a touch of william - the photography, poetry, artwork, and philosophies of william
 

"The toughest part of being a photographer is knowing when to put your camera away and simply experience the gift of the moment God is giving you."

- william

 

 

In my inventory I have over 400,000 photographs I have taken and over 1300 poems which I have written. The items selected for this site can be but a sampling of my work. Some of my topical images can be seen elsewhere (see list), but full inventories of my photography and poetry can only be found at the a touch of william studio/gallery in Grand Ledge, Michigan. 

 
         
   

atow options:

Poetry & Pictures

Photo Scrapbooks

Quotes & Philosophies

Newsletters

My Products

My Services

The Last Page

Picture of the Week

  
         

 

william's picture of the week (WOW) is a single downloadable image I pick and place online each week (or so) in a larger file size and dimensions not typically used anywhere else in the website. 

The montage of images next to the options list was the original opening picture for my a touch of william page when I started the website in 2002. 

Long before my website days, things pretty much began with my a touch of william Poetry & Pictures books (actual physical photo books). Everything else I do grew out of a touch of william. 

 

MISSION STATEMENT

I try to impact (touch) people's lives through my poetry & photography, and one on one teaching, to help them:

Break out of the boxes the world would keep them pigeonholed in.

Discover and develop their own artistic and spiritual gifts.

Grow in their understanding of their relationship with nature.

Get further in touch with their own spiritual reality.

PHOTOGRAPHIC STATEMENT

While I recognize the artistic aspects of photo manipulation, like electronic reconstruction or composition, negative sandwiching, spray bottles to enhance dew, etc., I have chosen not to employ these various techniques in my photography. What is presented is what was there at the time the picture was taken. It has been neither digitally altered nor created.

wsharing.com STATEMENT

The obvious addition of some photo numbers and title page lettering have been made electronically. Also, images may be cropped or feathered in the process of artistically designing a page or grouping. However, the images themselves are not altered from the original. Therefore, the above statement still holds for all photos you see throughout the site, unless it is noted otherwise on that page. See note about backgrounds at bottom. 

 

On July 23, 2015 the below picture appeared as my picture of the week with this text . . .
 

 

Summer fun! For years, I would wait until there were no people in my shot to get a particular photo I was desiring. Perhaps for a decade or so, I began taking pictures while people were still in the field of the framed image. It might simply be to provide a size perspective for the picture. More recently, I have started taking photos of people, making them the subject. It has its own pitfalls, as I have found people in our culture to be quite paranoid about why someone is taking their picture. I often wonder if it is worth it. When I get one like the above shot, however, the answer to the question becomes definitely . . . well . . . maybe. 

 

I describe myself as a photographer who writes, not as a writer. Yet, photography is not what it is all about. It is primarily about my faith in Jesus, the Christ, and relationship with God which rests at the center of all I do. That is why everything seems to be intertwined. Even utilizing the different names as I have does not constitute a separateness, but simply identifies different dynamics or aspects of what I see as "one." At the beginning of 2015, all* of my work was merged into the non-profit (Teaching & Sharing Centers), as a sort of full circle return to that "oneness." 

*I personally, including this website, remained an Independent Affiliate, but utilize resources and still function primarily through the william's works branch.

 

Wherever you use or display my photography (or poetry) it should be accompanied by one of the following acknowledgements:

courtesy of www.wsharing.com © a touch of william
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photo (or poetry) by william courtesy of www.wsharing.com
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or if space is limited, simply:  courtesy of www.wsharing.com

Additionally, if you use my photography in a website, including social media, a link to the wsharing site should appear someplace within that site. If you let me know where you have placed the site link, a reciprocal link will be added to this site in my links section. 

 

Photography is not about cameras, gadgets, and gizmos. Photography is about photographers.
A camera did not make a great picture any more than a typewriter makes a great novel.

– Peter Adams

 

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Background photo note: The background on this page is a photograph I took which was out of focus to start with. But, rather than discard it, I reduced the size and flipped it horizontally, then vertically, then horizontally again, using an old Corel Photo House program, then pieced the four "mirror" components together using Corel Photo Paint (so they would create a seamless image when repeated). Afterwards, I added additional blurring with an MGI "glass effect." I like to experiment with creating unique or unusual backgrounds. I might begin with one of my images or use a commercially produced general background, which I decide I do not want to display exactly as it looked with the particular program it was included in. Unlike my "no manipulation" policy concerning my other pictures throughout the site, I give myself a pretty wide latitude with manipulating backgrounds. Most of the time I still use very basic stuff for my backgrounds, and obviously have a few favorites. But, they can be great fun to work on and experiment with, especially if I am not in too much of a hurry to complete a page. 

 

reviewed and revised 5/30/23