different and has unique seasons for shooting. I like to visit the off beat parks that don’t seem to attract the big crowds. Got some great photos a few years ago on the National Bison Range near Arlee MT. That’s where I got hooked on telephoto for wildlife.

#1 – Belgium. Okay, gotcha there! I lived in Brussels for 4.5 years and it is/was still my favorite place to shoot. I should expand this to say Western Europe as that is where I spent a lot of time wandering and traveling by train, with my little film Canon AE1 back in the early ’90s. I took a lot of black and white back then – all film and slides. I’ve since digitized a lot of these photos and put them through some revitalization via Lightroom and Photoshop, but they are by far some of the best memories I’ve created with my camera.

“If you do what you do, for you alone, the way you think it should be done, you’re bulletproof.”

― Sean Tucker, The Meaning in the Making: The Why and How Behind Our Human Need to Create

I like to think I made these photos for me (and a few others in my life that appreciate my interest in photography). Yeah, mostly for myself, to share quietly and enjoy on a silent afternoon. From my favorite places so far…