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“How do you take such good photos?” I get asked a variation of that question a lot. I never think of my photos in those terms – so I usually don’t really answer. And, honestly, I don’t think I know the answer.

When I was in college, I hated critique days. They were the days in art classes where you had to explain your piece of art. It was always that question – why and how did you come up with this particular photo, why is it good?

Well, my answer was usually that I just looked into the camera and thought it looked cool. Very technical, I know. For some reason though, while that was the truth, it never satisfied the professor. They always wanted some deeper meaning, some thought behind the work, some social statement. Well – I am not that deep in my art usually. The answer is just that it “looked good”.

Every now and then, there was something more to the photos – but they were often found by the viewers of the work. Which is interesting to me – but this is also what makes art an amazing thing. I think it’s less about the artist and more about the viewer.

What can you find in the piece that is meaningful to you. What do you find inspirational or moving, what brings you to tears or makes you laugh. That’s what art is. It’s about an artist helping the world find that place inside of you that needs nourishment or laughter. Helping people to find the deeper meaning in life or the shallow amusement to help cope with something terrible. The artists are a guides to the spiritual work beneath the service.

I guess ultimately that is what I am trying to do. Give you something to consider, to examine, to wonder at, and to explore.

And today – lets explore Spring! I don’t know what these flowers in the this photo are called. Anyone want to help me out? Any inspiration from this photo?

Life is so much about balance. I have been trying to find that in my life – especially as I work on my photography and design. I find that it is hard, as most of you do. I am trying to balance a full time job, what I wish was my full time job plus a social life and time that I can be alone with God and to recoup.

Lately I have found that there just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day. Can we have a 36 hours day please? That would be great, thanks.

No? ok – I guess I will just keep trying to find the right balance. I have gotten at least part way there in trying to limit certain activities or get a 2 for 1 out them. For example – this is an easy one. I can go hiking with my friends and take my camera along – great new photos for you guys and great time with my friends – 2 for 1

But I would doubt that those friends would hang out with me while I am doing my sales tax reports …. I don’t even want to hang out with me then! Who invented sales tax anyway – don’t we pay enough taxes? Maybe I should move to one of those states that doesn’t have it. One less thing I would have to deal with … hmmm. I just looked it up – there are 5 states without sales tax aaaannnndddd they are all beautiful states for photos! I might have to really think about that. Although – i have read that Colorado is one of the most tax-friendly states with lower taxes than most. So something to think about.

But I digress. Balance. I am actively looking for the 2 for 1 deals and maintaining a healthy amount of work versus play versus more work.

What about you? Do you have any ideas for finding balance in your life?

A pretty big earthquake hit Japan recently. If you didn’t know that, well, you should get out more. But the news made me reminiscent of another earthquake. On March 6, 1987 there was an earthquake in Ecuador. I was 7 and in the middle of it. Or rather about 100 km (62 mi)  from the epicenter of the 6.9 earthquake. About 1,000 people died and it caused major damage including to a major oil pipeline. Oil is Ecuador’s chief export. It was a pretty big hit to an already unstable country.

I have two main memories of this event. The first is kinda funny. This earthquake happened at about 4 am – so we were all asleep at the time. I remember the earth shaking and shortly there after, my dad came into the room. Logically, at least to me, the shaking was caused by my dad walking down the hall. Now my dad may have been a football player but there is no way he could have caused that much shaking even if he tried – but still that’s what I thought.

Then of course came a different feeling. When I knew it had been an earthquake and we were still experiencing tremors, I stood in the door frame of our front door. We were listening to our battery powered radio for news and watching the neighbors stream into the park next door. I was just waiting for the street to split open and lava and fire to start swallowing people. I still wonder where that thought came from. I was only seven after all. I might have to blame "The Lord of the Rings" actually – the animated version and it’s Mount Doom – but that’s the only explanation I can come up with.

The next memory was less dramatic. The oil pipeline damage understandably caused an oil shortage which lead to gasoline rationing. And I remember long long lines at the gas stations.

I found out the other day while trying to find the date of this earthquake, that I actually lived through two. The other one was in August of 1990. It was obviously much less powerful as no one in my family remembers it.

But the main thing here is that we pray for our friends in Japan and the outlying areas as they reclaim their lives. 

I will write more about Ecuador soon. And hopefully I will go back and take some pictures. You don’t want to see the ones I took when I lived there They are mostly blurry representations of who knows what. I would like to remedy that and show you the natural splendor of the country that I consider to be my "home town".

