Thursday, September 30, 2010

Confession...I've been a photographer for awhile...

I know it's crazy...but I actually shot film for many years!  Remember film?  I still have some in my freezer!  Do you remember the darkroom...not the digital one, but the one that smelled like chemicals and had that ever-present sound of running water?  And Velvia slide film!  Oh, I loved the saturation of Velvia!
Anyway, that's where I began.  In a darkroom, with black and white photography, then onto color slides...which is what these images were, until I scanned them for use in our digital world.  If you ever shot film you may remember being really selective about when to click the shutter, 'cause you only had 24 or maybe 36 images on the roll.  Nowadays it is easy to shoot through a 4 GB card (a couple of hundred images in RAW) without much thought.
One of the most important things I learned, as a film user, was how important is was to be selective about your composition.  Sure, you could crop into a photo to eliminate extraneous elements, but there was no easy "bandaid" for spot healing or "clone stamp" for erasing things you may or may not have even realized were a part of your image.
My style, maybe as a result of trying to eliminate all of the "noise"...became one of simplicity.  I prefer the simplest version of an image, whether it be a sweeping landscape, a personal portrait, or capturing a sense of place...my style usually reflects a sense of simplicity.  It isn't right or wrong, that is certainly not the lesson here, it is, instead, that you have to find your voice, in everything you do.  Make it your own. 



Monday, September 20, 2010

Sweetie!

So this little sweetie stopped by the other day, in preparation for his 2nd birthday party!  He has a little mischief in his eyes, as all boys do...but such a sweetheart!  Happy Birthday T!


Cuteness.

Okay, so he is a boy, and someday he won't want to be called "cute"...but for now, for today, he is my definition of CUTE!  He is surely going to break some hearts...what a charmer, with those baby blues...!   
Thanks Amber, for letting us play!  And, this is just a teaser...!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

This one's for you, Stephen!

I dream about love.

I read this the other day, and wrote it down because I appreciated and identified with it, but now cannot recall the authors name...nor do I think I quoted it exactly...so, I apologize for my inadequacies...but I gratefully thank the author for these words...
"I dream about love. 
I dream about loving those close to me
in a way that affirms
the beautiful life within them. 
I dream about the possibility of love
that can be captured with photography
being able to transcend boundaries
and remind people
of the real reason we are here on this earth...
to love."
I dream about love...