Life: Through the Lens

This month I tried my hand at judging our Camera Club entries. What a difficult thing that is, but SO interesting! There's a subjective component, of course, but there are also "rules" for judging. Our club uses a 6-point scale. With three judges scoring each photo, it's possible to get a perfect 18 points. We're divided into bronze, silver or gold categories, so the divisions allow members to grow and advance, with the chance of earning awards at the end of the year. Each competition is themed, and a person can enter a total of 6 images, spread between the Assigned Category, Open Category, and Enhanced Category (digitally manipulated in some way). This month's theme was Black and White, so the entries in the Assigned Category had to be Black and White images. You can enter anything (B&W or Color) in the Open Category. The same holds true in Enhanced. There were so many great images. If you want to see the type of photos members of our club take, and read...

Meesha and I would like to wish you all a Happy Valentines Day, full of love and forgiveness. We have an agreement in my house - one flower is more romantic, and cost-effective- than a dozen. And lasts just as long:). Enjoy your day!

As I may have mentioned before, motivation to get out in the cold and unappealing winter weather is rather difficult to muster sometimes. I had a discussion with two of the 'children', and they agreed. As you can see, laying in front of a register is a much more desirable activity than slogging through the heavy and slushy snow right now. Maybe we'll get a good snow storm, bringing us a soft and sparkling mass of photographic possibilities. But for now, the register, or fireplace, is our best friend:).

I think I've mentioned before that I work with school children, each year a different photography project. I'd like to expand and work with more classes, but have been blessed to have a superb 5th grade teacher to work with, one who brings creativity in education to a new level. We were co-workers when I was still teaching for the district and our teaching styles blend well. Last year's project was one the children came up with, in connection with a "Going Green" unit the teacher was introducing. The students wanted to clean up their community. With grant money they designed a sign - "Litter Bugs Me" - which they placed at each of the sites they visited, and cleaned. The student teacher in the classroom was active in helping students design their project, and carry it out. My role was to teach them how to document the project - how to take photographs which told their story. They would use the photos as they presented their project to various community ...

It's difficult to get out and take photos in the winter. We have to work hard at finding motivation when the cold wind blows and the skies are gloomy. Sometimes it feels like we live in Siberia. This particular morning I couldn't make myself go outside, so I shot through the family room window - how lazy can you get?:) I particularly liked the sun trying to peek through, the dark sky, and the red barn adding a dash of color. It is fun to play with angle of view - which is very limited when you use half a sliding door because there is a screen on the other half. There are also so many dog prints to work around, you know! So, I knelt down to try this angle. Then I decided to get in tight, leaving the sky and sun out of it as much as possible. This is a nice shot, I think. This weekend it's supposed to warm up a bit, so I'd like to get some dripping icicles, maybe some shadows and sparkling snow? We shall see. We need to get through the work-week first! What are YOU shooti...

Snow blankets the ground, the world is quiet...still...and cold. As we pull out knitting, books, woodworking projects, and other indoor activities we have to force ourselves to get outside and look for winter scenes to photograph. It's difficult to photograph snow, and get it to be "white." If you have a 35mm camera and you can adjust your settings, add about two stops of light to your photographs by using the +/- dial. Your camera wants to see "gray," so snow can look dingy. We are still struggling with that perfect setting, and the only way to do that is practice. So last Saturday this is exactly what we did. Braving sub-zero wind chill factors, we bundled up and headed for snow-country. You decide - did we get close to having "white" snow?

Merry Christmas from our home to yours. May you have a peaceful holiday- time with friends and family, space to meditate on all that is right with the world, and the ability to do at least one small thing for the greater good. Pray Rest Revitalize Laugh Take Photographs... The New Year will be fast upon us!