Perception is fragmented

About this photo: This mirror was found roadside. Some of the best objects are "found objects". I thought it was interesting that the mirror reads "OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR", especially since the mirror is reflecting the sky and clouds. Is the sky really closer than it appears?
Looking at this photo makes me wish I had taken the mirror with me and made it into a photo-series. Perhaps I will find a junk yard this summer and try to locate a similar mirror. I love how the cracks and fissures in the broken glass are contrasted by the soft organic lines of the rocks.

Take time to stop and smell the flowers

 I was in a very long, very slow bank line today and the woman standing in front of me was fidgeting restlessly back and forth. She finally stepped out of line and went to find a manager to  see if she could expedite the line. She came back with a smile on her face and said, "sometimes you just have to complain to get something done". I replied "Oh, I'm in no rush". She looked at me with a puzzled look and said "And why is that"? I explained to her, It is my belief that the universe is out to support my happiness and if I have to wait in a long line, then maybe  I needed to slow down for a moment. She laughed and said," well that seems like a much better outlook on life, I should try that some time".
Afterwards, I went to pick the girls up from school and when my youngest wanted to stop and smell the flowers, I told her I thought that was a fine idea and we should all take the time to stop and smell the flowers (even though I knew tulips weren't scented). She would have never know that unless I let her smell them for herself.
About the photo: I shot this with my point & shoot Sony Cyber-shot.
Soft blur on foliage using Onone focal point.

Exploring Relationships-part 2

The coolest thing happened,

I was out shooting on tuesday, working on my "relationships" series. I wanted to take my "models" on location around the city. This shot was taken on a fire hydrant. As I was shooting a nice man on a bike & trailer stopped to ask me about my photo project. I was only to happy to depart from my current task and share with him. I am always so pleased when someone (anyone) takes an interest in my creative endeavors. After a 15 minute conversation, Dave asked me if he could make a post about me in the Ann Arbor Chronicle. I was completely flattered. So I thought I would share the shot he found me taking. The link for the article is below, you can see the fire hydrant behind me. Now you all know the secret to my elaborate landscapes (fire hydrants) lol. I will be continuing this series over the next month so please share your thoughts & ideas.

Ann Arbor Chronicle article

Exploring Relationships

We often draw from previous life events to make sense of new information. I created this series in hopes of exploring the dynamics of relationships and the interaction of human beings. I hope that others are able to identify with these images & find comfort in visual story telling. Please feel free to leave comments and share what the story means to you.

About the image: Experimenting with macro photography " creatively".
I found these little plastic figures at a shop downtown and thought they would make for a nice photo series, since I am wanting to explore macro photography. However I don't yet own a macro lens so I tried to recreate the function of one.( I used a magnifying glass) I narrowed it down the image from 7 to 3 but still couldn't choose just one, so I decided to do a tryptic. The aspect ratios are different, creative problem solving.. add a film border (I think it lends to the feeling of a series of events).

Earth Day

The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. This was 7 years before I was born. I was just a twinkle in my mothers eye but I'm sure I was there in spirit. I'm just glad someone had the sense to say "Hey you guys are making a mess of things."

About the photo: I am always looking for heart shapes. I suppose you could say I'm looking for love in all the wrong places, ha-ha. On this morning I got up with the sun. When I saw the dew on the grass outside I grabbed my camera and headed to the back yard to try and shoot my roses. On my way to the flower beds I saw this single leaf laying on the ground.
It was just one of those moments where nature surprises you by giving you something better than you could have asked for. I felt this image was appropriate for Earth Day, hope you enjoy.

Processing: Lowered the luminance levels on the green, shifted the hue (orange to red) on the leaf & added a round vignette. 

The flowers on Main street

Today while having lunch downtown Ann Arbor I met an artist by the name of John A. Copley who was painting flowers on windows at the Melting Pot. I complimented his work, he complimented me on my sparkle nail polish, then proceeded to show me the sparkles he carries in his rolling work cart he brings for supplies on location.
 If I could, I would cover the whole world in sparkles. A sparkle suggests a hint of magic, a microscopic piece of a rainbow. Weather of not we know it, we are all in love with sparkles. The stars sparkle at night. Freshly fallen snow sparkles in the morning sun. We gather every 4th of july to watch enormous sparkles fill the sky. There is an entire industry built on cutting and polishing gem stones so that we may enjoy a small (expensive) sparkle. So, here's to John and all the other sparkle lovers out there in the world, keep shining we could all use a little more magic and sparkles.

The photograph: I chose a close-up of John's hand painting details on the petals of the flowers. I have always felt there is a correlation between the dedication level of an artist and the condition of their hands. Below is a link for John's site if you are interested in visiting more of his work.
http://www.johnacopley.com/home.htm

The eyes are the window to the soul.

As a photographer I've always been drawn natural light. There is something so rewarding about watching the sunlight interact with an environment.

On this morning my daughter was laying on the patio couch. The lattice made dynamic diamond shapes across the porch. These diamonds are often found in Picasso's  acrobat pictures.
This moment highlighted one of her most stunning features. It is those big sweet eyes that pull at my heart strings. This is what comes to mind when someone mentions the word "Blue". Now that's a blue I can live with.