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Writer and Photographer Dave Pidgeon

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  • Start making stunning black-and-white images

    I have to confess to you — I’m an ambivalent photography lover. My love for color knows few bounds (unless we’re talking oversaturated images or horribly processed HDR). Color dazzles the eyes, prompts emotions, inspires. And yet, my heart splits...

    • January 14, 2021
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    • Leave a comment
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    • Composition
  • Learn these three rules of photography for better images

    Well writers, here we are, 2021. Yeah, we’re carrying over so much of what made 2020 awful. Nonetheless, the calendar change is a time of optimism. We begin anew. This will be the year we finish that manuscript, the year...

    • January 7, 2021
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    • Leave a comment
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    • Composition
  • A natural cure: Favorite images of the Outer Banks

    For more than four weeks, one of nature’s best playgrounds waited just a five minute walk from the front door. Beaches with tall, grassy dunes stretched toward oblivion to the north and south, while countless wooden walkways weathered by sun,...

    • December 18, 2020
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    • Leave a comment
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    • Photo Life
  • A pandemic casualty – our creativity

    Nine months into this pandemic, it’s time to take an honest look at what it has done to our creativity. Manuscript drafts remain untouched or half-heartedly tended to. Camera gear mostly collects dust while laying on the shelves. Pens sheathed....

    • December 14, 2020
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    • Leave a comment
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    • Photo Life
  • Learn to love light AND shadow

    Spray-and-pray. Anyone who’s held a camera has used this method of photography, usually when you first start out (and hopefully only then). Spray-and-pray refers to the fever pitch creative mania one deploys in the pursuit of a great image. An...

    • December 9, 2020
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    • Leave a comment
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    • Composition
  • It’s about the photo gear you have with you

    Before even the sun could rise, I knew I’d made a mistake every photographer regrets. I left my camera gear at home. My Canon body and a wide variety of lenses sat uselessly back at the beach house we rented....

    • December 7, 2020
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    • Leave a comment
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    • Photo Life, Photography Gear

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Start making stunning black-and-white images

  • January 14, 2021
  • /
  • Composition

I have to confess to you — I’m an ambivalent photography lover. My love for color knows few bounds (unless we’re talking oversaturated images or horribly processed HDR). Color dazzles the eyes, prompts emotions, inspires. And yet, my heart splits...

  • Read More
  • Leave a comment
  • /
  • By Dave Pidgeon

Learn these three rules of photography for better images

  • January 7, 2021
  • /
  • Composition

Well writers, here we are, 2021. Yeah, we’re carrying over so much of what made 2020 awful. Nonetheless, the calendar change is a time of optimism. We begin anew. This will be the year we finish that manuscript, the year...

  • Read More
  • Leave a comment
  • /
  • By Dave Pidgeon

A natural cure: Favorite images of the Outer Banks

  • December 18, 2020
  • /
  • Photo Life

For more than four weeks, one of nature’s best playgrounds waited just a five minute walk from the front door. Beaches with tall, grassy dunes stretched toward oblivion to the north and south, while countless wooden walkways weathered by sun,...

  • Read More
  • Leave a comment
  • /
  • By Dave Pidgeon

A pandemic casualty – our creativity

  • December 14, 2020
  • /
  • Photo Life

Nine months into this pandemic, it’s time to take an honest look at what it has done to our creativity. Manuscript drafts remain untouched or half-heartedly tended to. Camera gear mostly collects dust while laying on the shelves. Pens sheathed....

  • Read More
  • Leave a comment
  • /
  • By Dave Pidgeon

Learn to love light AND shadow

  • December 9, 2020
  • /
  • Composition

Spray-and-pray. Anyone who’s held a camera has used this method of photography, usually when you first start out (and hopefully only then). Spray-and-pray refers to the fever pitch creative mania one deploys in the pursuit of a great image. An...

  • Read More
  • Leave a comment
  • /
  • By Dave Pidgeon

It’s about the photo gear you have with you

  • December 7, 2020
  • /
  • Photo Life, Photography Gear

Before even the sun could rise, I knew I’d made a mistake every photographer regrets. I left my camera gear at home. My Canon body and a wide variety of lenses sat uselessly back at the beach house we rented....

