Jun 13, 2014
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Creeping up behind my neighbor’s Fiat, I was balancing between stalker and antisocial weirdo. The car wasn’t there at 6:00 am, when I was examining the bushes for close up photo ops as Gracie sniffed out the perfect poop spot.
When I returned it was noon and, on the other side of the car, my neighbors were having a tag sale – which explained (without alleviating my frustration) why the damn thing was parked right in front of the pretty flowers.
Weekend traffic and the tag sale led to a high frequency of slow, gawking drivers. One guy stopped next to me and called out the window, “Why are you crying?” I think he was a little embarrassed when I turned around with a big, fake smile and a camera in my hand.
I wonder how many other passers-by assumed I was a weirdo crying in the bushes.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
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!
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!
Feb 28, 2014
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Not more than 100 feet off the shore of Lake Atitlan, I crouched over the swaying flowers in the late afternoon sun.
The wind was bittersweet. Even at 5,125 feet the sun is hot in Guatemala and my skin welcomed the air, but keeping the teeny tiny flowers in the frame of my camera and in focus presented its own challenge.
It’s not often I find myself outside photographing flowers. I hate the harsh natural light most hours of the day. The garden at my hotel was breathtaking though, so I took the opportunity to make it my playground for the day.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
