The beauty of nature and the inspiration or emotions produced by the subjects one observes is perhaps the main reason for capturing photographs which potentially allow one to remember these experiences and recall the impression they made. It’s a way to preserve the fleeting moment that is experienced and possibly enable it to be shared with others. I find that the main challenge in photography is to overcome the limitations and constraints inherent in the creation of the image as to effectively express the characteristics of the subject that are seen in one’s mind’s eye. However much one succeeds or fails at accomplishing this, nature and the world around us continues to inspire and motivate photographers such as myself to pursue this goal.

I feel at home in nature. Like a kid in a playground, I am free to explore, imagine, and play. I can quietly observe and reflect, or swiftly traverse the landscape on an exploration of discovery and adventure. Nature’s rhythms and infinite novelty evoke calm, curiosity, and fascination, while its beauty produces awe, inspiration, and longing.

However inadequate my efforts, I wish to communicate my experience of the natural world and, via selective curation and processing, to convey ideas and emotions through these images.

What is it about nature, art, skillful performances, or even acts of love that we find beautiful and that captivate us? Perhaps the best description of beauty I have encountered is that it is the radiance of the good or the true. When we experience beauty, we recognize and resonate with an underlying pattern of goodness or truth in the world.

The experience of beauty requires a relationship between the observed and the observer. It depends on one’s unique perspectives and the nature of the subject that incites the recognition of beauty. It exists, therefore, perhaps neither entirely in the subject nor solely in the observer, but in the interplay between them.

Beauty calls to us, draws us in, brings us closer together, and challenges and inspires us. It sparks emotions of awe, hope, and wonder, as well as longing and sadness. It compels us to connect more deeply with what it reveals and invites us to create and share that beauty with others.

The awe-inspiring view of a towering mountain peak, the sadness evoked by a tragic yet beautifully written poem, the elegance and power of a leopard chasing its prey, or the starkness of a desolate snow-covered landscape, show some of the many forms that beauty can take in the world. In each case, a pattern of some deeper meaning may be revealed to us. Perhaps the mountain is showing us incomprehensible immensity and scale that overwhelms our usually small perspectives. The tragic poem may be conveying a truth about the nature of existence that poignantly presents our experiences of pain and sorrow. The leopard may show us an embodiment of ideal skill, along with a mix of persistence and confidence. A stark landscape fills us with a sense of intimidation, reminding us that desolate monotony is both lifeless and lonely—a striking image that is fascinating to observe and, although pleasurable to contemplate in abstract thought, not a reality we wish to live.

Whatever the true nature of beauty— its mysterious nature will undoubtably never cease to be mused upon— beauty plays a vital role in our lives by inspiring, motivating, and guiding us while providing a glimpse of something deeper and transcendent.