There is beauty everywhere, and in everything, even in a manure pile. When I started taking photos soon after I met Maria, a dying photographer in Chicago – he had cancer – did me the great service of sharing his wisdom. I never met him, but I did speak to him on the phone several times. He was a faithful reader of my blog, even back then, when there wasn’t much on it, words or pictures.

“You can take a beautiful photograph of anything,” he said. “It depends on the light and what’s in your head, and what you see.” I don’t care about settings or centerings or exposures or shutter speed, I always remember his advice when I go out to look at the world with my camera. This morning, I saw our manure pile, steaming in the morning sun. To the left, frost on our apple tree in the pasture. In front, Red, steam coming out of his mouth and he focused on his sheep.

Can a manure pile be beautiful? Sure, if you see it that way. You always look for magic when you hit the shutter, but if it is not in your head, the camera cannot see it. You can, in fact, take a beautiful photo of anything, thanks Carl.