"The less talk, the better," Arizona, March 2010

The less talk, the better, originally uploaded by DC Products.

"There is a deeper thing to express — the return of humanity to some sort of balanced awareness of the natural things — some rocks and sky. We need a little earth to stand on and feel run through our fingers. Perhaps Photography can do this — I am going to try anyhow. -- Ansel Adams

Today is Ansel Adams' birthday; he would have been 109 if he were superhuman. I was drawn in from the moment I first saw one of his black-and-white prints taken at Yosemite, so I thought I'd take a moment to tip my hat to the man today. The combination of his photographs and the crisp, exciting action shots I saw in Sports Illustrated are what drew me to the hobby.

The header on this blog, of course, also recognizes Adams, and for this day, I went back to find a photo taken out West, one that might have been taken by Adams (though in black and white) had he stood where I stood. However, I stood in a parking lot -- making sure to step forward enough so that the pavement did not encroach upon the view, leaving the contrast between blue sky and white clouds against the red rock and green desert foliage to speak for itself.

And, once more, I'll let Adams speak for himself:

"I hesitate to define just what the qualities of a true wilderness experience are. Like music and art, wilderness can be defined only on its own terms. The less talk, the better."

"Offseason in Truro," Cape Cod, January 2011

Left behind, originally uploaded by DC Products.

As a vacation destination, Cape Cod gets its share of visitors from Memorial Day through Labor Day. But it's a different scene in the middle of winter. Cottages are boarded up, stores are closed for the season, roads are empty and the restaurants that are open are more than happy to see you.

Sometimes you just have to get away, and with a friend housesitting in the woods on the outer Cape this month, my wife and I were more than happy to visit her on a cold January weekend. The signs in front of these North Truro cottages said "See you in May!" and the beach was empty, the waves lapping at the steps that lead down to the water and the wind leaving the sand flat and undisturbed.

"Edie's, Little Silver," New Jersey, October 2010

Edie's, Little Silver, originally uploaded by DC Products.

I love this little luncheonette in my hometown. It's a nice little slice of suburbia. I wrote more about it here.

"Blue room," New York, December 2009

The blue room

It's not like I have any shortage of images to fit a blue theme, but as I searched through the images, this one stuck out -- just as it did when I first saw it in the West Village.

And no, I never did get to see Nicole Kidman's bare behind on Broadway, even though that was back when I loved going to plays and musicals with movie stars in them.

"In the Utah sky," Arches National Park, March 2010

Worth the walk

The beauty of Delicate Arch explains nothing, for each thing in its way, when true to its own character, is equally beautiful. ... If Delicate Arch has any significance it lies, I will venture, in the power of the odd and unexpected to startle the senses and surprise the mind out of their ruts of habit, to compel us into a reawakened awareness of the wonderful — that which is full of wonder.

-- Edward Abbey, "Cliffrose and Bayonets," Desert Solitaire

The walk to Delicate Arch takes you up into the higher elevations of Arches National Park and when you reach the formation, the adjacent canyon gives you the feeling of being high in the sky.

"Keeping cool," Hudson Valley, July 2006

The staff of the Hudson Valley Renegades ensures that their unofficial mascot stays cool on a hot day as they give the fans some brief relief.

"Peaks, valleys and the like," Colorado, May 2006

Peaks, valleys and the like

It's hard not to take a good photograph in the West. But sometimes it helps to mix up the views with a vertical landscape.

"Josh on guitar," Maine, July 2009

Josh on guitar

Good summer fun: Rafting the Penobscot by day, sitting around the campfire that night.

"Empire o'lantern," New York, October 2009

Empire o'lantern

Every block seems to contain a symbol of New York, especially those that include a view of the Empire State Building.

"At the bottom of a glass," New York, November 2009

At the bottom of a glass

As much as I loved the theme "macro without bugs or flowers," I sometimes fall victim to the cliche myself. But even if the assignment had simply been "macro," I would've avoided the floral or insect options.