  • Read More
  • Leave a comment
  • /
  • By Dave Pidgeon

About Me

about-me

Dave Pidgeon

Dave Pidgeon is a writer and photographer from Lancaster, Pa. He's written for regional and national publications, worked as a wedding/portrait photographer, and today helps writers elevate their photography skills.

Recent Posts

Start making stunning black-and-white images

January 14, 2021

Learn these three rules of photography for better images

January 7, 2021

A natural cure: Favorite images of the Outer Banks

December 18, 2020

A pandemic casualty – our creativity

December 14, 2020

Instagram

pidgeonseyeview

I wish I knew how to better balance my life, how t I wish I knew how to better balance my life, how to effectively manage time resources to be effective as my various roles — father, husband, writer, photographer, employee. We may never ever figure that out, and one of the challenges I’ve found in adulthood is how constant change is. Take social media, for instance. Just when we think we’ve figured out how to successfully act on a platform, something gets altered like an algorithm or a new fancy feature. We are constantly having to pivot, and while that can be healthy, over the long run, there comes a desire for consistency, for familiarity, for calm.
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#pidgeonseyeview #teamcanon #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #throughthelens #justgoshoot #writinglife #writerslife #fatherhood #writingcommunity #igparents #parenthood #modernlife #creativeliving #amwriting #perilsofparenting #writersofinstagram
Photography, like writing, has a lot of “rules.” I put that in quotations for a reason. They aren’t so much “rules” as they are tried and true techniques, and they are also meant to be challenged if we are to push creative limits. Later this week, I’m sharing three “rules” of photography you can master right now to start improving your image making skills. And I want to ask you, writing friends, what have you always wanted to know about or to master when it comes to photography? 
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#pidgeonseyeview #phototips #teamcanon #eos6d #ef100mm #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #nofilter #photographyaddict #creativeliving #writinglife #writerslife #igwriters #writingcommunity #macrolens #writingislife
American photographer Ralph Hattersley once said t American photographer Ralph Hattersley once said that we are “making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.” That’s one reason why writing and photography are, when it comes to storytelling, incredibly synonymous. And as our writing worlds transition deeper and deeper into more than just written words, that we are expected to create visual experiences for readers and potential readers as part of marketing our writing, we should remember that a photograph, just like a good story, is meant to elicit an emotional reaction, to touch something inside of us that makes us feel human.
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#pidgeonseyeview #teamcanon #canonfanfav #eos6d #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #nofilter #photographyaddict #creativeliving #letchworthstatepark #longexposure #waterfalls #writinglife #writingislife #writerslife #igwriters #buildingplatform #photographytips
For #tbt, looking back to the start of the pandemi For #tbt, looking back to the start of the pandemic, when creativity was running high. Here my son is working on school work virtually. We wanted to document this historic event, and photography was a way to deal with the anxiety. But then the pandemic kept going. And creativity became zapped. Working on a future post about dealing with low creativity motivation. Are you struggling or thriving creatively? What’s worked?

#pidgeonseyeview #teamcanon #canonfanfav #eos6d #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #nofilter #igworldclub #photographyaddict #creativeliving 
#virtuallearning #pandemicliving #pandemiclife #writingcommunity #phototips
#writinglife #writerslife
Writers, when it comes to upping your photography Writers, when it comes to upping your photography game, it’s important to respect (and even love) light AND shadow. Light may illuminate, but shadow provides texture, drama. Writing a new post about it coming soon. 

#igportrait #portraitphoto #portraitphotographer #photographpeople #peoplephotographer #pidgeonseyeview #teamcanon #canonfanfav #eos6d #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #igworldclub #photographyaddict #creativeliving #writingcommunity #writerslife #phototips #lightandshadow
Guess what’s on my mind? Working on a piece that Guess what’s on my mind? Working on a piece that brings these two topics together and what one can learn from the other. What’s getting you to a keyboard these days?

