Talking Pictures

I had passed this long-abandoned, one-room prairie schoolhouse near Elk City, Kansas, hundreds of times over the years and each time I resolved to stop the next time to photograph it. Except for the chimney and tin roof, there had been no apparent effort to preserve the building, which is now on private property. Finally, on a hot, cloudless July morning, after 25 years of procrastination, I...

This proud and calmly self-assured coyote posed for me on his log throne set amid the tall pine trees in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. And what a beautiful animal he is, showing off his gray, white, and reddish coat and silky white-tipped tail as he gazed intently in my direction. I was pleased to observe that tourists in the area—there are many—respect the animals in the...

While I have never been very good at the game, in fact I haven’t played since I was a child, there is a place in the heart of every Canadian for the game of hockey. And while watching the professionals is entertaining, two boys playing one-on-one on a frozen lake brings back memories of the days of outdoor rinks, frozen dugouts and lakes, and simpler times.

This particular...

Driving along busy US 50, I decided to stop in a small town in the Amish country of the Midwest. Spotting the mural on the side of the old building, I parked and grabbed my camera. My wife urged me to hurry as the real horse and buggy might leave. Hopping out of the van, I set the camera up as I hustled to get in position to frame the shot before something could change. Nothing says peaceful...

The Beach. Aquamarine sea. Azure sky. Beige sand. A seashell. A seagull. No people. No boats. The Beach. This photo was taken at Miami Beach, Florida, in the heart of the tourist season. Even in the midst of crowded civilization, one can find nature if you look for it. The Beach.
—Leonard Malkin
Troy, MI

Please Read This
...

My family and I were visiting the Cincinnati (Ohio) Museum Center at Union Terminal during the end of their dinosaur exhibit. As part of the exhibit, they had a life-sized dinosaur outside the museum facing away from the building.

When we left the museum, I noticed how the dinosaur was facing the downtown Cincinnati skyline, so I positioned myself to frame the scene without the...

I shot this image casually, as a friend and I relaxed in a nearly empty waterfront café after a shoot. I can’t tell you why I shot it, but I can tell you why it gradually has become a sort of personal favorite. Although it contains nothing dramatic, it says something very basic about photography.

We don’t know whose sunglasses these are, how they came to be...