Lens & a Pen

The Pioneer Valley is a place of stunning if understated natural beauty.  From the Connecticut border to the Vermont line, it is a verdant corridor defined by the undulations of the Connecticut River, rugged if diminutive hills and mountains and acres and acres of farmland, dotted with trails, parks, woodlands, along with 38 Wildlife Management Areas and many other scenic byways and attractions.  It is also an area of truly unique geological underpinnings from out of time that account for the fertile soils, the picturesque towns and villages terraced along the river, the elevated plateau of the Hill Towns with their deep valleys cut by the streams and brooks that feed the rivers, the Deerfield, Westfield and several others, that in turn feed the Connecticut.  This deep geological past is also responsible, in part, for the overall verdant feel of the region whose fall foliage is famous worldwide. 

As a landscape photographer who works nearly exclusively within the region, I have come to more than merely appreciate the modest grandeur of the area.  I have come to revere what the area has given to me as a photographer and a writer.  To call it a muse is not wrong, but incomplete.  It is my home, my patch and my playground.  It is where I again found my way back to expressive writing from my pursuit of landscape photography—through my lens, I again found my pen.  Check back—or subscribe—for my regular blog posts, longer essays and gallery uploads highlighting my exploration of the region—and beyond—through my lens and my pen. More on that in my blog introducing myself and L&P!

Doug Butler: writer/photographer/resident

I grew up in eastern Massachusetts and much like everyone inside of Route 128, I thought that beyond Worcester, you were pretty much in the Berkshires before anything interesting happened. The Pioneer Valley was passthrough along Route 2 to visit my grandparents in upstate New York. And even though I love basketball, I would’ve rather gone to the Garden than the Hall of Fame anytime. Other than one roadtrip to see Jim Carroll at the Iron Horse in the early 90s, I rarely stepped foot in the Valley. Now after 20 plus years in the area, I have never felt more at home in all my time. I have raised and grown my family here. I went from direct care in human services to a career in law, now in legal aid. I’ve arrived at middle age here and with family and friends that I could have never imagined before I arrived here to be with my now wife of over 20 years. And through it all, I have also found my way back to my first expressive passion, writing, through my love of photography—a passion born and nurtured in the hills and valleys of Western Mass. L&P is my outlet for these pursuits with the hope of adding something to the wonder that is the Pioneer Valley.