Communication Skills

I won’t lie to you.  The verb “to lie,” meaning “to recline,” is not the easiest verb in the Engl...

Or would you rather just email me? A couple of readers have asked me about making “email” a verb....

Refined Wisdom: Here’s what I think about making verbs into nouns.   Usually, there are so many b...

Let’s rein in reign! Have you noticed how often you see these two words confused? Here’s a senten...

This is a bibliography of writing books I recommend in my seminars:               ...

Remember when Robert Novak (surprise, surprise) became upset with something James Carville said, ...

Sorry, Emerson, being consistent is not the hobgoblin of small minds. Of course, if I have it rig...

Refined Wisdom: Sometimes editors get bad design because they keep asking for something different...

The other day, I found myself thinking about all the ways we use words. Scratch “all!”...

A wall can be a barrier. It can hide things from us. But walls can also be very revealing, an exp...

Primary Colors, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, 2005 A small fountain in the courtyard of a San Mi...

We have two opportunities to frame an image to help communicate an idea. First, and most importan...

Basic human values – the emotions, beliefs, traditions, and knowledge that we hold in common as h...

Some photographers think that “street-photography” means just shooting pictures of people in publ...

Expressive images use layers to deepen and broaden ideas. I speak of layering here as an organizi...

Landscape photography is more than just taking pictures of a beautiful natural scene. It involves...

State Fair, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2003 Clutching a bag of popcorn and wearing a western style ...

Since July, 1997, Hong Kong has been part of China under a special “One Country, Two System...

Some believe that photographic “composition” is purely a matter of aesthetics. I don&...

Child with Offerings, Vientiane, Laos, 2005; from Pbase Gallery Twenty Two: Bl...