About

My name is Bryan D. Nord and I am a self-taught landscape and nature photographer residing in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  My photographic pursuits are based on a life long appreciation for the great outdoors with the ultimate photo destinations being National Parks in the United States.  My hope is that sharing these images will raise the awareness for preserving, protecting and respecting the natural world around us. While anytime of the day can offer opportunities to photograph, the majority of my images are captured in the early morning, just as the sun is breaking over the horizon.  Most of the time this is done in and around the parks of Bucks County such as Core Creek, Tyler State Park and Peace Valley Park.   I also enjoy photographing family but in a more candid style, when they are truly themselves and their personality shows.

The story behind “Watching the Light”

Very early in my photographic story I purchased a book by Art Wolfe entitled “The Art of Photographing Nature“.  I couldn’t even tell you how many times I have gone through the pages but it is definitely a book that helped me turn the corner in photography.  I specifically remember chapter six, “Reading the Light” and how it changed everything for me.  I began shooting early in the morning and later in the day to get shots during the “golden hours”.  It still took me many years to get the hang of not overexposing the images and loosing the magic of lower light.  It was much harder then when I was still shooting film and couldn’t get immediate results on an LCD display.  I actually had to learn how to meter and bracket my exposures.

So fast forward several years to when I was on a photography shoot with a couple close friends and fellow members of the Churchville Photography Club.  It was a very overcast autumn day and there we signs the weather might break as we were sitting down to a late lunch in a restaurant at Pecks Pond in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.  I kept looking out the window with a view of the beautiful pond.  There was a lot of friendly chatter going on but I was obviously distracted by something.  One of my friends, poked me when he noticed I wasn’t fully engrossed in the conversation and asked, “What are you doing?”  I simply turned and replied, “I am just watching the light.”  Boom, there it was, my mantra and soon to be purchased domain name.

It’s funny how moments like this happen.  We continually improve our craft and refine or technique, but there are moments when we feel it reach a new level and make an important leap forward.  That time in Pecks Pond was one of those moments. Ever since then that simple idea has stuck with me…  “Keep watching the light.”