It’s almost here!  That’s right! June 29^th is just around the corner and I know you have it marked on your calendar or in your iPhone or whatever you keep track of monumental events.

Yes, it’s National Waffle Day.  And yes, it’s also National Almond Butter Crunch Day.  Wow I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!  But wait, it’s so much more.

Drum roll please!

You’ve been counting the days with anticipation and just itching to use it. Yes, it’s also National Camera Day!!!!

No one seems to know for sure what the origin of this most important day is, but who cares! It exists to remind us to dust the cobwebs off our machines of choice and get out there and make photographs.

According to the NBC story, there are no official numbers of how many photos are made each day, but estimates are that more than 1 trillion are made yearly!  An average of 95 million photos are uploaded daily on Instagram and over 300 million photos are uploaded to Facebook every day.  The vast majority is shot with digital cameras or mobile phones and it’s mostly useless rubbish.

Look we all know that it takes a much greater effort to first make sure you have film, then to make sure you remember to load it into your camera. Ok, I get that, so here is what I suggest … you still have a couple of days to make sure you have some film. If not go get some and load your camera. Then on National Camera Day go and find a moment during lunch or whenever and make a photograph or two.  Better yet, make some more and don’t wait to Wednesday. Could be pictures of family or friends, or anything that captures your imagination. And for gosh sakes don’t travel to do it!  There’s more than enough exciting material right where you live. Concentrate on that … it might create a whole new creative phase!

So there you have it. June 29^th is National Camera Day.  Be there, or be square!

Stay well,

Michael

What can be said about Ansel Adams’ greatness that has not been said before?  Like Cartier-Bresson, Adams has inspired and launched the careers and aspirations of thousands who would seek to emulate his greatness. The great master of the grand landscape as well as much, much more! He also happened to be a great American. Adams was a terrific writer and technical expert. He was instrumental in helping to establish photography as a recognized art form and was a key player in the foundation of the Museum of Modern Art’s photography department, the Friends of Photography and the F64 Group. Adams was also a member of the Sierra Club board of directors and on and on.

Like many, I own his series of books on the craft of photography, The Print, The Negative, and The Camera.  It was this trio that started me on my own quest to make high quality photographs. Then there are his many monographs, all of which are something to behold.  But nothing can really prepare you to seeing the real thing.  I have been fortunate to see many Adams exhibits, and as much as I favor small intimate photographs, the large Adams prints are unbelievable and almost mythic in nature.

Early in my career and much younger I would occasionally walk down to the Wilderness Society headquarters in downtown DC from my offices in the State Department and the New Executive Office Building, where open to the public were some of Adams greatest images (I believe they were the so called “museum set”) and just hang out. I would gaze upon the majestic landscapes and dream. They transported me to an America that no longer exists and maybe never really did. But all of his work is great and inspiring, from the quiet and sublime to the truly heroic.

For my 30^th birthday my wife sent me on a workshop with with John Sexton, where I had the opportunity to visit Adams’ home. And yes, I became one with the holy temple and stood on the hallowed ground that was his darkroom. And no, I didn’t kneel down and kiss the floor, but it was most certainly a profound and mind-altering experience I have never forgotten!!!!

I don’t own an Adams print, but some of my most prized possessions are several autographed books and a large signed and framed special addition poster of Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico.

Ansel Adams, the man, the legend.

Stay well,

Michael

Would those that fought in WWII recognize what has become of our nation? They defended democracy and then two and half decades later they put a man on the moon. In 1962 John F. Kennedy said “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard”.  It seems so long ago. Were we or our nation perfect? Not be a long shot!  No one is, and certainly no nation is.

But look at us today? What would the “greatest generation” think of America today? Rampant racism, hatred, tribalism, political division of epic proportions and mass shootings and other violence happening on daily basis.  Things seem to be spinning out of control, with many becoming almost numb to it all. In a couple of weeks we have witnessed several mass shootings, the latest at a school in Texas. Nineteen innocent children and two teachers murdered. I heard someone say that perhaps children will not be victims of senseless gun violence when gun owners finally choose to love them more than their guns.

Ok, time for me to take a breath …

Then on Memorial Day I got up early, did my normal walking, took Sparky for his walk and then finally walked to the parade to enjoy and photograph it. Same thing I do every other year (except during the height of COVID).

But something strange happened. It turns out where I live things are split pretty evenly between Democrats and Republicans, but on this beautiful sunny day all those lining the parade route were smiling and friendly with one and other … just happy to be out enjoying themselves and commemorating those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.  Even when a float for one of the political parties drove by no one skipped a beat, clapping, smiling and being nice.

I ran into a few friends and someone even stopped to asked me about my Leica and where he could get his old Minolta fixed so he could start using film again – I was really feeling it!

I felt like I was an American again, like I did before our national nightmare began.  When the parade ended I walked over to the cemetery and attended the annual memorial ceremony put on by the United Veterans of Doylestown. I listened to the closing benediction and made my last exposure; then I spoke to an older veteran and thanked him for his service.  A fitting end to an enjoyable and moving experience!

I knew that the next day I would hear of or read something that would snap me back into the current reality, but on that fine day there was hope in my heart for our country and for all of us.

Stay well,

Michael