#pidgeonseyeview #amwriting #memoir #creativenonfiction #cnf #hippocamp #writersofinstagram #igwriters
#oldstories #trainwrecks
After enjoying a virtual writing conference with @ After enjoying a virtual writing conference with @ericweinerbooks, I couldn’t help but put his new philosophy and travel book ( The Socrates Express) next on my reading list. Honestly, though, he had me at train travel. I’m only starting, and there’s already plenty to learn, including perhaps more about Socrates than we’re comfortable with (that whole bathing little and rarely changing clothes thing, not all together different than my own children under the age of nine). And as someone who hasn’t delved into philosophy since college elective days, Eric’s writing style is tremendously accessible and enjoyable. Plus, did I mention, train travel? 
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#pidgeonseyeview #amreading #bookstagram #bookreader #igbooks #oldstories #hippocamp #booklover #reading #bibliophile #booklovers #bookworms #greatreads #travelbook #traintravel #philosophy101 #travelwriting #kindlereader #ebookreader #2020books #creativenonfiction #cnf
What I tell my children about photography and why What I tell my children about photography and why I’m constantly making images, which I hope can inspire you, is that every image I make and share is an opportunity for you, children, to see how I see you.
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My hope is a long time from now when they see the trove of images I’ve made of their childhood, the experience will be like borrowing their father’s affectionate eyes.
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Does all this picture taking annoy them? Yes it does. I have to pick and choose my times more carefully now because I don’t want them to hate it.
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But photography for me is one love language that I use, and for the people in your lives, writers, as you share pictures on Instagram or other social networks, think about how the image you make is reflective of how you see the ones you love.
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#pidgeonseyeview #teamcanon #canonfanfav #eos6d #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #nofilter #igworldclub #photographyaddict #creativeliving #igwriters #writingcommunity #memorykeeper #familyhistory #writinglife #writerslife #yearsfromnow #mychildren #igdad #fatherhood
One of of the most important things you can do, wr One of of the most important things you can do, writers, when taking a photo of someone is to put them between you and the sun.
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This will give you what’s known as flat light on their face, which is better than it sounds. It means the light lays flat on their facial features. The light will be soft, too, often more complementary to a person’s looks.
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If, however, you make them face the sun, they’ll probably be squinting; not the best look. And if the sun is out without clouds, the light will be harsh, creating strong, unflattering contrasts on someone’s facial features like noses or wrinkles.
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Another benefit of placing your subject between you and the sun? The sun highlights the person’s hair.
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#pidgeonseyeview #teamcanon #canonfanfav #eos6d #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #nofilter #igworldclub #photographyaddict #creativeliving #writingcommunity #igwriters #writerslife #writinglife #pumpkins #autumn #phototip #pumpkinpatch
Photography, like writing, is a journey to develop Photography, like writing, is a journey to develop skills that never really ends.
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We all begin somewhere. We write terrible short story drafts. We make embarrassingly bad photos. We try to share them publicly and then our cheeks turn red and we swear we’re terrible and we’ll never get better.
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Skills are like muscles; they have to be used almost daily to make them stronger. Practice, practice, practice.
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Writers, you can be great at making images if you’re willing to fail and learn, just like drafting your stories. That first try at making a photo, maybe even your first 100 tries, may not work out, but be open to constructive criticism, often from yourself. Get curious. Ask why your image isn’t up to par to others you are seeing, and just like you keep writing, keep photographing. It gets better. I promise.
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#pidgeonseyeview #teamcanon #canonfanfav #eos6d #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #nofilter #igworldclub #photographyaddict #creativeliving #writinglife #writerslife #igwriters #writersofinstagram #writingcommunity #ocnj #oceancitynj #amusementpark #jerseyshore #phototips #throwbackthursday #amwriting #ipreview via @preview.app
Let’s be honest, writers. Kids in costumes check Let’s be honest, writers. Kids in costumes checking themselves out in the mirror make great images.
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Photo Tip: When you catch a child looking at themselves in the mirror, VERY quietly move to the side so you can see their face reflection. As you do, get your camera settings ready. Don’t draw attention to yourself because that will likely break the spell, the kid suddenly self aware and no longer wishing to look at themselves.
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Have a great and SAFE Halloween weekend! Let’s see those costume pics.
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#pidgeonseyeview #teamcanon #canonfanfav #eos6d #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #nofilter #igworldclub #photographyaddict #creativeliving #halloween #kidsincostumes #superhero #fridayfun #fridayfeeling #friyay #writersofinstagram #igwriters #writinglife #writerslife #phototip
Just like in your stories, writers, context matter Just like in your stories, writers, context matters, and it does too in your photography. I’m talking specifically about foreground.
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Years ago, I explored Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland, and the stiff wind carried evening clouds. I wanted to capture a long exposure shot, but I needed a stationary foreground object. Fortunately, someone tied this yellow boat to the shore of the island’s bayside.
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It provides color and infinitely makes this image more interesting. Without it, the image would just be meh. So when doing landscapes or long exposure, think about what’s in the foreground to help tell your image story.
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#travelphoto #travelphotography #instatravel #pidgeonseyeview #teamcanon #canonfanfav #eos6d #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #nofilter #igworldclub #photographyaddict #creativeliving 
#writinglife #writerslife #igwriters #assateague #longexposure #phototips #writenow #writersofinstagram @assateaguenps
In memoriam of the lost car keys, whose untimely p In memoriam of the lost car keys, whose untimely passing provides us with an unexpected bonus day at this beautiful place, I leave this image. Godspeed, key and fab!

