Artistic Thursday - The Creative Process.

Reed's 'Wooden Ore'

I've been asked why I have to bring the kids hiking to take pictures of leaves and trees. Short answer is, I don't.  Long answer is, that going to an area and immersing yourself in a subject feeds the creative process with inspiration.  It is a search for that perfect light on lens moment that evokes emotion.

Emily's 'Practicing Light'

The below three shots were taken by Emily, Lizzy and me. We didn't all plan on taking the same subject, it just happened. We were using very different equipment, angles and due to time, light. I like Emily's the best, she really loves the 50mm prime.

Emily's

Lizzy's

Reed's

The rest of these pictures were from the trip mentioned in 'Unintentional Life Lessons'. Unfortunately for Lizzy, her equipment is not quite at the level of Emily's and mine. In fact, The camera is relatively new  and even I am having trouble with consistency on it.  That being said, I ordered a new 4/3 camera for Lizzy to use.  We'll see how that works out.

Emily's 'Trail Marker'

Emily's 'Through the Looking Glass'

Emily's 'Spew'

Emily's 'Jaws of a Wooden Snake'

Emily's 'Another Bear in the Woods'

Lizzy's 'The Bat Cave'

Lizzy's 'Broken Land Dolphin' (Colors enhanced)

Lizzy's 'Remember the Fallen'

Lizzy's 'It Isn't Easy Being Green'

Lizzy's 'What a Tree Sees'

Reed's 'Stumped'

Reed's 'Jingle Berries'

Reed's 'Lean on Me'

Reed's 'Dangerous Candy Corn'

Leaving Your Comfort Zone.

Reed's 'Being Open'

This past weekend I gave Emily a new prime lens for her dSLR. It's not exactly new, I've had the Minolta 50mm f1.7 lens for a while.  Well, I thought to myself, 'If  Emily is going to use the prime, I'm going to get out of my comfort zone.'.  I don't have any primes for the Pentax yet, but I do have a 80-200mm behemoth that I shy away from (Mostly due to weight, but an  8ft minimum focusing distance also make me nervous).

Emily's 'Talking in the Sand'

The day was nice enough to merit a trip to Sandy Hook. We planned on going to the lighthouse but as we drove by the base of the structure, we decided to continue into Fort Hancock; to the old weapons testing grounds and beach.

Emily's 'Rays of Hope'

Watching Emily deftly use the 50mm prime and accurately framing the various subjects impressed me. When I started photography, I couldn't afford a prime and at fourteen bought a Canon 28-80mm.. I sacrificed sharpness for convenience. Now over 25years later I realize, that the lenses I use are much better but, I rarely stray from my wide to mid range zooms. 

Reed's 'Guiding Light'

 When we got home and downloaded the photos from our various cameras Emily's shots were amazing. Any questions as to whether I should have given her my old DSLR were visually answered. My shots with the 80-200mm tank were no slouches, but I had come to expect less from Emily's shots. What I had thought was her disinterest in photography was simply her disinterest in lugging heavy equipment around.

Emily's 'It Seems A Shame To Play Them Such A Trick...'

Emily rightfully beamed over her pictures. She explained how much she liked the lighter faster lens. I guess sometimes we impose unnecessary restrictions on ourselves and those around us based on our personal biases and past experiences.

Lizzy's 'Sand Crab' (Color Enhanced )

Unintentional Life Lessons.

I really like taking my daughters hiking. There are so many life metaphors that present themselves on a trail.  Most are subtle. I hope they simmer, as so many lessons did in my head, until they are ready for consumption.

President's day was one of those crisp days that belonged more in fall than it did in winter.   Emily wanted to try out a new prime lens I had given her, so we took a late day trip to the preserve. Last week I found a new trail that I thought the girls would enjoy.  It was a natural trail, so there were no markers.  Lizzy was concerned that we might get lost so I said to her, "You should stop once in a while to look back and see where you came from, things look differently then when you are moving forward."

A few moments later I said what I say almost every hike, 'Look where you are going, remember where you have been.  You don't want to trip.".  This time, as always, it was meant for Lizzy.  She has an amazing habit of moving in one direction, while looking in another.

In both cases I chuckled when I realized the meanings of my words and how they pertained to not just the current situations but so many others. They are the unintentional life lessons I teach myself through my children.

Artistic Thursday - Imminent Danger, Desert Flower, Tiny Hooves

Imminent Danger

Desert Flower

Tiny Hooves

Paypal of Fortune!

I invented a new game. It initially started as part of my 'Minimalist Lifestyle Project'. It was an epic fail in that respect but was so much fun, I had to share it.

The original concept of the game was to not bring anything new into the co-op without throwing something out first. Well anyone who knows me, knows I like to shop. For eleven years of marriage, I rarely had the chance to do so, I was too busy earning while someone else was too busy spending.

I digress.

