The essays in this book are presented in order of writing with the first being written in 2007 and the last during 2010. The first three were published in various issues of Ag magazine; all appear here in revised form. In particular the opening essay is presented in full length, the magazine version was necessarily somewhat condensed; the last two have not been published elsewhere. Two essays concern the work of John Blakemore and both were written with his extensive cooperation. I admired his work before we became good friends and so feel no conflict in writing about it in such positive terms; in any case I would not be interested in writing about work that I do not enjoy. I have had many rewarding discussions with him that have informed the essays presented here either from the start or during revision; I am not thereby claiming that he endorses all the views expressed. The remaining three essays concern various aspects of photography, concentrating on landscape photography.