It’s a wonderful thing, photography. At a push of a button we can immortalize anything or anyone we want: flower gardens; baseball games; birds in flight; bird crap on car windows; pals; lovers; favorite cousins; despised in-laws. You name it, somebody has taken its picture.
Those obvious notions came to mind a few nights ago when I decided to green light an essay about photography, whose final form you are now looking at. I’ve written before on the subject. And that’s because I get a soul-satisfying kick out of shutterbugging.
That kick had lain dormant for decades, but vigorously popped out of its coffin in January 2016 when I came into possession of my first smartphone. An iPhone, it struck me as miraculous. Hell, was there anything it couldn’t do? Well, the phone balked at fetching my dog-eared slippers and washing my dirty underwear. But other than that, it was primo.
And the phone of course came equipped with a camera lens that, despite its incredibly tiny size, took, for the most part, damn good pictures. Good enough for me, anyway. Within no time I was snapping away. And decorating my journalistic output with some of the results of those snaps (prior to that, my wife Sandy took the photos for the stories). Man, I had lucked out, if you want to look at it that way. Meaning, even though I was a whole lot older than I could believe, depressingly older, at least I had added two worthy creative endeavors (writing and photography) to the late autumn/early winter of my years. Excuse me for a moment, please, while I now resume watching those f*cking grains of sand continue to fall, fall, fall to the bottom of my hourglass. Oh, my breaking heart!
Okay, I’m back. Where was I? Ah, yes. Here’s the way I look at photography: Many of us, including yours truly, can’t draw or paint or sculpt worth a shit. But it’s not too hard for anyone to be pleased with their photographs. All you have to do is decide what angle you want to take a photo from and what person or object should be its focus. Then you frame the shot and, if needed, adjust the light level. At that point the magic moment has arrived in which to tap the camera’s button. Voila! Mission likely accomplished.
But I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. That’s the beauty of photography. It’s an art form made for us all.
So, what’s the deal with the photographs that I’ve included in this essay? Let me start by saying that all of them date from 2018 and that they are among the 1,000+ that I took during the year. None of them have appeared in previous articles. I suppose that my aim is simple: To publish photographs on this page that strike my artsy-fartsy sensibilities just right. Each has some combination of shapes, colors, angles and textures that I can’t deny. Yeah, these photos do something to me.
Take the one of musician James “Blood” Ulmer, for instance. Ulmer, unaccompanied, performed deep, heavy blues in April in Philadelphia at the Outsiders Improvised & Creative Music Festival. The golden hues of his outfit and the jumble of audio equipment nearly encasing him give the picture a techno/alien quality. “Prepare for blastoff,” the photo is announcing. “Destination unknown. Mysteries await.”
And I like the grand grooves in the Santa Fe tree, and its thick, finger-like upper sections. But what gives the photo its distinctiveness is the modest yellow, black and red traffic sign standing contentedly next to the behemoth.
The deeply pock-marked cliffs at New Mexico’s Bandelier National Monument are modern art taken to an elemental extreme. And the photo of trees, hills and houses in Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico would have floored Paul Cézanne, so Cézanne-ish is it in its blocky composition. Talk about pure luck. I took that picture from a moving car. Nearly every other picture that I snapped from within the car that day was meh.
I’ll mention one more snapshot, that of the sunset at Mayo Beach in Wellfleet, Cape Cod. The picture appears almost theatrical in its lighting. The light on the picnic bench came from my car’s headlights. The car’s engine was running because it was as cold as a witch’s tit that night, and I jumped out only for a second, documenting the beautiful sunset with my phone’s camera and then admiring the view again from back inside the heated vehicle.
By the way, like every picture herein, the sunset pic is unmanipulated. Being a natural sort of guy, so natural that I prance naked in my dreams, I wasn’t about to crop, enhance, rotate or do anything else to my babies via the photographic software that came with my computer. Popeye The Sailor once said, “I yam what I yam, and that’s all what I yam.” If my photos could talk, each would quote those immortal words.
In closing, I’ll add that all of the selections come from New Mexico, Cape Cod or Philadelphia, places that I’ve written about a lot this year. They are good places, fascinating and colorful and full of the unexpected.
(Please don’t be shy about adding your comments or about sharing this article. I thank you.)
(If you click on any photo, a larger image will open in a separate window.)
Yeah, Another Blogger 
Those are wonderful photos of some of my favorite places. Thanks for the re-visit!