In any case, the distorted Blue Smoke coaster beneath the glass -- in this case beer, but it could easily be bourbon, among other choices -- is inviting. And tempting.

"Juniper light at Arches," Utah, March 2010

Juniper light

This became one of my favorite photos from out weeklong trip through northern Arizona and southeastern Utah. It was the end of a long day of hiking at Arches and we hoped to get one more loop in, out at the end of the park road near the big campground, hiking to Broken Arch and back to the car. But as we made our way along the path, we found ourselves alternating between dense sand and snow drifts up to our shins, even our knees. We grew tired quickly and decided to double back to the car, rather than finish the circuit.

But at least it got me this shot of the late-afternoon sunlight on the arches in the distance and the top of the tree in the foreground. If only I could drop everything now and go back out there ...

"Alone at Bass Harbor," Maine, May 2009

Alone at Bass Harbor

So many great places along the Maine coast, it's hard to decide which one -- or which locale -- to use. But Bass Harbor lighthouse is a gorgeous, remote, quiet spot I look forward to visiting whenever I'm on Mount Desert Island.

"Fisherman at sunset, Great Point," Nantucket, June 1991

Fisherman at sunset, Great Point

This was one of my longtime favorite images from my earliest days playing around with a camera. It's just one of those shots where you're looking at one thing -- the sunset over the water -- and it's an OK photo. But then you get that one element that makes it a better photo -- in this case, the fisherman silhouetted in the sunset.

"Sunning in Secaucus," August 2009

Sunning in Secaucus

Waiting for his train home, this guy took a moment to absorb the sunshine.

"Rusted in Jerome," Arizona, March 2010

Not much left but the wheel

The wheel on the truck hasn't gone 'round in quite a long time.

"Smoke and spotlights," Pittsburgh, August 2008

Spotlight in black and white

Friday night Pirates games at PNC Park in Pittsburgh in summer feature a postgame fireworks/concert combination. The act on this August night was Collective Soul, their few known songs -- "hits," if you must -- interspersed with pyrotechnics so that towards the end of the set, the spotlights reflected off the smoke for a true rock-n-roll effect.

"Clouds fill the Canyon," Grand Canyon, March 2010

Clouds fill the Canyon

Is it overcast when you're above the clouds? Or does this fall more into the undercast category? Or maybe we were just in a cloud sandwich at the Canyon, a thick mist filling the void below us, an unbroken cover above us, occasionally dusting us with flakes so that we felt we were living in a snowglobe. So to remember the visit, we bought a Grand Canyon snowglobe at the gift shop on our way out the next day.

"Tunnel commute," New Jersey, April 2009

Tunnel commute

One way or the other, sometimes both, I descend beneath the Hudson River and pass through the Lincoln Tunnel, New York to New Jersey, New Jersey to New York.

"The ghost of Ed Abbey," Arches National Park, March 2010

The ghost of Ed Abbey

After Casey and I passed through Turret Arch at the start of our day at Arches, I turned and saw this older gentleman had followed us up the path and I took a photo to use him for perspective on the size of the arch. Then I took this one, but after seeing it along with the previous one, I decided to try this in black and white and that's when this title hit me.

Having read Abbey's The Journey Home and Desert Solitaire before, during and after the visit, I felt more immersed in the words than I have for just about anything else I've ever read. And because of that, this photo not only takes me back to that morning two weeks ago today, but also to Abbey's country, to his time in the Utah desert.

2011 update: In the end, I felt that this was my favorite photo of 2010. It may not have been my best, but it wasn't far off.

"Golden Dome," Indiana, December 1994

Dome light at night

This shot is among the first batch from my film archives that I scanned in last month, and it was the first of dozens of shots I took of Notre Dame's Main Building at night in the four years I was there. The gold-gilded dome shines every night and once you get your bearings in relation to it, it serves as a compass point for where you are on campus.