#obx #obxnow #stillatraveler #yourshotphotographer #corollanc #pidgeonseyeview #teamcanon #canonfanfav #eos6d #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #nofilter #igworldclub #photographyaddict #creativeliving #longexposure #longexposurephotography
I was a writer without a story. And then, the stor I was a writer without a story. And then, the story found me.
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I heard it’s #FridayIntroductions. So here we go.
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1.) I was a writer of some form between 2001 and 2011, mostly as a newspaper and magazine journalist. I left that career for one in public relations, but the wellspring of words never quite evaporated.
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2.) I’m writing a memoir manuscript about learning a family secret and the investigation into their veracity, ultimately trying to find someone we had not heard from in nearly 60 years.
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3.) I once was a wedding and portrait photographer, grateful for the mentors and experience I had, which informs my photographer work today. I enjoy giving photo tips to writers, converging my two predominant creative interests.
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4.) My wife, Alison, said having three children would keep me young. I’ll report back on this. They are currently 8, 6, and 1.
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5.) I’m a vinyl record enthusiast, and whenever I travel, I try to find a local record shop to peruse. The vinyl record resurgence of the past decade has made shopping and listening to music fun again, and I reserve Friday nights for a glass of wine and one of my three turntables.
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#pidgeonseyeview #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #nofilter #igworldclub #photographyaddict #creativeliving #amwriting #writinglife #writerslife #igwriters #memoir #memorykeeper #familyhistory #fatherhood #igdad #lancasterpa #vinylcollector #teamcanon #phototips #creativenonfiction
Our month in Corolla, N.C., a laid back town in th Our month in Corolla, N.C., a laid back town in the northern Outer Banks, is coming to an end, but it will stay with us.
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We needed this break. The pandemic had taken its toll on us emotionally, mentally, physically, and the change of scenery worked its medicine.
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I feel more connected now to my writing and photography than I did even before the pandemic. As we head for home, I can point to that as one of the benefits of travel, even in this socially distant time.
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Our kids are happier too, having played in one of nature’s best playgrounds, the North Carolina coast.
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Write on, friends. And if you can, safely, look to take a road trip.
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#writinglife #amwriting #memoir #creativenonfiction #cnf #familyhistory #thewaywewere #oldstory #preservememories #memorykeeper #familysecrets #familyhistoryinvestigator #americanhistory #archivist #familystories #familystory #oldstories #familymysteries #familysecret #historybuff #hippocamp #writersofinstagram #igwriters #iamatraveler #stillatraveler #obx #obxnow #nightsky #pandemictravel
There was joy when the kites caught the ocean wind There was joy when the kites caught the ocean wind and sailed higher. Then the cold settled in, so did the boredom (“Do they do anything else?”). But at least for an hour we enjoyed the quiet of a beach in Autumn and the art of sending into the sky a piece of fabric and a plastic frame tied to a string.
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#parent #parenting #igparents #perilsofparenting #fatherhood #childhood #growingup #parenthood #mykids #mysons #creativenonfiction #igwriters #writersofinstagram #familyhistory #preservememories #memorykeeper #pidgeonseyeview #flyakite #kites #obx #outerbanks #obxnow #stillatraveler #iamatraveler #windyday #fall2020 #pandemicliving #corollanc 
 #ipreview via @preview.app
Last post, we talked about how light and shadow in Last post, we talked about how light and shadow in photography is a lot like light and shadow in novels, short stories, true crime, and so on. 
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One way, writers, you can nail some dramatic and interesting images is to put the sun behind the object you’re photographing. It’s almost as if you’re making the viewer/reader squint to see what’s there.
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Here is the Bodie Island Lighthouse in the Outer Banks with early afternoon sun, some of the harshest light imaginable, placed right behind where the light room sits. 
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#pidgeonseyeview #teamcanon #canonfanfav #eos6d #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #nofilter #igworldclub #photographyaddict #creativeliving #phototip #traveltuesday #travelphoto #travelphotography #obx #obxnow #yourshotphotographer #iamatraveler #stillatraveler #outerbanks #igwriter #writinglife #writerlife #writingcommunity #ipreview via @preview.app
WE DIDN’T BRING YOU HERE TO PLAY ROBLOX. Or what WE DIDN’T BRING YOU HERE TO PLAY ROBLOX. Or whatever that game is. 
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I’m afraid as much as virtual school is the right decision during the pandemic, the kids are drawn more and more into screen addiction.
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I say this as I type on my iPhone right before I start reading on my Kindle. I’m 41. Just ... just ... just ... #doasisaynotasido 
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Even here, three weeks into our month-long stay at the Outer Banks, when they’re done with school and the iPads are plugged into the charger, they run and grab ... their mother’s iPad or the Nintendo Switch. Honest to God if I spent that much time watching a screen I’d feel disgusting and certain a global pandemic started and I didn’t even notice.

