Gary Crabbe / Enlightened Images

Picture: Car driving on suburban street in downtown Pleasant Hill, California.

File this one under: Photography is not a crime, or “Are you by chance a little paranoid?” After all, it was the British rock group, The Kinks, who reminded us that paranoia is The Destroyer.
Not long ago I stopped into a local camera to shoot [...]

Picture: Campfire Detail, Somewhere in Oregon

Every year the Burning Man event is held in the Nevada desert. Every year I want to attend. Every year I read their policy and restrictions regarding photography taken on-site. Every year I think, “What a bunch of hypocrites.” Every year, I’ve chosen not to go for that reason.
“Written permission [...]

Picture: A California Condor at the Condor Ridge exhibit of the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Photo by Chuck Szmurlo.
Now that I’m back from a week off with my family for Spring Break, I wanted to take a moment and respond to my last post, “Why I Like Free Photos.”
From the buyer’s side, [...]

Picture: Dark storm clouds over Balanced Rock at sunset, Arches National Park, Utah

Chicken Little said, “The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!”
I just saw that stock photo industy guru, Jim Pickerell wrote in his newsletter, “Selling Stock”:
“The stock photo industry is in turmoil. Never in more than 30 years I have been involved [...]

Picture: Old Grave marker headstone (1891) behind old wooden church, Hornitos, Sierra Foothills, Mariposa County, California
I was brought up believing it’s not polite to dance on the grave of your enemy. Yet, I must admit that news last week had me wondering if I could get away with at least a little jig. [...]

Picture: Overview of the Marin County Watershed as seen from Mount Tamalpais, Marin County, California

I can understand why they’re upset. Marin County is one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s more affluent regions. The normal cursory thought of “Well, they can afford it” would usually draw little attention. Yet my empathy lies totally with the [...]

Picture: High desert sage at sunrise in the Great Basin, near Wells, Nevada
I spent the bulk of last week in Reno, Nevada, attending the 2010 Annual Summit Conference for the North American Nature Photography Association. Considering I had a book deadline coming up this next week, it was a challenge keeping the commitment [...]

Picture: Interior of the Iron Door Saloon, est. 1852; the oldest continuously operating saloon in the state, Groveland, California
I admit my frustration level has been met and exceeded. For nearly a decade working with Galen Rowell, running his stock department, I dealt with clients of every level, including editors at just about every major [...]

File this one under: “The universe ain’t big enough for the two of us…”
Picture: Moving rock at sunrise on the Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California
Twice in the last few trips I’ve taken, I’ve had my personal space invaded when all around me there was nothing but empty space. I guess that [...]

Picture: Morning light on the Battleship USS IOWA (BB 61) as she sits awaiting her fate, moored in the Mothball Fleet, Suisun Bay, near Martinez, California

See the image larger.
Yesterday was a first. It was the first time that I specifically set out to use my boat as a shooting platform for my business, as [...]