iheartfaces: in the distance

I had to repost this for the iheartfaces entry this week: in the distance. It is one of my favorite shots from the last month and it reminds me of what it is like when the sun is actually shining. (Written sarcastically as I sit at my computer staring out at the gloomy skies on this, our first official summer Monday morning.)

Whatever. I'm ok. The sun can hide all it wants, I've got my sunny beach pictures.

Head over to iheartfaces to see what other "in the distance" photos are on display. Maybe there is more sun over there too?

click here

it's an "i'm gonna need an umbrella" friday

I was not kidding yesterday when I told you that all of my photos from this week were taken on the same day. On this particular moment Bean had come outside (while I was taking this photo) with two of her umbrellas and began to sing and dance.

Maybe you were like me as a child? I was one of those little girls that sang and danced in front of the mirror with my block for a microphone and tennis racket for a guitar. I made up dance steps to my favorite songs, and pretended I was in the Disneyland Main Street parade. This was all pre-MTV and music videos, Lady Gaga and Beyonce, etc. Actually, it was much more innocent and wholesome and dancing in the rain'ish. (As it should be!)

So it was with a tender heart and smile that I watched my Bean skip and twirl around the back patio with her dancing umbrellas, making up her own songs. (If you missed a previous umbrella post with Bean's umbrella dance slide show then click here for the full experience.)

I must say, this Friday umbrella post is so appropriate for today, this last day of school and first hours of summer winter vacation. It is threatening rain and all of our weekend plans have been rearranged and pushed back until Summer actually decides to show up. I whined about this in yesterday's post so I will stop now before I pick it back up again.

One last sorta random thing I just had to share with you...

I was sitting with a hundred 3rd graders yesterday signing their yearbooks, each of them so cute and excited to get my autograph, when I saw Bean waiting in line to have me sign hers.

I looked at her and said...
Bean, you want me to sign your yearbook too? I'm your mama. :)

She replied...
Yes, I want you to sign my yearbook too because that way I don't have to worry about forgetting who you are.

And I thought...
Hmm. Aren't I the lady that kisses your sweet face every morning and before bed and all of the million moments in between?


And then I saw her eagerness for me to pen my autograph and my heart melted and I signed it...

Dear Bean, I love you soooooo much! Love Mama xoxoxoxoxo

Yep. She's my Bean who loves to dance with her umbrellas and make up songs and put on shows. Love that girl.

Have a happy weekend! I will be attempting to sing in the rain.
T

linked: in the backyard

There is a girl in the backyard...

...who is waiting for Summer to arrive. 

She waits with her new summer shorts on...

...ready to feel the warmth of Summer's rays on her winter skin. 

She longs for the days of no shoes...

...to know the freedom of her bare feet, in the backyard.

There is also a girl in the backyard who is t-i-r-e-d from the school year...

...ready for sleep-in days and no homework, no daily schedule to wear out her little self. 

Yes, there is a girl in the backyard who is patiently waiting for Summer to arrive.

Oh how I hate to break it to her, but her first full weekend of summer vacation looms before her with dark clouds, rain showers and cold temperatures. She thinks she lives in sunny California but I may have to tell her otherwise because this is the most depressing start to summer vacation we have had in a long time. (Yes, I am full-on whining.) Geez, we were all just looking forward to wearing our shorts, and bare feet, feeling the kiss of the summer sun on our skin. I guess we will just have to look back upon these pictures from this past week to get our fill of sun because these are the ones I took on one of our only sunny moments we experienced in the past few days. The weather has indeed been maddening this past week. (Rainy day recess on the last week of school?? Why yes.)

My blog link up partners, Stacey and Michelle, suggested a theme of "in the backyard" for our link up post this week. I am so glad I took advantage of the sun we had and captured Bean out roaming. The pictures from my posts this past week are all from this same day. (I would like to point out that I was not lazy this week with my picture taking, I was simply needing to be efficient with my time as I finish this last long week of full time work. And I was doing a dance with the weather.)

So go check out Michelle and Stacey's take on the theme and leave them some comment love.
For Michelle's June 2 post, click here.
For Stacey's June 2 post, click here.

And if you are in a sunny part of the world this weekend, think of me wearing my winter clothes, curled up on the couch in front of a fire. I know that sounds pretty nice right now, but it's JUNE...in California...and we Cali people can be such wimps when it comes to "extreme" weather. :)

i heart nature

Nature. See how she wears her heart on her sleeve?

Just for me.

Though I could not keep her to myself. Had to share with you.

