May 22, 2015 |
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I remember the exact moment when I discovered the creative flower photographer in me.
I had just gotten back from my annual ohmygoditsspringletsgoforawalk tradition with overflowing handfuls of periwinkles. This was also the first time I brought the flowers to the camera, probably to spare Nick from the inevitable lag time of dating a photographer.
I had had my “strobist” lighting kit (recommended by David Hobby) for awhile by then, but I had never experimented with the color effects gels in the kit. Since I was working with white tulle for my background, I decided to try it. I chose a hot pink gel to tint my flash and, when the image popped up, I oooohhhed and aaaahhhed like the audience of a magic show. I couldn’t believe that the photo I was looking at was mine!
I’ve never been a huge fan of green, but it’s only since that day I began to avoid the ubiquitous green background, ever-present in traditional nature photography, altogether. It’s the flowers that intrigue me, not the grass they grow in!
Could you imagine how these cute green flowers would drown in a sea of grass? A purple sky is much more fitting!
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
May 15, 2015 |
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It was only a few years ago that my camera spent more time in the corner of my closet than in my hands… but spring always inspired me to dig it out again.
I’d go out for a walk, always intrigued by the first daffodil of the season. The burst of yellow like a beam of hope, cutting through the chilly air, and warming up my mood in an instant.
The resulting photos are just snapshots, though – beautiful to the sentimental me, but ugly to the critic I’ve turned into. So many snapshots with busy green backgrounds and unflattering midday sunlight.
My photos never stood out back then… back then I took photos, but now I make them. I used to go searching for pre-made scenes, but now I only search for the ingredients to cook up my own.
Spring still inspires me, but I no longer let my level of inspiration determine whether or not I will work. After 68 weeks of photos, and a bit of retrospect, I can see that my inspired work is never as good, nor as satisfying, as the work I have to push myself through. Inspiration is for lazy artists.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
May 8, 2015
Two siberian squill flowers on a single stalk against an abstract background of surreal pastel rain.
I’ve wandered, awe-struck, through five springs since I began taking flower art seriously, and every year I’m amazed to find flowers I’ve never seen before.
Initially, I’m hip-hopping all the way to my camera with a handful of freshly plucked specimens. I can’t wait to see them up close, make a beautiful photo, and share it with you.
Before posting it, I eagerly flip through my wildflower field guide. Twenty minutes later, groaning, I head to Google. You’d think it’d be a simple search, but it’s more like solving a crime.
First, I have to find an image of the flower I’m trying to identify without having a clue of it’s name. I search combinations of characteristics until I finally find my flower with an accurate name listed. I always do one more Google search with the name to verify it. You’d be surprised how many people just tag photos with whatever flower name they think sounds good, and sometimes I have to start all over again!
Two hours of research makes me proud to present the Wood Squill, AKA Siberian Squill and Scilla Siberica. Mission accomplished!
P.S. Anyone looking for a very part-time job as a wildflower identifier?
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
May 1, 2015 |
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Dreams are like fireworks; the light, the bang… so grand. Then, in seconds, the beauty fizzles out. Nothing but a drifting smoke cloud remains, and soon it’s only a memory.
When I finally see the firework I’m imagining, how quickly will it turn into a puff of smoke drifting into the past? How long will it take for my grand dream about life to turn into everyday monotony? Will it?
When I first dreamt of becoming a photographer, I thought that making a living with a camera was my key to happiness. By the time that dream became a reality, I already had my head in another cloud. My camera isn’t going anywhere – but I’ve become picky about what I want to point it at. So when I blast out of the product photography world as a full-time artist, and the excitement fizzles out… what else will I be chasing?
When my feet are stuck in reality’s mud I gotta keep my head in the clouds. I will dream on, even if I know the euphoria of dreams come true may be as brief as a flash of light in the night sky.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Apr 24, 2015 |
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The rain is so loud it’s like the cable went out with the volume cranked to the max. Nick’s snoozing next to me; the rain is his lullaby. I sigh, wondering if he’ll be sleeping for the next six months.
Gracie is laying on my legs, whining for breakfast, and I contemplate wearing a bathing suit for our walk; I’m sure an umbrella will be about as useful as the t in tsunami.
We’re finally in the land of eternal spring, after five years of planning and saving. We’re in Guatemala, and the first downpour of the rainy season has arrived.
Suddenly an idea strikes me and I kiss Nick awake. “Hi baby,” he whispers, one eye slit open, “what’s up?”
“Let’s dance in the rain!”
“Really?” The slit eye opens a bit more and I’m waiting for him to roll it… Nick is anything but a dancer.
But this is my daydream, so he lets me drag him out of bed as Gracie zoomies around us. I fling the door open and the three of us fly outside to get soaked.
How surreal will it be when we’re actually there? I’d say about as surreal as multi-colored rain.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Apr 17, 2015
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If there’s one problem I find myself running into during this project, it’s presenting seasonal work in a timely manner. We’re now several weeks into Spring and I’m still sending you snowflakes! I’m pretty sure even when I first started sending them, most of you were totally over that magical, winter wonderland euphoria, and ready for the white shit to go away… sorry.
Usually I’m the same way. From the second the temperature starts to drop, so do I. As the daylight hours dwindle more and more, so does my energy, hope, and happiness. I live for spring and summer, long days, and warm sun.
That’s why I saved this photo for last. Even though this is a snowflake and the background came from a snowy scene, it has such a summery feeling. The snowflake reminds me of a sand dollar and the background just screams beach!
Well you know what they say: life’s a beach and then you die… so go out and enjoy the sand! Isn’t that what they say? =P
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Apr 10, 2015
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When I discovered Kenneth G. Libbrecht’s exquisite snowflake photography, I felt I could settle for nothing less in my own.
Then, I read this: “Near-perfect, symmetrical snow crystals are fun to look at, but they are not common.” He wrote. Part of me sighed in discouragement and the other part inhaled a breath of confidence. I would just keep looking until I found perfection.
I almost swept this snowflake off my set and moved on when I saw the crusty edges. Something stopped me, though, something told me to make the image anyway. I could always Photoshop it to beautiful perfection later, I thought.
No two snowflakes are alike, I considered later on in front of my computer, that’s part of their beauty. This tiny ice sculpture formed and it’s the only one of its kind. No one will ever see it again, and I was about to hack it up in Photoshop and mold it into my culturally programmed idea of beauty.
How could I change anything once I realized this? So, in the end, I altered very little but the color.
There’s nothing unique about perfection. Whether it’s beautiful or not… that’s for your eyes to decide.
Apr 3, 2015
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“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 |
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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
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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!