I am getting ready to sell my condo in favor of a bigger place for my photo projects. Last weekend I packed up and moved out about half of my stuff. The place seems very empty now. It’s interesting actually. I always felt like I had too much stuff before and it was stressing me out. Now – it seems about right. If you ignore the stack of stuff at my parents house

But this weekend is filled with last minute touch ups, new interior doors and one last coat of paint. Wow, I can’t believe I am selling my house. It seems like such a big step into an unknown. Everyone keeps asking me, "where will you live?" I don’t know. I don’t know what the future holds or when. The place could sell in a month or 6 and you just never know what will come up in that time.

So we press on, one step at a time and see what God has in store. In the mean time, if you know anyone interested in a super cute one bedroom condo on the very cool west side, let me know. The place should be listed in a week or so.

But in other news … well I don’t really have any other news right now. I am hoping that as soon as my house is listed I can start getting my list of things for my photography done. That should be fun

This is dedicated to Lorena, Genevieve, Brittney, Carrie, Nancy, Elena and all who have gone to heaven before us.

The phone dropped to the floor. I stood there frozen. Why hadn’t anyone told me earlier. I could have prayed harder or visited or sent flowers. What did he mean, they were pulling the plug tonight. People aren’t plugged in.

I reached down and picked up the phone. Of course, I would go up to the hospital in Denver. Of course, I wanted to say goodbye to my friend, Brittney. I will be at your house in 5 minutes .

I hung up. Shocked. While I was turning 21, my friend was having heart surgery. Her heart was too big they said or something like that.  They were fixing it. She had made it through just fine. A couple of days later she had an unrelated heart attack. They had a prayer meeting but no one told me. Tonight, they were taking her off the life support machines. Her parents said she had been with Jesus for a few days – there was no point holding on to her body.

She was 25. 25 with a heart that was too big.

3 friends and I drove up to Denver that night to say good bye to her earthly body. It was strange to see her laying there. I held her hand. It was warm. Her face was so peaceful – you would have thought she was sleeping and having beautiful dreams.

We sat in the waiting room for a long time. Just being together. No one talked much. Just being together was enough. My head rested on my friends shoulder. He didn’t seem to mind and put his arm around me.

I hadn’t known her long but she was becoming a great friend. She had inspired me to stop watching life play out in front of me like a movie and start being an actor in it. To get into the action. I wouldn’t have done all the things I have done now if it wasn’t for her.

She was full of life and eager to try new things. She was a bit on the crazy side even. The good kind of crazy. The kind that makes life interesting.

But at midnight, they pulled the plug. The last corporeal part of her left the earth to join the choir of heaven. And boy did they get a great singer.

When I got home, my dad just hugged me for a long time. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t need to.

The memorial service was a few days later. Sad but happy. Her short life wasn’t a waste. It was a full 25 years.

After the service, we went bowling. It seemed only fitting. It was what she would have wanted.

About 2 weeks later my grandma died. Which was the 4 fourth death that fall of people I knew. They say things things comes in three’s well this was one too many. It was almost too much.

Just a few weeks ago, I got another call. Your cousin’s dead. She was 23. It was surprising and accidental – or so it appears anyway. There is no real way to know for sure. A tragic way to go.

But heaven’s bells are ringing. For Brittney, my grandma and my cousin. They are also ringing for my other grandma who died a year and half ago, for my mentor and my boss who died within weeks of each other and for all those we have lost along the way.

May you rest well in the arms of Jesus, may heaven’s bells ring you peace that surpassed all understanding.

Several people have asked me about what I do in terms of post-processing my photos. I actually had to ask what post-processing was the first time someone asked So for those of you, like me, who don’t know what that means, it’s basically what photographers do after they take take the photo. Once they transfer it to the computer, it’s what happens in PhotoShop before you see the final product in a magazine or on your wall.

You will find that most pros will tell you that the best photo is the one you took. So it’s best to work hard to take the best photo you can when you are on location and do as little post-processing as you can. I like this strategy.

The less I have to be in front of the computer, the better. I would rather be out taking pictures or creating a great piece of art out of them with my hands than staring at a computer screen.

So here’s my process for photos from beginning to end.

• Plan a trip
• Go on the trip
• Take photos
• Import my photos to my computer with Photo Mechanic
• Sort them into keepers and throw aways
• Tag and keyword the keepers (so you can find them in my gallery)
• Open the keepers in PhotoShop
• Edit the photos for color and density (Every camera takes photos differently so this corrects for the digital conversion from real life to the camera.)
• Save them
• Upload them to my online gallery

The post processing (starting after import) takes about 30 minutes total – that’s my kind of time frame

Then I decide if I want to print any out to put on coasters or what not but that’s a different process.

