...and sometimes you catch lightning.....

I was originally going to title this "Why you don't want to ride in a car, go for a hike/walk, or basically go anywhere with me" but that was a little long...

Many years ago I survived high school photography with James Haddy at Robert A. Millikan High School. (Not going to say exactly how many years, use your imagination...) Anyone who survived Mr. Haddy's class knew the difference between a "snapshot" and a "photograph." Turning in your weekly assignment was always a terrifying experience. After he hung over your shoulder in the darkroom while you were developing your film and creating your prints, as you handed in your assignment, he looked at your work, looked at you, looked at your work, and then put it in the pile with a sigh saying "that's the one you want to turn in??" (And to think I took photography because it counted as a science for graduation and would be easier than biology....yeah, right....)

I see pictures everywhere I go. The only difference is that now I am compelled to take the time to stop and actually take the pictures.

OK, so back to the part about why you probably don't want to go anywhere with me....

This is me the other morning:

Open the blinds, just about sunrise. AHHH!!! Look at the light on the clouds! This is going to be a great sunrise! (Grab my camera and step out on my patio.) Crap! Wrong angle - gonna miss it! Wait - over there would probably be a good angle!  (Throw something on so the mosquitoes don't eat me alive) Hurry up - the light is already changing!!!

Here's what my neighbors see if they look out the window:

A crazy woman in pajama pants, a hoodie up over her head like the unibomber, with white crew socks and flip flops, running around between the bushes and trees, and then climbing/hanging over the fence behind the apartment complex with a camera.


Me driving home from work the other day:

AHHHH! Look at the clouds and the angle of the sun! Gonna be a great sunset! Storm coming in fast. Can I get a shot from the car? Crap. (Me then holding my phone with one hand shooting random shots out the driver side window while looking ahead so I don't crash my car.) Shit! This is a GREAT sunset! Look at that storm!  AHHH!!! Traffic!! No exit for another mile - you're killin' me Smalls!!!  Finally an exit! YAY! Crap - nowhere to pull over. Wait - over there! Vacant lot! Take about a hundred pictures from as many angles as I can while the storm blows in. (The photo with the lightning and colorful rain above is from one of those shots)

What other people see as they drive by:

A crazy woman wearing nice work clothes in a dirt lot next to a construction truck and a port-a-potty, running around in the wind and being pelted by rain while taking pictures with her phone as traffic speeds by.


Me on a hike or a walk:

What a beautiful day! Look at that! and look at that! Lynette, don't you already have pictures of that? Yes, but the light is different this time! And look at the shadow! (Walk about 10 feet.) Ohhh look at that! That would make a nice picture!  (Walk about 20 feet.) Oh, there's a bird! Can I get a shot? Yay! Coming back - Oh! look at that! Wait, didn't you take a picture of that on the way out? Yes, but it looks different on the way back in! OK - just put the camera away and enjoy the walk/hike. About about 10 minutes later....Ohh look at that! Camera comes back out....


Basically me anywhere:

Oh, look at that! Pulls out phone....


It is such a beautiful world around us - we need to stop and experience it. We are all so focused on what's in front of us, the challenges we are facing, and what's coming up next, that we rarely take the time to actually see what's around us right now AND enjoy it. I happen to enjoy photographing it as well. I'm also happy to see that some of my friends are posting photos of the things around them as well.

Please don't speed by the sunsets without seeing them. Please don't race home to beat the storm without seeing the beauty of the storm. Look at the clouds - I can't tell you how many cloud shots I have. Be in awe of what's around you. 


Fast forward those many years - I can still hear Mr. Haddy as I take my shots. What's in the foreground? What's in the background? Are you sure that's the best angle? Where is the light source? Where are the shadows? Can you frame it better? 

Thank you, Mr. Haddy, for teaching me how to capture what I see.

From my sunrise excursion when dressed so delightfully...

The full lightning shot from my vacant lot vantage point

Various other shots from the road....

Before I could get off the freeway to find my vacant lot

Waiting at a signal on the way to work

AHHHH!! Pull over!! Pull over!! On the way home from work

From various hiking delays....

From hanging over the fence, standing in the weeds,

 at the dog park at my apartment complex

What ya looking at???

Yup - gonna be a good sunset!

And for every good photographer looking 

for the perfect shot.....sign? what sign?