Welcome Me Back!

It has been a very introspective time since I last wrote. Some quick thoughts before I move forward:

I'm not into blogging unless I've got something to say...
I'm still a fair weather photographer - bring on Spring!
Perhaps I'd be more motivated to work on images if I didn't have to wait for my 3 year old laptop to chug along in Photoshop.
Perhaps I'd be more motivated to blog if I didn't lose the connection and lose everything I'd written the last 2 times I dedicated some time to it. Time to upgrade some equipment before I lose my patience.
I'm doing some research and deciding whether or not it's time to cross over and buy a Mac, particularly now that it runs Windows simultaneously. If anyone techie has anything to say, I'd like to hear from you in the comments section.


Moving right along, for those of you who are wondering where I've "been" the last couple of months, I'll fill you in as best I can. I had written this all before I lost my entry, and now have no idea where to begin again!

I seem to be on 5 year cycles of re-inventing myself. As I begin this cycle, I am certain that my next step is to pull all the disparate things I do into one cohesive package. I'm summarizing - it's taken me 2 months to come to this conclusion! I haven’t got the faintest idea how I’m going to do it, but I’m tired of pulling myself in several different directions at the same time. Between consulting, the photography I want to do, the teaching I want to do, the relationships I want to have, the lifestyle I envision for myself – I am spreading myself too thin. So, without losing any momentum, I am planning to consolidate. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll never reach my full potential if I keep trying to be all things to all people.

Pop culture and pop psychology is playing a small role in this voyage of discovery. Thanks to The Secret, I’ll be seeing Jack Canfield here in Kelowna next Monday, and attending a course with James Ray in San Francisco at the end of June. I cringe at the thought of being identified with a trend. It is my nature to be counter-culture. I accept that what's popular to some has made me aware of people and resources that would have been out of my grasp without the exposure these teachers are receiving. Nothing is more attractive to me now than learning from leaders in their field among other like-minded individuals. I am happy that I don’t have to do it all alone.

So, I’m still going to blog, and of course there will still be photographs to illustrate. As a part of pulling it all together, I’m going to take you along for the ride.

Finding Joy in the "Little Things"

Where did 2007 go, especially the last month?!? I'm back to wish everyone Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for 2008. I have named this year's Christmas image "Little Things" to celebrate how small gestures and tiniest details can have a tremendous impact on the big picture.

I have always been attentive to detail. As an outdoor photographer, sometimes the greatest challenge is to isolate meaningful detail within a chaotic environment. Nature has its own grand plan, but to capture and communicate, within a two dimensional frame, the essence of a place, brings me joy. When other people get excited by one of my images, it multiplies that feeling tenfold.

I'm excited about a lot these days. I've had a great year, capped off by the trip to Utah and a couple of recent developments on both the home and work front. I will be taking time over the holidays to enjoy the company of friends and family. I am under no illusion that this will be a restful couple of weeks, but I hope to carve out some time to work on a few photo projects. Watch for some updates to my main website www.lauratucker.com and some news about upcoming workshop opportunities.

Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Something Unexpected

There are so many things about this image taken along Scenic Byway 12 that are unexpected that I just had to get online and post it. First, the moment itself was an unexpected delight. We were driving from Capitol Reef National Park en route to Zion, when everything came together all at once. It was one of those highway corners that no doubt causes people to exclaim with joy any time of day. What we were given was a spectacular sunrise. It was exhilarating, working with the light and against time, as this magic light is fleeting.

The experience of reviewing my images that night was significantly less exhilarating. How was it possible to kill one of the most spectacular sunrises I had ever witnessed? Well, that was then and this is now. I'm reviewing my images to select a "Top 20" to show before a presentation tonight. This imaged beckoned to me, asking for some attention. After a few tweaks and a crop, it now represents that morning's glorious display. It's amazing what a little time can do with both the memory of an event and the objectivity of my eye.

The Solitary Tree

My eye is always drawn to The Solitary Tree. It speaks to me in many different ways. Often, the tree is just on the outside of a community of trees - a forest that provides shelter. This tree is perched on top of a cliff, exposed to the elements. Its position is not precarious. It's getting everything it needs to survive. The universe is open to the tree - it adds character to the tree as the years go by and provides space for the tree to grow. Over the years, the wind may twist the tree and leave tracks of time on its exterior, but the basic character of the tree is unchanged. As everything changes with time, the ground may eventually erode from underneath this tree, causing it to shift its position in the world in order to thrive.

Today I am this tree.

Henrieville, Utah

Driving from Bryce Canyon to Escalante, my attention was grabbed by this abandoned corner store in Henrieville, Utah. I'm pretty sure the Coca-Cola sign had everything to do with my attraction to this site. My dad worked for Coke most of his adult life, and I spent my high school summers working at the Coca-Cola office in Toronto. I looked up Henrieville online tonight to see what I could learn. Its population in 2000 was 159, and the population of its zip code 84736 in 2007 is 961 according to another site I found. In either case, Henrieville is truly a small western town.


After days of shooting the "grand landscape" at Bryce Canyon, it was a lot of fun to settle in and work at closer range at this site. In fact, I noticed that I was feeling quite refreshed after an hour or so of shooting; I was exercising different visual muscles.


Texture is one of my favourite subjects. Narrowing my vision to the details of a structure gives me the opportunity to express my vision by creating abstract images. Sometimes I the feedback I receive when I show my images is that I made something out of nothing. The first couple of times I heard this comment, I wondered if it was derogatory. It may have been, but I also think that making something out of nothing is a defining characteristic of photography as art. What does a photographer do? We go out into the world, beyond the creature comforts of a studio, and bring home a vision of the world that is uniquely our own.....on a good day, anyways!