We have all heard this saying before: " A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" and it is a popular saying because there is truth behind it. I know this first hand because during the past 3 years I have been on a very intense self-imposed travel schedule and gathered no moss whatsoever. I came to professional photography later in life than most, and that gave me a strange gift: urgency. Suddenly I was plotting trips to remarkable places, determined to squeeze the very best images out of whatever time I had there.

However, after being part of a recent emergency evacuation of an aircraft on the runway in Delhi, India, it's not surprising that I began to reflect on life. I quickly concluded that amazing photos are not at all amazing if you aren't able to enjoy sharing them with others. Fortunately for me, I have an insightful wife who gave me a great suggestion. She said: "Why not explore Spain and Europe deeper instead of all the intercontinental travels?"

I often tell people that I am photographically a 28 year old with the financial resources and life experience of a 62 year old. This juxtaposition has its pros and cons. The biggest pro means I can choose to enjoy and experiment with my artistic freedom without worrying about earning money to pay for food and shelter. Admittedly, very few people can enjoy this luxury and I am therefore very appreciative.

It's not so much about the destination, it's more about the journey.

I have tried astrophotography and had a lot of fun with Aurora Borealis' as well as long exposures of the Milky Way and it was enjoyable. I always enjoy a good landscape image but I now realize that landscapes are fairly static yet the weather is not. Although they are scientifically intriguing, eclipses don't really get my adrenaline pumping photographically. Candidly, I have no interest in portraiture, wedding or event photography although my son Sean allowed me take his headshot for LinkedIn - see below for the image that he and his fiancée selected.

One of the biggest cons of being photographically 28 and actually 62 is who I am demographically. Gallerists love to discover new and young artists and then help them succeed throughout their career. The overwhelming majority of these artists are under 30. Clearly, that's not me. For many years the art world has focused itself on white male artists but fortunately for everyone that has changed and I totally support that. If you don't already know me, I am a white male with gray hair, no piercings, no tattoos and I don't dress like someone under 30. I am not complaining, just stating the obvious which means that I must focus on my work and make that the best I possibly can. An emerging artist with gray hair is not that common so my work has to speak loudly for itself.

Here's my game plan going forward.

Last summer while in Toulon, France, I went snorkeling 43 times with my camera and and I am now really excited about underwater photography. While in less than 2 meters of water I was able to find plenty of photographic challenges and opportunities. In order to take my relationship with underwater photography to the next level, I purchased a proper underwater housing from Ikelite for my Nikon Z8. The Ikelite 200DL is a good place to start but I was left underwhelmed with their product. I had to return the housing because the switch allowing me to go from images to video wasn't working. There are more problems now but this is neither the time nor the place for product reviews.

I am currently a certified open water diver which may sound impressive but it really isn't. One of the things I learned diving this summer in Toulon, France was that you shouldn't even bring your camera housing underwater until you can properly manage your buoyancy. As of today, I have a mere 9 dives logged and will be taking the advanced open water diver workshop on the 17 and 18 of September here in Valencia. I am not sure when I will feel ready to scuba with my camera but that's a better question for the divemaster.

Let's see if underwater photography is a fleeting romance or something more profound. With images like "Illumination of the Soul" below, my instinct tells me it will be something more profound.

If you prefer to view the images from the Bajo del Mar gallery now instead of later, here's a link to the gallery on my website - please enjoy and share with your friends and family!

Now that you have some background information on the ebb and flow of my artistic process, here are more thoughts on my plans for this year and next. I am committed to become a better scuba diver (buoyancy!) and continue to practice my underwater photography with my snorkel until I feel ready to confidently dive with my underwater housing. The beauty of all of this is that I live in Valencia, Spain and it is relatively easy to snorkel and dive. Furthermore, diving literally opens up a whole other world in which I can capture images. That is immensely exciting!

While I have some photographic experience with nature and wildlife in Spain, I now know that I want to concentrate more on exploring wildlife and underwater images. I often think about going back for more Iberian Lynx images but from different perspectives this time.

During my downtime, I figured out what I have learned and what I want to learn. This year, I learned that if I see lots of people swimming with orcas on social media then that's probably not going to be what I want to do. I want to be ahead of the curve and creatively unique and this downtime gives me the opportunity to do my research.

If you take away just one lesson from this blog, let it be this: success in anything requires careful planning, and quiet downtime is the ideal time to do it. My tools of choice are a spreadsheet paired with the notes app on my phone—but that's simply what works for me. Find whatever system suits you. The one non-negotiable is this: whatever method you choose, write down your goals and the actions required to reach them. Anything left unrecorded will almost certainly be forgotten.

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So boys and girls, while you won't find me jetting off to far-flung, exotic destinations anytime soon—like the shot from Antarctica below—I'm perfectly at peace with that. This next chapter of my photographic journey is about diving deeper into the facets of photography that truly inspire me, and doing so closer to home.