You may not be a Picasso or Mozart, but you don’t have to be. Just create to create. Create to remind yourself you’re still alive. Make stuff to inspire others to make something too. Create to learn a bit more about yourself.

 ~ Frederick Terral 

I’ve always believed art is important. Whether it’s just looking at it or creating something new. It does remind us we are alive. That life is more than just bills and work and simply existing from day to day. Art can bring us joy, sadness, contentment, fear… a whole range of emotions. Do something today other than think about what’s for dinner. Pick up an art book, sketch something, write a poem, anything that uses another part of your brain. It might wake something up in you that you never thought existed before. 

Just a little something for today:

We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

~ e.e. cummings

When I first picked up a camera I became obsessed. I read every book I could get my hands on. I went to the library constantly searching for something I hadn’t seen before. I watched tutorials and begged, borrowed, and stole as many educational DVDs I could. I even found a few classes to take at a local photography school.  For me, it was not just a matter of picking up the camera and learning by using. It took a lot of time and research for me to feel like I had a handle on just the basics. It was kind of frustrating for me recently, to have come across a set of DVDs that would have saved me SO much time and energy (and money). Karl Taylor’s Masterclass series is amazing. He is one of the best photographers in the UK and the way he teaches makes it feel like you are getting a one-on-one lesson. He goes from the very basics of figuring out aperture and shutter speed to painting with light to figuring out what equipment you need if you want to go pro. He has such a great teaching style and his photographs (in every single genre) are incredible. I think my favorite of his series, though, is not a part of the Masterclass series. He just released it a few months ago and it is called “Better Photos With Your Compact Camera”. It is geared to people who just want to get better family photos or vacation shots and, to me, it is well worth the $30 price tag. So much so that I am going to buy a couple for gifts. When most photography DVDs are running between $150-$300 Karl’s definitely have the most bang for your buck. Hours of training, plus free online tutorials which he adds to on a regular basis. All of this to say if you are in the slightest bit interested in learning more about how to use your camera, then check these out. 

In every story I have heard, good teachers share one trait: a strong sense of personal identity infuses their work.

 ~  Parker J. Palmer

These are some of the same flowers that I bought at the grocery store last week. I took them outside and loved the way the reds and greens came together. I’m not a big fan of either color, but these two together just seem so peaceful. 

Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances. 

 ~  Mohandas K. Gandhi

On days that I get to shoot I get so excited; not knowing what the day will bring, hoping for something new to pop up. I try to get out after dropping my daughter at school. Lately this is right at sunrise so I can usually count on some good light. Last week I packed my gear, got us both in the car, dropper her off, and set out to find something interesting. As I was driving I realized the sun might be coming up, but it was behind some very ugly looking, hazy clouds. This was not looking good. I drove around to a few places, but absolutely nothing was catching my eye. I decided I could either keep driving around and get more and more frustrated or I could do something different, so I headed to the grocery store and bought myself some flowers. I’m not big on shooting indoors,  but it’s always good to challenge yourself. I think next time I’ll need to buy some tulips.

I’ll never have a problem remembering my dad’s birthday. Since he was born the same day as Elvis (and took great pride in that fact) it’s kind of hard to forget. He would have been 70 years old yesterday, which is kind of strange to think about. My dad was pretty creative, although I don’t think he ever would have thought of himself that way. He had this talent for hearing a song on the radio and immediately being able to play it on the piano, picking out chords and all. He was never an artist, but I do remember sitting at the table as a girl with him trying to teach me how to draw. He seemed to know what he was doing, but I was never very good. I thought I had inherited very little talent when it came to creative things. I tried. I took art classes, took piano lessons, but I never felt like I had a special “gift” at doing any of those things. My siblings seemed to have gotten the talents I missed out on. I always felt pretty average. I’m not saying this to feel sorry for myself, it’s just a fact. It took me awhile to find the one thing I felt I could do well. I spent years trying different things, just because I wanted to. I was never any good at any of them, and never really expected to be, until I got to photography. Photography took me by surprise. It still does. I get shocked when I come back from a shoot with images I love. I’m flattered beyond measure when someone buys one of my prints to put in their home. I’m so proud of what I do and thrilled that life is a continuous journey. You don’t have to pick something at 18 and be stuck with that for the rest of your life. You don’t even have to do that at 40 (or, I would imagine, at 60). There is a joy in figuring out new facets of yourself at any age, at least there has been for me. I think my dad would have been proud, not because I’ve discovered some long-hidden talent, but because I’m content in who I am. After all, that’s really what matters, right?

If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so foaming, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!

 ~  Soren Kierkegaard

We got back to California (after our short trip to Utah) to nearly 80 degree weather, with no change in sight. I love shooting in the snow, probably because it doesn’t happen very often. Everything looks so fresh and clean (very symbolic for the beginning of a new year, right?).  I found these wonderful berries and spent so much time shooting I couldn’t feel my fingers by the time I went back in. 

I am determined to take today as the beginning it is. I always love New Year’s Day because it reminds me there is always hope to start things over, to grow, to move forward. Although I know I’ll make plenty of mistakes this next year, I can move beyond the mistakes of the past. Of course it always helps to end and begin the year on a high note and I am very excited to be able to do that. After my stint at Heirloom Claremont I now have some of my prints showing at the Klatch in Rancho. If you find yourself in the area make sure you stop by. They will be there through the end of January.

 My display at the Klatch:

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. 

 ~ Charles Dickens

I got a phone call this morning telling me that the images I had submitted for a contest back in September had won first place in my category. I have to admit that my first thought was that it was some sort of scam. It’s not often I get a phone call from someone saying I’ve won something and when I do it’s usually because they want something from me. He was just calling to verify my address so they could send me the $250 gift card to B&H Photo (really?!?). That’s quite a Christmas present. I was told they would get in touch with me in January about the rest of the prizes – one of which is having the images published in Rangefinder magazine. I think I’m still in shock.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

 ~ Buddha

The end of the year always makes me get a little introspective. I start to think about the past year; what has changed (for the better or worse), what has stayed the same, and what I can do to improve things in the future. I wasn’t sure at the beginning of the year where my photography business would be at this point. Always hoping for the best but never quite sure what the future would hold. Looking back I have  a lot to be grateful for. I had two gallery shows and one more planned for the next year. This was very scary for me, wondering if people would like it, having eyes on me and my work. I’m not a fan of being the center of attention, but seeing something you have done hanging on a wall outside of your own house is kind of awesome. I also started selling prints this year. It is extremely humbling knowing someone not only likes your work, but wants it hanging in their home. All of this, in addition to having the ability to get outside and not just photograph, but really appreciate nature, gives me a lot to be thankful for. It has been a great year and I am so excited about the possibilities for 2012.

Let go of the past and go for the future. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you imagined.

 ~  Henry David Thoreau