“I wish 'so and so' could be here.” That’s usually the first thing that goes through my mind as I stand in front of a majestic, magnificent landscape, the preferred subject of my itchy shutter-triggering finger. And sharing that beautiful, inspiring landscape gives me great joy and satisfaction.

Of course what makes the photographic representation of a marvelous landscape come together are great composition, great subject and great light. The first is subject to the photographer’s and viewer’s preference. And the latter doesn’t always come through in the way the photographer would like, the bane of all traveling landscapers who can’t always be in great places or iconic locations when they would like, that being the lovely hour of ‘sweet light,’ the half-hour before and after every great sunrise or sunset. However, in this digital age there are multiple ways of saving an image (in a satisfactory way) shot under harsher light that simply wouldn’t have been possible in the film era. When all else fails, black and white conversion can often bring about an image delineating texture and pattern much more intoxicating than one shot in colour.

Anyway, a cursory perusal of my photo stream showcases the prevalence of the landscape genre, brought to you by—wait for it—the medium telephoto lens. Yup, that old staple of landscape image making, the wide-angle lens, is not always the best choice for landscape aficionados. I love how the tele-compressed view from an elevated vista reveals the multiple layers of terrestrial and atmospheric elements alike. And its nowhere more apparent how these elements come together so beautifully as when I travel the interface between prairie, foothills and mountains (actually symbolized by Alberta’s provincial flag). How can I stop myself from making image after image of this wonderful, magical place(?)—it’s enough to give me goosebumps surveying one of earth’s finest, awe-inspiring landscapes with my cameras.

Lest one think I’m all about telephoto-shot grand landscapes, perusing further reveals other material that may pique one’s interest; wildlife, floral macro, pure (intimate) scenics, urban landscapes/architecture, and conceptual photography (e.g., light painting, night-time light trails, juxtaposition of contrary elements, etc.,).

The foundational element that ties most of my photography together is love of the outdoors. I’d probably whither and die creatively and metaphorically if I was tethered to an indoor studio—hey......just saying!

*Please Note: Any party or organization that is interested in licensing my images—unauthorized use for illustrative/editorial or commercial purposes—is expressly forbidden—can make initial contact through my regular email address: mthielma@telus.net. To make it easier to traverse my photostream and find images to suit a particular category or genre, I've organized my Flickr collection in a multitude of albums. Pretty much any image will be found in more than one album as image content isn't defined by easy categorization. Thanks for your consideration!