I bought a book recently. The title was "Sell & Re-sell Your Photos". I was giving some thought to my feelings about not wanting to start a new career. The book had the effect of reaffirming that thought rather than changing my mind. The book has a lot of information in it that would be of great use to someone starting out and wanting to build a portfolio of salable photographs. For me, it just pointed out that what I thought was true.
    The author had a good plan for determining your potential. Basically it divided your photos into two categories, those that someone is looking for and those they already have. He then listed all the possible things I care to take pictures of and put them in the second category. What was left is about as exciting to me as working in a coal mine, bleak, hard and rather unappreciated.
    All of this doesn't really bother me at all. I wasn't truly wanting to start a business anyway. But photos do have value and there are many who have no compunction about taking advantage of the large number of amateur photographers like myself to obtain images for little or nothing when they may very well have a budget that would allow them to pay a fair value. I try to be careful not to be 'taken in' by such ones. I do donate to some non-profits but even then feel the need to evaluate if a donation is really needed or if they are simply taking advantage. Either way, it may be taking profit away from some serious professional. Not what I want to do but I can only use my own best judgement.

    I climbed up on the roof so I could get an over-view of what it looks like. As you can tell, it still isn't finished. I will be doing more planting on the right side and a few more plants in the lower pond.
    I started this four years ago when I was building the house. I have gotten a few plants each year at the Pierce Co. Conservation District plant sale so the cost hasn't been as bad as it otherwise might have been. The pond/creek has been the costly part and the hardest part to get the way I wanted. I have redone it three times, this last one so I could plant directly in the pond. Hopefully it will now attract dragonflies as well as the birds.
    And birds I do have! My yardlist includes only birds I have gotten pictures of in the yard or overhead. To date it totals 66 species, the latest a MacGillivray's Warbler female added last month.
    During this warm weather there is something in the water almost all the time. Anytime I get bored, I just get the camera, step outside and take pictures.

While visiting the Palouse region I decided to drive down into the Snake River canyon above Lower Granite dam. It's quite an elevation change, from 2500' to 750'. Quite a different climate as one would expect. The canyon is very dry and hot in July. As I drove along the lake/river I began to think about the effort of some to have this dam and the three downstream removed. What would change? Would the change benefit the earth or humanity in general or just be a trade of benefit to some for the other?
    This not very good photo kinda serves to focus on my musing. If the lake weren't here, there would be maybe 50' more elevation drop and about 400' less water on each side. That would still be pretty steep but maybe a little less so than the side of this monolith. I think it's safe to say the real estate difference is of little value one way or another, except maybe if you're a rattlesnake. The lake here is very nice for recreation. The river would be also but the lake is more accessible and accommodates a wider range of people. The wild salmon would be much happier with a river but unless the lower dams were removed on the Columbia river, they still won't get here anyway.
    The lake serves no irrigation purposes but we do have to consider shipping and hydro-electric power. I think of the number of additonal trucks on the road, or the problems generating electricity by other means and I do see some real value to what's here. That more than anything seems to me what would change.
    I don't like to see rivers dammed for several reasons, and if the question were whether to build them in the first place, I would say find another way. But they are here and to remove them now seems to me to of little benefit and that to few. I would say spending our energies coming up with better solutions going forward rather than arbitrarily tearing down what is, may be a more reasonable way.
    I was just glad to get out of there and up to cooler and greener pastures!