On a cool December day, I stepped out my front door and walked 3 miles to downtown Orlando. I took with me a camera, a voucher for a free meal at a restaurant, and a can of pepper spray just in case the neighborhood pitbull Cujo was off his leash again. I could have taken my bicycle, but I chose to go slowly to see what might present itself to me....

Fujifilm make some of the best mirrorless cameras for travel. The Fujifilm X-Series cameras have a cult-like following and have earned their reputation among traveling photographers for being compact, lightweight, and fun-to-use alternatives to the other brands. That said, Fujifilm’s X-Series lineup can be a bit confusing for the new photographer. That is why I wanted to write this guide, to help travelers who are new to photography (or looking to buy a new camera) decide which Fujifilm X-Series camera is right for them....

Fellow travelers, We have successfully orbited our sun again, at least according to this artificial thing we impose on ourselves called calendars. And as I look at mine, I see something on the calendar that I haven’t seen since July 2022: meetings and class prep. Yes, dear friends, my sabbatical has come to an end. My sabbatical was nice. I had a lot of time to think, reflect, and write. Its energy has been so good, I’m trying not to let it go....

2022 was one of the most rewarding, creative, and productive periods of my life in recent years. I’ve written end-of-year reviews of my creative work for the past few years. In keeping with tradition, below are my reflections on 2022 and my plans for 2023. Reflections & plans Sabbatical work After two years of delays, I finally had a semester-long sabbatical from teaching. My sabbatical took me to Bolivia and Peru for 30 days, where I did research for my ongoing mountains project and took photos for a photobook project I’m working on....

I went on sabbatical during the fall 2022 semester. I am a professor at a school in Orlando, and the time away from teaching and administrative duties was much needed. It gave me the gift of time and space to concentrate on my creative work. You’d be forgiven for finding the idea of doing creative work during a sabbatical oxymoronic. After all, the biblical sabbath is associated with the abstinence of creative work....