Field Notes
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A Photograph Finds Its Way
In March 2025, I photographed the walkway from Cayo Linares to Cayo Vigía on the Samaná Peninsula in the Dominican Republic. A long walkway over blue water, an island ahead, sailboats on their moorings, and warm light filtering through the branches on Cayo Linares. I posted the image on Google…
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Featured Autumn Gallery
A few photographs from the 5-Mile Radius Project made over the past week. Enjoy!
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Bison of the Black Hills
Bison move quietly across the autumn prairies of Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Their scattered forms echoed by the pines along the distant hills, both are integral elements in the essence of this place.
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Elk of The Black Hills
A century ago, this would have been an impossible photograph. Elk disappeared entirely from the Black Hills. Their return is a story of restoration, conservation, and a different relationship between people and the wild animals that share this landscape. A few photographs and some history from Custer State Park in…
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La Habana Vieja
A narrow street in Old Havana. Faded pastels, laundry strung above the street, salsa drifting from an open doorway and the unhurried rhythm of everyday life. From the archives, a return to La Habana Vieja in 2015.
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Chester Creek Falls
Chester Creek Falls Last Fall I was hiking in Duluth, Minnesota and came upon this site. I snapped a quick photo with my iPhone (it was all I had at the time). I made a mental note to return with a proper camera. Well, I checked that reminder off this…
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The Merlins of Breezy Point
A quiet morning on the North Shore began with coffee, gulls and the sun rising over Lake Superior. Then something small and remarkably fast came out of nowhere, crossed paths with a crow, and turned an ordinary morning into something entirely unexpected.
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Back to the Black Hills of South Dakota
Next month I will be heading back to Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. And I’ll be there with a different photography kit. Get an inside look at my updated gear.
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Foggy Morning on Little Lake
I woke up early. A fresh breeze drifted into the bedroom through an open window. Mist lay over the meadow that serves as our front yard. Across the road, the little lake was shrouded in fog. Suddenly, from the direction of the little lake came a fog-piercing, prehistoric croak that…
Gary Donaldson
“Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.”
— Anthony Bourdain
