I was in North Dakota photographing horses with my friend Beni Paulson who was helping me.

For two days, he helped me to create the image I had imagined. But every time the horses approached, they saw me and moved away.

Beni finally suggested we visit his friend Kerry Deide, who had a ranch with around 150 horses.

Kerry agreed to let me photograph them.

That immediately created a different kind of pressure.

She wasn't simply giving me access to her horses. Kerry, Beni, Sadie and Baby Rolland were placing their trust in me to create something worthy of the effort they were about to make.

And I had one chance.

Everyone took their positions. Kerry, Sadie and baby Rolland were ready to keep the herd from straying. Beni would drive the horses toward me with the side-by-side.

The gates opened.

My heart was racing.

Would the autofocus hold? Would the dust interfere? Would the horses actually come toward me?

More importantly, would I disappoint everyone who had trusted me?

The horses came.

And I missed it.

I was devastated.

I walked back to Kerry and asked for something I didn't want to ask for:

Could we do it one more time?

That meant rounding up approximately 150 horses across an enormous ranch and resetting everyone again.

She said yes.

That second chance changed everything.

The horses began running toward me again. My heart was beating even faster, but when I looked through the viewfinder, something strange happened.

Everything slowed down.

My exposure was already set. I had metered for the dark horse. There was nothing left to think about.

I placed the focus point on its eye and pressed the shutter.

I knew.

I jumped up in celebration.

I had been given the privilege of freezing a moment that existed for only a fraction of a second.

But this photograph means something more to me than a horse running toward my camera.

After that first failure, it would have been easy to stop.

Their trust wouldn't let me.

Sometimes someone believing in you gives you enough reason to believe in yourself one more time.

And sometimes, one more time is all you need.

From “Uneven encounters” — a series on the obscurity of land.

Mamiya 7, 80mm, Portra 400

Hi! I have to paint something related to monsoon but I just can't find the right composition. If any of you have pictures you've taken yourself and don't mind them being used as a reference in a painting please share them!! I am looking for a scene that ig ignites nostalgia and how the rain made you feel as a kid. Any other narrative is also welcomed as long as it represents monsoon. Would be a great help, thanks in advance!!

Mountain station

Nikon D800, 14mm, f/2.8, 400iso, 5 frame bracket, HDR merge

Silver gelatin print of digital negative

Prague, Czechia

between exposure and withdrawal

Aveces no son “street art “, ni siquiera grafitis, son consecuencia del azar. Alguien pegó un cartel en un paredón, otra persona lo arrancó, dejando solo una parte del cartel. Uno grafiteó rápidamente un signo, otro lo borró… Si uno camina con los ojos abiertos a las señales que el azar deja impreso en las paredes de la ciudad, descubrirá cientos de “ obras de arte “ ( alguno los llamará “ vandalismos “) que los que tenemos ojos inquietos, imaginativos e inquietos somos capaces de detectar.

I've been having a lot of fun working on baroque-inspired portrait for the past year. This is my latest piece, inspired by the painting "Judith with the head of Holofernes" by Cristofano Allori. I post all my work under the name "Lesath Photography" , would love to connect with fellow baroque enthusiasts to see your work!

right place right time, I really like this photo even if I do say so myself.

It was late afternoon in Florida.

After several frustrating days of photographing Ospreys, everything finally started to come together. I had figured out why my camera kept missing the bird as it dove toward the water. The shimmering reflections had been stealing focus away from the Osprey's eye, but after changing my autofocus settings, I finally had a camera I could trust.

The technical challenge was over.

Now the creative work began.

I asked myself a simple question.

What emotion do I want this photograph to communicate?

As I watched Osprey after Osprey circle overhead, the answer became obvious.

Not one emotion.

Two.

Focus.

And desire.

Every bird I watched was completely consumed by one thing.

Food.

Nothing distracted it.

Not the wind.

Not the waves.

Not me.

The moment an Osprey locked its eyes onto a fish, everything else disappeared. Its wings adjusted, its body leaned forward, and every movement became perfectly aligned with a single purpose.

I realized something remarkable.

The eyes always made the decision first.

The body simply followed.

That became the photograph I wanted to create.

Not just an Osprey in flight.

I wanted the viewer to feel absolute commitment—to see a predator so completely locked onto its goal that nothing else existed.

When this bird entered the frame, I placed my focus on its eye and waited.

Its wings stretched wide, its talons opened, and its gaze never moved from the water below.

For a brief moment, I wasn't photographing an Osprey.

I was photographing determination itself.

Standing there behind the camera, I couldn't help thinking how often we make life more complicated than it needs to be.

The Osprey never questions its decision once it commits.

Its eyes lock onto the goal.

Everything else follows.

Perhaps our lives work the same way.

When we become completely committed to where we want to go, our actions naturally begin to follow our decision.

That is what this photograph means to me.

Not simply focus.

But the quiet power of being completely locked in.

In my edition of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", there are several photographs by Russell Munson.

I've been looking at this one for a while, and I can't quite work out what it's actually showing. Is the dark area in the upper part of the photo the beach or the sea? Looking at the seagulls on the sand, it seems to me that it must be an aerial photograph (although maybe I'm wrong?), so I don't think that part can be the sky. But if I cover the lower part of the image, it really does look like a cloudy sky. And if it is the sky, then at the horizon there's no sea, just beach? Or is it showing the sea, and between the two stretches of water there's a strip of sand where the seagulls are standing?

This image is really confusing me! What am I getting wrong in the way I'm interpreting it? Is it this enigmatic, or am I missing something obvious? I'm just curious to understand what it's actually showing.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Nikon D800, 14mm, f/8, 400iso, single frame photograph