130/365 Up

I felt like playing around with negative space today and I knew I wanted some abstract object as my focal point. The challenge was to find an object that was near a colorful or interesting background. This weather vane was the most abstract thing I could find up against a beautiful background--the sky! The sky was gorgeous today, but I decided to take the color away. This is how I saw the scene in my minds eye.

Lesson: All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

129/365 Perseverance

I have a vacation coming up soon and boy am I ready. It's been tough trying to keep all of the balls in the air, but it's been worth it too.

Lesson: It's in the cookie!

128/365 Profile

I was reading one of my photography books and the author mentioned how photo ops are all around all the time. Well, I haven't been feeling like that lately! I decided that I could find something to shoot today and then I spotted this weed. Instead of shooting it the way I normally would, straight on, from the top, from the bottom, I shot the profile! How's that for thinking outside of the box! :-)

Lesson: Life is "trying things to see if they work".
--Ray Bradbury

127/365 Happy

My time as an apprentice to a wedding photographer has come to a close. I will be on my own very soon, but still continuing to learn all that I can about my craft (specifically about lighting and all of the details involved in shooting weddings). My happy ending marks their happy beginning as a married couple.

Instead of looking at this day as just an ending; I also see it as the beginning of something new for me. I'm looking forward to a new adventure, with all of the ups and potential downs that make life worth living.

In this image the groom was attempting to lift the bride onto his back and she was loving it!

Lesson: Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
--Seneca, Roman Philosopher

126/365 Daisy

These were growing wild on the front lawn of an abandoned home. I've had my eye of them for a few days and finally captured them on this overcast day. They are my favorite flower so far. I think I'm drawn to the simplicity of the flower most of all. Lovely. Simple.

Lesson: Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.
--Frederic Choppin

125/365 White

This is a difficult age to photograph. A good way to contain them so that you have time to actually capture the beauty is to pull out a chair. I happened to have one that matched her outfit. I'm not sure about the pillow, so I took some without. Photography is about experimenting. You don't always know what will or will not work, so you just try a few things out.

Lesson: Good photographs are seen in the mind's eye before the shutter is tripped...

--Source Unknown

124/365 Married

I love to capture those moments when people think they are alone. Sometimes they are aware of being watched and don't care. Other times, they are so immersed in one another (or in what they're doing) that the crowd seems to fade to black.

Here he seems to breathe a sigh of relief. The days and months of preparing for this day are behind them. He can settle in with her and just be...

She was happy before him and will be just as happy (maybe more so) with him. She will be his support...

Lesson: Success in marriage is much more than finding the right person; it is a matter of being the right person.

123/365 Mail

One of the highlights of my day...going out to the mailbox alone. It's one of the few places during the day that I don't hear the precious voices of other humans. :-)

Today I took the little chick with me and he agreed to model.

Lesson: I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the monotony of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.
--Albert Einstein

122/365 Berries

One of my constant companions loves strawberries and I MUST keep them in the house when they're in season.

Today as I drove to meet a friend in the city, traffic stopped in front of a church. I glanced at the church and could see that service was over and people were starting to leave. At the moment I turned, a very young woman was slowly coming down the front steps supporting a much older woman who wasn't able to move as fast. I was reminded of how fragile life is and how quickly time passes. I felt happy that the older woman had someone in her life who was willing to support her at this stage of her life. Not too long ago, she was probably helping the younger woman navigate steps in the same way.

Lesson: Do not resent growing old. Many are denied the privilege.
-- Author Unknown

121/365 Winner!

Well, well, well, it was worth it after all! Baking cookies for what ended up being 4 hours (just for 36) turned out to be a good thing! We won for *Prettiest Packaging*! Two different friends gave me the idea for the container. I shared the idea with my entourage and they liked it. They picked out these boxes and wanted to add chopsticks and panda bears. We couldn't find panda bears, but did find "bamboo" mats! Hey, pandas eat bamboo!

We were up against some stiff competition. Beauty all around! We had a great time connecting with friends, swimming in the lake, canoeing, doing canon balls off of the pier, and eating lots of cookies!

Lesson: A quitter never wins and a winner never quits.
--Napoleon Hill

120/365 Cars

I considered crying, but didn’t really have time. I have 2 weddings to finish proofing by the 18th of this month.

At 6:00 p.m. I sent my constant companions outside so I could bake 36 cookies from a recently acquired recipe book. By 9:00 p.m. I was dumping the cookies into the trash and pulling out the prepackaged cookie dough, ready to begin again. I am not a cook. It took me 2 years (literally) to learn how to bake bread. I don’t have 2 years to learn how to whip up cookies from scratch. These need to be ready for an early morning cookie swap. Oh joy!

Lesson: Do or do not. There is no try.
--Jedi Master Yoda

119/365 Unexpected

I spotted this as I walked through a wooded area today. Someones idea of art--an old church steeple, plopped down in the midst of a clearing. I liked it, very much. This image will remind me that when I come upon unexpected things while moving towards my destination, to just roll with it! To make the best of life's unexpected surprises.

I'm still reading The Last Lecture and learning a great deal more about life and living. The lesson I gleaned today comes from a quote I took from the book.

