The old joke in our family goes like this;  Sherelene says “I raised four children, Scott, Wesley, Catherine and Bill!”  It’s true.  My daughter Catherine often asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  My answer has always been, “I don’t want to grow up!’  I did hve to grow up spiritually and Sherelene was a big part of helping me find the discipline to do just that.  She has been by my side through countless trials and  tribulations and has always mirrored for me Christian maturity, love and faith.  Thank you sweetheart for being the rock I needed.

 

 

My brother Homer proved to me that a real conversion truly does make you a new creature.  For many years Homer was not a believer and I prayed for him for years, one day he called me and asked me if I was sitting down, I feared he was going to tell me he had cancer!  He told me he had found the Lord and it was the best news I can ever remember hearing!  He truly is a new creature in Christ!  He has become a mentor for me, funny how God works!

 

 

Jim Haverstock lost his wife Sue several years ago and I have been in close touch with him ever since that day.  I thought I was going to try and help him through that terrible loss, but he changed me as he show me the strength of His faith and the gift of God’s resiliency!  He lives his faith in the most wonderful ways and is a blessing to so many, me included!

 

 

 

My son Scott witnesses his faith in a quiet but steadfast way!  His selflessness and love for others, family, friends and patients is a witness to the reality of his faith!  He deeply loved his brother Wes and submitted to a bone marrow transplant to try and help save him, his love spoke even louder and I know Wes is with the Lord today because of that demonstration of faith!  Rhonda, Sherelene and I,  all continued to lead him to the foot of the cross!  Wes deeply admired Scott and tried to emulate him!

 

 

Dr. Charles Stanley, Charles to me, has been a wonderful friend, brother and guide for many years!  His teaching and preaching have helped me to form the foundation of  a moment to moment walk with my Lord.  We’ve enjoyed many days in the field shooting together and appreciating God’s beauty!  He is exactly the man you think he is, and a powerful servant of God!

 

 

 

When you are facing a critical question and need Godly advice who do you turn to?  For me one of my first calls is to Carl Turner.  Carl has become a dear friend and brother and a powerful source of wisdom for me!  I know of few men that are more committed to serving God and being a great friend to all who need them!  Warm and tender hearted he lives his faith everyday!

 

 

This image of Ricky Skaggs shot by one of our students at his and my wokshop in Nashville several years ago, captures the Ricky I know best.  You know him as one of the giants of Country and Bluegrass music and the winner of 14 grammys, but I know him as the deeply spiriual man of God that loves everyone he meets with Christ’s love.  Warm and outgoing and always having time for fans and friends alike. Ricky is admired the most by those that know him the best!

 

 

Of course many other people inspire and encourage, but these seven keep me grounded and looking to my Heavenly Father for the strength to live each day!

 

Blessings

 

the pilgrim

 

 

 

 

 

It’s probably best to start near the beginning!  When I first got involved in nature and outdoor photography the greatest influence on me was the teacher, photographer and writer John Shaw.  He became the mentor for thousands of photograpehrs in the 70’s and 80’s and up to today!  He was a great technician, and shooter but and even better teacher, making the most complex concepts of photography easy for us all, to learn and undertstand!  Thanks John for such a great kick start for so many of us!!!

 

 

In the early days of my photography a lot of my photo education came from our local camera club, the Appalachian Photographic Society.  The friend and member that inspired me the most was Bill Cox.  He was a college student and had one of the best photographic eyes I’ve ever scene, then and to the present day!  Bill had a magical ability to see graphic compositions as illustrated by the imges above, all done with his iPhone!!!!  Bill is still one of the best pure shooters/artists I have ever known!

