When I was a kid, my mom would get frustrated with me for stopping and evaluating every curl of every fern, every branch of moss, every tiny bug seeking shelter under a colorful leaf… and now, as an adult, I try not to take walks with other people.

Given any freedom, I will always get down (and sometimes up) into the very small.

Here is a photo of some sagebrush from outside our house. I never get tired of every aspect of the sagebrush… the scent, the touch, the organization of the flowers and leaves, the woodiness of the bark.

Having a camera that can capture this very small stuff is a joy… and perhaps an unnecessary one, because even my older iPhone has a very decent camera. But for me, the tools inspire the work. So I got a good Sony camera (Alpha 3) and a good lens (and I hope to rent some good lenses in the future).

I’m just learning how to use the settings of the camera, but the discovery of these features is part of my enjoyment of creation. I have always been a dork, and solving problems so things appear how I see them is an interesting (and dorky) challenge.

Similarly, I’m starting a personal blog and portfolio site for the first time in a very long time. Believe it or not, I was one of the earliest bloggers… my first blog was in 1994 or 1995. I shut it down after – in a very rookie blogger move – I shared too much about a friend, and she got offended.

I nearly lost her as a friend, and I learned a valuable lesson:

Don’t judge. But if you do judge, FOR PETE’S SAKE, DON’T WRITE ANYTHING PUBLIC ABOUT IT.

And that’s the moral of the story for today.

Please enjoy these photos of sagebrush, and feel free to download them and use them as wallpaper: