A Rustic Perspectice

So I know I'm not the most faithful blogger. It's a good thing I made this a goal and not a resolution this year. (If you're a bit confused at this point, please feel free to check out ~My 2012 Goals~). However, I still find this experience to be a worth while venture....even if it does take me a month to write each post these days.

Last week, my folks were out of town on vacation. I was, of course, given the unglamorous job of watching over the house and feeding their pets everyday. This becomes quite a challenge with my schedule (and I only live one mile away). On one sunny afternoon my kids begged me to stay for awhile so they could play in the backyard and keep Bruiser, their adorable Bogle, company. I decided to pull my camera out and take in a few shots while I was enjoying the sudden free time we just created.

As I walked around my parents backyard, my perspective of my childhood home shifted as I took a deeper look from behind my lens. The little things that I often never notice were very present in my sight. The old eye sores that I'm constantly scolding my parents about and encouraging them to throw away, suddenly became pieces important pieces to story of their lives. I started to see the beauty in the clutter and half maintained plant life. My Dad's junk pile mysteriously transformed into this treasure full of stories that I can share with my kids.

I found old items that I made as a kid. Things that I'd made either in metal shop, wood shop, or even younger. I had discarded these items from my mind years ago. Yet my Dad still had them tucked away in his mound of what I considered "junk".  Maybe, it's the realization that time has slipped by so fast or the fact that "their" time has been measured by something so different than my own. I'm not sure exactly what happened in that moment, but I do know that I now look at my childhood home in a completely different light.


This is the house I grew up in and it oozes my parents from every square foot. However, instead of looking on as if it was caught in a time warp lacking modern style, I see the various odds and ends as segments in a storyline. The story of their life....and mine.

Time goes, you say? Ah no!

Alas, Time stays, we go.

~Henry Austin Dobson

 

Side Note: After I walked around for about an hour looking at everything, I realized I hadn't seen Bruiser in a while. I found him snoozing inside the air conditioned house. Apparently, he had opened the back door and let himself in. 

Such a spoiled dog :)

Bloopers, Blunders, and other Random Rookie Mistakes

Making mistakes simply means you are learning faster.   

 ~Weston H. Ago 

I picked up my camera for the first time about a year ago this March. As I sit here and reflect about this past year I am reminded of so many moments of awkwardness and quite a few mistakes along the way. The thought of it all puts such a smile upon my face as I see how far I've come in such a short amount of time. 

I am what you call a wall-bud. Now for those of you who need a definition...

Wall-bud: A more timid and distressed version of it's sister the wall-flower. 

A wall-flower is a shy person who has started the blossoming process to near completion. A wall-bud is still nervously waiting to spread it's petals, fearful that it's beauty will be squashed at the first stroke of light.  

So imagine the hilarity of a wall-bud becoming a photographer! In theory it seems as though photography would be a perfect match for the quiet, inquisitive, and artful wall-bud....but in order to photograph people I must converse with them. This is quite intimidating for someone like me. I am constantly stumbling over my words and descriptions of what I'm trying to achieve in the shot and then I fear I'm sounding quite unprofessional and unqualified. I'm sure it's probably quite commical if one were to watch from the sidelines.

With this in mind, you can only imaging how my first photo shoots went down. I would converse as little as possible leaving my clients to feel quite confused and probably alone in front of my camera. I feel almost mortified as I think back on those moments. However, I'm grateful for the learning curve it has provided for me and my future clients. I'm not saying I'm a full blown "flower" yet, but I think I'm starting to show a few more petals.

As a new photographer you can imagine my sheer thrill of the opportunity to photograph the "Pictures with Santa" this past December at Light The Night in Eastvale. It was such a fun experience and also another learning curve. I sat down the other day to look back on the event in order to brainstorm ways I can make the next event in April even better and more efficient. However, as I was taking this step back I went through the photos taken and realized that Lightroom had failed to upload all of the photos from that night. I then checked my online gallery and saw that sure enough I was missing a whopping 130 photos! During the holidays I had several people ask for more photos and I checked and rechecked and never saw that I was missing those photos. So needless to say, I feel completely awful and quite foolish at the moment. At least I know I will never make that mistake again.

I am a natural light photographer that is still learning about reflectors and manipulating the sunlight. I had one family shoot this year outside at a local park. I wanted to capture the glow of sunset in the sky so I decided to set the time close to sunset (obviously). Bad idea! Much to this sprouting photographer's surprise....once the sun starts to set, it goes down...fast. I was desperate to catch as much as I could in that short amount of time. I was starting to have a near panic attack as I was in a race with the sun and he wasn't taking any prisoners. In the end I had quite a few grainy shots that just didn't show the type of work I want to be known for. I have learned that I want to continue to push myself to become a better photographer, but I need to know my camera and my abilities and make sure I don't push too far.

Overall, this year has been a wonderful learning experience as I continue to move along this journey of photography. I can't wait to see what mistakes I make this year!

They say the Elephant never forgets, so I'm going to channel my inner-elephant and strive to make these mistakes count.

Now on a more serious note...