 

 

In the early 90’s I went to work for Nikon as a Professional Markets Tech Rep and my boss and long time friend was Bill Pekala. Bill was and is a photography industry legend.  For almost 40 years he led Nikon’s NPS (Nikon Professional Services) division.  During much of those early years Nikon dominated the industry as the true choice of professionals.  Bill provided me the oppotunity to cover shuttle launches, Masters golf tournaments, air shows, Super Bowls and much, much more.  He became one of my dearest friends and I still have the upmost respect and affection for him,  Bill also happens to be a terrific shooter too!!!!  As a side note, Bill Pekala went to work for Sony as a consultant after he retired from Nikon and is very much responsible for their meteoric rise in the Pro market!  No surprise, like I said,  “He is a Legend”!!!!

 

 

During the time that I was working for Nikon I did a class at Santa Fe Workshops and met one of the most talented photographers of my life, Mark Alberhasky.  Mark’s work has always inspired me to be better and his graphic and artistic approach is among the best I’ve ever seen!  His work is truly stunning and he also happens to be one of nicest people I’ve ever been privileged to get to know along this journey!  If you want to be wowed go to his website  IMAGEMA, but be prepared to be blown away!

 

 

Early in my teaching career,  running the Great American Photography Weekends I met a professional trumpet player who turned out to become my very closest friend.  Jack Graham is a world class shooter just as he was a musician of such skill that he played with many legends including Frank Sinatra!  Jack and I started to teach together when I retired from Nikon in 2013 and the last nine years have been some of my best in photography!  We’ve greatly enjoyed each others company and are brothers in Christ!  Jack is also a legendary workshop leader and teacher!

 

 

During this same period I met Jim Haverstock and his wife Sue.  Jim is one of the finest, kindest and most dedicated Christian I have ever known.  A very skilled photographer and one of the most fun people to be in the field with enjoying shooting and fellowshipping!  I talk to Jim almost everyday, a day without touching base with him is a lost day!

 

 

Another dear freind that has come out of the His Light Workshops is Rick Coleman.  In the dictionary under Class Act there should  be photo of Rick.  A true pleasure to be with and a wonderful shooter, He  Jim, Jack I often enjoy working together in the field!  Rick is another of those artists that you can only wish you were as good as him!

 

 

Jim Begley was co-founder of His Light Workshops with me and we had years of great times traveling and shooting all over America.  Jim is one of the most skilled photographers I know, his work is simply stunning!  His skill as a HD technician is unmatched and the resulting photographs are breathtaking!  Jim is from my own home town, making me, at best, the second best shooter in town!  Jim is also the consummate Christian gentleman!

 

 

Over a decade ago my son Wesley and I did the America From 500 Feet book together.  Over the course  of that adventure he became a very skilled shooter and more importantly we got to spend 14 months together driving over 123,000 mile across America shooting and flying together  When we lost Wes to cancer three years ago we still would thank each other often for the greatest adventure of our lives!  I’m thankful we had that time together!  I will see hm again one of these days, I know where he is!

 

Many people have been great friends and helped me photographically over the past 53 years, but these were some that I wanted to thank again for enriching my life beyond measure!  God surely used each of them to not only make me a better photographer but, I believe, a better man!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

 

 

For what it’s worth, I started my serious quest to become a good photographer in 1969, that was 53 years ago!  I’m not sure how close I’ve come to that goal, but in the process of trying to get better everyday, I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons. with your permission, I would like to share some the most important ones:

 

Technique beats equipment, everytime.  I first heard this spoken by Rod Planck, still, one of the best shooters I’ve ever had the honor of working with.  Rod was, and is, one of the consummate technicians and artists in the field today.  Please believe me he is dead on, get your techniques perfected and you can make killer images all day long!

 

 

You can own too much gear.  Sadly I know this from experience.  I’ve only really shot two systems for the vast majority of my career, Nikon and Fujifilm.  I did have a brief affair with Konica, that sure was a mistake!  When I left Nikon to start shootng with Fujifilm’s X Series of cameras I had over 35 Nikon lenses and a multiple of camera bodies.  I currently own 5 Fujifilm bodies and 19 lenses, seems I never learn!  Don’t be me!

