I am making an effort toward positive change. Loss is a strange thing. It is so difficult to simply pick up the pieces and move on. Sometimes it seems as easy as breathing, and other times as difficult as drowning. Or maybe that should be the other way around.

Today I took my camera out for the first time in weeks. I took pictures of flowers. Ha.

another shot

Just because it's my favorite of the 70+ I've taken so far.

My life has taken so many odd turns lately. Everything seems to be crashing about my ankles. I am trying very hard to remain positive, but it can be difficult.

On the plus side, I'm scheduled to shoot four different families so far for my final project. I started with mine (hey, why not?). I should have more than sufficient images by the time I'm done. If nothing else, taking pictures is amazing stress relief.



Meditation on Straws.

(click fo' bigga)
1250ISO
26mm 3.2@1/50; 70mm 3.2@1/80

Assignment 3

A Day in the Life of Emma

Emma, age 1, was diagnosed with Anemia in February of 2009. She starts every day with a Flinstone's vitamin mixed into her bowl of cereal. Despite the fact that the vitamins taste like candy, she has not embraced this change.

Mara, Emma's mother, and Emma walk the wide swath of asphault that cuts through the open space near their home.

Emma's mother, Mara, is eight months pregnant. Here Emma objects to Mara's refusal to carry her the rest of the way home.

Emma's inquisitiveness over the camera supercedes even the importance of snack time.

Emma clasps her mother's wrist as they go through their thrice daily ritual of dental hygiene.

One of the most important things I learned about this assignment was not to leave the finishing touches to the last minute. Modern technology can make a thirty minute project turn into 4 hours of stress.

we like the moon

70mm/2.8@1/10

For my Day in the Life project, I decided to shoot one of my husband's coworker's children. She is a year old, and absolutely adorable. I don't know her parents much beyond the occasional meeting, so it was awkward to ask, but they were more than happy to accommodate me. There are a lot of challenges to shooting people you don't know very well, and I learned a lot today about positioning, anticipation, and being willing to just click the shutter and grab the shot even if it's not Perfect. I'm going back for more of the routine behavior, and I hope to apply some of my on-the-spot learning to that. I took a lot of shots, many of them largely documentary, but some of them just pretty. I'll post the more documentary ones after I have finished my final edit. Here are a few of my favorites from today.

the good things

(click fo' bigga)