one image: my "eye"

Photo stats:
24-70 2.8 lens
ISO 100
shutter speed 1/1600
fstop 4.5

Ok, so I am going to reveal some of my inner geek by sharing with y'all about how I "see" a photo when I take it. These are not secrets, but more of a behind the scenes look at what goes on in my mind's eye in that split second when I am composing a photo.

Prepare for a long'ish post. I have a plethora of words to describe what happens in seconds of thought...

So, most of the time I am behind my lens I am thirsty for capturing photos that evoke movement and story. I love love love it when the viewer can continue to imagine and complete the movement and story of the moment as they stare at a photo. For me, these kinds of photos carry more emotional weight than those that are artfully posed because they carry a feeling of real life that contrived ones cannot. I gravitate towards these kinds of photos and so I search for movement and story in my own work.

I love to capture photos that have depth from front to back, rather than a simple left to right dimension. I like a beginning, middle, and end...almost like you can visually travel through it. Knowing how light works helps to achieve this because light adds dimension. I actually do not like a bland over cast day because photos seem flat and one dimensional to me. When a photo has all of that good stuff going on then then I smile.

I also search for photos that have a simplicity to them such as a single element, focal point, or color scheme. I am a simple person and visual clutter has always created anxiety in me. I seek peace in my photos. Sometimes if there is too much going on I put it all in black and white to unify it all. And then sometimes, I am okay with the clutter if it is part of the story. But most often, I am seeking order.

When I am composing, I instinctively deconstruct a scene into basic visual shapes. Actually this is not something I really put much thought into when I am behind the lens, it just is part of how I see the world, so therefore I am doing it when I am composing. As a result, I am drawn to filling my frame with large shapes and the shapes have to have balance within the frame. They do not need to be symmetrical, they just need to be balanced.

So, am I a geek or what?

Yes, I am. And when all of the above comes together, then I am full of geeky glee.

You might guess then that the technical part of photography has, and continues to be, a chore to me because it is not an instinctual process for me. (This is why I probably suck at math. People who say math is instinctual are from another planet.) I have learned to tackle and practice the technical aspects of photography because they are like driving a stick shift: you gotta know the dance between the clutch pedal, gas pedal, and gear stick if you want to make your car hum at optimal performance. When I finally learned to drive my roommate's stick shift back in college, I found that it became like second nature. It has been the same with learning the technical portion of photography: I am still learning but it is slowly becoming instinctual.

I share this not as a lesson in how to take better photographs. I share this as an insight into what excites me when I take photographs, when I create. Everyone is wired differently and it really is a waste of creative energy to try and be something that you are not.

The more you practice your art, the more your creative eye and process will reveal itself to you. And the more you embrace that process, the more improvement you will see in your own work. You will be happier too.

In case you are visual, like me, here is the geek breakdown of the photo above.
(movement, story, simplicity, depth, shapes, and balance)

Hope this encourages you to find your inner creative geek and embrace him or her. It's the only way you will truly discover that you are unique.


A unique geek. :) See, they rhyme. Must be something good.

a goodbye and a surprise

Friends...my camera is back in the hospital. I am so sad. I really hope this is the final time, or someone in Canonville needs to issue me a new camera for all of the heartbreak I have had to suffer in the fifteen months I have owned it.

I completed my Picture Inspiration assignment for the week and then packed it up and drove it to UPS and said goodbye.

I am grieving, but moving on.

So this week I had to capture a reflection, without the context of the real thing that was being reflected. I had to "pay attention to the shape, color, and light of reflection itself." (Yeah, I needed a translation too.)

Anyway, I translated it to mean: capture not the real thing, but a reflection of it as if you were walking by and happened to see the shape of it, the color of it. Like a little surprise or something...like...that...

Here is an example.  Let's say I am brushing my teeth at the bathroom sink, I look up from spitting and rinsing, and I happen to notice in the mirror, Bean's pink, cupcake-looking shower cap, with a Bean underneath it. And she is eating an apple, while soaking in the tub. Would you not be surprised to find such a thing?

Or, I happened to be on my way to plop some of the Kid's socks on the stairs, to remind him that he needs to put them in the hamper (like I do almost every hour of the day), and I just happened to catch a reflection of him in the mirror, sitting in my favorite red chair, looking at me with a look that says...of course my mom will pick up my socks because if I just sit here and reflect on how she always picks up my socks without doing it myself, even though she nags me to do it and threatens that she will throw them away if she has to be the one to do it, she will eventually tire and pick them up herself. 
(I really was not "surprised" by this reflection. Were you? I get this look all the time.)

So do those two examples make sense according to my translation of the assignment? I really hope they do because I no longer have a camera to attempt this assignment again. 

It's an odd thing to send your camera off. I love my camera tremendously, but it is nice to have a forced separation from it. It creates a good vacation. The reunion is always so sweet. You know what I mean? (Wow, this sounds like I could be talking about my kids, or husband. Hmmmm....)