 

 

Spend more time searching for the shot than taking it!  From years of teaching with David Middleton I learned this from the repeated urging from David to our students.  He was right and it has vastly improved my work to just take the time to truly look, see and understand what in a scene is moving me to want to  capture it!

 

 

Likes are useless, in fact can be destructive. I know that lots of younger shooters today are addicted to social media and get a thrill out of piling up Likes.  The problem is likes don’t really tell you much and they may lead to an over appreciation of your own work, which can stunt your growth.  No offense, but the general public may like something but that does not mean it’s good!  If you allow compliments on your work to make you feel you have arrived, your progress towards your goals may get stalled or even stopped.  Appreciate kind words,  but stay focused on working on always getting better!

 

 

There is no such thing as a “famous photographer”  The best we can hope for in our field is to be respected and appreciated for our work and our lives.  Elvis was famous, Sinatra was famous, Billy Graham was famous. At the best we will be known by our peers.  If the most well known photographer in the Landscape or nature field were to go to the local mall and stand in the middle of the walkway it may take hours or days before anyone would recognize them and know what they did or who they were.  Let’s get over becomng famous, you woudn’t want it anyway, if you ever experienced it!  Plenty of truly famous people have told me it is a burden!

 

 

The greatest reward from photography is relationships!  I’ve made a good living as a photographer, but I am not rich in financial terms, I am however very wealthy with friends and associates that mean the world to me!  Here are just a few of the great people God and Photography have blessed my life with!  Not pictured but at the top of my list of dearest friends/brothers are Jack Graham, Jim Haverstock, Bryan Jolley and Carl Turner. That is true wealth!!!

 

 

The worst statement that can be spoken; “Do you have any Idea who I am!?’  Some years ago I was trying to help a very well known photographer with a  camera problem, when I worked for Nikon, he was getting very frustrated as we stumbled around trying to fix his issue.  He finally blurted out that dreaded statement.  It didn’t help his issue and though we finally were successful in helping him, he was less highly regarded as he once had been. It’s not worth it!

 

 

When trying to help others learn never forget where you started!  Some times the same old questions may seem irritating, but before you react poorly, remember how little you knew when you first started and how eager you were to learn, it will do worlds of good to your understanding, patient, teaching skills!

 

 

Don’t display your awards, trophies and plaques.  The more we celebrate our victories the less time we will spend getting better!  All of my awards are in boxes somewhere, mostly forgotten, where they belong, in the past.  I’m more concerned about today and tomorrow!

 

 

The greatest term in photography is SIMPLIFY!  This is the constant mantra of Jack Graham and he is right, Simplify everything;  your gear, your plans and your compositions, brilliant and true!!!!  Trust me, it works!

 

 

The second greatest term is SLOW DOWN!  Take time and watch your work infinitely better!  Thanks Jack, right again!

 

 

Camera brands don’t matter.  If you are using any camera system made in the last five years and you are not getting spectacular results, it’s not the camera!  Everything made today is more than capable of helping you get wonderful images! remember number 1, Technique beats equipment everytime!

 

 

Welcome constructive advise from people with more skills than you have, if you do you will be able to do the same some day.  Swallow your pride and really learn!  It may be hard, but worth it!

 

 

SFT. See – Feel – Trust   Do you want to have a great life, success that matters, peace and real joy?  It’s Simple:  See God’s Face, Feel His presence and Trust His Love!

He loves you more than you could ever know or understand, accept His love and live your best life here and be with Him in Eternity!

 

Let today be the first day of the rest of your life and live it to the fullest!!

From Jerry McQuire:  To be honest I’ve failed more than I have succeed in life, but I love my wife and I love my life and I wish you my kind of success!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

I was cleaning out my office today and found this old catalog from the late 60’s – early 70s from Norman’s Camera. Just look at thse prices!!!  A Nikon FPhotomic body in Black for $244.97 or a 85mm f 1.8 for $162.97  how about a 600mm f 5.6 with focusing unit for $640.  Consider that a 400 f 4 today goes for around $12,000.!!!!!!!

 

Pretty amazing!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim