Phone Home?

Traveling in a foreign country and being immersed in its culture bring about feelings of curiosity, discomfort, and awkwardness. Although it sounds as comfortable as an ill-fitting suit, a degree of self-confidence is attained when you settle in to your own. Your eyes become open to the way the rest of the world lives and you build an appreciation and understanding for customs and traditions not your own. Seeing something as ‘different’ rather than wrong will broaden your life experience. As a photographer attempting to capture the difference in culture or maybe even the same-ness in human nature you have to establish some rapport or trust between you and your subjects. This is the process I will continue to challenge tomorrow. My hope is to not only to reflect the culture and its people in my photos but also to show something about myself.

Sense of Place

While wandering around the Jardin in Guanajuato last night I started to wonder: Do I give my photographs a strong

sense of place? Do I include enough information in my photographs to relate them to their surroundings? Is this always necessary? This is an area I struggle with. My goal is to make 'place' matter in my photographs. Connecting the 'what' in my image to the 'where'. I want to include enough information in my photos to tell a story or at least begin to tell a story with my viewer. And using the information in the 'where' to define a mood and the feel of the place I am visiting.

Pondering Fear and Art Making

As I plan the next step of my artistic endeavors, I can't help but recognize how the amount of fear in this process equally parallels with the excitement of it all. Fear of failure. Fear of losing my creative edge. Fear of wanting to quit, quitting, and never starting again. I could go on, but will stop there to save my sanity. In all honesty, I have stopped making art for awhile but I didn't quit. Or maybe I haven't really stopped at all. I can see the images I want to create in my head. Perhaps I am just waiting for the right time to share them with the outside world. Now is that right time. The only way I can grow and improve is to learn from every piece of art I create. And to feed off that piece and let it fuel me for the next piece. I want those images in my head to reflect the work I have created rather than the work I am hoping to create. Either way, no matter what I do, I will learn something from this process. There really are no mistakes to be made. So there is nothing to be afraid of.

I started this blog in the early summer of 2008. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. Some of it murky. Some of it clear. Beginning a new year now with many exciting times ahead, I hope to continue to stretch my creative wings and, you guessed it, fly. Moving on means moving forward and not looking back. So I have got my head up, my eyes peeled, and I intend to not miss a thing.

A Return to a Place I Love

In a couple of weeks I will return to central Mexico for a photographic journey. I visited this magical place three years ago and am excited to return. I will join Eddie Soloway, (www.eddiesoloway.com) and 10 other creative people at the beautiful Hacienda Las Trancas (www.HaciendaLasTrancas.com) just outside of San Miguel de Allende in the state of Guanajuato. Eddie will lead us on an explorative photographic journey and I can hardly wait. After a visit with friends for several days in Guanajuato I will join the five day workshop and then spend several days in San Miguel. This picturesque colonial city was founded in the 1540's.

San Miguel is a photographer's dream with its vibrant colors, nearly baroque architecture, and its ever-present blue sky, combine to enrich the vision and creative spirit of any artist.

Home

I have finally found a place to call home! In April I am moving to Hawaii to make art.

Time Goes By

Here I am again. Slowly trying to catch up on my blog. I am teaching photography now and loving it. Hoping to inspire my students with each and every class.

Image Transfers

I have been working on making images to use in the transfer process. Using digital prints and then copying them onto Fuji film I am achieving the textured and surprise of unexpected results that oftentimes happen. I am focusing on architectural elements, photographing them in color, adjusting them to black and white in Photoshop, and printing them on Fuji (I miss Polaroid) color film. I will be posting some images soon.

Time Flies When You Are

January 11, 2010. That couldn't be right. I am teaching Beginning Digital Photography and Adobe InDesign at Shoreline Community College this term. I am living in downtown Seattle and loving it. Stay tuned. Good things in a new year are sure to happen.

Last afternoon in Kauai

It was my last afternoon in Kauai and I wanted to capture the color of blue the sky was showing us. Knowing that I was returning to Seattle and unsure of when I would see that color again, I couldn't help but make this image.

Another beautiful day. Kauai.

At first I wasn't sure what I wanted to photograph while visiting Kauai. Apparently, a theme is developing.

Kauai

Today I woke to the sounds of birds singing, a warm breeze, and a beautiful sunrise. I wanted to photograph some local boys surfing. This is taken at Hanalei Bay Beach near Princeville on the North shore.