Jun 6, 2014
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This is the last photo I’m going to share from my 6-week trip to Guatemala. It’s sad – like I’m leaving all over again.
A flower bud bursting into life in a sea of rotting petals. That’s what this trip was to me, a breath of fresh air (if you don’t count the chicken bus exhaust I probably inhaled haha) in a life of boring monotony.
Coming home to obligations after having so much freedom was painful the way I hear withdrawal is. No more waking up to infinite possibilities. Back to spending the best hours of the day running out all of my energy until I’m a sleepy pile of mush.
Sorry to get all dark and dreary on you, but it’s how I felt. I’m ok now, but I’m still not accepting my life for what it is. Now I’m working even harder to get back to that place… permanently. I crave freedom and there’s no 12-steppin’ program that’ll get rid of my addiction.
P.S. You may think I’m being over dramatic… but I call that having passion. What are you passionate about? Leave a comment and let me know below.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
May 30, 2014
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Enveloped in a sleeping bag I could easily imagine I was floating on a cloud. Then I would move, or breathe, or sigh, and the springs would shriek in my ear – dragging me back to reality. I was just in the backyard, on the trampoline, contemplating the unknown in the dark, inky sky.
Stars have always intrigued me, since the first wishes the nursery rhymes coaxed out of me, through the nights of UFO seeking, to the day I discovered that the light from most stars has traveled billions of years to reach our eyes. The night sky is, in fact, a window to billions of years in the past and that realization still amazes me.
So, naturally, when I find a star in a flower just opening up to the world it’s something I just have to grab and keep forever.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
May 23, 2014
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I imagine walking into this photo would be like entering the set of Alice and Wonderland as tiny Alice. The underside of these teeny, tiny flowers seem so foreign – it’s not a view you come across without looking for it.
Typically, we tower over flowers and look down on them like some kind of superior being, but it’s so much more exciting to become a bug for a minute. Isn’t it?
Sometimes I feel small when I discover something so beautiful. If the flower doesn’t do it for you just look at the stars one night and you’ll totally get how I feel.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
May 16, 2014
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Shallow is
a smile at a stranger.
Shallow is
my “good, fine, and you?”
Shallow is
just inches of water – you can see right through.
The less I say, the more it’ll mean.
The more you see, the less you’ll dream.
No darting eyes allowed in this scene.
Shallow is
a face painted flawless.
Shallow is
a high-heeled shoe.
Shallow is
this photograph – you’ll see what I want you to.
P.S. What does this have to do with my photo? I have many photos of this particular bud, but this is the only one with such shallow depth of field (how much of the photo is in focus). Having too much depth of field can make a photo busy and take away from the subject. Of course, it’s all subjective – but I find myself shooting shallow most days.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
May 9, 2014 |
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I felt like Snow White. Every. single. day. was so open to possibilities during my escape to Antigua.
Well… it was like being Snow White if the forest was replaced with a beautiful city with cobblestone streets and volcanoes in the distance. I walked to the market, got lost in its endless pathways, and emerged with a bundle of fresh flowers and fruits.
It wasn’t until I wandered home that I realized this little stowaway had come with me. He lived on, and ate, all my flowers but it was nice to have him around.
P.S. I sat down to write this post and went crazy. I was WAY over the 100 mark, and I realized this, but I just couldn’t stop writing. When I finally checked the word count I was at 500 and I hadn’t even mentioned the photo yet! So the result got its own blog post and you can read it here if you want to. Here’s a teaser:
“I can’t mow the lawn,” screamed 16-year-old me, “do you know how many bugs I will kill?!”
I was serious, I mean, it wasn’t just an attempt to avoid a new chore, I really never killed bugs. That is… until this week… Read the rest of my story
May 9, 2014
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“I can’t mow the lawn,” screamed 16-year-old me, “do you know how many bugs I will kill?!”
I was serious, I mean, it wasn’t just an attempt to avoid a new chore, I really never killed bugs. That is… until this week.
So what happens when I see a bug? Well I guess that depends on the situation. I’ve been known to jump into flash seizures, eeking out loud as I shake and spin myself into a nearby wall. Usually though, those frantic episodes are caused by a piece of my own hair grazing my skin and followed by a laughing fit at my irrational fear.
When I really discover a bug in my house I tend to just ignore it and let it do its thing. If it’s a spider bigger than my thumbnail though, it’s time to call in boyfriend backup for trap and release tactics.
Then there are my outdoor bug finds. An interesting bug, even a ::gulp:: spider, always gets my attention and if my camera is nearby you can expect to see me shimmying through the grass on my stomach for at least the next few hours.
