Professional broadcast journalist. Amateur photographer. Taking a picture a day for the next year.
Monday, September 28, 2015
Thursday, September 24, 2015
The creative process
But I find more and more, I still like the traditional book, the kind with real pages and a physical hardcover.
When I read that Elizabeth Gilbert was coming out with a new book, I immediately preordered it from Amazon.
It arrived this week and I am devouring it.
I love her writing. She's accessible, funny and whip smart.
And I also ordered the book on tape. She narrates it. On top of every thing else that's great about her, is her lovely voice.
I really like books on tape as well but sometimes, the voice of the author is so grating that I must stop listening. That is not the case here. If you loved reading "Eat,Pray,Love", do yourself a favor and get it on Audible or iTunes. Her lilting voice reading her own words about her own life bring so much more depth and meaning to her books. At least I think so.
So that's my picture for this day. A picture of a book. On how to be creative. Certainly not the most creative photo I've ever taken. But as Elizabeth tells me, sometimes just doing something, just putting down something, will put you in the path of a creative spark.
Monday, September 21, 2015
A work in progress
Friday, September 18, 2015
Watching the sun come up over the rooftops
It's always a good day when I get to watch the sun rise.
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Dusk and dawn he means.
The sun coming up reminded me of the Dan Fogelberg song "To The Morning:"
Watching the sun
Watching it come
Watching it come up over the roof tops
Cloudy and warm
Maybe a storm
You can never quite tell from the morning
And it's going to be a day
There is really no way to say no
To the morning
Yes it's going to be a day
There is really nothing left to say but
Come on morning
Sigh. I loved Dan Fogelberg in college. I bought all of his albums when I was in college. But stopped after I graduated even though he continued to make music. He died so young. Only 56. Of prostate cancer. That made me sad.
I sang that song in my head when I took this picture this morning. No matter what, it is going to be a morning. And sometimes just being in the now and in the presence of a beautiful sunrise, no matter that there's rain in the forecast, is enough.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
The dog days are over
Monday, September 14, 2015
Shining the light on my sensibilities as a photographer
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Serena goes for history
Monday, September 7, 2015
Kevin never labors; not even on Labor Day
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Why you gotta be so crepuscular and all
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Holmes out
Friday, September 4, 2015
Orange you glad I didn't post another picture of my cat
I think this is called a Red Ball Cactus. My kitchen is orangey. It sort of matches. |
Here's today's offering. Nothing fancy really. I like the colors mostly. My kitchen is sort of a rich terra cotta color so this cactus looks nice in it. Plus it's hard to kill which is always a plus when it comes to me and plants.
I used my big Nikon 70-200mm at 105mm, f/2.8 for 1/15 sec. ISO at 800. It's hard to get crisp low-light pictures with that lens so I sat at a chair at my kitchen counter and used my knee as a tripod.
The lens was refurbished and I bought it from the Nikon Store for a huge savings. It's expensive and heavy (nearly 2 lbs.) but what they call "fast glass" for action shots. I've had it nearly a year and it works perfectly. It was still very expensive even though it was refurbished, but I did save several hundred dollars. So far, worth the risk.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
You like me treadmill! You really like me!
My treadmill likes me better than any other machine I have.
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It didn't.
But as I'm running on my treadmill (OK, walking fast), I realized that of all the machines I have, my treadmill is the only one that tells me I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and yada yada yada.
Seriously.
Periodically when I look at it to see how fast and how far I've gone, a little bit of encouragement scrolls across the screen.
That message says "KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF."
When I see that I wonder who decided to add that feature to this treadmill? Did it have to go past some higher ups who decided "YOU CAN DO IT" was too derivative? The boss tells the underling in charge of authoring the treadmill messages, "Use BELIEVE IN YOURSELF instead! Our research shows people respond to that better than YOU CAN DO IT. You see, people need belief and hope before they actually can do it. So, change the program."
The defeated treadmill message writer went home and lamented that all his creative work was for naught. The boss shot down his idea. His wife left him because he was such a loser. He lost what little creative spark he had for his job and left the treadmill company. He found it very hard to believe in himself.
I imagine stuff like that when I see those messages. I usually shout back at the machine, "I DO believe in myself!" The cats look at me funny.
Anyway, that's today's picture. Nothing fancy. But all I got.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
The fog comes in on little cat feet
This is Miles. He's one of my two cats. Kevin is the other. My daughter bought me a little desk sign that says "All you need is love ... and a cat." Pretty much says it all.
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Ogden Nash wrote "The trouble with a kitten is that eventually it becomes a cat."
Anyway, I like cats. I really like MY cats. But I am afraid I'll resort to just taking pictures of them when my creativity wanes over the course of the next year. That may not be so bad though. After all, all you need is love. And cats.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
My own 365 project
The butterfly we called Bob. I've since learned it's likely a female Black Swallowtail based on the coloring. But she'll always be Bob to me. (Photo: Diane Larson)
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Since my school days and then my daughter's school days, September has always felt like the new year. The start of school. The start of fall which is my favorite time of year. I start more projects in September than at any other time.
I decided this would be when I start my 365 photography project. All kinds of people are doing it. I want to be part of the club.
I love to take pictures and want to force myself to hone my skills. This time last year, I studied photojournalism at Owens Community College. It helped. But months went by without me even picking up my camera. Life, you know. Gets in the way of stuff.
So I'm beginning my own 365 project on September 1. I intend to take a photo a day for the next year. I probably won't post every day. But I'll take a picture every day. My hope is that it will force me to learn what I need to learn to enjoy my photography more.
I'm doing this mostly for me. But I'm putting it out there, on this blog, for tens of people to see. The way I see it, it forces me to be a little more accountable to my intentions.
I took the picture above on the night before my daughter left for college. It seemed symbolic that a butterfly who'd been gestating in a cocoon attached to the side of a potted plant on my patio, would come to life on the eve of such a big transformation: My daughter going off to college and me coming home to my own empty cocoon.
My daughter named the butterfly Bob. I don't know why. Especially since I've learned that it's likely a female Black Swallowtail based on the coloring.
The thing about Bob is that she didn't fly away. She hung around. She let me take lots of pictures of her. So I lay down on the driveway with my old Nikon D40X and took that shot of Bob walking on by. Unfurling her wings. Getting her land legs. If that's a thing.
I think it's a fitting inaugural photo for my 365 project. May it inform my current transformation.
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