Optimal Focus Photography

08/23/2026

I don’t have the words to describe what a treasure our national parks are and I owe our parks tremendous gratitude for the gift it’s given me in nurturing my love of nature and photography. In honor of our annual celebration of America’s national parks, sharing some favorite memories for National Park Week ❤️
Let’s please honor and continue this legacy for the next 250 years.
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08/16/2026

Wandering the redwood forest, I became captivated by the delicate curls of the lush ferns that line the trails. Of course I photographed majestic redwood trees, too, but I find so much beauty in the mundane; when you look close and pay attention, these humble ferns reveal an intricate structure that is endlessly fascinating to capture.
In one week, I’ll be at Longwood Gardens with the tremendous Out of Chicago Photography team, teaching alongside Alan Shapiro , where the most impactful piece of gear we will use is not our cameras, but rather our attention. Attention to what endlessly fascinates us and lights our internal fire 💚🌿..

08/15/2026

Typically one interconnected root system, the vertical rhythm of evenly spaced white aspen trunks is reminiscent of architectural spaces where columns, thresholds, and enclosure shape how a body feels safe in a room, only an aspen grove accomplishes that naturally; with ferns on the forest floor or a wildflower dotted meadow as an anchoring element providing a feeling of protection. Walking through these aspen groves in Gunnison National Forest, past fern floors and wildflower drifts, that structure is what got me: repetition and shelter, built by a single living thing.💚
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08/08/2026

Up at 4 in the morning and at Carson Pass by sunrise; I had the Winnemucca Lake trail completely to myself until 9 when the hikers started rolling in. Peak wildflower season had passed, and the hillsides had mostly gone to seed, but an inch off the ground, I found a whole world of small displays of coyote mint, button parsley, aster, paintbrush, and angelica. Worth every minute of lost sleep! 💚..

08/07/2026

Exploring dirt roads and tiny waterfalls framed by radiant autumn color under diffuse, overcast light is my idea of a blissfully perfect fall day. This classic scene found in the Great Smoky Mountains NP provided inspiration to slow down, breathe in the cool air, and appreciate the incredible diversity of woodland in the park. With 104 degree temperatures in Sacramento today, I am wishing I were here instead! 🍂..

08/04/2026

Next month, when I present at the Outdoor Photo Alliance & Horizons Photo women’s conference in Colorado, the presenters and attendees were all asked to bring 10 printed images to share; I LOVE this idea to promote physical prints in this age of image consumption through our screens! I decided to print this one from 2022, of the unique rock formations of Roxborough State Park outside of Denver. This was a morning of high altitude clouds that lent a diffuse, soft light over the landscape bringing out the subtle textures of the thickets and pines.💚..

07/31/2026

Can you believe August is nearly here already?? How did that happen! Tiny wildflowers carpet the forest floor in Sequoia National Park for August’s free desktop calendar wallpaper. Spending time among these ancient trees at sunrise is truly my favorite way to spend a morning!

Tiny wildflowers carpet the forest floor in Sequoia National Park for August’s free desktop calendar wallpaper. Spending time among these ancient trees at sunrise is truly my favorite way to spend a morning! https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com/

07/30/2026

At the edge of a campsite in Sequoia National Park, I found this beautiful carpet of wildflowers spilling around this display of granite boulders, and rather than head out in the truck to find a location to photograph sunset, I elected to stay close to camp, wander down with my camera and photograph this tiny landscape that to me, resembled a beautiful, and natural rock garden.🌸..

07/27/2026

I recently went to Crested Butte for the carpets of wildflowers. What I found was something far more intimate; five days in the mountains with a macro lens, lying in meadows that weren't what I planned for, finding bistort and little pink elephants and curling leaves in the golden light.
Sometimes the conditions you didn't choose give you the images you couldn't have planned. A field dispatch from the wildflower capital of Colorado. 🌿
https://open.substack.com/pub/optimalfocus/p/finding-the-intimate-in-an-unexpected?r=rql4l&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

07/21/2026

In my last post I wrote about the power of small-scale, intimate botanical prints in private clinical spaces: the infusion bay, the exam room, the corridor between treatment rooms. I made the case that modest, well-placed art creates a relationship between image and patient that large-scale work cannot replicate in those contexts.
Today I want to talk about the other end of the spectrum entirely. 🩵

Thinking Beyond the Frame in Healthcare Art