My interest in photography, beyond the usual family and vacation shots, actually grew out of my writing intentions. I wanted to take my own photographs when articles needed a related illustration. An article about Mexico illustrated with someone else's photos just wouldn't do it for me. For the Alcott book, I did all the photography and re-photography (finding old prints and re-capturing them) myself. 

I took workshops in technique and in darkroom work.  (The same basic steps of learning and doing that apply to becoming a writer - or anything, for that matter.)  But with photography, it became a longtime passion.  I get that same misty-headed feeling when I contemplate the composition of a photograph as I get when I 'm plotting out the concept of something I'm planning to write. My family tells me a certain look comes over my face--as though I'm in a world of my own--sometimes only momentarily--sometimes for the longer trance.

I'm especially fascinated with the study of shapes, texture against texture, and the play of light and shadow. Trees--whole trees, branches, barks, leaves, whatever--are probably my favorite subjects, though I also tend to search out undergirdings, and other structural shapes. I also get the thrill of creating--of making something beyond the snapshot--out of experimenting with staged settings and with manipulating images.

"Textures, Shapes, & Shadows"

I came across this iron buried in the sand, the image heightened by its sun-lighting and shadows: 
Kill Devil Hills (Outer Banks), 
North Carolina.