feel it all

"I was waiting for such a long time, she said. I thought you forgot.

It's hard to forget, I said, when there is such an empty space when you are gone."

~ storypeople

When you feel something big (love, joy, light, anger, anxiety) grab your camera. This is the agreement I have made with my muse. She provides color and light and sounds of summer thunder from behind closed doors. I provide the camera and the willingness to step into the moment.

I have been smiling so much lately that my cheeks hurt. Suddenly I'm one of those smiley people you see smiling while driving for apparently no reason at all. I used to question those people. I'd wonder "What's making them so happy? Will I ever be that happy?"

This lightness in me was asking to be documented. I want to remember this time of feeling it all. It is simply a time of newness, and I am embracing it for as long as it stays or as fleeting as it floats away. I am here right now. Being happy.

How are you feeling? How is life treating you? Today show us a portrait that reveals a sense of feeling. Let your image tell the story of your heart.

Emotion in Motion

I love capturing motion shots.  To me, nothing shows emotion better than an act or movement caught in the moment.  The kids at my son's school put on huge dance performance every year and my 'job' is to put together a slideshow for their friends and family of the photos I've taken to show just prior to the kids taking stage.  Seeing the kids in motion, the pure joy on their faces, shows everyone just how much fun they had getting ready for the big night. 

Capturing motion shots of all kinds can show an array of emotions from the element of surpise to pure delight to simple childhood fun.  How about you? Show us your motion shots.  Let us see the emotion you've captured.   

From the Sideline

"So when's your next trip?" they ask. For the first time in a long time, I don't have an answer. Yes, of course, there will be another trip and I'm eager for the next international documentary experience, but right now, I'm taking lots of trips to the ballfield, yelling things like "You can do it!" and "Way to hold 'em!" and "Two down, one to go!" and buying corndogs from concession stands.

In high contrast to the frayed craze of a school year winding down to the halt of summer, I must admit, sitting with my feet propped up on the fence around a baseball field watching my son and his best buddies be mobile for the better part of a Saturday and Sunday, chills me out in the best way. I love the rythm of innings, batters, and bases. The chink of a level swing sending a ball into left field and the dull thump of a fielder making the play. Quick steals and dusty slides. The intense focus of my pitcher on the mound. (The baby I hardly recognize in size L pants.) The rapid-fire sweeps on home plate by a man called "Blue." I soak it in from the sideline, feel my heart beat, and wait for what's to come.

What's moving around you these days? Are you in the mix, or soaking it in from the sidelines?

I shot this image with my Nikon D3s and a 55-200mm lens with aperture set to f/5.6. ISO 250. Applied a sepia tone at .35 intensity in Aperture on my Mac.

explore your senses

As I look up through the tress, and be in the moment....

I hear delightful birdsong,

I feel the soft breeze on my face,

I see the dappled light through the leaves,

I smell the intoxicating lavender at my feet.

My senses are alive.

Where have you been lately that brought your senses alive? Share your moments here today.

Wait

I have been lying on the sand for 30 minutes, my eyes glued to the camera. My bones ache. My skin itches. My fingers are numb. I am starting to get cold. I am waiting. I am waiting for my subject to move. I am waiting for my shot. Most of the time, the shot never happens and those 30 minutes are added to the previous hours of waiting. 

The subject moves the wrong way. The background is not right. The light is not right. I wait for 30 minutes without a pause, and the second I break my stare, it is when it happens. Nature photography is all about waiting.

In the course of their lifetime, a person will spend approximately 3 to 5 years waiting; 35,000 hours motionless, expecting a desired outcome. We wait for the perfect moment. For the right woman, for the right man. We wait for the right conditions.  We wait for the rain to stop, for the sun to come out. We wait for the bus, for the train, for the subway. We wait in traffic, at the bank, at the grocery store. We wait on the phone. We wait for a phone call. We wait for people. People wait for us. We wait for salvation, for forgiveness. We wait for the show to begin, for the commercials to end. We wait for dinner to be ready. We wait for a package to be delivered. We wait for inspiration to come. We wait behind the camera for the perfect shot.

Francois Rabelais said: “Everything comes in time to those who can wait.” While Abraham Lincoln believed that “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustles.” Lenny Kravtiz has always waited for inspiration to write his music. Sean Lennon instead writes everyday convinced that inspiration comes with practice. Alexandre Dumas wrote that “ All human wisdom is summed up in two words: wait and hope.”  At the opposite, W.M. Lewis said that “The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”

Nothing would ever be accomplished if we just waited for things to happen. But again, nothing would ever be accomplished if we were not able to wait until completion. Some don’t wait to start, but have trouble finishing. Others can’t seem to find the will to start, but once they do, they will finish what they have started even if they have to wait a lifetime to see the results. You can’t wait for the right conditions. You can’t wait for things to come to you. But you must be able to wait for the unique to manifest. And when it does, all those minutes, all those hours, all those years waiting, suddenly are worth the wait.

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Image and words courtesy of Shutter Brother Daniel Fox. You can find out more about Daniel and check out the amazing things he is doing through The Wild Image Project.