the moments in between

My friends had just finished a soccer game in the gloaming, and we had been taking "team" photos in the fading light of this merry band of futbol players. While I think the posed shots were a ton of fun, I have to say that my heart is drawn to the candids in between the "formal" shots. To me, that's where my favorite stories are in photography--those moments in between people's awareness of the camera, those moments in between the subject's consciously exhibiting the persona that they want the camera to capture, those moments in between the awkwardness for those who are uncomfortable in front of a lens.

I love the light in this photo, that light in between day and night, that last glimmer of sun fading into the darkness. I love the chaos in this photo, everybody doing their own thing or trying to spell the letters AMC [for Allied Media Conference which was where we were at] before the photographers yell at everyone to get in position and to hold still. I love that I can still feel the love and joy and magic of this moment, even now...

Share with us today your images of those "moments in between," however you want to interpret that.

Public Service Announcement...With Hearts

I was walking down the street on my own, shuffling through my mixed bag of thoughts, reflecting on the events of the night. I was feeling kinda down, truth be told, and that's probably why my eyes were on the ground when I saw this in the photo above. I immediately stopped in my tracks. My initial reaction was, "Aw, how sweeet," (semi-sarcastic) until I saw the note scrawled beneath the stenciling ("No, no, I love you, I LOVE YOU"), and then I laughed out loud. This little exchange between anonymous street artist and anonymous passerby reminded me of a Facebook exchange I had with a dear friend that went along the lines of "You da BEST" "No, YOU da BEST!" "No, YOU!" and so on...That memory put a smile on my face.

Had I been walking with my head up and a spring in my step, I probably would have walked right over this little message from the universe. I'm not saying that just because I saw this note, I immediately felt embraced and loved by humankind. What it DID do was to remind me that just a block away was a taqueria where some beloved friends were waiting for me, and for the moment, that was more than enough.

Have you ever been surprised by an image that you normally would have missed had you not just happened to be looking in that direction? Has your heart been changed by paying attention to the details? Please share with us your images and stories.

shooting for transformation

You thought you were going to change the world with your photography, didn't you? You stepped into that struggle, camera in hand, thinking you would "help" these people by telling their stories through your lens. You meant well, you truly wanted to help, but guess what? It wasn't about YOU. It still isn't about YOU. It's about US. It's about SOLIDARITY. It's about the intersectionality of all the struggles of all who are oppressed. It's about how there can't be justice for one until there is justice for all. It's about letting people tell their own stories, even if you are the one behind the camera, framing the image and clicking the shutter, because we all know that we as photographers can control the story we tell by what we choose to capture and share.

And if you can get over yourself and open your eyes and your ears and your heart, YOU are the one who will be transformed, the one who will be humbled by the stories of The People, the one who will no longer show up as the aloof photojournalist but as a brother or sister in solidarity, the one who is there because you recognize that your liberation is tied to the liberation of all who struggle, the one who will never be the same.

"If you have come to help me you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together... " ~ Aboriginal Activist

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And when I use the term "you" above, I am talking about myself. This is the story of my own personal experience documenting social justice movements in Chicago for the past six months. I write about this after having experienced May Day, which is celebrated around the world on May 1st as International Worker's Day and here in Chicago as a day to also highlight immigrant rights, which are also worker's rights, which are also human rights.

I really thought my photography was going to change the world, I really did. What I learned instead, was that I was the one in need of transformation.

How has photography changed you? Please share your stories of transformation or images that have had a transformative effect on your heart.

sunday school: lightroom presets for the {unapologetically} nostalgic

She wants a puppy, just like any other happy-go-lucky six-and-a-half-year-old little girl. Alas, I am in no position to get a dog of her own, so we visit Mayu, my friend's lovely and playful Peruvian pup. The sun peeks out, slightly warming the frigid March air, giving us hope that spring is finally remembering to return to us.

Someone once characterized my photography as being "nostalgic." I like that description. It's true; one of the reasons I take photos is because I am nostalgic-to-the-core, and unapologetically so. I sometimes exhibit this side of me in the way I choose to edit my photos in Adobe Lightroom, by applying "vintage-esque" effects that accentuate my emotional ties to the memory captured in the photo.

To celebrate spring finally coming back to the Windy City (fingers-crossed/knock-on-wood...), I've created a set of spring-and-nostalgia-inspired Lightroom Develop Presets for you to play around with. To see larger photos of these examples, you can go to this gallery of images and click on any thumbnail on that page to see a larger version.  To download a zip file of these presets, click here.  You can view instructions on installing presets here. Please note that these presets were developed for RAW (uncompressed) files, but most of them should work for JPEG files as well; you'll just need to tweak a little more here and there. You'll also want to change the basic exposure/brightness to your liking, as most of these presets do not affect those settings.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only nostalgic vintage-effects-loving photographer around here. Please share with us today your favorite vintage editing effects, or, if you're a Lightroom user, try one of these presets and share the results with us!

For No Obvious Reason

I can't tell you why exactly, but I love this photo. I don't know much about rules of aesthetics that determine whether a photograph should or shouldn't be pleasing to the eye, and quite frankly, I don't really care about the rules. What I can tell you is that the first time I saw this photo, I was instantly smitten. Perhaps it's because looking at it made me develop a narrative about the woman on her phone. Maybe it has to do with the perspective from which the photo was taken. Or it could be because nothing is really in focus in this picture. There is no specific reason for me to like this photo, but I can't deny that I do find it beautiful, and that to me is more important than if a bunch of rules deem it to be a photo worthy of my admiration.

Today, share with us your images that you instantly fell in love with for no obvious reason. Who knows; maybe we'll be smitten as well.