Lesson: Through the whole ordeal, I don't think we ever said to each other: "This isn't fair." We just kept going. We recognized that there were things we could do that might help the outcome in positive ways... and we did them. Without saying it in words, our attitude was, "Let's saddle up and ride."
--Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

118/365 Vintage

I had a couple of ideas in mind to shoot a unique bouquet that I picked up from the market yesterday. The first idea involved colorful ribbon. Since I didn't make time to stop by a craft shop for ribbon, I went with the second idea and that is what you see here. I then played with some "vintage" color to give the image an old feel.

117/365 Buttons

I spent the morning with a cute 2 year old and the afternoon with my biggest cheerleader. Mom and I had brunch together at an awesome Mediterranean restaurant in the city today. The food was excellent. We were both beyond pleased!

We reached the restaurant about an hour before our reservations, so we decided to pass the time by visiting some of the local shops. We finally just sat on a bench and began to discuss The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. She had seen the movie weeks ago, I had recently rented the DVD. The overall message for mom was that we have to enjoy the time we have and to live without regrets. I'm still thinking about all of the lessons I learned and about the things I enjoyed about the film. Sometimes lessons hit quickly and other times they surface over a period of days.

This dusty miller plant was growing in a pot beside our bench. I pulled out my handy macro and focused on the flowers. Yellow is my favorite color and the light was perfect in this spot.

116/365 Chair

I like to keep fresh flowers in the house. I rotate them out every week, but these have been around for about 3 weeks now and they still look great. The petals have a rich velvet appearance that I love. I wanted a different way to photograph the flowers so I threw them in a chair that I need to use for an upcoming session. I got to test the chair and snap the flowers.

What am I reading now? The Last Lecture. I'm just up to chapter six so I won't share my thoughts just yet. I will say that it's very thought provoking and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Lesson: “I take photographs with love, so I try to make them art objects. But I make them for myself first and foremost - that is important.”

--Jaques-Henri Lartique

115/365 Favorites

After hearing many sighs and groans while my constant companions practiced their musical instruments we had a short talk about gifts. Specifically we talked about not comparing ourselves with others who may be coming along faster or who may find mastering something easy.

In the past I would compare my photography to others and I would become so discouraged! Their work was great and mine was... (We won't go down that road now). The reality is, we're all different and though we may have some of the same gifts they manifest differently!

I am learning to just appreciate the talent of fellow photogs and to learn from them while I grow. The more room I make for my gift, the more it expands. I am grateful for growth.

Here are two things that one of my constant companions currently LOVES. The ever present LEGOS (just a few) and another new skateboard! I have the pleasure of helping to put this skateboard together. Ahh....the joys of learning new things!

Lesson: If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up.

--Richard Avedon, American Photographer

114/365 Bride

It was difficult to get this young woman to relax. She cried off and on during her bridal session; you can see the handkerchief in her left hand. Finally she took a moment to detach and reflect. I moved to one side and took the shot. I'm still trying to decide if I really like it.

Lesson: Always be prepared to shoot when the client thinks it's over. You may be pleasantly surprised by what they share.

113/365 Giggle

We were playing an impromptu game of hide and seek! I love the easy laughter of children. I was just telling one of the members of my entourage yesterday that this is the time to really enjoy being a kid! No responsibilities! Just eat, sleep, and play. What a life!

Love this: “If every word I said could make you laugh, I'd talk forever...”

--Source Unknown

112/365 Tear

A dear friend of mine will be burying her father next week and another friend buried hers last week. Even though death is a part of the natural order of things, it can still be a difficult part to face. I thought of those friends when I saw this image. It was one of a handful I took today. I had a vase of flowers and I was actually wanting to focus on a flower (and not the bud). I turned the vase and down it splatted. When I picked the flowers up they were all wet--a happy accident. I put them back in the vase and found that I liked this one best of all.

My wish for you:

I wish you bluebirds in the spring, to give your heart a song to sing,
And then a kiss, but more than this, I wish you love.
And if you like lemonade to cool you in some lazy glade,
I wish you health, and more than wealth, I wish you love.

I Wish You Love, Lyrics by Charles L. Trenet

111/365 Passion

110/365 Twirl

What is is about little girls in big girl dresses that makes them want to twirl? She wasn't aware that anyone was paying attention, but I was... Click.

Wouldn't it be cool if we all just twirled, just because...

Lesson: While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.
--Unknown source

109/365 Older

Today we went on a treasure hunt. One of the members of our entourage is now a year older, so off we went to collect some special things as a way of celebrating! Our first stop was a skateboard shop where this member chose all of the parts for a custom board. It was such a cool experience; the oldest entourage member even wore the new helmet out of the store and didn't take it off until we stopped a few minutes later for lunch. Of course we added new LEGOS to our large family as well! :-)

It's been a joy learning from, and with, our first born. Boy have I made mistakes, but I'm not lamenting. We didn't have a clue about how to parent. We simply jumped in with our hearts wide open and gave it our best. I look forward to all of the days, and special moments ahead of us.

Oh! I came up with my elevator speech at about 11:45 p.m.! Success! Yay!

Lesson:Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
--Albert Einstein