Be blessed.

looking up

They spend the first part of their life constantly gazing up at the adult world above them. Dwelling in a land of giants is all they know until they outgrow us. Their bodies double in size by the time they are two. From then on they are on the long stretch of growth to double their body size again, which reaches the finish line at adulthood.

Until then, they are continually looking up to us in more ways than we care to admit. Physically, they are looking up to us as they toddle and reach for the hand we extend to them. Emotionally they are looking up to us as well. Yet we are often talking down to them, condescending in our words, because we have this need to remind them that we know better. Oh how easy is to look down from our proud height, take advantage of their small size and abuse their vantage point. 

I think the greatest thing we can do for our children (or any child) is to work hard at being worthy of their gaze upward.  Which means that we offer a hand of respect and a reassurance of their own worthiness in return. In other words, our "looking down" upon them should only be in the form of a tender smile, a loving pat on the head, a heart-felt praise.

Because it's true, sometimes we do know better. For a while. And we should act and behave as the more mature one should: with the wisdom, respect and love of someone who has earned her right to be looked up to. 

One thing I know about children is that they give of their love freely, unconditionally. They are riding on our feet, clutching our legs, chatting at us, wishing to be a part of us, wishing to be just like us. Their love knows no judgement, until they learn the ways of looking down from us. 

So in that respect, I think sometimes we have much to learn from them when we gaze down and see their open smiles, their affection, their devotion. 

They do not even know how much they can teach us. We realize this when we learn to stoop down from our high vantage point, look at their example, look up to them. 

*******

My Picture Inspiration assignment this week was to capture a photo from above, from a birds-eye view. If you know me, you know I love me a good birds-eye view. This one was easy as Bean straddled my shoes and hugged my legs and offered up her sweet sweet smiles. 

one image: irritation

lens: 24-70 2.8
shutter speed: 1/320
fstop: 5.6
ISO: 800

A couple of days ago I wrote about my photographic composing "eye" and admitted to being a bit geeky about it all. In case you did not catch it, I am a visual person. You should watch a movie with me. :) My eyes are always capturing the tiniest details, noticing the things in the background, picking up on facial expressions, distracted by the light and cinematography. I never remember the character's names in a movie. Never. Because it's an auditory thing and I simply do not find it meaningful enough to remember.

So on this random umbrella friday day I am going to take my geekness up a notch, just a bit. Not a lot, I am hoping.

This part of my geeky composing eye comes into play after I have taken the picture, when I am sitting at the computer staring at a photo that I cannot seem to decide if I like or not.

I have this OCD'ish thing sometimes with a photo, like the one above, where the photo will totally work for me except for one small irritating piece over which my eye cannot seem to stop obsessing.

For example, in the photo above: that stupid, white, upside-down, hand-written, sticker on the umbrella, the sticker that is not even completely stuck to the handle. (Which totally drives me crazy too.)

I want to rip it off and throw it in to the street.

You may have not even noticed the sticker, but my eye goes straight to it every time I look at this photo. Then it goes directly to those creepy monkey claw back scratchers, and then that's it, that's all I can handle. (Why do they make those back scratchers look like monkey claws?! Those are monkey claws right? Why did I take this photo?)

I do not care if the sticker adds an interesting detail to the photo.

Rip. It. Off.

Raise your hand if you agree with me.

Or maybe you should just raise your hand with me in agreement that your week has been one long week and you just need your space and that is why you are overly irritated at the stupid, white, upside-down, hand-written, sticker on the umbrella handle.

Then you can also raise your hand in agreement that even though this photo should be tossed, that one wooden back scratcher with the red claw looks really nice right now, and that you would not mind being the test subject for one of those at this very moment.

If you are raising your hand with me then many blessings for rest over your weekend and mine. We need it!

Now, if you need a soothing photo after looking at this one, click here to see one of my photog friend's umbrella photos. She told me last week that she had some to post but didn't get them up in time.
Heather, your delay was actually perfect timing. Your photo was needed on this very Friday to rescue me from mine. :)

Happy Friday!

one image: perspective

lens: 50mm 1.2

shutter speed: 1/125

fstop: 3.5

ISO: 200

Most of us are casual photographers, aiming at the life in front of us from the vantage point of where we are standing. We shoot at eye level, capturing the events and milestones unfolding around us from this level because it is quick and easy and most comfortably how we witness them...literally...at eye level. Any trip to a touristy spot will reveal a million people standing around, holding their cameras up to their faces, aiming at life. 

There is nothing wrong with this. This is how we gather memories. I do this to catch those quick moments at family gatherings, school events: lift, aim, shoot.

