Photo Walk 4-17-11

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On Sunday I set out on a photo walk. I took about 125 pictures and these are my favorites. Moral of the story: When in doubt, take a picture!

Salt

I was about 8 or 9-years-old the first time I saw the Great Salt Lake. It was the grand finale of a week-long family vacation. We had driven all the way to Colorado to visit my mom's grandparents and then we met up with several family members to celebrate my paternal grandmother's birthday in Park City. We rode the alpine slide and took a nighttime ride on a ski lift. I had never seen a landscape quite like that one and I bought a postcard to try to remember the beauty I had seen. It was the perfect end to a summer day. It was sad to think that soon we would be driving home. It seemed we had been on the go for weeks (I had the blisters on my feet to prove it) but we had one more stop to make before heading back to California.

While I rely on postcards and photographs to conjure distant memories I will probably never forget approaching the Great Salt Lake dressed in swimming gear. My older sister ran out to the water with my two cousins. My parents had explained that the lake was shallow and the water was so salty it practically held you up off the ground. At that age I had a very difficult time floating in water (I was skin and bones) and I was fascinated with Peter Pan. I constantly wondered what it would be like to walk on a cloud. I looked out on the water and heard my sister and cousins playing and laughing and longed to join them. There was one problem: I was incredibly grossed out by the 10 foot stretch of filthy black silt mixed with seagull poop that surrounded the lake for as far I could see. The only way to get in the water was to walk through the muck. I stood on the sandy shore and considered my options: watch my sister and cousins have fun or go join them. Someone cheerily explained that the ‘mud’ would quickly dissolve the second I stepped into the water. “Hmm… that couldn’t be too bad,” I thought. I unlaced my canvas tennis shoes.

I set my shoes and socks in the sand and took a stomach twisting step into the slime. My other foot followed and I tried to move carefully so it wouldn’t spatter onto my legs. It was a torturous balancing act to move fast enough to suit my unsteady stomach but slow enough to ensure my footing. At last I reached the water and lifted my blackened foot over the water’s surface. The water was warm and I quickly stepped in, happy to be free of the wasteland behind me. My hopeful feet had expected to be buoyed up as though I were standing on a spongy cloud but in a moment I knew something was terribly wrong.

As soon as my feet were immersed they began to burn, and I mean burn. This mysterious water had somehow managed to set my feet on fire. I threw my head back and screamed. I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I cried as loud as I could. How could my sister and cousins not feel this burning? Convinced that the seagull sludge was burning my feet, I futilely sloshed my feet in the stupid magic water in an attempt to unslime myself. Someone yelled, “Get out of the water!” To my great dismay I stepped back in the seagull poo. I shifted my weight from side to side crying, “My feet, my feet!” Through squinted tear-filled eyes I could see my dad running toward me. He picked me up and ran so fast toward the parking lot I thought I’d bounce right out of his arms and into the excrement. Luckily that didn’t happen. Instead he found an outdoor shower head and turned it on full blast. My uncle helped him point the freezing cold water at my feet. The water cleared away all the grime and exposed bright red blisters slightly obscured by transparent flapping skin. The salt water had done quite a number on my poor blistered feet.

After my feet were clean I sat wrapped in a beach blanket on the passenger seat of my uncle’s giant camping van. The pain soon subsided but I was so upset and confused it took a while to stop crying. Lucky for me my uncle had been generous enough to share a bag of ranch-flavored CornNuts with me and they were a great distraction. Finally the pressure in my chest released and I was able to laugh about what just happened.

I learned a simple lesson that day: you don’t expose open blisters to salt water. Ever. My parents always did their best to teach and protect me but there’s no way they could warn me about every single risk in life. I’ve had to discover many of them on my own. Sometimes we look at people in the distance and say, “That’s where I want to be. That’s what I want to do.” We put ourselves through a lot of crap to get there only to find out we don’t belong. Instead we have to turn and retreat. Sometimes it is a public spectacle but many times these battles are private. We can scream and shout when we don’t get our way. Our parents come running. Sometimes we accept their help and sometimes we swat it away. Regardless, they won’t abandon us in our hour of need. It doesn’t matter if we’re surrounded by darkness and filth or burning in a pool of consequences. They understand the world’s luring power but more importantly they understand what it is like to hurt. I’m grateful for parents who carried me from danger and showered me with love, even when the water was freezing cold.