The problem with the, 'no new in, without old going out', concept is that, though it helps keep the same amount of stuff, it doesn't reduce what's in the co-op or build up the savings account. Well, This got me thinking... If I stopped buying any of the items on my want list, without selling the dollar equivalent of that item, I'd accomplish two goals. I'd get rid of the, 'good enough not to throw out', crap as well as save money.  I started Ebaying again. After a couple of weeks my Paypal balance was significant. Here is where the 'Wheel of Fortune' part comes in.

Anyone who is old enough to remember the REAL Wheel of Fortune, not the crappy new one, remembers the way contestants got to spend their money on prizes after solving a puzzle. There was a small showroom of items for them to buy and as the prizes built up the cash dwindled down.  Every contestant ended up with a $14 popcorn popper to finish off the last of their winnings.

As I said, when I checked my paypal balance, I was floored. Listing goods was my puzzle solving and the internet was my show room. It was time to shop and in a big way,  In my head I kept hearing, "Look at this internet, filled with glamorous prizes! Fabulous and exciting merchandise! Just waiting to be won today on Paypal of Fortune! And now, here's your host, EBay".  There would be, no popcorn maker for me though,  I was banking my leftover. 

It worked so well, I started dedicating one hour a week, on Saturdays to Ebay or craigslist stuff. I know there are people out there saying. “Reed, that is a short lived proposition. Eventually you only have the things you want and nothing to sell.”. Exactly! Now to get something new, I want, I will need to gauge the importance of what I have. I sold two really nice camera lenses and one of my various point and shoots to buy a new micro 4/3 camera. The micro 4/3 will easily replace the point and shoot and though I loved those lenses, I never used them. I sold my old 3d glasses and some cables to buy the new 3d glasses I wanted.  I even sold my cumbersome exercise machine on craig's list to get a wall mount for my bedroom TV.   In two of the three cases I upgraded what I had, for the third, I upgraded my space.

This game isn't for everyone, but it's fun upgrading you life while downgrading your clutter.

Who'd Have Thunk?

For those of you who don't have a blog, 'Search Keywords' are what people typed into Google that led them to your blog. There are always some strange phrases, but last week's 'Search Keywords' were exceptional. Two stood above the rest.

The first phrase was, 'poem my granny is a sumo wrestler'

I won't even go into the obvious imagination storm of who would possibly be typing this search. I feel bad that Google would somehow send them to my blog, so I will indulge them.

Granny Is A Sumo Wrestler?

Granny has been getting large,

She is so big and round.

She took a trip to Japan,

and now she can't be found.

I guess she ditched her wobbly walker,

Wearing Kesho-mawashi sure was fun.

Hobbling into a sumo trash talker,

she pushed him out of the circle and won.

I didn't say it was going to be a great poem, but the search wasn't, 'Great poem my granny is a sumo wrestler'. There, now I feel better. The next person who searches for that will find what they are looking for.

The second 'Search Words' were, 'yoga pose sandwiched between 2 panes of glass'.

Let me start by saying, I don't do Yoga, unless Wii fit counts. I have a balance board but for the life of me can't find a 'sandwiched between 2 panes of glass controller' for that yet.

This brought up a some questions:

1. Does sandwiching yoga between two panes of glass make it taste any better?
2. Is this a new way to collect yoga poses? Have someone pose; then smash them between 2 panes of glass, like a leaf or bug?
3. Does this make it easier to see poses under a microscope?

Wow, I Googled the two phrases and it turns out:

1. There is a children's book called, 'My Granny is a Sumo Wrestler'.
2. In yoga, they actually use the stupid term, ' between two panes of glass'. Really? Here are a couple of things to meditate on, panes of glass were not used until 100 A.D. and if windows were on both sides of your yoga studio all poses would be between two panes of glass.

Maybe the searches weren't so strange after all. Who'd have thunk?

A Good Tired.

Days like today remind me of something I heard as a child.  At the end of the day there is a good tired and a bad tired.  A good tired is caused by a day of accomplishment, hard work and selflessness while a bad tired is caused by a day of regret and missed opportunity.

The day started out slow, but as time went on, I realized a stack of small accomplishments had piled up behind me. Nothing that changed the world on my account, just a lot of to-dos that had been 'to don'ts' for too long.

Artistic Thursday - Kids at the Preserve.

Reed's 'Mermaids'

Emily's 'If a Tree Falls in the Woods'

Emily's 'Barking Up The Wrong Tree'

Emily's 'Splintered'

Emily's 'An Ant's Trail'

Emily's 'Very Small Trees'

Emily's 'Bear in the Woods'

Lizzy's 'Looking Up At The Grass'

Lizzy's 'Hidden Path'

Lizzy's 'Left Behind'

Lizzy's 'Slow Burn'

Lizzy's 'Together in the Woods'

Lizzy's 'Popped Acorn'

Reed's 'Flying West For The Winter'

Reed's 'Grounded'

Reed's 'Wood Head'

Reed's 'Flowing Over the Edge'

Reed's 'Out of the Ruins'