• Be Grateful (Estimation)

    “Be grateful for what you have!”
    and its companions
    “at least you’re alive”
    “it could be worse”,
    “someone else would love
    to be in your shoes”,
    would produce more healing
    if the pronoun were changed.

    MeterManLightning

  • 4:20 Peace Train (Estimation)

    4:20 Peace Train  (Estimation) Should we assess a photograph first on its technical merits (composition, exposure, focus, subject, contrast, sharpness)? Or on its artistic intent? Let’s examine this one, and see where each method takes us. First a technical analysis:  Some point-of-view distortion; decent exposure, rendering lots of detail in …

  • Focus (Common Sense)

    Focus (Common Sense) If focus were all that important to a designer’s success, then why on earth would God have designed so many flowers? I mean, they all do the same thing: make pollen, attract pollinators, get the pollen to the ovaries, and make viable seed.  Once you’ve designed a …

  • I’m Doing It! (Memory)

    I’m Doing It, Grandma! (Memory) Behind him, a bluegrass band plays foot-stomping, singable songs. Loudly. The assembled townsfolk sing along, eat, laugh, politick and enjoy family time. He doesn’t notice. He dips the giant wand into the tray of bubble mixture, and waves the wand frantically. Nothing happens. Repeats. Nothing …

  • Eye Rock (Fantasy)

    Eye Rock (Fantasy) I can see her grinding, rhythmic, stone on stone.  Making medicine from herbs. Making food. Making memories: first, for those she served, memories of good meals, surrounded by good friends, celebrating a good harvest; second, for those she never met, memories of a time when baking bread …

  • Sharpness (Imagination)

    “Blue River Garden” (Imagination) 4:30 in the morning is a peculiar time to be writing about sharpness. I am anything but sharp before coffee, before daylight, before noon. But sharpness has been on my mind lately, because I’ve recently switched to Leica equipment, and joined a community of Leica users …

  • Welcome to Inner Wits

    Many photo and design blogs focus on gear, on technique, and on “how to become a professional”. This is not one of those.This blog is about what inspires me to make images.  I hope you will find inspiration here, too.We live in bodies, so most of us are aware of the five …

    Nesting (Estimation)
MeterManLightning

Be Grateful (Estimation)

“Be grateful for what you have!”
and its companions
“at least you’re alive”
“it could be worse”,
“someone else would love
to be in your shoes”,
would produce more healing
if the pronoun were changed.

TrippersPosterDezurChar2Tag

Trippers (Imagination)

I’ve missed you guys, but as most of you know,  I’ve been a bit busy putting these ideas to work in my first feature-length film: Trippers. You can read more about it if you click that link.  In it, a young widow fights with a quirky consignment shopkeeper in an attempt …

2500 Ribbons (Memory)

2500 Prayer Ribbons (Memory)

Vice President Biden visited Provincetown, Massachusetts this week, and spoke of the courage of the LGBT community. The twenty-five-hundred prayer ribbons fluttering in front of the Provincetown Library on the 25th anniversary of the annual Swim for Life event, spoke more effectively, of something much larger than one special interest …

01-Airport-Koi-Sm

Airport Koi (Common Sense)

  What a wise thing to have a koi pond at the entrance to a restaurant notoriously overbooked, yet well worth hoping for a table!  We who wait outside Nancy’s Airfield Cafe become a small community. We count fish, compare notes. We point out hiding places. We announce our favorite …

03-Steel

Steel (Estimation)

The design —  a simple, open space, framed by windows, anchored by a stone fireplace — requires steel:  a foreign concept to …

01-OldMeetsNew

May-December Romance (Memory)

“They don’t make ’em like they used to,” my framer quips. “They have laws against that.” Right here, at this corner of …

Caution Tape (Imagination)

Caution Tape (Imagination)

The stairs aren’t safe. Yes, they will hold your weight. Yes, your balance might compensate for the missing handrail. And the missing wall. …