today

"There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear." -John Cage

What did you see today? I mean really, really see? What made you stop? What had you reaching for your camera? Won't you please share it with us here today?

up for interpretation

I was lucky enough to get to spend the majority of my spring break on a beautiful, pristine, sunshiny beach at the tip of Baja, Mexico. It was heaven. Sifting through my images, all I see are blue blue skies, blue blue water and golden golden sand. With 99% sunshine, even the  sunsets are vibrant. Soft light on that beach was nearly non-existent. It was just the quality of how the light was; clean, bright, un-filtered. In a word, vibrant.

I'm not complaining. Not one single bit. But what I find curious is how I am chosing to interpret my vacation images. We had next to no internet access so there were only a very select number of images that would even load through my Instragram. Most of the them were shot or altered in a way that didn't showcase the blue blues or golden goldens. The first was shot upon arrival, near dark (which was the only time the light got soft). Another was captured upon waking; the soft, dreamy view from my bed in the morning. And my favorite was one of my daughter in the water, captured at the peak of bright, vibrant light and color (and yet, it's a black and white). Go figure.

As I mused on which image I would share today, I found this gem from my iPhone. The original was, of course, saturated with the bright blue sky and yet my choice was to dial it way down, to give it a vintage postcard feel (via Lightroom) which in other words means to interpret it in a totally different way than it came straight out of the camera.

As photographers, we are artists. And as artists we have the option to manipulate our images the way we want to. We can use our photo editing tools the same way painters use paint. We are the masters of our photographic vision. Personally, I don't know why I edit images like I do. I just do what feels right for each image and follow my creative bliss.

Have you ever thought about your process of processing? Do you use a heavy hand? Are you more subtle? Do you love acclassic black and white or SOOC? Share with us what you find and link to an image that shows off your favorite interpretation today.

Pick me up

I've had a rough couple of days. You know the ones. Where everything goes wrong and there's not enough time and you just don't handle things well. Where you lose your cool and let everything get the best of you. The days when you just look forward to bed. I know we've all been there but somehow it doesn't make it any less disheartening.

I was wallowing around, groaning and grumbling about what was probably nothing discernable to anyone, while my husband opened a package that came in the mail. As he pulled out a bundled wad of newspaper about the size of a grapefruit, he slowly uncovered a small box made of polished metal and shiny black plastic.

"I got this for you because...because...you're having a bad day", he said soft and kind with his gentle smile and extended his offering to me.

I went from miserable to grateful in an instant. As I studied the pristine vintage Kodak Brownie Reflex 20, I marveled and smiled back. Totally speechless.

"And look, " he continued, as he lifted the lid that covered the large viewfinder at the top, "it's just like you wanted."

Indeed. There is was, a viewfinder that framed the beautiful world outside of my muddled head; saturated color, bold shapes, bright light and clarity. Like a child, I began to squeal with delight and so began the instantaneous shift from pity party to creative celebration.

Playing with my new toy for about an hour pulled me out of my mood. Not for good unfortunately, for I do believe that hormones will have the best of me for a few more days, but certainly for long enough to be reminded that sometimes a kind gesture, a simple spark, a tiny new way to see the world is all it takes to shine light on the darkest places.

Tell me, when was the last time you had a shift like this, from blue to blush? Was it something someone said? What it using your own camera to mine out the gems of your life? Share with us they way you've experienced your own kind of "pick me up".

Image of me holding my new muse (above) courtesy of my 8 year old daughter via my iphone.

the decisive moment

"Photography is not like painting. There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever."  -Henri Cartier Bresson

I was standing on the fourth floor of the High Museum of Art when this moment unfolded. I had one eye on my son in a neighboring room, one eye on my daughter a few steps away. I was fiddling with my scarf, with my braids, fiddling with the contents of my purse, fiddling with my camera. My mind was in a dozen different places but when I looked up, I saw it. The painting, the woman on the bench, the light in between. It was, by very definition, a decisive moment. If I'd hesitated at all, I would have missed it.

Instead, I reached for my SX-70, looked through the viewfinder, adjusted the focus. Steadied my hands and hit that little red button. Two seconds later, the woman walked away. The space filled with people, the light shifted. The whole scene evaporated. The only proof of its existence, this photograph. It doesn't happen like that for me very often but when it does, it's a thrill. Which is why I am always sharpening my brain, training my eyes to see this way, to seek out these moments, these fractions of seconds, whether I have my camera with me or not.

What decisive moments have you captured lately? Please do share a few with us today.

(The image above was shot with a polaroid sx-70 using Impossible Project PX 600 Silver Shade UV+ film)