Cherry blossoms, maybe not...

The trees are in bloom everywhere it seems. My allergies think so too. I don’t care how sniffley I get; it is all so beautiful that it is worth the sinus drip. I think these might be cherry trees but I am pretty sure I am wrong. They just caught my imagination this morning and I wanted to take their picture. April 30th

Round and round...

A very good friend took me out to lunch to celebrate my birthday. We told the server how long we’d been friends and sharing lunches and she said, ‘I hope my friends and I are like you when we are older.’ Um, OK, I felt old. I’m not but when a twenty-something wants to grow up to be like you… Well, the girl talk was fun and I got over my compulsive need to go search for gray hairs relatively quickly.

After lunch we stopped off for tea. We were having too much fun to go home that soon. I saw the carousel in the mall parking lot. The horses were just lined up waiting for the race to start. The fair wasn’t opening for hours but these guys looked raring to go. So the tally: my friend got me lunch, tea and my inspiration for the day, they were all really great birthday gifts! The necklace was lovely too! Thank you! April 29th

Happiness comes in purple...

Flowers make me happy and purple is my favorite color, so having this azalea blooming right outside my front door is heavenly. I love Spring. April 28th

What he saw...

Don’t let anyone tell you it is the equipment that makes you a good photographer. Oh, I like playing with the big toys too and all those fancy settings and buttons can get you out of a jam on occasion, but in the end so much has to do with how you see the world. My son sees it beautifully. One shot of the tulips and he was off to immortalize his friend’s dog, a dead tree stump, and a falling down house. No agonizing over angles or calculating light levels, when he likes what he sees he takes the shot. Plus, he took it with the camera in his Nintendo DSi! He told me I could post it here but I had to tell you it was his. Promise kept. :-) Awesome, right? He inspires me daily.

What he showed me...

Flowers are kind of a thing with me. You will probably figure that out as we go along. I wish I could say I spotted these, but I didn’t. My 9-year-old inspiration generator did and he dragged me over so he could take some photos. He was right, they were gorgeous. Sometimes beauty is right in front of us but we need a little help to see it. April 27th

At the carwash...

Plans are good, making them come together isn't always easy. I was in the carwash and the machine had just covered the car in a blanket of white foam. It was in that eerie, peaceful quiet before the water jets wash away the bubbles that I noticed them. They looked like diamonds dancing across the foam on the front window. As small bubbles would pop the sunlight would stream through for a second before the spray took their place. The dance was really beautiful and I reached for my camera. Yea, I had it! This was working! Oh no, there was no card! I had stored the cards after the morning’s session… a great plan that is truly a work in progress.

I didn’t give up though. I grabbed a new card and popped it into the camera just in time to see the water slipping and sliding along the windshield. They are handheld and unmetered, but I like them. I hope you do too. April 26th

On my birthday...

This all starts in earnest today, on my birthday. The sky was cloudy and the ground slightly damp from an earlier rain. The wildlife center was full of rich color. These are the images that grabbed my attention. The flowers just took my breath away. April 25th

The challenge...

As a photographer you would think the last thing I would find myself saying is ‘I wish I had my camera’ but I was saying that a lot lately. I love creating images for my clients but I guess, carrying my camera for a living, I sort of forgot to use it just for me. I would find myself driving down a road or taking a walk and wishing that I could capture some great moment that was about to pass me by but the camera was packed in the back with the session gear or I had left it at home!

There was a time when that was unheard of. I took so many images on a photo walk in San Francisco one year that my friends all asked if I managed to take two steps in a row without pressing the shutter. I’m not sure, but the images were amazing. Nine days in Italy resulted in 45 rolls of spent film and a very happy spirit: mine. Man, I wish I had my digital camera back then. Guess it is time to go back. My favorite memory: having passersby stop to see if I was OK because I was lying in a ditch on the side of the road trying to catch the sunlight as it streamed through the petals of an orange poppy. It was sweet that they stopped, right?

I am feeling those crazy urges again. Maybe not so much to lie in ditches but I love the idea of capturing the light in exciting ways. I know that every image taken helps inform the next. This year, along with the portraits and images I love to create for my clients, I will be creating some just for me. The challenge: to always have the camera ready and to capture at least one great photo story a day. I am so excited to see what happens. Just the thought of it is making me so happy.

If it sounds interesting to you, come back and see how it goes. Please make some comments too. I would love to hear what you think of the idea and the images. I am not sure how it is going to go, but I know I will have fun making it happen!

In this slightly lopsided world, here’s to viewing beauty where you find it.