The 24th day of the second month

DRUM POINT LIGHTHOUSE IN MARYLAND

Often times when I am photographing, my eye wanders to bits and pieces of the overall image and the result can be something like this picture of the old light at Solomons Island, MD.

I suppose that the motivation for something like this is varied. Looking for the different. Looking for something that can be a conversation piece. Lord forbid something that is creative. But the key is seeing.

Way before I ever thought about picking up a camera, I attended one of those local fairs. This one was in New York state and had row upon row of tents of people selling their crafts, foods, and just plain junk in some instances.

One of the tents housed a photographer who was selling his wares in all the usual form.....matted and framed mostly. The point was, he had some of the most fantastic photographs of storms coming across the plains of the Midwest and far west. Entire storm cells in one image after another tearing across the prairie with great lightning, clouds, and rain. The images were simple but complex in their detail with beautiful lighting. To this day I could not tell you who the fellow was, but his work was unique, clean, presented neatly and just plain good! His work said something the rest of us did not.

Like an idiot I asked of him................"How did you get these shots? They are fantastic"

His answer was simple yet basic to what photography is. "You just gotta to be there" was his answer. This has stuck with me now for over 25 years as my basic tenet of my photography. "You just gotta be there".

Yes, his answer was simple. But when you think of all the details and costs associated with "You just gotta be there", the whole procedure becomes much more complex.

How many times have you picked up a National Geographic and seen a photograph that you just know you could have made with your little disposable camera? For a photographer to be published in Nat Geo is like making a personal deposit to a Swiss bank account. Just isn't done that often. The key though, is the photographer in that magazine with that photo......"Was there" and you and I were not. The skills were probably there as well but in that one photo "we could have done the same thing".............If only we were there. That is the complexity of the simple answer as to "How did you get that shot"

I saw the macro image of this lighthouse, but because I was there I had the time to also see the reflection and it struck me as what a great accent it would make hanging on a wall. More than just an accent.......there is the story. Hey, it's just the reflection. Not your standard post card picture of a lighthouse. That makes it different. Kinda neat when a simple photo like this can conjure up all the words I just typed.