Oh wait ...
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We ask them, “You wanna go to the beach?” “No,” they say without letting their eyes leave the screen. That’s when I step in and help them understand it wasn’t a question. After the tears, we then walk to the surf and sand, the boogie boards depressingly slung over their slumped shoulders.
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And then, it’s like they fall in love with the beach for the first time every day. It’s like they forgot during their virtual school day that one of nature’s finest playgrounds is for a short time at our front door and has been for weeks. But then, they do realize it once they cross the dunes on a platform and go rushing into the cold but easy-to-get-used-to ocean water.
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What changes have you noticed in your kids if they’re virtual learners this year?
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#parent #parenting #igparents #perilsofparenting #fatherhood #childhood #growingup #parenthood #mykids #mysons #creativenonfiction #igwriters #writersofinstagram #familyhistory #preservememories #memorykeeper #outerbanks #obx #obxnow #corollanc #screenaddict #playoutside #gooutside #boogieboarding #travelwithkids #ipreview via @preview.app
Curves, light, and shadow. Like a short story or a Curves, light, and shadow. Like a short story or a novel or creative nonfiction book, photography also uses these three elements to draw you in and invite you to explore.
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Curvy lines are like magnets to the eye. Our eyes follow them around the photograph instinctually, and a photograph that makes good use of them as leading lines can get a reader to stop scrolling and pay attention to your image.
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#pidgeonseyeview #teamcanon #canonfanfav #eos6d #picoftheday #photooftheday #photolife #photographyislife #igers #throughthelens #justgoshoot #nofilter #igworldclub #photographyaddict #creativeliving #photographyforwriters #leadinglines #curritucklighthouse #obx #outerbanks #amwriting #writinglife #writerslife #igwriters #ipreview via @preview.app
Thanks to @angelavirginiawriter, @abbys480, and @g Thanks to @angelavirginiawriter, @abbys480, and @guerillamemoir, I started seeing this #magazinecoverchallenge, where real life writers make imaginary magazine covers. It helps introduce you to readers and let them (and yourself) know what they can expect from your content.

I enjoyed it far more than I expected. And it brought some much needed direction to my thoughts and planning for my Instagram feed.

So here’s to you, writers who went before me on this challenge, and to you, my friends and readers. Exciting times ahead!

#writinglife #amwriting #memoir #creativenonfiction #cnf #familyhistory #thewaywewere #oldstory #preservememories #memorykeeper #familysecrets #familyhistoryinvestigator #americanhistory #archivist #familystories #familystory #oldstories #familymysteries #familysecret #historybuff #hippocamp #writersofinstagram #igwriters #photographyforwriters #fatherhood #igdads
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