What do you all do with your photos?

Sunday’s are a nice day because all the business of the week has stopped for just this one day. It’s a day to stop and reflect, to pause and rest. And maybe read all the things that stacked up all week. Since I painted my room yesterday, today was especially nice.

My mother often gives me her home magazines when she has read them. Mags like Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple. It’s works really well for me. But often they just pile up in my magazine holder. So it’s great when Sunday comes around and I can sit and read. In the summer I will sit in my hammock on my back deck. It’s really great. But today it was sitting in my front room on my comfy couch.

So sitting on my couch, I flipped through my magazines and save the articles that I found interesting. I like to put them in a binder so I can use them later. It’s a really great resource.

I am also reading Crime and Punishment. Wow, we’ll see how that turns out. I love long old books. It’s interesting because I don’t read much.

I hope that you all can enjoy your Sunday’s afternoons as well. What do you do?

This weekend, my parents and I drove to Chicago for a funeral While driving across the country, we went through a good deal of winter. Yes, I know it is the middle of January, actually toward the end of January. But when you live in Colorado, you go from 10 degrees to 70 degrees within a couple days. So winters aren’t winters really, not like the ones in the midwest.

As we drove across Nebraska, the sun was setting over snow dusted fields while mist floated by. It was very poetic.

The next day as we continued east, we saw several people silde off the road and a huge pile up in Des Moines. Des Moines is where the blizzard hit. It was chilly! It pretty much snowed most of the time we were out. It did finally stop as we headed back to Colorado. I am so happy at the moment that I don’t live in the midwest. It’s way too cold in the winter!

It was a really quick trip – especially since we drove. Essentially it was four days of driving with a wake and a funeral in the middle. It was nice to see family, but very very sad. We hope that the next time we all get together is for something happy like a wedding or something like that.

Also got to use my uncle’s new camera. It’s a Nikon – a nice camera that I didn’t want to give back Maybe I will look into a new camera with my tax return

And you will be happy to know that I did finish my hat in time. It’s a good thing too, cause did I mention that’s it’s cold in Chicago in the winter! It don’t think it got above 3 degrees the whole time. My mom said that the hat was really cute and she thought I should make them for my nieces too

I love the awards show season. So I am watching the Golden Globes right now. It’s fun to see the stars and movies.

Anyway, so happy that Christian Bale, Toy Story 3 and Colin Firth have won! I haven’t seen the Social Network but its on my list as soon as I can get it from the library. Have I ever told you how much I love the library! Best place on the planet

But back to the Globes, not so happy with the host though. Sure a little friendly ribbing is fine, but he was pretty mean. If you have to be mean to be funny, you’re not funny at all you are just mean. Unfortunately, I see this trend taking off. So many people are mean to each other. You see it most especially in politics. I just wish everyone would calm down and treat each other with a little respect and as people and not just the butt of a joke.

We would get a lot farther in life by being kind to everyone and there would be a lot less violence. So here’s to hoping that the Oscars are a more pleasant experience. I am hoping so as it’s hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco. One of whom, I am pretty sure is a very nice person Hoping James is too

Buuuuurrrrrr!!!

It’s been in the negative numbers recently. I think we bottomed out at -17 the other night! That’s pretty cold for Colorado. But then today it was about 50 I think. Massive temperature swings are normal here though.

Growing up in the Andes Mountains in the middle of the tropics, and I do mean the middle – right on the equator in fact, I am very much a warm weather person. So anything under 60 is cold to me. EEEK.

I had a little tea party before Christmas where some of my friends got to see just what keeps me warm when it’s under 60. And the great thing about my method is that it doesn’t make the heating bill skyrocket. Which is, of course, great because I don’t know anyone who can really afford for the heating bill to sky rocket.

You will frequently find me sitting about 1 foot away from my awesome oscillating space heater! Hey, it’s even on sale (at least today). This is actually my second space heater from Lasko. My friend, Krish, tipped me off to these a couple years ago.

The other great thing about space heaters is that they are environmentally conscience. There is no need to heat your whole house when you are only occupying on room. So you save in energy usage and costs by only heating the room you are in. (I would recommend still keeping your whole house at a safe temperature to avoid broken water pipes.)

My others methods of keeping warm are my ski pants from the last post, a good old fashioned fire in my wood burning fireplace and lots and lots of blankets.

Well, I hope you are keeping warm this winter! It’s been a big one for most of the country.