Yesterday’s Sweetlight
October 26, 2008 | Filed Under Photo of the Day | 3 Comments
We had an impromptu photo shoot with Patches and Heather - as the sun went down, the light bounced off our house creating some beautiful light to play in for a couple minutes. It’s fun to capture some images of my family once and a while.
Matrix Chairs
September 7, 2008 | Filed Under Photo of the Day | Leave a Comment
Visualizing Love
August 13, 2008 | Filed Under Photo of the Day, Random Thoughts | 2 Comments
“An infant is born with a clenched fist; a man dies with an open hand. Life has a way of prying free the things we think are so important.”
-Unknown Author
After working almost nonstop for the past two weeks (up to 14 hour days), I finally had a chance for a break to do some creative refueling. My favorite thing to do is to take a drive or walk, maybe listen to some music and to think about the goodness inherit in simply being alive. But why is it so hard to keep that in mind? Today I thought about the nature of love - or should I say, I thought about how love matures.
As of late, I’ve been struggling with the ever widening gap between the doom and gloom of our world from recent news coverage (global warming, raising gas prices, deceptive politics, war, bloodshed, etc.) and the slick and styled promise of a better tomorrow from advertisements and paid sponsorships. My exposure to public media has been saturated with such emotional extremes, I often feel powerless to do anything about the growing problems of our world but to go along for the ride and settle for the superficial good feeling of buying something new. But that approach to life is so incredibly unhealthy and I want to move in a different direction… I want to choose to love.
There is a side to life, full of brokenness and tragedy, that makes the choice of love so much more painful. It’s the darker side of life that’s easy to ignore until it strikes, because in all honestly, so few of us actually have the tools to cope. Instead, it’s easier to indulged in a reality escape or bury it with a blur of activity instead of choosing anything at all. But that will surely keep us from love. By acknowledging the brokenness in our own lives and in the relationships we share, we make room for love to grow. Surprisingly, it is not weakened by our weaknesses; love is not spoiled by our past mistakes. It is not hindered by our inability to move without it. Like nothing else, love accepts and transforms the tragedies of life.
Love matures by seeking to heal and repair that which is broken beyond its own usefulness. Much like a cracked cup that can no longer hold water, love confidently moves forward and offers a fresh and tender bandage.
Kaleidoscope Tea
June 30, 2008 | Filed Under Photo of the Day | Leave a Comment
It’s amazing how dependent we are on electricity… for everything. Of the hundreds of things that need to get done - suddenly there’s nothing that can be done. So instead, Heather and I have caught up on some much needed sleep this weekend and rediscovered some simple joys like vanilla iced tea (from the Tea Smith, mmm!) and the beauty of sunlight pouring through the glass.
Photo(s) of the Day
June 18, 2008 | Filed Under Daily Life, Photo of the Day | Leave a Comment
I try to take one day off a week to refresh my creativity; it doesn’t always happen, but I try because it’s important to the health of my soul. This time around, my brother Jordan expressed an interest in coming along to learn more about photography. So we took a trip downtown to start with the basics in the Old Market and explore “depth of field.” The first image has a shallow depth of field or range of what’s in focus (f2.8 at 1/4000 of a second), and the second image has a greater DOF (f11 at 1/500) while still maintaining proper exposure. On the doorknob, the focus leads the eye right to the keyhole and falls off shortly afterwards. For the other image, both the light pole and the building maintain sharp focus even though they are much farther apart than the doorknob is to the door.
Photo of the Day
April 22, 2008 | Filed Under Photo of the Day | Leave a Comment
I love that my wife cooks for me - it’s a beautiful thing.
Portrait of a Melting Ice Cube
February 28, 2008 | Filed Under Photo of the Day, Random Thoughts | 4 Comments
I’ve been taking one day a week to explore creativity… As a full time photographer and artist, I’m discovering how much I need to care for my own soul to keep the joy alive in my work (and life!). So far, it’s been a wonderful and refreshing experience! All I do is stop… I stop the busyness of daily life and allow my mind to think of something other than what’s on my must-have-done-list. Usually, that’s just enough space for me to feel moved to create something new.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about vulnerability. I think much of modern culture is constructed as an effort to avoid feeling or appearing vulnerable. We buy insurance, we install security alarms, we don’t talk to strangers. We can try and hide it, but our own vulnerability, our fragility as human beings just doesn’t go away. Those of us who go to great lengths to bury the tender and vulnerable parts of our lives only succeed in becoming cold and hard by keeping others at a distance.
We are like a melting ice cube that cannot escape its nature. Yet, maybe that’s the most beautiful thing about us.
A Day Off
September 12, 2007 | Filed Under Photo of the Day | 2 Comments
Today was my first official day off in long, long time… and it breathed life into my soul. I had breakfast with an old friend, enjoyed Chipotle for lunch, got caught up on some reading, and took some pictures just for fun. This one [picture] in particular captured something for me - something about the simple beauty that is all around, if only I open my eyes and allow it to change my perspective of the world. It fills me with gratitude to just be alive.
Heather’s Eye
September 9, 2007 | Filed Under Photo of the Day | 1 Comment
Heather is learning how to use the camera; she took this portrait of me downtown. I think she’s getting pretty darn good - I don’t think I could of done it better. She’s well on her way to calling herself a “photographer” too.
Color Tests
August 29, 2007 | Filed Under Photo of the Day | 1 Comment
Today I spent the day doing color tests using Gretag MacBeth’s color checker chart and really had fun learning how to bring out selective colors. All this testing creates a wonderful end product. Here’s my “photo of the day.”