I will still do a few posts while my camera is gone, share some yet-to-be-shared photos. But it will be nice to clean out my files and get some other stuff done that has been waiting patiently for my attention. 

And lastly, here is a non PI assignment photo. While I was snapping the photo above I kept looking at my little vintage cameras on the table there. I have a handful of vintage cameras that I bought from an antiques dealer in town. She gave me a box of twelve or so, for $50. Was a total deal and such a fun find. I have thought for sometime now that I need to take some pictures of them. 

So here is the first...

Aren't they so cool? I love my little camera family. Please pray for a safe return of my other child. There will be an empty hole in my heart until it does. 

my little umbrella adventure

Last week I shared this photo...

Today I will share some others that I snapped while on my creative weekend escape I took with my art group. It was a stormy weekend so I had to take advantage of the lulls in the rain when I could. I dressed my camera in a plastic bag, borrowed a rain coat, and went out with my friend to exercise my creativity.

(Photo note: I also got to exercise my creativity when it came to editing. I usually love a good clean photo, but some of them were just too fun not to play with.)

God bless my sweet friend: she had left her boots out by the back door overnight so when she went to go put them on the second day they were full of water! She wore them anyway, for me. She was a true model.

And there she is smiling at me on her way back up the stairs to the beach house. I thanked her that weekend, but I want everyone to know how thankful I am that she was willing to walk up and down the beach for me, leap through the waves a million times, sacrifice her dry feet for me. 

Look at her...I hope she knows how beautiful she is both in body and soul. I wish you all knew her so you could agree. :)

where cupcakes don't go topless

I walked into her craft studio and I am pretty sure I heard the angels singing.


And felt my heart skip a beat.

I might have seen a faint heavenly glow to the light as well, but that could have been my imagination.

The swell of envy was pretty overwhelming too.  

Once I wiped the drool off my chin I had the presence of mind to pick up my camera dangling by my side.


I think there were odd looks as I swiped it up and began shooting like I was a crime scene specialist documenting every detail. I came short of opening drawers. I didn't want to intrude.

I might have spooked my new friend. She's really the neighbor of my dearest friend, VW (pronounced vee-dub), so maybe VW will come to my defense?

And I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of the crazy cool carpet. But maybe next time, if there is one. That is, if I am ever invited back. (You're workin' on that right VW?)

I think part of my envy comes from the fact that she went shopping and spent money on all those organization containers. I mean, if I could just spend my life buying organizing containers I would be happy. I'm relatively simple to please.

But you must know how the story goes: 

It was her daughter's 6th birthday and the cake she had made was a royal flop. So she rushed out to the store and bought some cupcakes, but of course, felt they needed a little "primping". She took some pictures of her daughter, copied them and cut them out, created fun hats for them, and stuck them into the cupcakes. Viola! And her business was born. 

And now she has an uber cool craft room.

It's full of light and happy feelings and lots of craftiness, and looks like something out of a Real Simple spread.

And I am completely covetous.

You can find my new friend on Etsy. Her little shop is called: BugandBoo...where cupcakes don't go topless! (Click here to visit her sight.) Isn't that the cutest name and catch line? When you send her an image of your child she will custom create cupcake (or cake) toppers with the image. She is one organized chic, insanely creative, and completely living my life in another parallel universe. 

And by the way...what is up with me and cupcakes? Cupcakes here and cupcakes there.

I think it's the frosting. And the fact that I like anything in cute little packages. 

Oy Vey! Happy Monday.  Raise a glass to fun creative spaces and people... and cupcakes!

a gift and a wisp

We traveled to my favorite place this past summer,
to a cabin lent to us by the dearest of friends.

When we arrived I discovered a gift waiting for me on the kitchen table.

I was delighted. Elated.
It is so sweet to be thought of. Like, hand to my heart, touchingly sweet.

Imagine my path one morning, as I attach the gift to my camera, swing open the front door,
step out onto the path and the light, and aim up at the bedroom window.

My very first shot. Something out of a dream or a memory really.

 I love my new gift because of how it photographs a true memory:
blurred at the edges, faded in some spots, still and quiet.
Memories are mostly silent images catalogued in the piles
of our mind and recalled to the foreground in attempted wisps of clarity.
They are fragile and easily embellished.
They are never as perfect as we seem to think they are.

My camera info tells me that on July 26, 2010 at 8:12am I took this picture.
But my mind vaguely remembers this moment. It is just a wisp.
The image caught bears more resemblance to the truth of this.

I am looking forward to exploring with my new gift,
seeing what other memories I can snatch.
 And I will be sure to share them with you.

********

Thank you Jon for your amazing gift of gift-giving.
And to Daniela for your amazing gift of relinquishing the sole gift-giving powers to your hubby.

(And for lending us your cabin. Don't ever get rid of those shutters, or the red trim.)