Wedding bells…

Until just recently, I was convinced that the idea of becoming a wedding photographer was not in my future. After all, I’d only attended a handful of weddings myself, so I was hardly an expert, and the conventional wisdom held by many was that shooting a wedding couldn’t possibly be worth the enormous stress and pressures of the job. Nope, I thought. Not for me.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Since this spring, I’ve taken part in a half a dozen or so weddings from various perspectives, both assisting other talented professionals and holding my own as a shooter, and I have found each experience richly exciting and rewarding.  Within the context of a wedding, there are myriad stories to tell, and innumerable ways to express them. Granted, emotions are high, but so are the rewards, and it’s frankly hard not to get swept up in the bliss of two people in love along with the joy shared by their families and friends.  A year ago, I would never have predicted this change of direction, but I have to say, it’s a wonderful feeling to realize there are more summits to climb, more surprises ahead.

And so, I’ve been busy–not blogging here as often as I used to, but working hard nonetheless to elevate my craft and vision for my clients as well as myself. Thanks, as always for your interest in my ramblings…Hope your summer is filled with nice surprises, as well. Enjoy!

Fleeting time…

 

I read an inspirational blog post this morning from a photographer I greatly admire about the nature of time and its fleeting quality. His words resonated with me and made me realize that, so often, we do feel like we can’t “find time” to do important things. But time isn’t found, he wrote, it’s made. I agree wholeheartedly. As a full-time working mother of two, I’ve been keenly aware of how one makes time for the important things for nearly two decades; every day facing many decisions about how my time is best spent as I juggled professional and personal priorities. Lately, with my children nearly grown, I’ve expanded that list of priorities to include my own creative pursuits, so that no matter what, each and every day, I’m satisfied that my life is spent on meaningful activity.

Time is fleeting, it’s true. But it’s also present. Here. Now. Reach out and grab the things you yearn for. They are right in front of you.

Moonrise morning…

 

A pleasant surprise greeted me this morning at daybreak, as I walked out to pickup the morning papers and scrape the dusting of frost off the car…. this is why I keep a loaded camera ready! Moments later, this lovely moonrise was a ghost. Hope you enjoy…

Different perspectives…

 

Lately our family has been watching a great Nova-produced series called “The Universe.” It’s quite humbling, really, to consider what a microblip our Earth is, in the bigger scheme of the vast, seemingly infinite cosmos. And the more you learn about the origins of life and the great leaps forward astronomers and astrogeologists and many others are making in our understanding of our galaxy, the more humbling–and miraculous–our existence becomes. Deep stuff, really.A

Several weeks ago, I set out to look closer at the world beneath my own feet–the microcosms that exist in a delicate balance far beneath our everyday awareness. In contemplating those images today, it occurs to me perspective works both directions. Each of the beautiful, geometric peaks and valleys found on this common backyard leaf is actually a vast landscape for other life forms, albeit smaller then our own, but no less complex, no less worthy. Maybe it’s just me, but I like the idea that there is so much more to the world than what we see everyday. Photography offers a unique window into both the infinitely big, as well as the remarkably small. Either direction you look, there are new mysteries to unlock, and unique beauty to behold. Hope you enjoy…

Solar power…

As we find ourselves on the cusp of winter’s edge, it’s nice to harken back just a few months and remember the powerful warmth of summer’s magnificent sun. This fiery image, taken while cruising along the southeastern tip of Mexico, was truly a beauty to behold. Feel free to conjure it up anytime the chill of the season upon us takes its toll! Hope you enjoy…

Being and Nothingness…

 

Some people might look at this image and think, “There’s nothing there.” Others might look at it and think, “The whole world is there.” Photography has infinite shades and nuances, which is part of the everlasting appeal of the art to me. I shot this image a few days ago, on one of those, forgive the trite phrase, “picture perfect” new autumn afternoons–when the world was bright and aglow with the crispness of early fall, and the sky was a sketchbook of possibilities. Coming home from a work meeting… my eyes couldn’t take themselves from the sky, where it seemed that every manner of cloud formation–cumulus, cirrus, stratus, nimbus–had come together in a magnificent display, each formation as fleeting as time itself. Yes, I suppose you could say this is only a picture of the sky. But to me, the whole world is there. Hope you enjoy…

The things that define us…

 

As each of us spends time on this earth, day by day, year by year, we gather things around us, simple objects, that acquire greater meaning. The meaning is likely not apparent to anyone other than ourselves, or perhaps to those who know us best, but it’s there, all the same. Recently I traveled “home” to spend time with my family and to reconnect those ties that too often are allowed to fray, with physical space, and time, between us. While I was in my parent’s house, I spent a bit of time wandering around with my camera, looking at the pieces of life that reflect who my parents are, and what has, for them, gathered meaning over time. The result was that I returned with a collection of visual memorabilia, like my mother’s quilting pieces above,  that will always remind me what makes my parents the rich, wonderful, unique individuals they are. Even more so, these photographs harken to mind the hopes, talents, dreams, and experiences they have acquired over a lifetime of years. Hope you enjoy…

Pizazz!

 

Just thought I would wake everyone up a bit with these eye-popping fireworks.  Our area’s 4th display got rained out so we enjoyed our celebration last week. Taking photographs of fireworks is always a guessing game — you never know what you’ll have until you unwrap the present at home. Boom! Enjoy!

  

Stretching my wings…

Sometimes you reach a point where you know it’s time to stretch a little. You know that feeling, when you sitting in one place too long, and the desire to move, reach out, and extend yourself comes over you? It’s a natural human reaction to confinement. I believe this is an apt metaphor for the artistic life, as well. I’ve been pretty comfortable lately–enjoying my own work, enjoying my blogging and the positive comments that occasionally come my way, and enjoying sharing my work and skills with friends, family, and work associates. But change is good, and challenges are good, and in these last few months, I realized I needed to step out of my nest, to push and extend myself a little more.

The photographs here represent three I submitted to a juried exhibit to be hung at our city library that was sponsored by our local photography club, of which I recently  became an active member. I have not tried to exhibit since my days at college, more than three decades ago, so this was an exciting prospect for me. The theme of the exhibition was simple “Books”–and being a lifelong reader, holder of a masters in literature, and owner of some “gazillion or so” books, I certainly felt the subject itself was not a stretch. The stretch was simply taking that first step, which I committed myself to do.

The image above was the one that I am happy to report, was selected by the judges to be included in the 25 final photographs for the exhibit. Those below are the additional two I submitted, so perhaps  my blog readers will have an opinion these as well.  I think the one selected was probably the more creative one, and therefore stood out from many of the others, so perhaps that was why it was selected. In any case, I am  thrilled to have had one chosen, and so proud to be among the 25 stellar prints that are currently hanging in the library’s exhibition hall. The entire process has done wonders for my sense of artistic development and my enjoyment of my craft.

So as spring is upon us, I hope the season breaths new life into whatever you enjoy doing, as well. Hope you enjoy…

 

The Camel’s back…

 

The desert is a fascinating place to me. Its timeless existence, its inpenetrable hardiness, its sheer rugged beauty provides such fodder for composition. Perhaps the fact that it’s just so different from what I see day to day that makes it seem like exotic territory, but still… you have to wonder when you really look closely: How does life survive in such a place? And yet, the succulent life sprouting up from these rocky crags proves life is ever-present. This view of the side of Camelback Mountain was shot at dawn’s early light, when the flickers and woodpeckers were stirring to life along with probably hundreds of other life forms I couldn’t see, but I certainly sensed. It was a pristine moment, alone,  in wonderment, in the chill of the February air. Hope you enjoy…