103/365 Muse

Webster defines the word muse as a source of inspiration. There are many people who inspire me and yesterday I found an object that really spoke to me as I took a closer look at a little shop that I pass by frequently. The object is a work of art, a woman made of iron who seems to be filled with energy and has really crazy hair. On the front of her body you can see the words "DREAMS DO COME TRUE". She reminded me of me! I will have her one day soon and she will stand in my home and eventually near my home studio. She will remind me that I am pursuing a dream.

The owner of this wonderful antique store is standing next to my muse. I enjoyed chatting with her and listening to her story about how she came to acquire this house filled with unique art. I had to capture this moment in time! The spunky owner agreed to be photographed and thought it would be cool to stand next to my muse. Click!

Lesson: Dreams are like stars...you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny.
--Unknown Source

79/365 City

I actually tried to position myself so that the children would not appear in the frame and then before I clicked I realized that including them would actually make the image more interesting. They provide balance and make me smile!

Both groups are equally engaged and equally (seemingly) unaware of the other! Wouldn't it be great if we always took our leisure time so seriously!

Lesson: Be intentional about scheduling downtime!

37/365 Quiet

I love this nursery. It was an abandoned gas station and stood untouched for years in the midst of a wonderful historic neighborhood. A woman with a green thumb envisioned her own business in this spot and the rest is history. The Potting Shed is closed until March and here are some of the details.

Lesson: When creating storyboards have a story already in mind.

Tomorrow: Something yellow.

13/365 Lonely

We went to the big city today and that's always cool! I really enjoy the diversity in the downtown and the outer-laying artsy areas. You just never know what or who you'll see, sort of like what I recall Greenwich Village being like, but on a smaller scale.

I saw this sculpture that I had not seen before in one of the parks. A sculpture of a huge chess set and all around were people with their chess boards pulled out--young and old all mixed in together. I would have loved to get an interesting shot of that, but I couldn't find a good place to park and I had little people in tow, so parking far away and hiking back was not an option today.

I was still scouting around for some other interesting street scenes when we stopped at a light. I looked out the window and there was this guy asleep in front of this vacant building. I rolled the window down and got off two shots before the light changed.

Because the sun was so bright where he was, I opted to convert to a harsh black and white. I wanted the scene to be high contrast (whites white, blacks black) to go along with the lonely-in-the-city vibe that I got when I looked at him. I opted to put him in the corner of the frame so that I could juxtapose him with the empty building. Two kinds of lonely--empty building, homeless and alone. Now, I don't know if he's lonely or not, but that's the story I decided to tell with the light!

Lesson: Always remain open when you're scouting for images. You never know when an opportunity will arise, so be ready! Already know what kind of light you're dealing with and set the camera early so that all you will need to do is point and shoot before the moment passes.

Tomorrow: Abstract. I'm really going to try harder to get something interesting!