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 One of the surprising things they never taught me in college regarding my journalism and photojournalism career, is that the story you pursue is not always the story you will ultimately write. I learned to be open minded, never give up, and what surprises you, will end up surprising your readers. That actually happened several times to me, and it was a wake-up call. There's a couple that stick out as the ones that were a total surprise, and received a healthy number of hits, creating a win win for all.  Since it's mid November, it seems the perfect time to blog about my pursuing a Thanksgiving story about Native Americans. Those of you who know me a little better, know I am always interested in something unusual and out of the box, so putting the pilgrims and puritans aside for something different, sounded fun and intriguing for both my readers and myself.  For this particular story, I wanted to photograph Pueblo ruins and talk about Native Americans for a Thanksgiving p...

  Obviously, this isn't a ghost, an orb, or even paranormal.  It's simply a skeleton-albeit a rather large one that I discovered and was impressed by its creative posers who placed it in an especially precarious and intriguing way to get us all in the spirit of Halloween. Not to mention, my admiration for the people who bravely climbed up this mast, to get skel' up so high! This curious photo however, wasn't staged nor even edited or tweaked, and begs more investigation into the question if we can capture paranormal activity with our cameras.  It was taken in an old mine and had the same low lighting around it as in the rest of this mine.  Although I'd snapped many photos throughout my tour of this mine, none looked like this.  There were small round lights installed throughout, to help people see where they were walking but all showed up as simply small, round lights and certainly with no reflection all the way around the walls and on the ceiling.  Some in...

I chose this photo to post at my profile because -like so many of my friends and followers, and hopefully me, there's so much more to it than meets the eye.  Literally. This annual migration means tens of thousands of birds fly thousands of miles to stop over every year like clockwork to refuel at this very spot.  The mountain ranges seen in the distance to the East and the West will drain melted snow - or not, and thereby dictate the success or failing of the many species that rely on this stopover every year.  I deliberately didn't edit, tweak, or photoshop this photo so read on why it's so important.   You'll see Snow Geese and Ross's Geese, species of ducks, and sandhill cranes to name a few, enjoying their layover, swimming side by side while they rest and refuel with much needed water and nutrition. Each season brings in new and different species of waterfowl and land animals to this unique section of the Rio Grande, all dependent upon our fragile climate ...

  To evolve to a better, kinder person in life, sometimes you simply have to change your perception  Pamela Hartle

During the Pandemic, I hunkered down and decided to expand my little outside corner of the planet into something that could keep my hands and mind occupied but away from the stresses plaguing us all. I dug in, literally and studied and perfected a wildlife garden that to this day provides a wonderful and rewarding respite. In my efforts, I discovered a rather surprising and heretofore unrecognized gem in the world of wildlife gardening.  Palm trees of all things, especially the flowering Jelly Palms add a lot more than beauty and atmosphere to your landscape. The stately palm remains beautiful but also stays the same through most of the year, including the cold months in the deep south.  Suddenly however, sometime in Spring or Summer-depending on the particular species, a long pod develops on this particular palm, and then slowly begins drooping toward the ground.  After a short time, this 3ish foot long pod will suddenly pop open to reveal this beautiful spray of intrigu...

                                                                                                                 BINDING NUPTIALS Of the over 45,000 species of spiders, even if you're not a fan of arachnids, this one will blow your mind This week, I had the good fortune to be invited to exhibit my paintings and photographs in coastal South Carolina again.  Seacoast artists gallery is an impressive gallery located at 3032 Nevers Street in The Market Common, and where they will hang.   The Gallery is made up of over 70 talented artists who are juried and showcase their works there, which are in a wide variety of mediums. Market Common is a growing and up-and-coming area with a diverse composite...

The ice embellished seed pods on this Crepe Myrtle made a provocative and most unusual background for this January 22nd photo and surprised a year-round resident Bluebird in South Carolina Article and Photos without Photoshop or AI by Penelope Penn Winter Storm Jasper was not "for the birds."  It was a serious storm that caused power outages, closed schools, and dropped record amounts of snow, sleet and freezing rain, as well as caused a record-breaking number of flight cancellations, as it barreled across the US this past week.  And it didn't stop when it plowed into the southeastern coast.   The ice it brought caused flight delays and hazardous road conditions in coastal South Carolina, a dilemma for residents, and resident and migrating birds as well.  The city's website and news stations issued frequent updates on the status of the storm, since these storms are rare and infrequent.  A statement on the city's website reported that, "Myrtle Beach and othe...