Say cheese!

On August Break.

Breakfast, Cafe

On August Break.

At the Pier

This week, I'm on August Break.

Flowers on Film

Of the three rolls of film I got back recently, which comprise eighty-four or so shots, the number of photos of flowers was a bit astounding to me. These number nine and, yes, there are more. I think having a second spring sent me into a flower-seeking frenzy, but it might have more to do with my lack of inspiration when we first arrived. Flowers are easy and pretty and photogenic. However, I now realize that if you've seen one flower, you've seen them all. Oh, well.

Learn to Love the Questions

I'm not sure what it is about New York, but we always end up near the water. We set out to feed ducks, got sidetracked at the photography store where I bought a new (awesome!) lens for my camera, and ended up wandering by the creek in the park. It's a chilly day for the end of June.

Yesterday an email from one of my professors reminded me to try to enjoy the uncertainty of things and, as Rilke says, to learn to love the questions. The Rilke quote is an important reminder:

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.

The Eastman House, Film, and Photography Love

Yesterday I took the afternoon to wander around the George Eastman House, looking at photographs and taking photographs. Many times I've visited, but never with camera in hand, never with a real interest in any of it.

I had read in the paper that Steve McCurry was giving a lecture at five o'clock about his shooting the last roll of Kodachrome film that was ever developed. Count this among the reasons I'm glad we're back in Rochester. The lecture was fantastic, energizing, and humbling. I have so much to learn about taking photographs and honestly I was far more fascinated by his discussion of craft than his descriptions of his subjects. The story behind this photo, though, was as captivating as the photo itself.

I don't know what, if anything, I'll ever do with all this photo making. All I know is that I love taking photographs. I love that there is so much to learn. I love the trial and error. I love the good shot and the bad. I love that it's often simpler than writing but just as profound. Mostly, I love the deep satisfaction I get from capturing the beautiful things in this world.

At the Ball Park

Huddled near the dugout are a handful of folks, cameras in hand. They have lenses longer than my arm and can no doubt get the closeup shot I never will with my dinky 18-55mm lens. However, I'm here to say that no matter what camera you have or what average lens you use, you don't need fancy equipment to make a photo unique and special.

I'm not here to toot my own horn, just to say that spending thousands of dollars on special equipment doesn't necessarily make you a good (or better) photographer, and it isn't required to take a good shot. What is required is creativity and practice (seriously, practice is key!). I'll say what I've already said a thousand times: the 365 project changed the way I take photographs and made me a better photographer. I am grateful for what my little kit lens can do, though I have my eye on a new lens, which I hope to get very soon.

At any rate, my brother had a baseball game today and it turned out to be a beautiful day for baseball. It was seventy and sunny, and though the game ended in a loss, the day was lovely. In fact, this weekend was pretty perfect: we bought a car, went on a date, slept late, and took a long drive to an exciting baseball game. Yes, it was very, very good.

All Things Easter and Otherwise

This week we did so many things.

We hunted eggs and celebrated a little friend's second birthday. We thought we sold our truck, learned the buyer's loan was denied, and immediately got a call from another buyer who had cash. We packed and ruthlessly reduced our wardrobes. I got a new freelance job, had a panic attack, and realized it will all work out in the end.

Adam and I went out for the first time in two months. We had dinner with friends, one of whom gave me four rolls of film. That on top of the seven rolls I had ordered that were delivered a few days before, and I would say that I am set on film for quite some time. The butter was even bumped from its compartment in the fridge because of all that film!

Today I saw the local photo shop is taking old photo equipment for cash. We have a few old cameras kicking around here (including the one that malfunctioned near Lily's birth) and I'm hoping I might get enough cash to buy a few more rolls of film. However, if it's enough to buy one of these, I'd take that over film any day.

Happy Easter! He is risen, indeed!

A Little Collaboration

I am delighted to have been asked to collaborate with my friend Daniel Bowman at the Art House Blog today. Four of my photos and five of his poems are featured. His poetry is lovely, and I am grateful for having such talented friends. Be sure to check it out!

Things We Learned at the Zoo

Just because you're pretty doesn't mean you aren't annoying.

Cats are lazy, no matter what their size.

If you have wings and know how to use them, no barrier can contain you.

It's tough being a fifth wheel.

Mama's arms are the safest of places.

Holding Daddy's hand is a safe place, too.

Nothing is better than being together, wherever we are.

Holga Love

After exhausting the limits of my patience by sending three rolls of film off to a lab in Kansas (do you know how long it takes to shoot three rolls of film, two of which were 36 exposures? a long, long time), I finally got my prints back. All 84 of them, including my first roll from my Holga.

I can't even begin to explain how overjoyed I am. Not only did the photos turn out okay (Holgas don't have light meters, which ups the guesswork to the nth power), but they came on a day when the perfect storm of awful seems to be raging at full force. What I needed was time to play on the computer, scan my photos, and post them online, while enjoying a beer in the middle of the afternoon.

It's the small things, I tell ya.

These photos are from a carnival I stumbled onto while wandering around downtown during Mardi Gras. Want more Holga photos? Click here or here.

See What Happens

We sat down at the table and ordered a pitcher of beer. It's so close to Mardi Gras, but rain held off the parades, so Adam was unexpectedly home. We went out for a much-needed burger. Lily sipped water from a straw. Adam and I drank Yuengling.

I pulled out my camera, the 35mm one. Last week I bought myself a Holga, finally, so now I am juggling three cameras at once. Knowing which one to shoot is like drawing straws. I lift my camera to take a picture of a row of tables. We are at a restaurant called Butch Cassidy's, and the decor is, in a word, Americana. But it's also Mardi Gras, so there are purple, green, and gold decorations hanging from the ceiling and the bartender is dressed as a Mardi Gras-style Cleopatra.

I tell Adam that I want to stand up and take a photo of the decorations. "That's the owner," he says, looking at the pony-tailed guy behind the bar. I recognize him from the commercials. "Do you think he'll have a problem with it?" I ask. Already I feel like dog with my tail between my legs. I won't stand up. I won't take the photo I want. Instead I snap a photo of our beer and a quick one of the bar when the man is back in the kitchen. I'm a chicken.

Just the other day I went downtown to take photos of Mardi Gras carts and beads hanging from the trees. I drove around a bit to scout out a location, parked the car, and went on my way. And then I was bashful. Should I take a photo now? All these people are around. I talked myself up onto the ledge and then back down. What would I think if I was walking down the street and saw a photographer with her camera pointed into a tree? I would think, that's awesome, and nothing more.

So I stepped into the midst of a carnival being set up and snapped a few photos. I walked right up to a flowering bush and snapped another. When someone looked at me, I said hi. When they walked by, I said hi. It's far easier to psyche myself out of doing something because I feel foolish than to just do it and see what happens. And so I just have to do it, take the leap or the photo or whatever needs to be done, and see whatever might be.

Lily at the Playground

Our adventure with the geese the other morning led us to the neighboring playground where Lily played and played until she couldn't stand it anymore. She actually figured out how to climb up a slide, which was pretty amazing. More amazing that we can take her to the playground and she can keep herself entertained without us constantly being by her side. I like that part.

 

Just as were about to wrap things up, Adam took the camera (something he rarely does) and snapped a few photos of me and my girl.

It was a beautiful day. I am a lucky lady.

Happy weekend, folks!