Can You "Bear" It?

Summarizing today's post: Can you "bear" what life throws at you? Yes you can.

shot at 200mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/60th of a second, WB set to shade

Sometimes the things and happenings in your daily life can almost run you aground. Or, to be more plain, it may be the things that try to hoard in on you while you are trying to live your "daily life". 

There you are minding your own business, doing what you normally do during your daily grind, and WHAM...something hits. Your boss asks you to work the weekend and you have to cancel family plans...you find out that your little one is sick...or you get a call from your tax guy and he tells you "Oh, about that refund you where expecting...yeah, you actually owe a thousand bucks this year". 

The list goes on and on.

Can you "bear" it? Yes, it turns out you can.

I took this photograph of a brown bear last year while at the NC Zoo in Asheboro with my wife and son (see more here). Everytime I look at it, I think to myself what a magnificent animal! Most people are scared to death of his kind and just want to kill them so they don't harm anyone. But is it his fault he was born a bear?

And you thought you had problems. 

The reason I am writing on Sunday instead of Friday this week is that I got very ill very suddenly last Thursday and my plans of publishing a new blog post got ruined. My world got turned upside down for about 36 hours. I'm sure you have gotten a stomach virus too, so you can imagine.

It was a bad ending to a not-so-good week. I almost couldn't bare it. But with the help of my bride, I am back on my feet again. She helped nurse me back to health so that I could tackle life again.

I was going to scrap this week's (now last week's) blog post, but then that would be giving up. I had a little time this morning, so I thought better late than never. 

Life isn't perfect. You will get a wrench thrown into your plans from time to time. I think the point is to learn to bend and flex and not get so stressed out when that happens. Plans change and life's events get postponed. Big deal. We'll make it.

Can you "bear" it? Sure you can.

Thanks for reading.

Brant

 
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How Do YOU See It?

Summarizing today's post: Looking at the many different ways to view the same situation, & adjusting shutter speed to achieve different results in photography.

shot at 130mm, ISO 1250, f/5.6, 1/10th of a second

What makes us all unique is that we see things differently. That can be quite scary sometimes if you think about it too hard. How things are viewed so differently between groups of people can make nations go to war with each other.

Other times, it can be a beautiful thing. I do believe that the Good Lord made us all just a little bit different for reasons I am not sure of. If we all were the exact same, and liked the exact same foods, and all liked the exact same sports team (etc.), life would be pretty boring...wouldn't you agree?

What makes life so interesting, for example, is that my wife and I can be watching the same movie, or read the same book... talk about it afterwards, and interpret parts of it completely different. Pinky can bring to my attention things that I completely missed, and vice versa. Neat.

I can relate this concept to photography so easily. Look at the photograph above. It's a picture of the moon of course (at least it's obvious to me). You may see a bunch of clouds with a spotlight in the center of it, or maybe it's a freaking on-coming train in thick fog?? 

shot at 200mm, ISO 1250, f/5.6, 1/500th of a second

 
How about now? Yes, a little more obvious that you are looking at a photograph of the moon. It's the exact same moon, taken just seconds after the first photo. All I did to eliminate the clouds is increase my camera's shutter speed, limiting the amount of light coming in and hitting it's delicate sensor inside. You can see more detail in the face of the moon too.

Which photograph is "correct"? That's a matter of interpretation. I think they are both nice in their own way. I love taking photos of the moon, it can be so beautiful. I don't think any one way is more correct than the other personally.

Pretty neat. It makes me think about that whole concept of how we are all different and can see the exact same situation in completely opposite ways. 

Lesson? Maybe cut your spouse a little slack the next time you guys see things a little differently. After all, we are all beautifully human.

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for reading!

Brant


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Doing What You Love

Summarizing today's post: Finding time to do what you love, happiness, & photography as an amplifier.

shot at 170mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/50th of a sec, WB set to fluorescent

Life can be so challenging. The hum-drum of everyday work life can really get to you if you aren't careful. The old saying "too much work and not enough play makes Jack a dull boy" rings very true when you pass that 60th hour in the work week.

The same thing applies with our young ones in school. Too much school and not enough time for extra "fun" stuff is not a healthy thing. I believe it is so important for kids and adults to have time for some fun stuff.

shot at 82mm, ISO 800, f/5, 1/50th of a sec, WB set to fluorescent

Our little boy enjoys Karate, and it is very good for him. Four times a week he gets to take a break from school and be with kids that share the same idea of fun that he has. Martial arts is so good for young ones because it teaches them discipline and allows them to have an outlet for their pinned-up energy at the same time. And if they enjoy it...wow, you have struck gold. It can turn into a lifetime of fun for them.

We are so proud of Gavin for sticking with Karate for almost 2 years now. We go see him practice whenever we can. He is "in his element" when he's at Karate. (See more on being in your element here.) 

shot at 95mm, ISO 800, f/5.3, 1/50th of a sec, WB set to fluorescent

I really believe in photography as an amplifier to whatever it is that makes you happy in this life. It makes us all smile when we go back and look at these photographs. I'm so glad I had the chance to take the photographs you see above of Little Bud having a good time after a long day at school.

What about you? What do you do to break the work cycle every week? It is so important to find time--even if it's just a few minutes--to do something you love to do periodically thru the week. It's good for you.

Find your element, your happy place, and slip away for a moment today.

Thanks for reading and have a nice weekend!

Brant




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