It's not everyday you wake up---make your first cup on coffee and glance out the back door to a beautiful sunrise that makes it to your online businesses new logo! When I moved to Gardner, Kansas nine months ago--Jim, my neighbor commented on how pretty the sunrises were to our east--as there was just a hedgerow of trees and a farmers field. I however--was more inclined to go with the sunsets to the west --as I hadn't experienced too many early morning sunrises (the benefits of retirement?). This pic was taken in August, 2013 in Gardner, Kansas looking west--and submitted to one of our local weathercast personalities requesting we send them in. Earlier today--in the KC Star newspaper online--Kansas was said to have some of the best sunsets--particularly near the Flint Hills. Canada can have the aurora borealis--i'll tale the Kansas sunrise/sunsets any day!  Below is an example of how i've incorporated the "logo" sunset into Wood ...

Yah Mon---noooo problem! Sometimes you need to get a little crazy! Like when you've been stressed at work...freezing from the cold. Aching and in need of a change of scenery. My suggestion--head south of the border--and i mean waaaayyy south, like to Jamaica. My girlfriend and I recently took a one week, all inclusive trip to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and had our fill of no-stop food, drinks and music (think being on a cruise ship--but on land)! From drinks like Rum Cream, Annie Palmers & Virgin Miami Vice--it was non-stop fun in the sun. Things are looking up! The beauty of the Caribbean was experienced on the cheap--like a Motel 6 on the beach, complete with food, wine, drinks and music. But that's ok--since we were on the beach most of the time. Radiant flowers at Dunn River Falls Much of what we saw was in specified "tourist" areas like Dunn River Falls park and the famous Blue Mountains of Jamaica. Unfortunately--area's w...

  "I consider great photography visual poetry . Each element that makes up the picture communicates something invaluable to us...beauty, loneliness, joy-just like art, poetry and music." I've always been intrigued with those things that inspire great music, movies, photographs, paintings, etc. I like to understand what the artist was thinking and feeling with they produced their work. What motivated them to produce it. For example--I enjoy "Arms of An Angel" by Sarah McLachlan. Many of us interpret it to be a spiritual song about angelic beings, etc. However--she wrote the song about the death of a fellow musician from drug addiction. In spite of what inspired her to write such an emotionally powerful song--all of us interpret what it means to us. She's ok with that. That's what good art does--allows the viewer or listener to make that piece theirs--to own it in such a way that you "feel" something from it. Just as a good poem c...

Winter Song --Original Photo by Johanna Bonavia https://www.etsy.com/listing/174140872/sentimental-portraits-beauty-is-all?ref=shop_home_active I had no idea when I decided to open an Etsy shop, VerlinStudios , that it would attract friends, relatives, fellow Etsyionites (?), etc. It seemed like a good idea to offer to the online world photographs that I've taken (as it's always been a hobby of mine) over the years of rare, special, even unique moments.  Many of these friends have said I should put them in a book, sell, offer, etc. So that's what I decided to do. After posting a number of photo's from Yellowstone from a trip I made in '07--I had a number of people say, "hey--I've got some photo's that I took blah, blah, blah..." Another had just bought an expensive camera and wanted to wait to get pics with it before posting them for sale in the shop. Actually--the art of good photography doesn't rely on the camera as ...

"Photographs have always been a great way to capture our memories and share them--but it hasn't always been that way." With the holiday season passing--one more year of memories that we can't really go back and re-live. Or can we? Probably the reason I enjoy photography--and a main reason I started an online Etsy studio--is to capture times that I have enjoyed--and have the opportunity to share them or relive those moments again. We all have those special times we treasure--the birth of a baby, a wedding, graduation, an anniversary, our first date, etc. Just like good art--photography captures not only what was--but also what we want it to be. It allows us to "airbrush" our lives to be seen as we see within ourselves. It allows us to share our world as we want to see it--whether it be our family, business, nation or nature. And through this "artistic" side of photography--we can express ourselves and also "showca...

"Sir," he said. "I suggest you back away from that animal very slowly. He could charge at any minute...!" (gulp) Ok...I'm not one to shy away from a challenge.  But in September, 2007--I reconsidered what my life was worth in exchange for a photograph. Specifically a dining bison at Yellowstone. Having spent a half day of seeing the sites in Yellowstone in the Fall of 2007--my friend and I stopped halfway north near the Roosevelt Arch at a rangers station. We had noticed a small herd of buffalo grazing nearby. Heck--buffalo wander around Yellowstone all the time. One even came right up to the passenger side of our car looking in at us (I snapped a pic of it--but it's pretty blurred. Wonder why!) A few days earlier--we stopped by a roadside picnic table having lunch. I was facing the woodland area behind our table--keeping an eye out for bears, deer, elk--whatever. Suddenly--my friend said, "Shhhh....gradually look behind you!" I ...

"What I like most about photography is that it allows you to capture a moment and relive it time and again--as well as expressing your creative side..." All of us have passions and hobbies--whether it be cooking, writing, performing, etc. With the advent now of iTunes, Amazon, eBay and Etsy--we can now become artistic merchants reaching a worldwide audience of prospects. I recently decided to open an Etsy storefront to showcase my favorite photographic shots that I've taken over the years. In 2007, I went to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons packed with a new 1.3 mg, Minolta Dimage Xi camera with optical and digital zoom. This was about the time camera's were going more digital and this one was the size of a cigarette pack. It took some of the best shots I've ever taken (like the one above--Pastorale Stream, at my Etsy storefront, www.etsy.com/shop/verlinstudios).  In spite of the fact I now use an iPhone 5s and a Nikon, 16mg camera/1080 HD video...