Lift, aim, shoot.

The problem is that we get stuck in that perspective rut because it is comfortable and easy. We do not know how to see life from any other vantage point because we have never taken the effort to see it any other way. (I'm tellin' ya, photography can be a great life teacher.)

My Picture Inspiration assignment this week was to capture a picture from "the ground up." Our teacher pushed us in this area for this very reason: to get out of our comfortable rut, to see life from a different perspective.

So yesterday I risked staining my white cardigan sweater, stretched out on the grass underneath the play structure and caught this little lady peering over the edge from my "ground up" perspective. 

I have always liked shooting from the ground up, but I have to tell you, I had to be mindful about this one. I was tired, ready to be home, and wished I could just lift, aim, and shoot.

I am so glad I chose to be mindful, become one with the ground.

I would not have caught the leading lines of the ladder taking my eye up to her's. 

I would not have been able to include the beautiful woodwork, compose the lines of the railing and the ceiling and the ladder into a way that settled my eye. 

I would not have been able to place her above me with her hair falling around her face, her one blue eye becoming the target of my focus.

I would not have captured what has now become one of my favorite photos I have taken lately. 

Yea for my PI assignment!

See what changing your perspective does for your soul when you realize all that you would have missed if you had not crawled out of your comfortable place of lift, aim, shoot?

one image: letting a photo find you

Lens 24-70 2.8
shutter speed 1/50, f2.8
ISO 400

Sometimes the best photos are caught when you stumble upon them.
Some are best caught when you anticipate them
This one was caught doing both.

I stumbled upon this precious scene--he inside the massive toy box contentedly playing alone. I crouched a few feet away and anticipated him looking up to discover me. I could see the photo in my mind and I smiled when it came to be, ripe with perfect timing.

I have found that my best photos are those that have found me. They are also the ones that I patiently wait for to reveal themselves.

Of course there are many artfully composed photos out there that I admire, but it is the one that is made from real life that I adore the most.

If you are like me, and you like these kinds of photographs, you will find that the best thing we can do to improve our "eye" is to venture out each day and do some stumbling and anticipating. I never cease to be amazed at the photos that find me, almost as if they were waiting just for me.


Photo geeks....I actually took this photo a year and a half ago. I honestly do not know what I was doing with the settings at the time. I believe this was taken on my old camera and so that slow shutter speed was the result of not wanting to bump up my ISO because of the grain I would get in the photo if I did. I am impressed that I got the photo as sharp as I did. Not sure if I knew the rule of thumb: to avoid hand-held camera shake, keep your shutter at a number that is equivalent to the focal length of your lens. So if you are shooting with a 24-70mm lens, then going below 1/70th of a second in your shutter speed is dipping into blurry waters. Oh well, thankful for the shot!

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.

one image: perfect enough

They were waiting for me to set up my camera on my makeshift tripod that consisted of one bunched up, sandy sweatshirt. I was planning on joining them via the self timer function but the light was almost gone and so I was trying to fiddle with the exposure because of all that back light.

I snapped this one as a tester and it wound up being my favorite...

Camera facts:
Canon 5D Mark II
24-70 2.8 lens
ISO 800
Shutter speed 640
Aperture 2.8

What I love about it: the fact that my eye goes straight to Bean's and then travels down the line to the Kid. It is a sliver of a family moment caught on a California beach on a warm spring evening as the sun is dipping below the horizon.

What I wish I would have done better: adjust my position to get the narrow plane of focus to include Bean's face. As it is, she and the others, are just a smidge behind it.

I still love it. I am going to frame it.

My friend sent me a link to an article about a photograph that had just been auctioned off at Christie's for over three million dollars. It was the highest price every paid for a photograph in an auction.
Here's the link to an article about it. Come back and tell me what you think. It's nothing I would ever take, put in frame, or hang on my wall. :) But someone liked it enough to fork out millions for it.

Here is what I know for sure:
Some things require perfection, like brain surgery, rocket launches, and the building of an atomic bomb. Anything less than perfection would be disaster.
But, if you love a photograph that you have taken, it is perfect enough. Even if your photos are not published, bought, or auctioned off.

Zach Arias, a well known photographer, once said, that you may be one of the top ten photographers in the world and no one even knows it. In other words, the perfection standard by which someone becomes a "top ten" photographer is left up to the subjective eye of those who create those "top ten" lists. Throw in a good amount of exposure, marketing, and luck and that will up your chances at making it to the top as well...and then one day maybe being fought over in an auction.

I say, passionately create like you already are one of those undiscovered top ten, and you will be perfect enough.