Kory Lidstrom

Great essay that states my feelings perfectly.  A job well done, Darwin and Samantha. The best photographers make, rather than take, photographs.  The image IS the thing .  Nothing else matters.  I learned that from Jim Brandenburg.  And, if it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me.

Wow, this was a fantastic interview.  Really good questions, and, even better, really deep answers.  Guy is extremely well spoken.

Great read. :)  I can certainly relate:  in November of '09, I left my tripod on top of my vehicle and drove off, completely unaware, until sunrise of the next morning.  Not only did I not have it for sunrise, I was 140 miles away from where I'd lost it.  We drove all the way back, and there it was, sitting right where I'd left it.  AGAINST ALL ODDS.

That's some good eatin'!  Well stated, Guy.

Nice write up, Varina. I was just in wildflower country in central Colorado and could've used one of these myself.

Forgot to chime in here when this was posted last year. Suffice it to say: I read it right away, and I loved the whole thing. Thanks for the mention in the Zion NP section. :)

Haha, great stuff, Stan. What about macro shots of partial flowers, especially roses? Does that make your top 15? ;)

Well written as always, Guy. Sometimes, due to the high quality of your writing, I almost think of you as a writer first, photographer second. But, I know you don't want to be labled as either, so I'll just think of you as Guy. :)

Nice article. The image with the two grizzlies is superb!

Nice article. I had no idea there were wild populations of horses in North Carolina!

Thanks, Stan, I will. ;) I've heard of your adventures there -- sounds like you're one of the few to actually explore way out into the interior of the dune sea. Also, for clarification: A) The part where it says "just ask Ian Plant" is supposed to be hyper-linked to this post where Ian describes a similar situation. I have asked the editor to correct that. B) This piece was originally written for my blog back in October, which is why it says "two weeks ago".

Haha, Ian, you know it's still a compliment, backhanded though it may be. Cool that your moving to Minneapolis! When, roughly? Let me know, and when the time comes, I'll give you a holler and maybe we can meet up and shoot for an afternoon. And, thanks for the kudos.

Nice work, Ian! It intrigues me how both of our articles this month have similar themes. ;)

Steve, I agree that nowadays we can certainly get more than 12 hero shots a year. I was more using Ansel's quote to illustrate just how much work goes into getting one. It wasn't meant to be taken literally. The truth is, this article is more geared towards the general public to make them understand what goes into the images we produce. For experienced photogs like yourself, it's really more of a humour piece -- something you can read, chuckle, and say to yourself "oh yeah, I've been there before".

Good article. Did any punishment come to the A-hole student who used your image to "Win" the poster contest? Using Google image search earlier this year, I found that one of my images was on nearly 20 websites illegally. I was successful in getting it removed from most of them, but not all. The law needs to change to make this crap a thing of the past.

Nice article, although it seems like a bit of a re-hash of one of your previous entries. Regardless, I TOTALLY agree with the message you are sending. Until the general public understands this, fine art photography will not get the credit it deserves.

Adorable images! Seriously, I can't think of a better word for them -- the animals have so much character that I can't help but smile. Which, is what it's all about, right? I can totally relate to the trials and tribulations you faced in getting these. Soooo many times we photogs go home empty handed that it's damn nice when it works out for a change.

One of my favourite pieces of yours. I loved it in your blog awhile back, and I love it now.

Truer words were never spoken. Thanks for this reminder -- we all need to hear it now and then.

Sometimes, when out in the field, I find myself a bit too obsessed with getting keepers than just enjoying what's around me. I make a conscious effort to continually remind myself to just enjoy being in nature, and it definitely helps me do just that. Your various essays over the past few years have helped reinforce this concept. This piece is yet another one that does so. Thanks.

Cool story and congrats to Jenaya! Her future looks bright.

Great story. One word comes to mind: mindfulness. You are very mindful and aware of your surroundings. It shows in your work.

Thanks, Alain. I've enjoyed many of your articles over the years as well.