wait a minute. do i take pictures?

Quite out of the blue, sometime last week, it hit me that I take pictures.  In this, I do not strive for recognition; I am not even certain that I want anyone to know.  I just like to take pictures and frequently do.  They are filled with the things that catch my eye; more often than not, this means light, my kids, things going on that I love.  Some examples:

In the days that followed my sudden picture taking awareness there have been murmurs that a handful of others have picked up on this habit of mine.

Local opportunities popping up, such as, promo for a talent show and on-going documentation of the stellar activities of PTSD’s ICE Program.  In fact, this week I’ve been shooting the amazing process of the K-8 grade ICE students’ production of Midsummer Night’s Dream and the local paper printed this photo of mine.  We were all astonished and grateful for just how huge the print version was.  Of course, this image was hard to mess up–the stunning depth and beauty of both actress and her handmade costume take most of the credit for its success.  Even still, for this one image there were thirty that did not work.  I absolutely love that part.  The sifting through a mass of shots to find that one that is charged.  The one that you know is it.  For the delight I find in searching through muck for the rare gem I might have been a happy miner.

Then came an unexpected invitation to join a photo conversation that I have been admiring for exactly 473 days.  Visit A Years of Days to find out why I am able to keep such an accurate accounting of my image crush.  I am a little intimidated because I have been blown away by Rena’s eye for much longer than 473 days.   However, I am honored and feelings of excitement far outweigh intimidation.   I couldn’t pass it up.  Anyway, I find that stepping up leads to better results than stepping safe.