Dear Ones, Happy Spring! I was blessed to take a short trip to Dallas, Texas hoping to witness the total solar eclipse on 8 April 2024. The journey was planned not long after viewing the 2017 eclipse from Oregon’s Smith Rock State Park which rocked my world as one of the highest experiences of my life. An hour before the eclipse sequence begins, I am watching the sky from the deserted hotel patio. It has been overcast for hours after being mostly clear at dawn. It’s getting brighter yet there are still no shadows cast on the ground. Ten minutes before first partial eclipse phase begins, the ..read more

Over the Falls We are excited to announce that James was accepted to attend the Meeting Place 2024 Portfolio Review at FotoFest in Houston, Texas this month as a participating photographer. This is the largest, longest running, and most international program of its kind in the United States. At FotoFest, James will have 20 one-on-one sessions with nationally and internationally acclaimed reviewers in the field of photography. This includes art museum curators, gallery owners, magazine editors, publishers, scholars, and private collectors. These world class curators will be reviewing a serie ..read more

  Dear Ones, Greetings and Salutations!   Lately, I’ve been reviewing the archives for engaging images made before I got so seriously into photography. This photo is from a long 17-mile day hike to the Granite Tors in the Alaskan Interior northeast of Fairbanks. Up on this remote ridge, fantastically-shaped granite outcroppings are set, kind of like a spread-out natural Stonehenge. It was thrilling to witness it all firsthand! The time frame is August 2010 and I was carrying the smallest camera I’ve ever owned, a pocket-sized point-and-shoot Panasonic. The vantage point is fro ..read more

Dear Ones, warm August greetings to you.    As the recent new moon of 28 July approached I began imagining an astrophotography composition that would include a tree under the Milky Way. I thought of Heather Meadows, an oft-visited locale out the Mount Baker Scenic Byway, just below famed Artist Point.    I arrived at the alpine wonderland of Heather Meadows around 4 pm the day after the new moon, cooked up some dinner in the camper van, and then scouted a location for a night shot to determine exactly where the tripod would be set. Then I happily read the last chapters of t ..read more

Stephan Davies is a channel of angels and divine beings. He runs the website The Divine Connection. Below, he shares a channeling from the angel of peace and harmony. Hello, I am Archangel Muriel. How are you are doing? Let’s begin by talking about the wisdom of naturalism. This message will be about the difference between humans and the natural world. Is there a difference? Let’s begin. What I want to say to you is this: Nature is the divine. It may look like birds attack each other and squirrels run from people and snails crawl away. It may look like lions eat zebras or lions eat gir ..read more

We are excited to announce that James K. Papp’s “Cascades Calling: A Story of Communion” has been published in the Summer 2022 edition of fabulous Adventures Northwest magazine. Included with the story is his early morning photograph of one of his favorite places on Earth, remote Glacier Peak Meadows in the North Cascades Mountain Range of Washington State. This vast meadow system is a super hiker base for days of highland roaming and a place James has returned to many times over the years. Dramatic 10,541 foot Glacier Peak (or Dakobed), located midway between Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier, is t ..read more

Dear Ones, This image, which has grown near and dear to me, is named “Every Shade of Green.” Announced this month, “Every Shade of Green” is one of 26 finalists in the Outdoor Photographer magazine Great Outdoors 2021 photo contest. You can view the official finalist slideshow using this link. Whatcom Creek shimmers below twin red cedar trees within a verdant ravine, quietly hidden from city streets within Whatcom Park, a jewel in the town of Bellingham, Washington where I live. On this Spring day I was exploring along the creek as varying light played in the luminous sky and rushes of wind ..read more

Gothic Basin in the Cascades Mountain Range   A Poem by James K. Papp Where Do I Want to Be Right Now?    Mountain meadows Heather, lichens and firs Yellow cedars and a stream. Ridges desolate Waiting to be walked upon. Mountain views Rarified air of elevation Asking attention. Hillsides shouldering The silent wind. The last light of dusk Making the evergreens So deep in their darkness. This is the place. The post Where Do I Want to Be Right Now? appeared first on Inquire Within ..read more

In these intense and transformational times, we need more than ever to experience calmness and inner peace by reducing worry and anxiety and focusing on being present. Altars are important as a cornerstone of spiritual practice – of a practice that connects us more deeply with ourselves and with our source in Spirit. Altars can ground and center you and inspire you. James K. Papp, award-winning photographer and author of Inquire Within – A Guide to Living in Spirit, gave this talk in December 2021 at Mystical Wares in Mount Vernon, Washington. As James says… “My altar reminds me how to beha ..read more

In these intense and transformational times, we need more than ever to experience calmness and inner peace by reducing worry and anxiety and focusing on being present. Altars are important as a cornerstone of spiritual practice – of a practice that connects us more deeply with ourselves and with our source in Spirit. Altars can ground and center you and inspire you. James K. Papp, award-winning photographer and author of Inquire Within – A Guide to Living in Spirit, gave this talk in December 2021 at Mystical Wares in Mount Vernon, Washington. As James says… “My altar reminds me how to behave ..read more