Tis time for a new journal indeed!

Well photography has taken me somewhere quite unexpected... to a retirement community. I'm an activities aide and we just started a photography club : ) They take portraits of each other, take still life photos, and take nature shots as well. We almost have a whole album full and we are going to have an art show in late August.

It's very exciting for me to be able to help people and do photography at the same time, even if I'm not always the one behind the lens. Most of them say, "Oh, a photo of me would break the camera" but once they start taking pictures you can tell they know what they're doing. I think there's something innate about taking photographs, even if you think you're good at it or not.

Plus it captures them in that specific moment, and the photographs with serve as a record keeper for years to come. And we also have fun dressing up, changing poses and lighting, and being goofy as well : )

So I guess photography doesn't always have to be quite so serious : )

When the button of your camera falls off to turn it off and on, you know it's time for a new one ; )

I've had the experience to go to some awesome places lately, like Florida with my Drew to Cape Canaveral to see a space launch, the beaches, Sea World, and take some pretty cool photographs. Unfortunately on the trip my darn little button broke off on my camera I've had for quite a while, a Sony Cybershot... it could probably be fixed, but I really wanted to update to a digital SLR, probably Nikon! I want to be more serious about photography and I want to be able to zoom in further, have better quality, take quicker shots, and of course, be able to easily turn my camera on and off : )

All I want for summer is a new camera, a new camera, yes a new camera, gee if I could only have a new camera, then I could have a happy summer! : O )

Most of my submissions lately have been of myself and cats. This is not satisfying... even though I love my kitties. I just went through a bunch of old photographs and realized how many people, strangers, I have taken pictures of that I've never even worked on and posted. And each picture I looked at... I remember exactly where I was and what effect, even if it was brief, that stranger had on me.

Maybe these are the more important photographs to be posting... the ones that show a brief moment in time in which I came in contact with someone who impacted me, and probably doesn't even know that they changed my day. I also came across photographs of old friends, family members... some I had passed over, but tonight I find myself looking them in a different way than I had in the past.

Maybe I'm being too reflective because it's late... but oh well, I'm glad for it : O )

"Us"

They made a statue of us
And it put it on a mountain top
Now tourists come and stare at us
Blow bubbles with their gum
Take photographs for fun, for fun

They'll name a city after us
And later say it's all our fault
Then they'll give us a talking to
Then they'll give us a talking to
Because they've got years of experience
We're living in a den of thieves
Rummaging for answers in the pages
We're living in a den of thieves
And it's contagious
And it's contagious
And it's contagious
And it's contagious

We wear our scarves just like a noose
But not 'cause we want eternal sleep
And though our parts are slightly used
New ones are slave labor you can keep

We're living in a den of thieves
Rummaging for answers in the pages
We're living in a den of thieves
And it's contagious
And it's contagious
And it's contagious
And it's contagious

They made a statue of us
They made a statue of us
The tourists come and stare at us
The sculptor's marble sends regards
They made a statue of us
They made a statue of us
Our noses have begun to rust
We're living in a den of thieves
Rummaging for answers in the pages
Were living in a den of thieves

And it's contagious
And it's contagious

Regina Spektor

She's awesome : )

I think I might have left it in Pennsylvania. It's been forever since I've updated this journal, probably because I've had little or no time to really focus on photography. Sadness : ( I moved to Salem, MA and am currently working as an Editorial Assistant for a Healthcare publishing company, and it's quite the adjustment! I need to start taking pictures more and submitting once again, cause I miss it! And I have taken some pictures since I've been up here, I just forget about them or don't have time to put them up. Wasn't there a time when like photography was all I did?! Oh yeah, it was called college ; ) Can creativity just float away from you when you don't have time to focus?? Maybe I don't even see the world the same way I used to... I used to look around and see potential photographs everywhere!