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Glad you liked ’em, Fran. Many thanks for stopping by.
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I enjoyed your pics – you have an eye for quirky compositions. I, too, love my camera pix & have been clicking away happily, and often blurrily, and using some of my pics to illustrate my blog posts. Like you I don’t fiddle with them – chiefly because I lack the know-how & secondly, because I couldn’t be bothered. Its fun. & I’ll settle for fun in my autumn/winter years, as you so poetically wrote!
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Right, if a person is lucky enough to get a lot of fun out of doing something, that’s a fortunate individual.
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Great photos! I too love snapping away with my iPhone or mini iPad, so much easier than a camera.
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Yeah, I wouldn’t want to bother with a regular camera. I’m too lazy!
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There are some crackers there. I especially like the one of James “Blood” Ulmer—just seems to capture something essential—and the one of the rock formation in Bandelier National Park—great angle.
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Thanks a lot, George. By the way, you might want to check out Ulmer on YouTube. He has been an active musician for many decades. I imagine there are a lot of videos of him playing from the start of his career up to the present. He’s not your typical electric guitar player.
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Thanks for the tip. I’ll give him a listen.
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Yep, the smart phone does it for me too.. Although I wished I had taken a proper camera on my EBC trip, but then again, I would not have wanted to carry the extra weight!! Great pictures,
by the way, show you don’t have to travel too far to see the beauty of this planet.
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Hi Lieve. Right, there are beautiful things most everywhere, though sometimes you have to look pretty hard to find them (such as in the suburbs where I live).
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I think you’ve got “a good eye,” (or artsy-fartsy sensibility, as the professionals say) and I like these shots. You’re a natural documentarian (hey my phone confirms that’s a real word!).
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See, your phone is smart!
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I’ve loved photography since I got my first camera in about 6th grade. I don’t miss dealing with film, that’s for sure. Digital photography is miraculous. And now, with the iphone? Crazy. Half of the time I call it my camera, cause I take photos on it more than I talk on it!!! Great pics, by the way.
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Hi Mimi. I know what you mean. The capabilities of these phones go way, way, way beyond having a chat with somebody.
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Organizing, storing all the photos has become an issue for me.
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Ditto. It’s a major project!
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Nice pics, Neil. Most folks here will undoubtedly rave about their iPhone/smartphone. They’ve certainly made it easier for non-pros to take good-quality photos. Fun is the most important thing, but I’m not totally onboard. I’ve known a few people in years past who took up 35-mm analog photography, and their learning process and gradual development as “artists” was the real treasure (adjusting for light, shadow, texture, contrast, motion, etc.). Not sure you can get the same thing with our pocket toys. My son became real good at Guitar Hero, but it was nothing compared to when he started learning to play real guitar. (Sorry to be a devil’s advocate!)
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There’s plenty of truth in what you say. But smartphones are all that the “average” person needs. And as the photographic capabilities of phones improves over the years, I assume that fewer and fewer people will be using more “advanced” cameras. Thanks a lot for dropping by, Pete. Bye till next time.
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O brave new world! But you are so right about photography being an art form for many. How it enriches our lives. That sunset at Cape Cod is a stunner.
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Across the road from where I took that photo is a really good restaurant: The Bookstore Restaurant. If you’re ever on Cape Cod, I recommend eating there.
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Will do!
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I’m at the office reading your post when I burst out in laughter upon seeing “Excuse me for a moment, please, while I now resume watching those f*cking grains of sand continue to fall, fall, fall to the bottom of my hourglass. Oh, my breaking heart!” 🙂 And its never too late to start something again you’re passionate about.
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The older I get, the more I become aware of The End being a reality. Oh, my breaking heart!
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Hey there Neil, Great pictures. Great essay. Jerry
And as Linda McCartney said, “If you see something that moves you, and you snap it, you keep a moment.”
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Linda was right. That’s a real truth about photography. See ya, Jerry. Take care —
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My iPhone fetches my socks! Demand a new one. You have an eye for color – particularly love Blood Ulmer.
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Hello there, JT. If you like unusual electric guitar playing, then check out some of Ulmer’s music. He has his own way of expressing music.
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Great photos !
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Many thanks. I appreciate that.
