Mirror Lakes

#14

Somehow over the last 20 days I have become 7 days behind in this whole blog updating deal. My bad. It has been an interesting process. Reflecting on how I thought this would go and how it actually happened has been good. I had hoped that I would have time every single day to sit down and type something that could be more than a surface level inspection of the past three years. However, find the inspiration to do that has been hard. Some days stuff seems to flow, other days I could barely open the blog to add something and still other days I missed out completely. Often I found myself to busy or completely forgetting to post. Everything I want to do requires some form of sacrifice. Some more than others. Compared to having a family, career, obligations, a partner, blogging (which one of these doesn't belong here?) does not carry much weight. Blogging, in the scheme of things, is fairly insignificant, but if it helps me to connect with people, I'm all for it. People are what matter.

I hope this finds my friends and family well! I have had amazing news over the last few weeks of babies being born, wedding plans (not my own, I'd let you know), friendships, all sorts of things.

For now, fairwell!
Take luck!

#13

Mabry Mill.
Aging buildings. Memories of times past.

YAY!!! Google has a tracking program and this week I reached a grand total of 1000 visitors!! That number is the total over the last several months, in my mind a big mile-stone. Thanks for helping!

#9

Brighton, England. 2007 :)

'A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.' - Herm Albright

HAHA

Reflection #8

The Getty Center. Beautiful architecture, extensive gardens, wonderful art. Not many thoughts on reflections today, but I've spent many an afternoon here. It is a fun place to photograph and somewhere I encourage people to see.


'Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.'
- Andre Gide

'So you see, imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.' - Brenda Ueland

Reflection #7

This image means a lot to me. It was used in A Happy Guide to a Short Life written by Tony Brown. But more than that it reminds me of those lost along the way. I miss you.

'memories distant
as leaves in fall
watching the branch from which it came
it leaves behind
legacy
history
memory
leaves for us'
- anonymous


'Death is more universal than life, everyone dies but not everyone lives.' - A. Sachs

Reflection #6

Venice, Italy. Amazing trip. Beautiful country, amazing history. A truly valued time! That's all i got this time around.


"Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag." - Alexander Solzhenitsyn

"Memory feeds imagination" - Amy Tan

Reflection #2

Reflection.
Learning from the past. Little things in life that stick with you. Looking at things in a new light. Images I took a long time ago that were 'accidents' or horribly composed can be seen with a new sense of balance and understanding. Knowledge from the present applied to aspects of the past to better equip you for the future.


London, England with the Shank family in 2006. Stephen getting married to Nicola! Such an exciting time, good travels, good people. Cherish the time with friends and opportunity to travel!

Georgia. 2005. I spent one semester at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. I met some amazing people there. I know this one doesn't quite fit in the time frame of my stint here in California. But, this image was taken while on spring break with my buddy Chase. He is a huge reason for why I'm here. Going out taking pictures with Chase, him teaching me Photoshop stuff, collaborating and rock climbing. Chase, thanks for the inspiration and encouragement to pursue Brooks and photography!

Reflection #1 (in no particular order)

So it is now officially February. I graduate in 29 days. A bit of a strange thought. I have been a student for as long as I can remember and in 1 month I will be entering a whole new phase of life! It is super super exciting and yet at the same time I live in a very nice bubble. School is familiar, I know the cycles and what is expected. I know when I get stressed, when I push myself, how to stay inspired, who to turn to when I get overwhelmed. I know where all the campuses are, I know what I'm doing here, I know that what I'm learning has been building up to a ceremony that doesn't last long and yet will be one of the single greatest accomplishments of my still young life. I would love to hear any advise or words of wisdom anyone cares to share!

Over the next month I'm going to try and put up at least one image of reflections, more so literally, however they symbolize the thoughts going through my head of what I have learned during the last three years. Some of the images I took at school, some while vacationing, some while walking though downtown's, some before dawn on mountain tops or alpine lakes. I'll give a snippet for each one.

Starting of is the Santa Ynez River in Santa Barbara, California. I took this my first session at Brooks in 2005, so long ago. I forgot about this image for about 2.5 years. I kind of stumbled over it in the ole' archives. I'm glad I did.



'And since you know you cannot see yourself,
so well as by reflection, I, your glass,
will modestly discover to yourself,
that of yourself which you yet know not of.'
-William Shakespeare