Sometimes a picture just sits there looking at you, waiting to be recorded, and all that is left to do is to grab some kind of a camera and capture the image. That’s why I often say that great photography is as much about paying attention as it is anything else.

Photography is all about listening with your eyes. Almost every moment is potentially frameable, with something worth communicating. There is story all around us, all the time, all we have to do is listen.

The story here is the relationship. Scout is an old dog; she’s ten and a half, and she has slowed down considerably. She really doesn’t want to venture far from her favored end of the sofa, but at the same time it’s really important for her to be with me. So she followed me to the front door then sat on the stoop while I checked the mail.

When I didn’t come back for a while – having fallen into conversation with a neighbor – Scout ventured a few halting steps onto the walkway. There she sat, patiently, her dark eyes never leaving me. Eventually, had I gone farther into the cul-de-sac, she would have dragged her tired bones up the driveway – just so she could still see me – and waited for me there.

The story is about love, about loyalty, and about doing absolutely everything we can to express it within the confines of what is possible. I’d like to think that we all offer the world that kind of love; not perfect love – that’s Gods prerogative, God’s gift – but all the love that we have.

And I believe, if we set our hearts to that end, we will heal this broken land.

– DEREK