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Hi Neil, I’m truly impressed! Your sunset beach photo taken in Cape Cod (w/ the car lights illuminating the picnic bench) is quite masterful. I find that since I also embraced the iPhone for photography – I rarely pull out the SLR ‘big’ camera. Why bother? The iPhone is killing it. Also – having become quite close w/ friends who live in the U.K. – I never knew that our own Cape Cod had a region known as Truro?!! But it looks nearly identical to my friend’s Cornish Truro in U.K. Thank you for sharing these fab pics and looking forward to more of your new travels captured w/ your iPhone.
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Hey there, Patricia. Glad to hear from you. Truro is part of the Outer Cape (i.e. part of the far end). It’s rural and beautiful. Lots of woods, marshland, meadows, sand dunes. I really like Truro. Have a great weekend — Neil
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I think my favorite is the Cape Cod shot of all the signs on the beach, because they’re sort of luminous while the sky is dark and stormy behind them.
What a nice collection. I’m jealous!
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When you take as many pix as I did in 2018, some are bound to turn out good. I ought to write a story about the many that are so-so.
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Wonderful photos! And yes, photos are a wonderful journal of our lives….
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Hey there, Ann. Right, photography really enriches our lives. It’s a fabulous thing.
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Love your photos Neil: One of my favorite places is Santa Fe, NM. Check out my post on it by putting ‘Santa Fe’ on the right of the first page of my blog. Hope you like it as much as I enjoyed this post of yours. Cheers, Muriel
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Thanks for stopping by, Muriel. Later today I’m going to look for your Santa Fe piece. See ya —
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Hello again. I looked in your website, but I can’t find the Santa Fe post.
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Thank you for sharing these wonderfully eclectic photos. 🙂
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Glad you liked them, Lynette. Have an excellent weekend.
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I think we’re a bit similar Neil – I too discovered writing and photography in later life and have really enjoyed punctuating my posts with pictures taken out and about in my “hood”. The ones you’ve shared are just wonderful. I used to go out with a quite expensive camera but now just take the iPhone as the pictures seemed to turn out even better and there was none of that fiddling about with different lens’ etc. Once my pics are on the computer however, unlike you, I do like to do a bit of cropping/editing/enhancing etc. Not a natural like you obviously!
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Hi Alyson. Once in a while I manipulate a photo or two. Usually not though. I’m lazy!
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Yes. I’m feeling the power with my smart phone, clicking away, putting poems, stories to them, some of which appear on my blog
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Greetings, John. Taking pictures on a smartphone is addictive! And fun, which I guess is why it’s addictive.
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Loved the footprints on the Coast Guard Beach. With Mayo Beach, you left me speechless Neil. I’ve never seen any sunsets like the one you snapped in Cape Cod. Magnificient and mysterious. Have a great weekend, Isabelle
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Isabelle, you need to visit Cape Cod. Some beautiful sunsets await you!
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Will do one day!
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I am so with you. I don’t even own a camera anymore–it’s all iPhone. I take so many pictures, especially of my dog, he avoids me–even if I offer him a treat!
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Hi Jacqui. You should do a photo story for your blog about your dog, and his reluctance to have his picture taken!
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Really like the footprints on the beach sand, especially now that we’ve had 7, yes SEVEN! measurable snows already and my toes are cold all the time. 🙂
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Seven snows?! That’s a BIG PAIN. I know that plenty of snow is in my region’s near future. So far though, we’ve had only one snowfall. Thanks for stopping by, Janet. As always, I appreciate it.
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Thank you for sharing your photographic memories, Neil. I, like you, am in love with photography. I basically carry my camera with me almost all the time (am not smart enough for a smart phone). Some people say that taking photos distracts from living in the moment, but I think it does the opposite. It makes me enjoy the moment, and enables me to relive it, whenever I look at the photo again. Happy snapping.
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I think that both sides of the argument are true. It just depends on who is making the argument. (I’m not sure that I explained things very well just then. Oh well.) Anyway, enjoy the weekend, Tanja. Looking forward to your next photo essay.
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I guess if all one did was snap photos left and right, one might miss out.
Happy weekend to you, too, Neil.
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I hadn’t seen or heard of James Blood Ulmer for years. Used to go watch him at the Knitting Factory in New York. Loved his music.
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He used to play with bands a lot. Now he’s mostly a solo performer, I think. Maybe he will be within driving distance of where you live. See you, Ken. Enjoy the weekend.
