photographer's diary

nature's palette 4

2012-01-27T06:58:00.002-10:00

nature's palette 3

2012-01-26T16:34:00.003-10:00

nature's palette 2

2012-01-16T07:17:00.002-10:00

nature's palette

2012-01-13T15:48:00.003-10:00

life form 10

2012-01-12T06:44:00.002-10:00

life form 9

2012-01-11T13:07:00.001-10:00

life form 8

2012-01-10T15:33:00.000-10:00

life form 7

2012-01-09T06:11:00.000-10:00

life form 6

2012-01-08T09:10:00.007-10:00

life form 5

2012-01-07T06:35:00.007-10:00

life form 4

2012-01-05T11:04:00.001-10:00

life form 3

2012-01-04T06:07:00.001-10:00

life form 2

2012-01-03T07:18:00.004-10:00

life form

2012-01-02T06:53:00.004-10:00

the end, the beginning

2011-12-31T04:04:00.001-10:00

hawaiian leaf studies

2011-12-30T05:17:00.000-10:00

in the middle of the pacific ocean

2011-12-29T08:19:00.005-10:00

glad to be home...

in the middle of the pacific ocean

photo: Bruce Behnke 2011

winter web

2011-12-27T01:43:00.002-10:00

evening clouds

2011-12-25T23:44:00.002-10:00

meaningful holiday

2011-12-19T07:03:00.000-10:00

sincerest wishes to all for a meaningful holiday season

~Bruce Behnke

Tokyo Christmas Trees

photo: Bruce Behnke

Salzburg Winter

2011-12-17T21:25:00.004-10:00

Salzburg, Austria

neighborhood Christmas market

2011-12-16T07:29:00.000-10:00

Neighborhood Christmas Market

Munich, Germany

photo: (c) Bruce Behnke 2011

streaming

2011-12-04T09:50:00.000-10:00

winter shadows

2011-12-02T17:27:00.000-10:00

winter shadows

in the Austrian Alps

Photo: Bruce Behnke

winter whispers, "it's time"

2011-11-29T19:07:00.001-10:00

in Zell am See, Austria

photo: Bruce Behnke

the edge of autumn

2011-11-28T18:14:00.002-10:00

photo: on the edge of Zell am See, Austria

Zell am See morning

2011-11-27T20:12:00.001-10:00

moth on a temple step

2011-11-21T03:56:00.002-10:00

Today I pass the time reading
a favorite haiku,
saying the few words over and over.

It feels like eating
the same small, perfect grape
again and again.

I walk through the house reciting it
and leave its letters falling
through the air of every room.

I stand by the big silence of the piano and say it.
I say it in front of a painting of the sea.
I tap out its rhythm on an empty shelf.

I listen to myself saying it,
then I say it without listening,
then I hear it without saying it.

And when the dog looks up at me,
I kneel down on the floor
and whisper it into each of his long white ears.

It's the one about the one-ton temple bell
with the moth sleeping on its surface,

and every time I say it, I feel the excruciating
pressure of the moth
on the surface of the iron bell.

When I say it at the window,
the bell is the world
and I am the moth resting there.

When I say it at the mirror,
I am the heavy bell
and the moth is life with its papery wings.

And later, when I say it to you in the dark,
you are the bell,
and I am the tongue of the bell, ringing you,

and the moth has flown
from its line
and moves like a hinge in the air above our bed.

From Sailing Alone Around the Room, by Billy Collins

leaves on a temple step

2011-11-20T06:15:00.000-10:00

pointillist canopy

2011-11-19T06:28:00.000-10:00

forest ferns

2011-11-18T16:24:00.002-10:00

fish eats the moon

2011-11-17T17:11:00.000-10:00

fish eats moon

O'ahu Hawai'i

Photo: Bruce Behnke

autumn, japan

2011-11-10T20:45:00.001-10:00

high tide

2011-10-22T13:26:00.000-10:00

california live oak, california sky

2011-10-21T08:56:00.000-10:00

waiting 2

2011-10-20T05:33:00.004-10:00

waiting

2011-10-18T05:12:00.001-10:00

Hendry's Beach

(Arroyo Burro Beach)