Senseless

I look in the mirror
and question what I see
"What do others think
when they see me?"

My eyes have power to judge
every passing thing
My ears are attuned
to every tiny ring

My voice can sing praise
or it can degrade
"How can I control it
when I am afraid?

My hands have betrayed
this heart they protect
"They give and they give
but never collect"

My legs walk fine lines
but sometimes they kick
"Why would someone get close
when I strike so quick?"

My minds wraps itself
'round life's mysteries
It fights to grow deep
like roots of strong trees

I ponder and wonder
at the world and attest
"Amongst such beauty and danger
there will never be rest!"

I hear a small voice stir
but continue to protest:

"The stinging bee is masked
in the shell of a flower
How can petals so sweet
hide something so sour?"

"It's thanks to your senses
the world has its power"

For a moment I'm stunned
someone's even there
But it doesn't take long
to continue my prayer

"The darkness of night
The warmth of the sun
Both kill in the desert
insensate as a gun"

"Without light and shadow
everything would be one"

Trickling rain seeps through the roof
The pattering splatter echoing round
"Why do storms deliver reproof
and tempt my aching soul to drown?"

"If not for your ears you'd never hear
this force of nature tumbling down"

"And what of mine eyes?
Oh, the pains they've seen today!
What, oh what is to be said
of the terrors on display?"

"Without your eyes you'll never see
the person you'll be at the end of the day"

My temper rages hot
It turns my heart numb
"I have no patience to see
the person I may become!"

The voice is silent and leaves me be
I may as well be deaf and dumb

In silence I can retreat
and hide from the light
With eyes closed no one cares
if I'm wrong or if I'm right

At least there's no pain
without sound, without sight

In time my hands tire
of clamping down my ears
In time fists loosen
and dry away tears

My eyes open again
and I search for the switch
So I can pull myself out
of this self-dug ditch

Ears prick at a sound
and I look aloft
To find the veiled source
of my name spoken soft

"Child, my dearest
Child, you're mine
I know how it hurts
to have wounds washed in brine

"This world can entice,
entrance, overwhelm
And at times it may seem
I've deserted the helm

"But look again please
Just listen once more
You'll see all the things
which I have in store

"See with your soul
Hear with your heart
And you will remember
what you knew from the start"

Painting with Light

Bellagio, March 2010

On Tuesday afternoon I couldn’t stop looking at the clock. I was worried about getting everything done before leaving at 4:45 in order to make it to a 4-hour photography workshop I had signed up for a month earlier. My roommate had found the deal on Groupon and forwarded it to me and I had forwarded it to my friend Leah. We signed up together and I was really excited because Leah was instrumental in helping me decide to buy a Digital SLR camera. I didn’t know exactly what to expect before stepping into the workshop – especially since it was discounted to $39 down from $400. We knew the workshop would be really full so we arrived early and sat on the front row. The owner of the studio introduced the two instructors: Russ and Adilfa, a husband and wife team of professional photographers who have been running Don Polo Photography for 16 years. They are both master photographers and travel the world teaching photography while maintaining their own studio in Utah.

Russ explained that his background was in information systems and he ran the technical side of the business while Adilfa was the artistic heart and soul of the business. He said they wanted to start the workshop by explaining how their company got its name. I kind of wondered why that was relevant but Adilfa stepped up and told her story of being raised by her grandparents in Venezuela. Her grandfather’s nickname was Polo and Don is a title of respect in Spanish. “Don Polo” was a huge influence in her life and as well as their surrounding community. He was known for keeping his word. Adilfa went on to explain that they run their business to the best of their ability and they don’t treat photographs as expendable images; instead, they are family heirlooms that will be shared with generations to come. She said that it was our duty as photographers to be prepared to capture images of those we love because we never know when our loved ones will pass on to the next life.

