ON the left side of this photo is the brother of one of the teachers who taught in our school last year. We're in prayer, Amy!

Thank you for your compliments. I believe most people don't think about taking pictures as much as I do. It's a passion I've had ever since I was a child. I drive my kids nuts!

Of course, all my photos are not perfect - far from it. You only see the best ones. But I can still offer my opinion of how good photos - sometimes even perfect ones - occur.

When grandpa is sitting in his favorite chair, pipe smoke floating, a lamp backlighting his white hair like a halo, you think, “Wow. This is my grandfather. How many more moments will there be like this? Better preserve it.”
When your son is getting his first haircut at a barbershop, and you like the way the light is reflected by the mirrors and the serious look on his little face, the concentration of the young hairstylist - That’s when you pull our your camera and quickly snatch a few photos to help you re-visit this moment ten or twenty years from now.
When you are on your way home from work and the sun is making shafts of light as it filters through the clouds, and there is a rustic foreground to complete the picture, you take a photo so you can share this joy with someone later.

Good photos result from
A. Always having your camera with you. I can’t tell you how many fabulous photos have passed into oblivion, un-captured, because I didn’t have my camera with me. That’s why I bought an ultra-compact I can carry with me in my purse. I’ve never regretted that purchase.
B. Being in the frame of mind that you THINK about taking pictures when a good opportunity presents itself.
C. Experience in knowing what the camera can do and can't do.
D. A background of composition. I was an art minor in college and the understanding I gradually attained about balance, values, use of color, pattern, etc. has contributed much to my understanding of what is aesthetically pleasing in a photo.
E. Taking lots and lots and lots of photos. I read somewhere that the average professional photographer takes around 120 shots for every ONE that he/she actually uses and gets paid for. I had taken over 400 photos while on vacation this summer, a proliferation made possible by the digital camera.
F. Luck
G. The person looking at the photograph. Some people will have an emotional connection with the subject of a photo, while someone else, looking at the same photo, will feel nothing.

Happy Hunting!

Some beautiful things occur when the sun is shining from one part of the sky and in the other hemisphere of the atmosphere there is a bank of dark blue clouds.

My world is moving too fasst....

When I went to bed last night, there was no indication of who had won the election.
I woke up early this morning wondering if they knew who had won the election yet, and if there were any court battles pending, etc. I just laid there in the dark and couldn’t sleep, but didn’t want to get up so early. It felt like a Twilight Zone Christmas because instead of wondering what St. Nicolas brought, you wonder whether it was Santa or Satan who visited your house last night.
Finally the alarm went off and I felt Tim stirring, so I turned on the TV. The local newscast was on and the results of all the local elections were being discussed. Finally I found a station that was discussing the national election, mainly the Ohio issue, and finally I got the scoop.
Santa had been here.

Election Day, 2004

I voted right after school today. The day was bone-chillingly cold, but everyone standing in line was warm and friendly. No one asked anyone else whom they voted for - I supposed they figured it was no one's business, but also I think people were half afraid of making anyone feel "harrassed" with a discussion of any issues about which one feels strongly. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes from the time I first got in line to out the door, done for a ducat, done. (Pardon, I've been teaching Hamlet)
I voted for Bush.

jo'sbdaycake

jo'sbdaycake
Originally uploaded by Chin Hor.

Everyday, when I check in at Flickr, I always cast my line at least once into the "Everyone's" page to see if I can discover any new, outstanding photos. Today This was there. It's my birthday, and although I happily left twenty-two behind long, long ago, I am borrowing Chin Hor's photo. No one took any photos of me.