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Neil, like you I can’t draw, paint or sculpt worth a shit, and my wife takes all the proper photos, but my semi-smartphone is a really handy thing! Like others, although they’re all good, the one of James ‘Blood’ Ulmer really stands out. Set controls for the heart of the sun, baby!
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That picture was pretty much pure luck. I was fairly far from the stage, and didn’t really know how the picture would turn out.
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An enjoyable read 🙂 Photography really is for us all, isn’t it. Writing isn’t though, and you’ve got both, lucky you!
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Hi there, and thanks a lot for stopping by. Right, I’m glad that I rediscovered photography in 2016. For many years before that I barely took a picture.
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Ah, lovely photos! I’m impressed by many, but on a tech note I’m impressed by the night shots. How’d you get the color to keep so nicely? My old LG phone always had such grainy night shots, and my new LG has such a strong flash the night photos don’t look like night photos at all. Poo.
But I think that Cape Cod pic of the signs with the beach beyond is my favorite. It’s the color balance there, the brightness of these small signs and the epic sweep of beach and cloud beyond. Beautiful, Sir!
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Hi. My phone is hit-or-miss when it comes to night photos. I think that newer phones maybe take better night shots overall. But I don’t use the flash at night. Try your night shots without the flash. You might like the results.
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Great way to showcase photos that weren’t part of an earlier blog. I love that sunset shot marvellous. I too can’t wait for the day when phones will finally wash our underwear. Thanks for the showcase
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Hello there, and thanks for the visit. I’m surprised that the sunset picture came out as it did. It’s a lot better than I thought it would be. Have a real good weekend. See you —
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Love these photos, Neil! Especially the sunset one. And how convenient we have cameras on our phones. And digital pics. Nothing like it used to be when we had to pay to develop all those blurry, too-dark pictures. Now we can just delete them 🙂
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I wonder if the first smartphones had cameras. Whatever the case, cameras in phones is a brilliant idea.
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Great photos, Neil! Some of them really do look like paintings–not only the Cezanne style you mentioned, but David Hockney (“Tree in Santa Fe”) and Andrew Wyeth (“Marshland”). You have the iPhone, but you also have the eye!
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I knew that the marshland photo reminded me of something, but I couldn’t place it. You’re right. It looks sort of like a Wyeth.
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Thank you for sharing your photos. I love seeing the ordinary beauty around us that other’s have thought to capture. As a food blogger, I get tired of styled and overly-processed shots. Somethings are best just left as they are, even better when there’s a photograph to capture it. Have a wonderful Sunday!
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Hi, Annika. I’ve always liked the photos on your site. They are very classy!
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Thank you so much… I’m always sure to make sure the dirty dishes don’t make it into any of the photos!
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As I was reading your essay, I was trying to choose a favourite photo…and couldn’t. I liked them all!
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Mucho gracias. You’ve made my day!
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Breathtaking share. Your photos are very intimate with culture, nostalgia and country. I thoroughly enjoyed!
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Thanks, AOC. I appreciate that a lot.
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Good read and lovely pictures Neil. I like the raw quality of your shots, and that you don’t ‘over-compose’ every shot perfectly. I enjoy photography too and lament (sort of) the days of my 35mm, but traveling with 50 rolls of film and a camera the size of a small appliance just seems so cumbersome compared to my iphone. I still have my Minolta with its zoom lens, but I’m afraid it’s a relic now. I should probably donate it to a museum. 🙂
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Yeah, it’s bad enough lugging luggage around when traveling. But even worse when photography equipment is added to that. I wonder of Nikon and Canon and other photography companies will stay afloat as the years go by. Thanks for the visit, Eden! See ya —
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Inspired selection of photos, Neil. And James “Blood” Ulmer’s outfit does indeed give one pause. Any plans to get one for yourself?
Before smartphones, I was an F-stop fiddling Nikon sort of photobug. This didn’t make my photos great, just time-consuming in a quasi-artsy sort of way. But I have slowly given way to the quick-click of my camera phone, especially when traveling. It’s a lot easier whipping out my smartphone when trekking through the Parthenon than, say, hauling around my camera, a battery pack/charger, lenses, etc, The deal-sealer? How all those snaps magically upload themselves to my computer.
Happy holidays shutterbugging.!
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Right, carrying all the equipment you describe is a major load on the shoulders. I never was into any of that, partly because I’m kind of lazy. My camera of choice in olden decades was a Kodak Instamatic.
