Before & After

I have a (photography) job interview coming up and was asked to bring some before and after the editing process images. It was quite a task to sort through my thousands and thousands of images, but I came across a few that really show how much editing can change an image.

This image was taken through a car window so it's very dark and washed out. But, Photoshop is a beautiful thing:

The second two images show how you can edit an image to change the mood...I added warmth and light (which is what I do with most images anyway).

Henry David Thoreau

There is a lovely place nearby where I walk Milo. These were taken on an early morning walk a couple of months ago. How beautiful is our natural world?

Explore. Dream. Discover.

I truly & deeply believe this.

Birthday Book

A birthday book for a new, good friend.

Paper Lover

Becca gave me these beautiful papers for Christmas for bookmaking. I'm taking advantage of a cold afternoon and getting to work on some books. With classes so late this semester it seems I have my whole day to do whatever I wish. Of course, next week work starts back up, so the freedom won't be so abundant.

Highlights from the Holidays//The New Year

It's been inexcusably long since posting last....I've been busy doing things!  Fun things! NYC before Christmas.

And New Orleans for New Years & the Sugar Bowl. If you've never been to New Orleans, GO! It's like Paris & the South all rolled into one. Top 5 places I've ever visited, for sure.

As for the New Year, here are some goals of mine. If I put them in print (or type) perhaps I will be better about making them realities:

1. Face my fears, no more avoiding or allowing them to hold me back.
2. Seek more adventure, daily.
3. Continue to work on achieving a calm, happy, & thankful attitude.
    a. Truly work on meditations during yoga practices.
4. Read more (I know, I already read a fair amount, but when traveling I get into a rhythm of reading before bed, but once I get home I watch tv/movies instead before sleep...I like the wind down that reading provides).
5. Enter an art fair/festival to sell prints & books.
6. Put myself out there a little more, take risks...as Ralph Waldo Emerson says: "Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment."

I think that'll be plenty to keep me busy.

The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011

These are simply incredible.

ETSY

I have an Etsy shop :) It's a bit sparse.  I'll add stuff as I have more time...

The Former Grand Dragon

Now that everything's set, I feel more able to share the fantastic potential story that Mindy and I will share in our historical short doc.  Gorrell Pierce was the Grand Dragon of the area KKK during the Greensboro Massacre which occurred in 1979.  He was not present for the killing of the five Communist Workers Party members, and even told us that he told his klanmembers not to attend the "Death to the Klan" rally that the CWP was putting on that fateful day.  KKK members still went, and after having their cars beat on they stepped out, removed their guns and fired for 88 seconds.  Incredibly, news cameras caught it all on tape, but fails to identify the actual shooters of the victims.  No one was convicted.  It's an interesting story...surf the web to learn more.  

Pierce has led an unimaginable life, and has gone through a sort of transformation over the years.  At 60 years old, he certainly is not what you'd expect from a former leader of the KKK.

Tomorrow we are spending the day interviewing him, on camera this time.  I'm giddy with anticipation, eager to see what stories he will bring. 

Do What You Love

Forgot how much I enjoy drawing...found these on my external.  Excuse poor image quality.