Santa Barbara, California

channel island, channel wave

2011-10-17T15:49:00.001-10:00

View of Santa Cruz Island

(Channel Islands National Park)

from Hendry's Beach

(Arroyo Burro Beach,) Santa Barbara, California

california tide line

2011-10-17T06:01:00.000-10:00

peaceful evening, Santa Barbara California

2011-10-14T16:00:00.000-10:00

sea and stone 1

2011-09-29T09:46:00.000-10:00

lava beds and tidepools opposite rabbit island

O'ahu, Hawai'i

photos: Bruce Behnke

location image:

fishing float tree

2011-09-28T12:30:00.000-10:00

fishing float tree

Hau'ula, O'ahu, Hawai'i

photo: Bruce Behnke

2011-09-27T15:51:00.000-10:00

O'ahu, Hawai'i

photo: Bruce Behnke

Hawaiian mountain diptych

2011-09-25T14:04:00.000-10:00

Hawaiian Mountain Diptych

Top of Manoa Valley

O'ahu, Hawaii

photo: Bruce Behnke

a walk in the mountains

2011-09-24T17:04:00.000-10:00

Ko'olau Mountains with a view of the central O'ahu plain and the Wai'anae Coast Range

photos: Bruce Behnke

ocean reflections

2011-09-23T06:27:00.001-10:00

Pacific Ocean

Honolulu, Hawai'i

photo: Bruce Behnke

浮世絵... Pictures of a floating world

2011-09-22T07:24:00.002-10:00

Usually the word ukiyo (浮世絵) is literally translated as "floating world" in English, referring to a conception of an evanescent world, impermanent, fleeting beauty and a realm of entertainments divorced from the responsibilities of the mundane, everyday world; "pictures of the floating world", i.e. ukiyo-e, are considered a genre unto themselves.

Japanese viewers, or those familiar with the genre of ukio-e would probably express a difference of opinion as to whether this photograph constitutes ukio-e. In the traditional sense, it does not, either in subject or execution. In the literal sense, well, you be the judge.

Photo: Bruce Behnke

life at 15 mph- ii

2011-09-20T08:13:00.001-10:00

more life at 15 mph

Red Rock National Conservation Area, NV
photo: Bruce Behnke

may you be happy

2011-09-19T18:16:00.000-10:00

may you be happy

photo: (c) Bruce Behnke 2011

our planet's journey

2011-09-17T09:09:00.002-10:00

As mountains erode, rocks are sent on a journey down the slopes, washing through streams, and resting in river beds where they are polished and fragmented and repolished and moved some more.

Our planet has sent these rocks on a journey, but when you think about their origins you begin to realize that nature is moving mountains.

Photos: stream beds

Red Rock National Conservation Area, NV

uncluttered earth

2011-09-16T09:12:00.002-10:00

photo: long view
Red Rock National Conservation Area, NV
Bruce Behnke

last rays

2011-09-15T06:08:00.002-10:00

photo: last rays
Red Rock National Conservation Area, NV
Bruce Behnke

ripples, currents, and reflections

2011-09-14T13:14:00.002-10:00

photo: Bruce Behnke

forest stained glass

2011-09-13T07:20:00.002-10:00

photo: Bruce Behnke

中秋節.... moon festival

2011-09-12T07:18:00.001-10:00

Watching the Moon with Thoughts of Far Away

Bright moon born of the sea,
at sky's farthest edges we share it now.
A man of heart, hating the long night,
till the end of evening wakeful, remembering,
I put out the lamp, marvel at the moonlight's fullness,
don a cloak, aware of the dampness of dew.
No way to send my gift, this handful of moonbeams,
I go back to bed, dreaming of good times.