Have a great rest of the week, Amy. See ya!
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You’ve just describe my blog – take photos, write about them 🙂
I love digital photography. Take multiple photos of the same thing … because I can. Delete most of them. Repeat.
… and the line “Excuse me for a moment, please, while I now resume watching those f*cking grains of sand continue to fall, fall, fall to the bottom of my hourglass.” {snort!}
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Hey there, Joanne. Right, digital photography can become addictive, partly because it’s not cumbersome. It’s fun! Many thanks for dropping by. I appreciate it.
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I really enjoyed these pictures–and this piece. When I got my iPhone, I was amazed as well at the quality of the photos. I’m having a hard time though, finding the right light when I take photographs here in the Pacific Northwest–the light isn’t always that great, but the scenery is terrific, so oh well. Cheers!
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It’s the scenery that counts! Hi, Cecilia. Have a great rest of the week.
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Your photos (and posts) are coffee-table-book awesome. Take pride in your talents. 🙂
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Hey, you’ve made my day!
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Oooh, I’m late arriving to this post as it was a long scroll to get to the bottom of this page to add my comment. The sands in my f*cking sandglass have been running quickly recently with a week of extra work helping our son redecorate a house he has just purchased, renovated, and hopes to move into this coming weekend and these last last five days with what the doctor tells me is the winter norovirus – a lot of vomiting and diarrohea – and not a pick to eat. Like yourself, I love photography and, on retirement, treated myself to an excellent camera and additional macro lens – my particular interest is photographing gardens and flowers – and the camera on the ‘phone never satisfied my needs and I now take a snobbish attitude that it couldn’t possibly be as good as a “real” camera!!!! (LOL Just taking the piss!). My own particular view on photography, as it relates to gardens and, possibly, to other areas also, is that the camera very often lies – or, perhaps, it is the photographer who is the liar. In relation to gardens, we always take the “pretty” photograph, that which looks good and attractive; we always seek to take the nicest photographs rather than make an accurate record of the gardens we visit so we ignore the weed patches or the poorly maintained lawns, or the dead plants here and there. But then, you know, maybe life is too short to bother pointing our cameras at what is less than beautiful and the camera might well be one of the most positive instruments in our lives as it always directs us to seek the good and the beautiful and ignore the dull, uninteresting and ugly. Keep clicking!
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Paddy, you make some really good points. I guess that most people are innately optimistic, and that’s reflected in what they choose to photograph. And it’s reflected also in photographs of people, who usually are smiling for the camera.
I hope that you get over your virus soon!
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Great photos Neil! I used to get my glasses from a place called For Eyes in Chicago (years ago).
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Hi Kathy, and thanks for stopping by. In the 1980s I bought glasses in the For Eyes that I photographed. I was glad to find out that it’s still in business.
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great story, small pixel can make a huge pictures , that we see in our dream or real.
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Great read and photos!
Many thanks for stopping by my Travel and Photography blog.
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Hello there. I’m glad you liked this article. Enjoy your travels!
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Always do 😉
If you have time, I’d appreciate it if you could pop over to my site and leave me some feedback on a post. Have a good one!
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Love your sprinkling of the pics. They do help tell a story. Bang on with the thought about Ulmer “blast off”.
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I hadn’t seen Ulmer in years and years. So, it was great seeing him earlier this year. The headlining act at that show was a recreation of Ornette’s Prime Time band. Three original members were there (Jamaaladeen and Denardo and a guitarist). Odean Pope took Ornette’s spot. They were loud and wild and terrific. You’d have loved it, CB.
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Yes I would have loved it. The Ulmer pic and your description reminded me of Sun Ra who I’ve been listening to a lot lately. Shows you where my heads at. Keep snapin’ the images.
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Now that I have my phone I never miss a shot. I used to lament, “why do I always forget my camera?” but that’s ancient history now.
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Morning, Pam. It didn’t take long for smartphones to rule the world. They are amazing.
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And a little scary, Neil, at least the all-consuming part.
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Wow! What a wonderful year with terrific photos. Happy Holidays from down under. Kat
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Kat, it’s great to hear from you. All the best to you and yours.
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Great photos! Keep on snapping! Marry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year!
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Hey there, Benn. Here’s to a peaceful 2019 for one and all.
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Amazing array of images, plus the running commentary! Happy continued photo shoots into the New Year! 🙂
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Wow!
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