SOLITARY TRAVELER PHOTOGRAPHY

 

Fine Art Outdoor Photography by Robert Stephens

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    Reboot
    Robert Stephens
    • Jul 16, 2017
    • 11 min

    Reboot

    "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." ~ Satchel Paige It's always been about the "long game" in regards to my photography. One little step here, another there; slowly, but surely. My poor scatterbrain can't handle all-at-once success. There's a friend who is based in Texas who once mentioned that it took him seven years to break even and begin making profits in his photography. I'm in my fifth year as a sole proprietor, and I came as close as ever in 2016 to b
    229 views0 comments
    March Madness (Part Deux)
    Robert Stephens
    • Apr 2, 2017
    • 11 min

    March Madness (Part Deux)

    The "Spring-in-Charleston-by-way-of-Winter-in-Saluda" trip was truly a successful, satisfying escape (see Part 1 for more) - with winter and spring images all squeezed into what amounted to a single day of productive shooting. The only thing that stunk about my brief but bountiful venture was that some goob ate the rest of the chocolate chip cookies in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express when I went back for seconds. Seriously. The desk clerk told me some guy came in and too
    147 views0 comments
    Keepin' It Local
    Robert Stephens
    • Feb 9, 2017
    • 5 min

    Keepin' It Local

    So I'm sitting here at my desktop tonight (which in reality is a Toshiba laptop with a broken screen, connected to an ancient White Westinghouse monitor - and is also cranky, slow, and old, much like its owner. But hey, it's got Windows 10, so there's that); and I can barely move. If I stand up to move around, I can't even straighten my right leg. And since my cozy little apartment is a two-level, I have to gingerly step down from my breakfast nook (where the glorified laptop
    234 views0 comments
    Counting 'em Down
    Robert Stephens
    • Dec 6, 2016
    • 8 min

    Counting 'em Down

    When I was a kid, I had my own little Saturday morning ritual. Starting around 1980, not long after my father passed, I'd make a bee line to the grand room in our house, sit on the couch, and turn the radio to Z-93 in Atlanta to hear Casey Kasem on American Top 40. And for four hours, I'd sit and be mesmerized by the tunes Casey played, some of which weren't even on Z-93's playlist. I'd listen as he counted them down, from 40 to number one. And I did this for years, all the w
    130 views0 comments
    Heading For The Light
    Robert Stephens
    • Nov 25, 2016
    • 8 min

    Heading For The Light

    In recent weeks, the steady flow of images from Yours Truly began slowly diminishing to a near halt. And it was no fault of my sometimes dodgy Honda Civic, a car that has developed a habit of starting when she darn well feels like it - with nearly 230,000 miles on her, I'm grateful that she even starts at this point. Somehow I made it through the entire fall foliage season without being stranded, even though the ol' Civic sometimes does nothing at all when I first turn the ke
    291 views0 comments
    Better Late Than.....
    Robert Stephens
    • Nov 5, 2016
    • 8 min

    Better Late Than.....

    "When I last left off" seems to be a recurring theme in my travel blogs lately. I'd sit down and begin writing a new blog, only to be distracted by one thing or another (and there have been a LOT of distractions), then I'd go wafting off without even typing another word, and another travel blog gets abandoned. That being said.... When I last left off....... .......we were somewhere in August, and I had endured a stormy summer, literally and figuratively speaking. I'd about ha
    267 views0 comments
    Stormy Weather
    Robert Stephens
    • Aug 7, 2016
    • 8 min

    Stormy Weather

    When I last left off, your faithful reporter was firmly "in my element," living life "to the max," and "going epic." (How's that for seamlessly weaving my last three blog titles into the intro of this latest one?) It seemed like every adventure yielded a new discovery, a new inspiration, a new revelation - with a bumper crop of great images to boot. And boy, did all that "epicity" pay off - I've had numerous print sales of images taken from that period, as well as downloads f
    38 views0 comments
    To The Max
    Robert Stephens
    • May 4, 2016
    • 7 min

    To The Max

    I had great hopes for Sunday morning. The rain that had soothed me to sleep the night before (and believe me, there's nothing more soothing than falling asleep to the sound of rain here in the Smokies) was scheduled to move out at sunrise Sunday morning. So I dutifully set my alarm for 5:15 AM, with two options for an epic sunrise shot dancing in my head. As it turned out, neither option became reality, because Mr. "My-body-feels-like-it-got-hit-by-a-Greyhound-Bus" here decid
    59 views0 comments
    Anatomy Of An Image
    Robert Stephens
    • Jan 28, 2016
    • 7 min

    Anatomy Of An Image

    I wish I could sit here and tell you that the majority of my work is the product of well-thought-out planning, superior knowledge and cunning skill. But oh no. It's more akin to what musician Bill Bruford once said about his forays into electronic percussion: "I'm here to tell you it's one constant amateurish shambles from start to finish." To be sure, I know all "the spots," the locations near home with all the elements that make great landscape images possible. I take menta
    17 views0 comments
    Chasing Winter
    Robert Stephens
    • Jan 18, 2016
    • 8 min

    Chasing Winter

    For the better part of the latter months of 2015 and even into the new year, it seemed as though the expected cold weather in the Smokies and High Country - heck, the entire southeastern United States in general - joined the bears in hibernation. There I was on Christmas Day, sporting a t-shirt and shorts, walking along Dauphin Island, Alabama for a sunset shoot - the outside temperature a toasty 78 degrees. I was half-seriously debating whether or not to bring the sunscreen.
    37 views0 comments
    The Busy Season
    Robert Stephens
    • Nov 1, 2015
    • 8 min

    The Busy Season

    I live in an area with three really great seasons and one really not-so-great season - that is, of course, unless driving on icy roads and freezing your keister off on winter hikes is your thing. As the years have passed, these old bones can barely tolerate the winter chill. As I get older, I've held out this completely unrealistic hope that winter would last for about.....oh, three days; as long as one of those days is a snow day, then I'm good. I can capture a few wintry fr
    29 views0 comments
    Where He Guides
    Robert Stephens
    • Apr 1, 2015
    • 5 min

    Where He Guides

    Last Wednesday was, to put it mildly, a very slow day at work. And since I'm the highest paid driver in the P&Z Carolina franchise, I was the one who got off four hours early to save labor cost (I volunteered, but I knew I'd have to make up for the lost wages somehow - money, shall I say, is rather tight). I was free, mostly broke, but it was only 3 PM and I didn't want to languish at home, so I decided to explore on the tightest of budgets. I had plenty of gas in the tank, p
    21 views0 comments
    Breaking The Monotony
    Robert Stephens
    • Aug 18, 2014
    • 4 min

    Breaking The Monotony

    Things were becoming a bit.......stale. From the day I arrived here in Western North Carolina, I've had very little trouble finding lovely scenes to capture. Living only six miles from the Soco Gap entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway gives me quick access to some of the most breathtaking scenery in the Southeast. And on most days, I've had no trouble capturing that beauty: The trouble was ("and he's complaining??", you say) my work had become repetitive - variations on a them
    82 views0 comments

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