~~Opening Your Heart~~

Being a good photographer starts with opening your mind and your eyes.  You need to see things/event/people in ways that no one else does.  It requires keen skills of observation...not just looking around...observing.  It require that you are mindful when you are looking around.

However, you can be a good photographer by opening your mind and your eyes, but if you want to be a great photographer, you must also open your heart.  Love your surroundings, even if they are not loveable.  Love your subjects without judgment.  Want the best for your clients.  Love your clients and enjoy observing them opening their minds, eyes and hearts.

A client learning how to “see” differently to become a better photographer

~~Confidence is Weird~~

Confidence is critical to success in anything and everything we do. But confidence is not easy to come by.

I have a client that is an antique map trader, and he could not take proper photographs of his maps to sell on line.  He hired a dozen...yep...a dozen...photographers to help him take better photographs. Then he called me.

“I have ZERO experience taking photographs of antique maps, but I will give it a go with you,” I explain to him over the phone. He hires me, and I promptly panic. I have no clue about what I am doing. I reach out to photography forums, to my buddies and to the internet for ideas. I want to help my clients, but I don’t have a clue. I don’t know what I am doing.

The day arrives for me to tackle the task. I pack up all my gear...or a lot of it...and I trek to his place way out in the desert.

After seeing his set up, I simply tell him to change one thing at a time.  He starts to write everything down.  I say, “No. Only write the formula when we get it right.”

After just a few tweaks here and there with his set up, his lighting, his camera settings and his post work...viola!!  He was thrilled!  And by thrilled, I mean he had tears in his eyes, saying that these were the best photographs he has ever made....(and that was after taking 400 before I got to his place).

We never even unpacked my gear.

Yes.... Confidence is weird.

~~One Word~~

I read an article the other day that suggested that ONE work could change your life for the better....just ONE WORD!

(Insert drum roll here....)

The one word:  Nonetheless


Check out these examples of how to use "nonetheless":

• It is cold/hot outside; nonetheless, my entire day goes better after a brisk walk.
• 
  
• That piece of cake is "calling" me; nonetheless, the extra sugar will make me feel guilty and isn't for me anyway.
• 
  
• I don't feel like making that overdue phone call; nonetheless, when I make it, it will be off my mind.
• 
  
• I would like to spend the entire day crocheting on the couch; nonetheless, I get more done after a good hike <---Lacing up my hiking boots right now....

Purrl and I doing yoga after saying "nonetheless"

Getting Ready for an Adventure...IS an Adventure!

As I a get ready for my Nome, Alaska, Gold Expedition adventure, I realized that getting ready for an adventure IS an adventure in and of itself.

I had to buy a new wardrobe of camo cargo pants, tops and camo boots. 

I had to learn what a "water straw" is and how to use it.  And "Frog Togs" were never in my vocabulary prior to this.

Even the mental preparation is an adventure, as I will be doing things I've never done with people I've never met.  And the things I will be doing will not be easy things.  We will be hiking miles upon miles everyday in unknown Alaska tundra. I will be hauling camera equipment through this, using my monopod as a walking stick.


I will be eating outside, fighting bugs, and holstering bear spray.  For two weeks, I will be living in heightened state of constant awareness.



I am sure it will be absolutely exhausting...in a good way.

~~Snow Day Ruminations~~

The weatherman on television keeps reminding me the Anchorage has not had this much snow in the last five years combined.  How can that make me feel better?  It doesn't, so he can quit now.

I am amazed that people are amazed that I took a trip to Alaska, all alone, for two weeks...in February. Now that I write that, I get it.  It does sound "outrageous."

But really, what is so outrageous about chasing a dream?  To me, it is more outrageous NOT to.

Yes, I planned. I researched. I wrote copious note about how to photograph the Northern Lights (Automatic focus, ISO 800, 30 second shutter.... tripod, trigger, etc.)  I'd be lying if I said that I am not disappointed that the Anchorage atmosphere didn't give me even one lousy clear night. I am.

There are life lessons in every experience.  I love that.  One of the greatest life lessons is that you can plan for events, but you need to let life surprise you.  If you plan too much, life can be disappointing. I choose to be surprised!


I didn't plan for this....but I was happily surprised....

So.......

~~Road to Seward~~

Beluga Point

Seward Highway Panorama

Iditarod, Mile 0

Port of Seward

~~Out and About~~

Anchorage Skyline from Cook's Inlet

Glacier Brewhouse

Crab Cakes

Hummus

~~Last Chance for the Dance~~

The weather has not been cooperating...but the weatherman told me...maybe tonight....

~~Kincaid Park~~

Popular in Anchorage...

but not so much on the day I went....

Sunrise at Kincaid

Swimming Hole

Isolation

Back at Humpy's in Anchorage....Comfort Chili!

~~Estes Street Photos~~

The Stanley Hotel

Enjoy a morning walk through and around Estes Park, Colorado!

The Stanley at Dawn

~~Big Mac~~

The Mackinac Bridge spans the Straits of Mackinac to connect the upper lower peninsulas of Michigan. "Big Mac," opened in 1957 and is the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere at just over 8K long.