The Image You Meant to Make

Camera:Nikon D200
Digital:10.2 MP [24×16] CCD
Software:Adobe Lightroom
Location:Miami, FL
Date:November 2006
Genre:Abstract

Is that image what you were looking for?

A small question on the surface — yet it carries its own weight.

In life, we often discover what we’re searching for only after giving it a name:
the hope, the intention, the quiet desire waiting to take shape.

When I was young, I imagined the makings of a good husband.
My list was simple: a few must-haves, nothing extravagant.
But combining those qualities into one human being proved to be its own puzzle,
and I learned that love — like life — asks for compromise.

The place I chose to live echoed the same lesson.
I picked a city for the work and the school,
not for the noise, not for the concrete.
Once I lived there long enough to understand myself,
I knew I’d leave the first chance I got.
Marriage opened that door —
a reminder that one change can clear space for the next.

And photographs — do we ever truly capture
what we set out to find?

For me, it’s a near-perfect split.

Some days I wander my favorite places with no map and no agenda,
just the rhythm of a nature walk
and the hope that light might spill in just the right way.
Those are the days when two loves meet:
the quiet world around me
and the way my camera captures the light.

The camera becomes a translator of feeling—
what I noticed, what stirred me,
what I’ve learned and long to give back
to the quiet joy of seeing.
And sometimes, in those moments of focus,
luck brushes against the frame.

But whether in living or in making images,
the truest work lies in clarity.

Before I gather my gear, I pause and ask:
Is this a walk first,
or is this a photograph waiting to be made?

Once I know that,
the path — like the light — becomes beautifully clear.

🌾  three ways of seeing
passing moves the frame
light reveals what waits unseen
form gathers meaning

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