~Chang Chiu 673-740
(Burton Watson, translator)

On this day of Moon Festival, I send you all a handful of moonbeams.

temple grounds 2

2011-09-11T07:28:00.000-10:00

photo: (c) Bruce Behnke 2011

temple grounds

2011-09-10T07:18:00.001-10:00

photo: (c) Bruce Behnke 2011

river and mountains

2011-09-09T06:22:00.000-10:00

east central Taiwan

photo: (c) Bruce Behnke 2011

mountain storm

2011-09-08T14:32:00.002-10:00

photo:

Taiwan East Central Coast

(c) Bruce Behnke 2011

rice

2011-09-07T11:19:00.002-10:00

Photos: rice

Taiwan's east central coast

(c) Bruce Behnke 2011

2011-09-06T23:28:00.001-10:00

lotus

2011-09-05T02:35:00.002-10:00

photo: Bruce Behnke

moon over fishing boats South China Sea

2011-09-04T11:12:00.001-10:00

photo: Bruce Behnke

a walk in the forest 3

2011-08-29T05:43:00.000-10:00

forest floor

Ko'olau Mountains

O'ahu, Hawai'i

photos: (c) Bruce Behnke 2011

walk in the forest 2

2011-08-28T07:34:00.002-10:00

trees on Aiea loop trail

photos: (c) Bruce Behnke 2011

a walk in the forest 1

2011-08-27T06:04:00.000-10:00

aiea loop trail

Aiea, Hawaii

Photo: (c) Bruce Behnke 2011

healing heiau

2011-08-26T07:55:00.000-10:00

Keaiwa Heiau is a medicinal or healing heiau (temple) in the mountains above Aiea, Hawaii, believed to be built in the sixteenth century. At this site, the kahuna (priest, expert) specializing in healing would diagnose and treat various illnesses and injuries. The kahuna would also train haumana (students) in the practice of la'au lapa'au, medicinal healing using plants, fasting, and prayers. Many of the plants and herbs were collected from the neighboring forest while others were planted around the heiau.

The name Keaiwa has been translated as mysterious or incomprehensible. Perhaps, this name refers to the fact that one could not explain the powers of the kahuna and the herbs used in healing.

grove of Norfolk pines adjacent to Keaiwa Heiau

photo: (c) Bruce Behnke 2011

wildflowers 2

2011-08-25T10:29:00.001-10:00

hot summer days
without a breath of breeze.
dreamtime.

wildflowers

2011-08-23T05:57:00.000-10:00

mid-pacific

2011-08-22T05:08:00.000-10:00

photo: sunset over the mid-pacific

(c) Bruce Behnke 2011

aspiration

2011-08-21T03:42:00.000-10:00

photo: Bruce Behnke

partly cloudy

2011-08-20T06:43:00.000-10:00

Santa Cruz Island

Channel Islands

California

photo:(c) Bruce Behnke 2011

crystalline intrusions

2011-08-19T03:40:00.001-10:00

Christmas in August

2011-08-18T02:52:00.000-10:00

bluer than the sky

2011-08-17T01:16:00.000-10:00

celebrating morning

2011-08-16T09:27:00.000-10:00

another chapter in the evolution of our planet...

2011-08-15T00:30:00.000-10:00

coming or going?

2011-08-14T03:26:00.000-10:00

are the mountains eroding into or emerging from the desert sands?

desert wash

2011-08-13T02:16:00.000-10:00

mountain shadows

2011-08-12T07:05:00.000-10:00

American West Sunset

2011-08-11T03:18:00.001-10:00

Kaena Point to Mokuleia

2011-08-07T05:09:00.000-10:00

Kaena Point to Mokuleia, Hawaii

photo: (c) Bruce Behnke 2011

2011-08-04T13:02:00.000-10:00

photos: eucalyptus

travelers palm

oahu, hawaii

(c) bruce behnke 2011

tide pool

2011-08-02T09:59:00.000-10:00

tide pools are frontier micro-communities of our planet's oceans.

but they require intense and patient observation to see all that is happening.

in this specific pool, how many urchins do you see? how many mollusks? how many fish?

photo: tide pool near Makena, Maui, Hawaii

at low tide

(c) Bruce Behnke 2011

natural grace

2011-08-01T06:23:00.000-10:00

jellyfish

photo: Bruce Behnke

dreamtime

2011-07-31T07:01:00.002-10:00

Dreamtime is another way of experiencing time.

