First and foremost, thanks to everyone who's written a well-wish. My little hospital stay was fine, and without incident - and the stitches come out tomorrow. And hey, I'll have a cool scar from the surgery.

I was going through some paperwork and came across this image, above, which is still active with the fine folks in Chicago who use it for their advertising. I made this photograph just before the sun peeked over the horizon, near my old place in The Windy City. It was one of my first tries of creating a high dynamic-range (HDR) image, which displays more than the camera is capable of recording in one frame.

That immediatey had me thinking about shooting landscapes, something I find wonderfully relaxing and serene. . .and something I have to remember to do more often. Not because I'm particularly great at it, just because I love to be up before anyone else, when the light is perfect, and have the world to myself. I remember making this shot in Vermont last year, at about 6:00 a.m. - I'd scouted for covered bridges, and started making photographs with this image. It was a great three-day weekend, with delicious breakfasts, great antique shopping, and clean air.

I also made a trip to Martha's Vineyard, which involved camping as opposed to pampering - a situation that was fantastically rewarding, as we spent the weekend mostly on bicycles, getting to know the area intimately. The dock shown here gave up a great lobster lunch, some cold sodas, a few frisbee tosses with a black labrador, and a walk down memory lane when thinking about where they filmed a few scenes from Jaws.

All of that said, it's about time I start thinking about making more landscape photographs, and where I'm headed for a few long weekends this autumn - which will be here sooner than we think. Definitely New England again, somewhere. Perhaps simply Upstate New York...and hopefully the Blue Ridge Mountains, in NC, to chime in on pal Scott and his family (free beer!). Any ideas? Send me an email!