Portraits

Portraits.

Portrait pictures, when done right, capture more than just a face or a moment.  They capture a story, a piece of someone's inner spirit.  They draw a connection and a bond between the subject and photographer, they allow a tiny glimpse into the person's soul, their thoughts and feelings.  These pictures, to me, do just that.  They allow the viewer a glimpse into the lives of these young children, who, despite living in an impoverished neighborhood in Mexico, display a joy and a hope that touches all who come into contact with them, whether directly in person in Tijuana or through the eyes of the camera half way around the world.  Despite all they have gone through in their young lives, they display a resilience, a joy, and a hope far greater than their current circumstances or situation, for true joy, true hope, come from the inner spirit.  By capturing their eyes, their spirits of resilience, I hope to inspire others, to look not at people's situations or backgrounds, but to look up from the phones and technology that so often crowd our vision, and look at people's eyes.  For therein, lies the picture of people's inner beings.

Keep on the Sunny Side

Sunset at Mt. Nebo a few weeks ago...reminds me of the song "Keep on the Sunny Side."

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side

Keep on the sunny side of life

It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way

If we keep on the sunny side of life.

Still Lifes

Sea Shells

Still life photography has always inspired me in capturing details, whether it be in nature or in everyday life.  It inspires me to take notice in the details of nature or the everyday and the mundane, and reminds me that the items and details we sometimes take for granted will not always be around.  In the case of flowers, such beautiful textures and colors that will slowly fade and shrivel up and be forever gone from physicality, only remembered by a simple photograph. Others may not find this photo of a flower particularly interesting or important in the history of the world, but to me, because I know their story, I received them for Valentine's Day, they and the picture are special to me.

  In the case of seashells, I collected these while on the beach for vacation over Christmas break.  Had I not collected them, washed them, and displayed them as a memento of my vacation, the beautiful and unique seashells, once home to various creatures deep under the sea, would be forgotten on the beach, discarded by their former owners of the ocean.  They would wash back and forth with the waves of the sea, and slowly break down into the tiny grains of sand, no beautiful to the unaided eye.  Instead, they would be perceived as a tiny speak of sand.  But when looked at through the lens of a microscope, they are no less beautiful, just smaller, microscopic versions of their former selves.

  In many ways, I think that people have these same perceptions of others, especially older people...they may perceive them as old and shriveled, broken down and discarded by the world, when in reality, they each have a story, one must only take the time to "look through the microscope," take the time to listen and talk with them, hear their stories from days of old, and not take them for granted.  Life is short for flowers, for seashells, and even for people.  But by taking the time to reflect, document, and preserve the memories, the mementos and the stories behind them, they will not be forgotten.

Bokeh

The word Bokeh, is a Japanese word for mental haze, from which comes bokeh photography, or the blurring of background highlights into shapes.  I very much enjoyed taking these photos and creating the bokeh effect by manipulating my camera settings.  While I like how all my images turned out, my favorite of the three is the first horizontal image of the cactus figure.  To my mind, the image evokes a sense of a desert night.  The viewer is up on hill overlooking a desert valley, with the cactus in the foreground light by the light of the moon.  In the background, the beige carpet seems to represent the sandy desert landscape, with the lights on the floor symbolizing a small desert town, the lights the many windows of the homes and buildings below in the desert oasis.  Furthermore, the lights hanging in the background seem to symbolize the millions of stars one may see on a clear desert night.  So while this is simply still life photography with bokeh, the image represents for me a much greater sense of a calm desert night under the stars.