The photos any photographer loves of his or hers are personal and are affected by many things the viewer can’t know or see. I don’t claim they are wonderful or better than anybody else’s,  or even the best photos I’ve taken (out of more than 50,000).

They are just the ones I like the best, ones that touch me, ones that tell a story others can relate to, one that jogs emotions or is, in itself, emotional. They each mean something to me.

The photograph is very personal to me and very important. If not for Maria’support (we were friends then) I would never have had the courage to pursue it. It has done so much for me and my life, and hopefully for others. It was an emotional experience to look through these photographs, each one is a milestone of sorts.

This is a complex process for me, so I just ran threw them quickly and pulled out the ones that hit my heart or triggered an emotion. Of course, I loved scores of them. I decided to post them over two days, 12 today and ten tomorrow – maybe 12, just to balance things out.

The photo up above was chosen by me in part because Maria is so prominent in it, spreading love wherever she goes, and a cloud is exploding right over her heart. She is the heart and soul of the place and of my life.

To me, that is a picture that says a lot. I added an eleventh and then a twelfth because I just couldn’t bear to leave them out. One was just taken a few minutes before I wrote this.

I chose these photos from the heart, not the mind. I’m sure they are not technically perfect, and I will hear from peckerheads. But I like them very much.

I never want the technical processes to overwhelm emotion in my photos. Some aging old farts squawked to me that Ansel Adams had better contrast than mine. They sure did.

But old farts always forget that Ansel Adams had plenty of old farts screeching at him about too much contrast. He complained bitterly about it in the interviews he gave. Old farts do not tend to be overwhelmingly positive about the future and change. I will do my best not to be one. Ansel,  rest in peace.

Each of these photos represents a passage for me, either in my life, my healing, or my photography.

That’s the best explanation I can give. I hope you enjoy seeing them again.

I want them to speak for themselves, so I am not captioning, defending, fighting, or even explaining them. I’m just listing them with a descriptive word or two. They are just among my favorites, nothing more, nothing less.

I hope you enjoy them, and that they touch something inside of you, as they did me. Twelve today, Twelve tomorrow.

 

The Prom Gowns

The Old White Hen

Flo In Autumn

Wonder Woman (It was taken last year. I just like it. It’s about pride and courage)

 

Lulu

Tree In The Pasture

Stacking Wood

Moonshine Monochome

Sheep Grazing

Prom Gowns Again

Purity