Blogging

photo by Alex Beauchamp

5 years ago, I had no idea what a blog was. Today it's become a fairly significant part of my life. I was trying to think back the other day about how it all happened, and then remembered. It started with a jewelry search. One day, I googled "jewelry suppliers", and stumbled upon www.anothergirlatplay.com. It was like I had died and gone to heaven. All kinds of creative women pursuing their dreams, in one place. I sat for hours reading their stories. And then promptly got hooked on this thing called blogging. Now, even when I'm crazy busy there are at least ten sites a day that I feel like I have to visit. But it all started with Alex's site . So that made me wonder about everyone else. Do you remember the first blog that ever inspired you? I'm so curious to hear your stories too. 

Circles

Today, I photographed a birth. I saw a human being breathe air for the first time. It was the first portrait session that has ever made me cry to the point that I had trouble focusing. And it was a huge honor.

Today I also read the deeply moving tribute that my cousin Leah wrote about her Grandmother (my great Aunt Isabel) who has recently passed. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to get to know her. But it made me think about my own Grandmother's passing. How one day she was there. The next day, she was not. She had overcome countless obstacles in her long life. She had been strong, unwavering, determined. Way ahead of her time, she had even been The Lieutenant Commander. Then one day she was fragile, and flew away.

Today I'm feeling the circle of things. Maybe I'm also feeling melancholy and sentimental. I spent the evening going through old photographs, in the big bin. We all have them, don't we? The big bin? The one that sits unassumingly in your attic or basement. Mostly ignored, and taken for granted, it stores all your treasure memories. Summer camp. That boy. That note. That time. The way she laughed. The big bin stores the tangible evidence of your minutes. Just in case you forget. Because in the end, it's just not about the shutterspeed, or photoshop, or those cool new actions you just bought. In the end, all that matters is the Remembering.

Want to share your favorites? The ones that help you remember? 

Sensitive.

I was watching something on TV the other day. They were talking about how artists are "sentitive to their surroundings, to people, and to life in general"...(I'm paraphrasing). It hit me because of something I recently realized. I'd been talking to my husband about how horrible my memory is, and how it drives me nuts. I forget birthdays, and anniversaries. When friends re-count stories, sometimes it's like I have amnesia..."Did that REALLY happen?", "Are you serious?!" 

Then I realized it's not that I have a bad memory, it's that I'm focused on the wrong things. For instance, I can hardly remember my wedding day, or prom, or the births of my children. But I can remember in VIVID DETAIL how I thought EVERYONE AROUND ME was feeling during all of those events. This is when I UNDERSTOOD that, by constantly viewing the world through the eyes of other people, I HAD ERASED MY OWN EXPERIENCE. My interpretations of people's feelings BECAME MY MEMORY. MY REALITY.  

It even manifested in my career choice as a photographer...(interpreter). I adore my job, and count it as a privilege. It's a passion, and there are even days when I feel obsessed by it. But for as sensitive as one is to others, we should be equally as sensitive to ourselves. Pay attention to how you feel too. What do you think? Where do you want to go? Ask yourself how your doing, and care about the answer. This is when your own life turns into Artwork.

*Edited to add: I'm not suggesting that it's wrong to focus on others, or that we should tune people out and live selfishly. Not at all. I'm just observing that sometimes we lose ourselves, if we don't give our own voice the same validity as the others around us...in life and in art.  :) 

Sweet Nothings.

I have this thing against overhead lighting. It makes me cringe and do U-turns in restaurant parking lots. Because, despite what my husband says, the lighting IS just as important as the food. So, besides a few chandeliers (which are exempt from my ceiling-fixture aversion), I mostly use candles or lamps. And I get excited when it's time to turn them on at night too. They whisper sweet nothings to me, like "It's time to relax", "go put your sweats on" or "go get a glass of wine". They're good friends like that. Plus, they make great sources of light for taking photographs. I know, sometimes a bulb can look too yellowy or red. But I kind of like it. To me, it's warm, and soft. And it says "this photo was taken at night, when I was chillin' at home in my sweats". That in itself makes it super cool. Do you have any lamp-as-your-light-source photos to share?

SHOOT! :)

I went to Tampa a few weeks ago for the DWF Convention. Besides having a great time, and realizing that I don't want to shoot weddings, I learned a few things. One of them was at a seminar given by Greg Gibson. Maybe you've heard of him, maybe not. He's a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and his portfolio is astounding. He's covered everything from the Persian Gulf war, to Presidential campaigns, to the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

In his seminar, he said the biggest mistake that photographers make, is not taking enough pictures. It impressed me because I always felt like there was something "wrong" with that. Mostly because you never hear photographers talking about their out-takes. But he did, and it was refreshing.

So, TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES PEOPLE! When you think you've exhausted your creativity or perspective, shoot a few more frames. Sometimes, my favorite shots of the whole session are the last ones that almost didn't happen. And if a Pulitzer Prize winner is saying that he takes a lot of photographs to capture that one, AIN'T NO SHAME IN YOUR GAME!

*Here is one of my favorite shots ever. And there were about 50 images deleted before this one. Do you have a diamond-in-the-rough example? If so, please share the love.