Dreamtime refers to experiences and beliefs conceptualized by the Australian Indigenous people. There are at least four aspects to Dreamtime:

-the beginning of all things
-the life and influence of the ancestors
-the way of life and death
-the sources of power in life

Dreamtime includes all of these four facets at the same time, being a condition beyond time and space as known in everyday life.

The indigenous people of Australia call it the all-at-once time instead of the one-thing-after-another time. This is because they experience Dreamtime as the past present and future coexisting. This condition – is met when the tribal member lives according to tribal rules, and then is initiated through rituals and hearing the myths of the tribe.

The concept of all-at-once time is a fascinating one. Could we be experiencing a glimpse of it when gaze out over the horizon of the ocean or look at the stars in the universe?

life at 15 mph

2011-07-30T06:09:00.001-10:00

when we are younger, we are conditioned to go for our goals;
get that grade, get that degree, get that job.
but at some point in life, something shifts,
and we begin to understand that the journey is as important as the destination.

it's hard to enjoy the journey when we're racing along the freeway at 65 mph
or "doing" four European countries in fourteen days.
sometimes we need to take the world at 15 mph (or less!) instead.

slow down and enjoy your trip
through life.

photo: road to Waihe'e Trail head

Maui, Hawai'i

(c) Bruce Behnke 2011

when does a long time become timeless?

2011-07-29T07:13:00.001-10:00

protea have been on our earth for 300 million years.

it gives one pause to contemplate that length of time.

this plant genus has continued its unbroken chain longer than
mankind has been around to record history.

photo: protea in the Kula, Maui, Hawaii district

(c) Bruce Behnke 2011

once living

2011-07-28T08:18:00.001-10:00

this piece of driftwood, found on the shores of Maui,
was once living, once a proud tree, host to bugs and birds,
provider of shade, purifier of air, a soothing sight to the eye

we can get very analytical:
where did it stand?
what year did it start to grow?
why did it die?

or we can just enjoy it for what it is now

photo: Makena, Maui, Hawaii

(c) Bruce Behnke 2011

Lanai

2011-07-27T15:46:00.003-10:00

the island of Lanai. Hawaii
as seen from Maui, Hawaii

photo: (c) bruce behnke, 2011

silence

2011-07-20T15:03:00.002-10:00

an old Buddhist saying:

do not speak unless it improves upon silence.

Kaena Point Polyptych

2011-07-18T06:00:00.003-10:00

Kaena Point

Oahu, Hawaii

Photo: (c) Bruce Behnke 2011

today

2011-07-17T06:05:00.000-10:00

it's time to

put your feet in the water

and your head in the clouds

拈花微笑

2011-07-16T05:53:00.000-10:00

being in the moment

2011-07-15T05:54:00.000-10:00

Urban birds have a tough time in the best of circumstances,
but this small dove was making the most of the last rays of
sun in downtown Honolulu's Tamarind Square.

muir woods

2011-07-14T05:08:00.002-10:00

Muir Woods

California

Photo: Bruce Behnke

life on a razor's edge 2

2011-07-13T08:39:00.005-10:00

with changes in water levels,

temperatures, weather and

atmosphere, aren't we all

living on a razor's edge?

Point Pelee/Lake Erie
Ontario, Canada

Photo: Bruce Behnke

green

2011-07-12T04:51:00.004-10:00

Point Pelee, Ontario

Photo: Bruce Behnke

pay attention 9

2011-07-11T06:43:00.003-10:00

When we are in the moment, paying attention, really paying attention, we see things we might not normally see... like the elephants strolling down the side of the river in Windsor, Ontario.

Elephants in Ontario?

They are actually there... but they are sculpted elephants, one of a series of interesting artworks by Ontario artists.

blue

2011-07-10T07:34:00.004-10:00