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Tib's Room
"We are not human beings on a spiritual journey, but spiritual beings on a human journey." Jody Olsen
I hope you're enjoying my site! It has been a labor of love since it's conception in 1999. This site represents all the things I value most in myself - photography, writing, art, poetry and links with creative people. I guess you could say it's my "book." You know, the book you want to write, but probably never will. Over the last nine years, I've heard from people from all over the world and appreciate their emails and comments. Making connections with people who I would never meet otherwise is very special and one of the main reasons for this site. I am dedicating this site to my mother, Betty Connor Dozier, who was my guiding light and encouragement all my life. Thank you for believing in me, Mama! We lost our sweet mother on February 22, 2008, but she lives forever in our hearts.
As you can see from the photos on the "About Us" page, my husband, Homer, and I live with our dog, Dottie and lots of wild critters. Both of us grew up in South Carolina and enjoyed observing the assortment of wildlife on the land we owned in Columbia where we both worked. Our land and house was an inheritance from my grandparents and we were lucky to live there with the possum, raccoons, owls, hawks, bats, birds, squirrels, frogs and tons of insects that shared our natural nook. We enjoyed having such a diverse slice of wildlife so close to the city. However, the legendary heat and rising crime rate of Columbia forced us to the mountains of North Carolina where we have a whole new assortment of wildlife to observe. Since moving here in May of 2004, we have taken (and I swear this is true) at least 50,000 photos and recorded hours of nature sounds including three Great Horned Owls, two Screech Owls calling to each other, crickets, coyotes, foxes, tree frogs and more. We've seen and heard a long-tailed weasel, foxes, a black bear, river otters, beavers, muskrats, hedgehogs, deer, raccoons, possum, and the list continues to grow. We've been able to enjoy a different selection of birds, including my favorite, the Wood Thrush. We've gone totally berserk in this beautiful place. Expect new photos, audio and possibly video in the coming months! We still love South Carolina, especially the swamps of the lowcountry where Homer grew up, but the mountains are home to us in all ways.
I've loved photography for most of my life. The fact that an image can be frozen in time is miraculous to me. All photos, whether they are family snapshots, a torn faded photograph from the past, historical prints, or prize-winning photojournalism, are fascinating. For me, however, the many faces of nature are the images that have the most appeal. Patterns of light reflected on water, clouds captured in a moment's glory, the sudden rush of birds in flight, the path of a comet - these are the patterns and visions I look to capture on film. It's the life force I want to capture - something that is sometimes difficult to see through a camera's lens since much of what I "see" is actually what I feel. Makes no sense? It's one of those things that is hard to put into words...I guess it's what we refer to as intuition. The key is letting go - releasing control and allowing this force to enter your heart. When this happens there is a feeling of total connection to all things and this is the feeling that I trust more than any other in my life.
Spirituality means a lot to me. It is my connection to the Universe, to the Divine, to all things that guides my every moment. I feel this connection in nature and try to capture it on film, however, it is elusive - sometimes just out of reach. However, with time and experience, I've learned to listen to the inner voice that guides me. As long as I stay connected to the Universe, doors open and magic comes my way - hopefully some of the magic is captured on film. The next step - sharing the magic. What's the point of being a witness to beauty if you try to keep it to yourself. Pass it on, share it and the beauty grows.
I'm rather obsessed with recording daily life! From putting the video camera on a rock in a creek or edge of a mountain stream and leaving it on for hours to capture a shot of one bird drinking from the water; to making audio recordings of birdsong and crickets, to recording the events of the day in a daily journal, it seems that all I do is record and document. However, after years of doing this, I do have quite a collection of video and audio tapes and can chart patterns of migration and, unfortunately, urban development that had taken over around our home in South Carolina. However, where we live now, we can sit on the porch in the evening and instead of hearing ambulances and police cars, we hear cows and roosters. We love it!!
The cameras that I've used for many the photographs on this site are an Olympus OM1 with a Vivitar 80-200 mm 1:45 zoom lens and a Minolta SRT201 with an Auto Makinon Macro/Zoom 1:3.5 F=80-200 mm. The Minolta belongs to Homer who has been very patient and kind considering that I have stolen his camera. He asked me one day if he was ever going to be allowed to use his camera again. I smiled and said, "no." Honestly, my photographs would still be in boxes under the bed if it wasn't for Homer, my family and friends encouraging me to put them out on the internet! (Note: Homer is now retired and is developing his photographic talents. He has much more patience that I have and has gotten some amazing photographs - especially macro. - I think I may need to give him his camera back!) However, since we've moved to the mountains, we have purchased an amazing digital camera. I never thought I would enjoy taking digital photos rather than traditional pictures, but I'm hooked. The Olympus C-5060 Wide Zoom is AMAZING. Homer has captured some of the best shots that I've ever seen. Go to Flowers by Homer to see some of his beautiful photography. I'll be adding many more of Homer's photos to this site as time goes by. All of the photos on this site taken during the North Carolina floods caused by the 2004 Hurricanes were taken with this digital camera. In 2005, we purchased an Olympus 8080 digital camera and are amazed at the crystal clear photos even in low light. Then in 2006, Homer's Olympus C-5060 bit the dust - or actually - fell in the river enough times that it died on us. I went to Overstock.com and found a factory reconditioned Minolta 10x Optical Zoom digital camera that is AWESOME! The macro shots that Homer has taken are the best of all the cameras we have. Check out the Praying Mantis photo on the Home Page to see what I mean! More to come on this as well as sharing many of the photos we have taken in beautiful Pisgah National Forest, NC.
Please stop by TibArt Images often. There will be new photos added, new gardening projects, poetry, stories and new links. Again, I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me at tibart@mindspring.com and Homer at swamp_fox@earthlink.net . Also, please visit Homer's incredible site on his experiences in Vietnam at http://www.swampfox.info. Thanks for visiting!
Tib