Apr 3, 2015
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
“Hey Number Six,” Martin, the grillman, greeted me, “what can I make for you today?”
I was a little freaked out. How did he know my lucky number?!
“Number Six?” I asked.
“Yeah, that was the number on your shirt wasn’t it?”
“Oh… yeah,” I said, but I’d only worn it once and that was weeks ago. Martin had a sharp memory, but I often wondered if it was his memory or some other sense he used to zoom in on the things that had more meaning.
Six is my lucky number, my favorite number, and the number that often drives some of my OCD behaviors, like how I set the microwave and how many minutes fast the clock in my car reads.
Up until now I could never associate the number six with anything common. That’s part of the reason I’m drawn to it; I tend to be attracted to all things that seem different.
Snowflake after snowflake came down on my glass, and they all had just one thing in common: six points or six sides, never more, never less.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Mar 27, 2015 |
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
The filter, filled with coffee grounds, slipped from my fingers and spread across the floor. A second later I also crumbled onto the floor; I inhaled, bobbing to the beat of my sudden sobs, and exhaled spit bubbles.
If you’re going to tell me not to cry over spilled coffee then, obviously, you don’t buy Starbucks! It wasn’t the coffee I was crying about, though. That was just the twig on top of the mud pie that finally sent an avalanche of sludge crashing against my last bit of control.
Sometimes you just need a good cry to bleed the overwhelm out of you. I’m not ashamed to tell you this, but I’d prefer you never saw it.
When I wake up after a long cry, I have to pry my eyelids apart and scratch out the crud. Anyone who doesn’t know me personally would guess I was the loser of a fist fight or a victim of domestic violence… I’m not exaggerating, total strangers have assumed these scenarios, out loud, and to my face.
I often wish I could cry like those Hollywood stars, whose tears amplify their beauty, sparkling like snowflakes in the corners of their eyes.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Mar 20, 2015
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
Minimalism has always been something I’ve strived for in photography, even before I knew that concept by name. One subject, and a simple, soft background.
When it comes to writing, though, my wordiness often envelopes the page, like overgrown vines strangling the subject of my story. I have to hack away at it until my point is clear and unobstructed.
Although simplicity is the end goal in both photography and writing, the approaches to achieving it are total opposites.
Maybe this will change as film photography creeps further and further into the past, but many of my photography mentors have taught me not to rely on Photoshop. Instead, I’ve been pushed to get things right in camera.
In writing, editing is key. Writers who don’t edit their work are the ones who are frowned upon in this industry.
Writers are encouraged to spew any and all thoughts across the page, but photographers are taught to achieve near perfection before the first draft even leaves the camera! At least this is my educational experience.
This hexagon is the simplest snowflake I found, and its simplicity reminds me of all I’m trying to achieve in my work.
Do you make things? Do you find that simpler is better when it comes to your craft?
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Mar 13, 2015 |
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
My body folded into itself to stay warm as I hunched over a waist-high tripod. My back was starting to ache; I mean, my posture is horrible in the first place, but mix the frigid air with a way-too-low camera, and I may as well start answering to the name Quasimodo.
I caught the falling snow with a piece of glass, examined it under a macro lens, found nothing, wiped it clean, and repeat. The snow hardly resembled a flake of any kind. Shards and clumps of ice were all I saw.
Two hours into this I was ready to pack up the gear and head to some warmer ground… like the floor of my apartment. I could almost feel my toes again as I thought of my snuggly Gracie Lou.
I took the last images of the last snow catch and reviewed them on the screen. That’s when I saw it, down at the bottom of the frame: my first fully-formed snowflake!
The universe has a way of taking me right to that line before my breaking point. My excitement pushed me through the pain well past 2 am that night.
Persistence pays off.
Just as I was about to give up, I discovered this little ice gem.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Mar 6, 2015
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
An insistent sound crept into my ears. I reached for my phone, and squinted with one eye to find the please-shut-up button. Gracie shifted, and I knew any slight movement would trigger a dash to her breakfast bowl.
As I eased my eyes open, things seemed too bright. I sat straight up and gasped – I’d slept in.
Whatever, I thought, Gracie won’t get extra snuggles, but I can still be on time. Then we stepped outside into several inches of snow.
I’d wished for snow all weekend and here it was, too late for my photo-op, and just in time for our 33-mile commute. Bitter is a euphemism for what I felt.
On the way out, I noticed a huge, gorgeously intricate snowflake and, for a second, I considered blowing off work. My responsibility is seeming more and more like my fatal flaw lately.