I would like to publicly apologize to the people who couldn't find their photos this Christmas. It was completely my error and I thank you for being so gracious about my blunder. I have now posted the rest of the images and you are all more than welcome to check them out if you're still interested.

February Photography Challenge

This February I've decided to take on the Photography Challenge I found on Pinterest. Each day I'm given a topic to take a photo of and it's been a wonderful challenge so far. I have taken photos of things that I normally wouldn't think to take a picture of and it also gives me a reason to get out there and use my camera. I love photography and I'm really enjoying the little moments I catch each day. So if anyone else wants to join me in this challenge feel free to check out my photography board on Pinterest. I would love to see what everyone takes photos of so feel free to post them here if you'd like to share. Here are a few that I have completed so far...

Who wouldn't enjoy this view everyday? My son is such a fun person to hang out with. He is showing me his spins here. :)

 

These guys actually go to my church, but I figured it was a safer way to take a photo. ;)

This photo comes from a passion and a single piece of paper. I've had a few comments on this photo already and all I did was sit down with a pen and just write how I felt. It doesn't take much to make a difference in this world. So find what you're passionate about and go after it. Every masterpiece has started with one brave step and a bucket full of passion. Grab your brush folks.... and paint.

"ALL THAT IS NECESSARY FOR EVIL TO TRIUMPH IS FOR  

GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING"     ~Edmund Burke

Happy Post Super Bowl Day

So yesterday was the Super Bowl and like every other great American I enjoyed watching all of the new commercials that came out. I decided to share a few just in case you missed them and happen to have the same humor/taste as I do....

~The Voice: I've never watched the show, but this commercial was pretty cute. I especially loved the ending since the unknown singer is one of my favorite actresses. I still can't believe how much her career has soared since the first facebook post about her hosting SNL.

~Vampire Party: So of course I would pick the Twilight spoof commercial. I know that many of us out there take into consideration the vampire killing ability of a cars headlights before purchasing our next vehicle. :)

~VW: Now I'm a sucker for anything involving dogs or Star Wars. So putting them together in this commercial was genius! Well I think so anyway...although I didn't see this one play yesterday...maybe it was during a chips and dip run to the kitchen. 
 

~Coca Cola: Of course these are the most adorable bears in the advertising business, but also we need to "bear" in mind that the polar bears are in danger due to environmental factors. I think it's a great way for Coca Cola to give back to a very important cause.

~Chrysler/America's Half Time: The best commercial of the year. Even though it's a car commercial it still had the most to say. It really tugged at my heart strings with where we are in America today and gave a sense of hope for the future. It does remind us to think about our purchases and make sure we strive to support American made products, for in return they support all of us....American's. 

Happy Birthday To Me

Okay so I haven't been too good with my blog this week. Apparently life decided to push "the fast forward button" on me (now if you're a parent you know I watch too much Nick Jr. after that comment).

Anyways, I'm excited that I am lucky enough to be on this earth to celebrate another Birthday today! Life is so precious and I know I often take it for granted, but today I am reminded of how quickly time flies by. I hope that everyone else has had an extraordinary day, because it is the first day of the rest of your life. We are only given so many.

This cute little frog caught my eye on our last trip to San Diego. He reminds me that life is about learning and to always keep myself open to new adventures.

"...And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. "

~Abraham Lincoln

Bits of Me...

-I love chocolate, but not just any chocolate. It has to be dark chocolate. Unfortunately, this is not a great item to bring around my house because my family can finish off anything related to chocolate in about 2.3 seconds....and believe me when I say I'm not exaggerating.

-I watch Modern Marvels on the History channel like it's my soap opera. I have to watch them at least twice a week. They talk about such fascinating stuff I wonder why everyone isn't glued to their TV! Don't worry I'm well aware of my nerdiness :)

- I hate to run, but I'm thinking about training for a 1/2 marathon this year. Could be a crazy idea, but hey....we only live once!

HOOOORAAAAYYY for me!!! I blogged 3x's this week and it was actually kind of fun. I'm definitely new at this, but with a bit of practice I could really get good. LOL! Well, at least I know I'll have this wonderful online journal to look back on in a few years.

Have a great weekend!

I Can Cook!

I LOVE to bake! There's a big problem with that though.....I end up eating what I bake! So it becomes a tricky balance for me to maintain. I have to curb my enthusiasm for baking and limit how many times a week I indulge in my mini fetish. Unfortunately, last month I discovered the Pillsbury website and now baking has become even easier. I just made monkey bread in 20 minutes and it was pretty tasty. Now I know it can't take the place of a true homemade dessert, but it was a great way to bake and include the kids with an easy to manage recipe.

The website has provided me with a few good dinner recipes as well...and I don't enjoy cooking. I'm so lucky to have a hubby who loves to cook, and he's really good at it too. I've made individual Pot Pies, and Chicken Stromboli which means I can now call myself a cook! Now if only I could figure out how to make the carbs drop off my body as quickly as they latch on I'd be a real genius. Until then I will continue to experiment with my new found cooking skills.

Happy Eating!

*I cheated with the photo this week. I was so excited to eat the bread I forgot to get a picture of it before it was gone. Apparently, we were all a bit hungry.