We have just uploaded a selection of 34 waterfalls, abstracts, landscapes and botanicals from this past fall’s travels. You can view them in the New Image Gallery or by clicking HERE

Only a few days left. If you haven’t gotten the opportunity to check out Missing Nature at the Parthenon in downtown Nashville’s Centennial park make plans to stop by. The show features more than 20 prints some of which are 6 foot canvas pieces. The show ends on September the 10th. The response to the show has been amazing. Our thanks goes out to you all. We have received so many wonderful reviews in the media, and countless warm comments and emails. We are very grateful for each one.

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle. –A. Einstein”

More than 30 new images have been added to the site in the last week.  Many of these new images have been chosen for their relevance to healthcare design. Some of these photographs were created on Byron’s recent trip to California others were selected earlier from other trips. They include everything from waterfalls to beaches and forests to flowers. Click on the New Images link above to view them. There are several pages of photographs to view.

Byron Jorjorian will be speaking at The Parthenon on May 26th at 7pm. The talk is entitled “Missing Nature” and Byron will discuss the inspiration and thought process behind images in the Missing Nature Exhibit currently on display there and he will introduce and discuss some new images as well. Details can be found in this Parthenon Press Release below and on the Nature Conservancy Website.

Byron being interviewed by WSMV regarding Missing Nature Exhibit

There certainly are some fringe benefits to being a fine art nature photographer. I’ve found that moments like this spent relaxing and soaking in the beauty, while waiting for the light to get right, can lead to even higher levels of creativity. At least that is what I tell everybody…. Taken with my iPhone.

Nature art heals. We all know this intuitively but now scientific evidence is accumulating to support these claims.

Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks knew it and designed temples that surrounded patients with nature, music, and art to restore harmony and promote healing. A number of studies have presented strong evidence that even a few minutes of contact with nature can significantly decrease stress, reduce anger and fear, and increase pleasant feelings. This calming effect can be achieved by providing views to the outside, interior gardens or aquariums, or artwork with a nature theme..

As a fine art nature photographer I find this particularly interesting and rewarding. When I have been in the field for several days I come back exhausted but renewed from my experience in the outdoors. The fact that viewing my art can impart this feeling of renewal and healing to others is satisfying.

Sources:
Parsons R, Hartig T. Environmental Psycholphysiology. In Handbook of Psychophysiology, 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press;2000:815-46.
Van den Berg A, Koole SL, Van der Wulp NY. Environmental preference and restoration: how are they related? J Environ Psychol. 2003;23(2):135-46.

There is arguably no subject that has been photographed more than nature. The question remains, with all of the millions of nature images that have already been created, is it possible to make an image of nature that is refreshing and new and yet still appeals to our desire for art and beauty? The answer to that question has been part of the motivation I feel to keep returning to the wilderness in search of new ways to see the natural world. For me the real joy and challenge of my journey as a fine art nature photographer has always been the never ending discovery of new ways to reveal the beauty of Nature. To see in a new way and to share that vision in a way that uplifts and inspires people, that is my mission.

I have always been one of those people who would stop and pick up a turtle that was stranded in the middle of a highway and carry him on across the road in the direction he was traveling. This Saturday however, after photographing for hours on the hot cedar glade (more than 700 photographs) I wasn’t feeling very energetic. I was tired, thirsty, and hungry. So when I rounded a bend in the highway on my way home and spied a large slider in the middle of the road, I didn’t stop. I just slowed down gave him a wide berth and kept going. “Maybe he will make it across without my help”, I thought. But one glance in the rear view mirror and I was afraid he wouldn’t. A car came barreling around the corner. I watched in horror, kicking myself for not stopping and moving the turtle out of the road.  Suddenly, the car slowed, the flashers came on, and a woman jumped from the car, picked up the turtle and carried him across the road to safety. I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Here on a country road in Tennessee I witnessed the good side of humanity. In a world full of wars, murder, recessions and oil spills, there is still hope. If everyone just does there little bit of good everyday, there is hope…

Today I will take my family to see the James Cameron’s blockbuster movie Avatar (in Imax 3d of course). I realized this morning when I awoke that there is a relationship between this movie and my career as a fine art nature photographer. This will be the third time that I have seen it. The movie is visually stunning a real feast for the eyes. The story takes place on a planet called Pandora. On this planet all things of nature are interconnected in a living network created by the roots of the trees that cover this imaginary world. This network of all living things or “Eywa” is accessed by the native people and the other creatures that inhabit Pandora. It is inhabited by a race of 10 foot tall people who are closely linked to this network and who respect and revere the spirit of nature. These Na’vi are reminiscent of Native Americans as well as the native peoples of other cultures around the world.

Regardless of how you feel about the plot of the movie, the special effects and the beauty of this imaginary world are awesome. I will admit, however, to being somewhat saddened by the fact that it takes a movie that cost $240 million dollars to remind this generation of movie goers of a relationship that is central to all of us. We are all connected to and a part of nature from the smallest dew drops on a blade of grass to the grandest mountains.

Nature’s “special effects” are every bit as impressive and aweinspiring as James Cameron’s screen spectacular.

My hope is that people will be motivated by this movie to get out and reconnect with the natural world around us.

Capturing, revealing and sharing the spirit of nature and our connection with it has been a central theme of my life since my childhood. It is a bond that I have spent a lifetime illustrating through my photographic art.