Maybe I just watched Honey I Shrunk the Kids a few too many times, or maybe I had a valid moral obligation to let the little critters live, nevertheless, my save-the-yard-buggies protest was a failure and I had to mow the lawn that day. So yeah, I must have killed a few bugs, but I didn’t do it by choice and I didn’t actually see it happen, so it doesn’t count… right?
Earlier this week these little black bugs decided to take over my kitchen and shed their wings all over the floor. The boyfriend and I took turns sweeping the little bastards up and throwing them outside. It wasn’t long before things started to get out of hand and we turned to a harsher method of removal.
Now, as I stare at the tiny, black carcasses, I imagine what it was like for them. What would it be like to wade across a stream unaware of any danger. Halfway through I might pass a pale, bloated hand bobbing in the current. A foot here, an elbow there, a knee, and then there are bodies everywhere. Suddenly it’s harder to breathe and my insides are burning as the poison spreads.
I feel guilty – but it’s a guilty… pleasure. I really hate to admit it but it’s sickly satisfying to suck up their lifeless bodies into my vacuum, lay down another river of Raid, and wait.
Suddenly the girl who once claimed that mowing the lawn is immoral has become some sort of Hitler, capable of exterminating anyone that bothers her. As a sufferer of the human condition, I fully confess to being insane and hypocritical. Tell me you’re not.
May 2, 2014
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Two weeks ago I showed you a before and after of my calla lily photo. Today I want to show you the simple lighting change I made that took my photo from blah to wow.
First, though, I want to let you in on a little secret: Contrary to what my website might lead you to believe, most of my photography hours are not spent on pets or flowers or abstract art. Most weekdays I’m holed up in a dark room taking pictures of boring things you use everyday like cell phones, and tablets, and coffee makers.
Why have I never told you this? Well the shortest answer is because it’s boooorrrrrriiiing. I spend all day making sure that everyday products look like everyday products.
Don’t get me wrong, I owe so much of my knowledge to my boring job, but even the freshest piece of bread eventually goes stale…
It’s so hard to stray from my methodic approach to showing things the way they are supposed to be shown (clean, neat, and on white). This is most likely the reason that everything I light starts off the same… one light on the left and another on the right.
Then, it’s time to play! Who wants to see what everyone else sees anyway?
I popped a light right into the back of the leaf and the crazy glow tickled my retinas. This is my setup below and a glimpse of my modest home away from home in Guatemala.
Apr 25, 2014
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Photographing a flower is a process for me, it’s not an event. Think of this lily as a jungle and my camera and I are explorers… of course there’s nothing dangerous about the jungle on my set but there are endless things to discover.
A movement of my light can cause drama, a shift of angle can reveal a new detail, and then there are all those amazing things I can do with the camera to change the look and feel of my flower.
Sometimes I discover that my flower doesn’t have to be a flower at all… it can be a peacock if I want it to be! Do you see it?
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Apr 18, 2014 |
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Ever ride a yo-yo? I feel like I do-every time I set out to create.
Feeling inspired is pure euphoria and I often spend weeks, days, and even months, daydreaming about my next photo.
By the time I break out my camera though, I’m falling down again. I take a photo, it sucks, I change some things, and repeat. Sometimes I’m on to something right away, but other times I just can’t get there and I start to feel like a tails up penny on the floor… there’s no picking me up.
My first attempt at this photo (after 3 hours and 100 shots) was a total failure. I took a break. I slept on it. Then I tackled it again. What’s my point? If I had given up I wouldn’t have gotten this. Now I look at it and the euphoria returns.
P.S. Thanks to Melissa Dinwiddie for making me realize I’m not alone in this vicious cycle of artistry! Check out her blog post on the creative process. This is also what inspired me to do what I’m about to do next… oh no…
P.P.S. I’m going to share… gulp… an ugly outtake. Quick scroll down and look at it before I change my mind!
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
This is my lump of clay before I molded it with light.
See another photo from this series & a sneak peak of my setup!
Apr 11, 2014 |
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Twenty-four hours before my flight back to NY I felt desperate. Desperate to stay, desperate to go, and desperate to capture every detail of my Guatemalan existence.
This was the hand-carved dresser that was in my room. Every day the sun would crawl across the wall, slide down the wood, and by afternoon had reached the orangey tile on the floor
On the floor that bright, slanted box served two purposes: it made a wonderfully warm spot for my chilly feet and it threw a beautiful fiery glow right back at the blue daylight above.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
