A Barrel Full Kids T-Shirt

A fresh coat of bright red paint spruces up an old bourbon barrel now filled with a host of summer geraniums. (a scanned Kodachrome transparency)

"To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye, and the heart." - Henri Cartier-Bresson, 20th century photographer. In the mid 1960's my father put a 35mm range finder camera in my hands. As a young boy then, I became challenged to explore what that little camera could do. I soon learned that a camera is only a tool - and it was up to me to actually create a final image in much the same way a painter would use their brush and palette. I studied the works of famous photographers while developing a keen sense of observation - using composition rules, light, shape, and form, to produce a photograph as an art form. As a self-taught photographer, I started competing nationally among seasoned photographers, other visual artists, and...