The car stuttered during our entire drive – the problem we just paid $3,800 to “fix.” After a minor cursing fit, I forced myself to cheer up.
That perfect snowflake drowned all other thought. All day I balanced between regret for leaving home, and hope that it’d snow again soon.
It helps to have hope.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Feb 27, 2015 |
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
Photography. A term recognized by all, appreciated by some, and oversimplified by too many. To the average observer, it’s a 2D product AND a 2D concept: a camera captures an instant of reality.
When I think of photography, though, I see all the layers in between. In my work, I see photography as a mixed media, not just a capture of what’s already there.
Building the set is a lot like making a sculpture. It might not be very strong or permanent, but I mold it with my two hands.
Then there’s the lighting layer. Light can color a scene, set a mood, and highlight, diminish, or simply alter your subject.
Now comes the camera, and it’s not just a reality replicator, it’s a tool to further mold the image. From lens perspective to settings, there are decisions to make with sliding scales in between: Sharp or soft? Smooth or grainy? Fast or slow?
The digital layer is my favorite part of the process. With my Wacom tablet and digital pen in hand, this is when I really start to feel more like an artist and less like a manual laborer.
All these layers are now flattened onto your screen, but I just thought you’d like to know about all the others in between.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Feb 13, 2015 |
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
It’s 2:22 am. I need to wake up in less than four hours, but I can’t stop searching, scrolling, and reading. A new spark has lit a flame in me and there’s no blowing it out.
This isn’t a story that’s limited to one moment… this is a regular happening in my life. When I get an idea in my head, I need to read everything on the subject and do it. Now. Any obligation that gets in the way of my new obssession becomes extremely agitating: making dinner, doing dishes, the eight-hour interruption of a day job and, worst of all, sleep… ugh!
The firey petals in the background of these photos makes me think of my many passions; they might burn at different temperatures and dim down sometimes, but my life will always be filled with their fire. I’ll never be able to focus on only one, nor will I ever blow the others out.
Photography and writing have always burned inside of me in various forms. Sometimes, though, I go off on little – ok big – tangents. I have every supply you might need for scrapbooking, jewerly-making, beading, drawing, painting, and now nail art!
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
A girly get together to practice my new nail art skills for Valentine’s Day!
Jan 30, 2015
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
I laugh during the lyrics to the national anthem… especially when they get to the part about the “land of the free.”
I am a slave to money. I am a slave to time. Want to know what’s funny about that? Time and money are concepts. They are only as real as we make them and, here in the U.S., Time and Money are the King and Queen of everyone’s universe.
Unfortunately, the only way I see to fight them is to get more of them. The “American Dream” is to have so much money or time you can throw it down the drain.
I’m no different from everyone else from that angle, but I don’t want my drain to be a fancy car, or trendy clothes. I want my time to be mine to create, and I want my money to save lives.
That’s this American’s dream; if someone made time and money real, then making my dream happen should be cake.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jan 23, 2015
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
It’s my 1-year blogiversary! Woo hoo for a year of constant creation during my Photo and 100 Words Project!!!
Nerdy Numbers for the Year
Raw images captured: 4,672
For every 90 photos captured, I finalized 1 photo on average. Yup… that’s about how OCD I am.
Words written: 7,172
Did you notice that my word limit changed from 100 words to 100 “and something” words? My average is 138 words per post.
Hours worked: 1028
That means I spent about 20 hours working on every photo. This includes shooting, processing, keywording, writing about them, and then doing promotions. I bet you didn’t think a digital photography business was so time intensive… surprise!!
Just for reference, a full time job consumes about 1,888 hours per year if you consider vacation, holidays, and sick time. And, as many of you know, I also work full time doing product photography.
Woah! That’s 2,916 hours of photography work this year; I’m officially a photograholic.
Plans for 2015
I’ve decided to continue with the “Life’s a Blur” series for the next 6 months to a year. The subject is limiting enough to keep me focused, yet broad enough to keep me inspired.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jan 2, 2015
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
With my sink full of flower petals and floating bling, I knew the random abstract backgrounds I could create were endless. At some point during this photoshoot, though, I got tired of all the swirling. I wanted some other kind of movement, but I had to think outside the sink.
The swirling was inspired by the way water drains, so I tried to imagine water in nature. I envisioned streams and rivers, and grew further frustrated. I had already attempted, and failed, to create a flowing waterfall in my sink. Then the ocean overpowered my imagination and I was inspired to make waves.
I thrust my spatula down into the sink, my bling bobbed up and down with a slight sway, and suddenly I had a new way to create.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
