Summer..??

This post is way overdue.  Here's a shoot I did with two of my wonderful, special friends/family members. Hopefully you'll see the beauty and specialness in these two, the way it shines out of them in person, through these pictures.  It was a really fun day, the rain played games, hid and came back a few times.  It made for some excellent pictures. 

New Orleans

I recently had the chance to visit the great city of New Orleans.  I'm working on the pictures, here's the first one I've finished.

What's most important about this trip though wasn't caught on camera: the amazing sessions and education I got from the seminars.  4500 people attended the American Counseling Association conference and the town was abuzz with therapists and educators.

I'm so thankful for all I learned.

..More to come on this..

Alex's senior pictures

Today I had the privilege to spend some time doing a senior picture photo-shoot with Alex, a youth in my husband's program.  This was so much fun, we took pictures in areas surrounding his high school.  Some details so you understand some of the pictures: He's worked at Chick Fil A for the past two years, he has a favorite bench in the area, there are some pictures of texting (does this really need explaining?!).  This was a lot of fun, and I'm hoping to have the chance to do this type of shoot again soon

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1,2,3

There are so many things I'd like to blog about right now.  I should make an outline, because I know I won't get to it all, so this can provide me with a place to start when I come back.

1.  Definitions of self, expectations, etc
2.  The new mantra
3.  Slowing down time

1.  After a solid 9 hours of sitting in class (2 hours was in the library reading, but let's call it class) on Tuesday, walking to my car a wave hit.  The week had been spent prepping for an exam I had the following day.  This exam had been sitting on my shoulder stressing me the whole week.  I was dreading taking it the next day, but more so dreading the possibility of not coming out of it with an A.
What does it say about me  if it's not an A?
Well that gets me to 2. The new mantra.  It's not about the grades, it's about learning to be competent in my profession.  A grade is a tangible, quantifiable expression of the hard work I'm performing in my program. But I'd like to think that the real expression of how hard I'm working will come out in my practice.
I don't know when I got so fixated on the grades.  I am disappointed in this mindset, because the reality is, it's not the point.
In fact, it baffles me that grades are even necessary in graduate school.  Shouldn't we be to the point where we're all here because we want to be?  Because we want to better ourselves?  Because we truly care about this profession and are willing to work hard to protect competent practice?

So 3.  It's truly important to me to take some time to breathe.  I'm working on this piece.  Honestly speaking, I still feel like there's a lot of pressure on me, albeit knowing I'm the only one placing it there.  I'm working on it!
Breathe 1,1,1, 2,2,2, 3,3,3....

Turkey etc.

Nope, I didn't get one single picture of that delectable turkey.  In those moments, my focus really was getting the food made and not on the pictures.  I'm trying to improve my skills in both photography and cooking, and trying to do them both at the same time just doesn't really work out!

Thanksgiving, hmm..what a day!  Something I heard recently that I found so important: To check one's motivations.  Are you doing each task out of love or fear?  Fear is a motivator, and can move us to do things we'd prefer not to do, just to avoid negative outcomes.  

I'd like to do more things out of love.  Love for the people I'm doing them for, love for my crafts, love for the beautiful moments.  But I, just as the rest of us do things out of fear of negative consequences as well.  

The take-home message of this post: Fear or love?  You make the call.

-ae.

Vacation!

These are my top favorite Costa Rica pictures.  Why are these my favorite?  I'm not sure why, but they just are.  Thanks to the humidity, there were very few good pictures.  The lens would fog up almost instantaneously.  I'm realizing that I really like taking pictures of nature, or life just as it happens.  I'm really less into still photos of people smiling than of capturing motion, the life that's constantly updating moment to moment.

I'm reading a great book about mindfulness.  I'm taking it in really small pieces, as it's so large to take in at once.  The analogy was about a man eating a tangerine, which he had sectioned.  Before he had finished one slice, he was already about to pop the other one in his mouth.  The teacher noted that he really couldn't enjoy the bit in his mouth while he was looking toward the next piece.  Somehow this really relates to my goals with photography.  

I want to capture moments, (as they really happen).  Like this one with the horse, while I don't know these people (or the horses for that matter!) This was one beautiful moment in that specific place that will never happen again.  I happened to be lucky enough to be standing on that beach with an incredible camera and got the chance to capture it. Those tracks in the sand (some of which were mine and my family's) are gone and won't be there again.  That picture says so much about the value of time and the importance of photographs.

Easy days.

This post is way overdue, but I haven't had internet and have been traveling.  SO, I wanted to make this post a while ago, and here goes.  These little shoes are not what's so important to me, it's the little feet that go into them.  A very special friend owns these shoes, and I got to make some wonderful memories with him while he was visiting.  This picture reminds me of a great week where I got to spend time with people I really love.

I'm pretty thankful for the time I had that week and the pictures that came out of it were really nice.  I am so thankful to have the opportunities to spend with people I love.  This picture really is worth 1000 words to me, because it reminds me of all of the memories from that week.