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Vareck Self  ·  Writing

Notes on a Life in Progress.

Thoughts on family, databases, markets, photography, and the discipline of intentional living.


  • No Charge. Priceless.

    “We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.” — Anaïs Nin nothing at all. I took this photograph in 2011. There was no contract. No…

  • The Currency You Can’t Print More Of

    My Father’s Words Series My father said a lot of things that stayed with me. Some of them I understood immediately. Some of them I had to grow into. And…

  • Forever Migraine: Four Years In and Still Learning

    This photo was taken on November 28, 2021, in Biloxi, Mississippi — the morning after she got her ring. I picked up my camera — because that’s what I do…

  • Nature Already Solved It

    “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” — Albert Einstein I was looking at a photo I made at the rookery — a spoonbill, full wingspan,…

  • The Toss — Anhinga Feeding in the Swamp

    The Anhinga’s feeding system has steps most people don’t see. I caught the whole sequence — water to log to toss — on a trip with Cajunman Swamp Tours. First…

  • I’ll Work Until They Make Me Mad — My Wife Had Thoughts

    I’ve been saying it for years: I’ll work until they make me mad. It started as a principle. Or at least that’s what I told myself. My wife didn’t take…

  • The One the Light Found

    “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” – Edith Wharton Five of them are in the same shadow. That one…

  • That Pink Stops You Every Time

    I’ve been shooting long enough that most sightings don’t stop me in my tracks anymore. The spoonbill is different. Every time I see one, I still have a small involuntary…

  • The Car, The Violin, and My Father’s Words

    A few weeks ago I found myself in a car with my niece, Yasmine, during a college visit with her sister. We had time, we had miles, and she wasn’t…


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