By this point all my doubts about the value of the workshop were evaporated and I was completely tuned in for the next 3.5 hours as Adilfa and Russ taught basics (the differences between point-and-shoot cameras and DSLR’s, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, raw vs. JPEG, etc.), techniques (lighting, posing, people skills) and the power of Photoshop. They shared best practices including being prepared for a shoot (“Bring two of everything!”), the best ways to store photographs (external hard drives are the best, DVD’s are the worst, CD’s are slightly better) and mentioned many local businesses that offer services I was never aware of (i.e., offsite photo file storage). At the end of the lecture I had a long shopping list (tripod, Canon flash, extra memory cards, external hard drive, Wacom tablet for Photoshop, fisheye lens, etc.) and wondered how on earth I had gotten myself into one of the most expensive hobbies on the planet. There is no potential end to the money you can spend on cameras, lenses and accessories!

The most illuminating part of the workshop was the travel photography slideshow they shared with us. As I watched pictures of exotic landscapes and magnificent architecture fly by I realized, “These are the pictures I take!” Obviously my pictures are not anywhere near professional standards but when I travel I am always taking pictures of buildings and other inanimate objects. When Jane and I were in D.C. and New York two weeks ago I was constantly pointing my camera off into space and she would ask me, “Do you want me to take a picture of you?” and I almost always said no. It is not uncommon for me to come home with 300+ pictures from a weeklong trip. Sometimes I regret not getting more pictures of people but for the most part I really love the ones I take. I was talking to my mom about photography last week and she said that even though people tend to photograph the same statues, monuments and buildings there is something special about knowing you stood right there with your own two feet and saw the place with your own eyes. It really is true. The travel photography slideshow confirmed that there are other people out there who get the same thrill I do when I see something (whether it is famous or ordinary, permanent or temporary) in a special way with my own eyes.

I can’t tell you how good it felt to walk out of the photography workshop having realized that photography doesn’t have to be a literal, static art form. You can create movement, direction, velocity, mood, drama and tone with settings, posing and edits. Russ and Adilfa repeated many times, “Photography is painting with light.” Adilfa had shown us dozens of pictures where she made slight changes to bring emphasis to the subject of her photo. She made Photoshop look so simple and emphasized the importance of using a Wacom tablet and pen for making photo edits because, “We don’t paint with potatoes.” (I hate my mouse anyway so I’m definitely looking at Costco’s offering of drawing tablets.) I also felt completely justified in buying an $800 camera. If anything I actually walked out wishing I had spent more on the initial investment. Russ and Adilfa pointed out that we use photography to capture images of the people, places and things we love the most. Why would we cheap out on something like that?

Even if I spent an arm and a leg on my camera I will feel the impact of this $39 workshop for years to come. I have been bitten by the “photography bug” and that combined with the “travel bug” have me itching to grab my passport and skip town. But, never fear, my full-time job is here to keep me in line.

Then again, it's never too early to start planning my next vacation, right?

TravelBlogue (Part 3)

New York, NY

Times Square

Times Square

Times Square

Manhattan Temple

American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History

Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art

Staten Island Ferry

Staten Island Ferry

TravelBlogue (Part 2)

Washington, D.C.


Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum

Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum

National Gallery of Art

Sculpture Garden

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Capitol Building

Washington Monument

Korean Veterans War Memorial

Vietnam Veterans War Memorial

Vietnam Veterans War Memorial

Vietnam Veterans War Memorial

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery

Washington National Cathedral

Washington, D.C. Temple

TravelBlogue (Part 1)

Hello. My name’s Amber. It’s been a month since my last blog.

What?? No way! I can’t believe how much time has passed. The month of March has been a whirlwind ride. Let me give you an update.

I knew March would be “all about Summit” and I prepared myself for long hours. I wasn’t disappointed.

FIRST WEEK OF MARCH

The first week of March was our last week of preparation for SUMMIT 2011 (http://www.omniture.com/en/summit11). I stayed busy scheduling 40+ customer meetings for my boss and two of his team members.

The highlight of the week was Tuesday night when a few of my coworkers and I stole away a few minutes and watched the beginning of “American Idol” and ate food from Macaroni Grill. It was a good reminder that life would get back to normal soon. I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend that followed and got ready for the big show.

SECOND WEEK OF MARCH

On Tuesday afternoon there was no denying that Summit was ON. As the first meeting start time approached I started getting butterflies in my stomach. The good news is that everything went fine and the parties were fantastic. The highlights of the week were the Wednesday night Lenny Kravitz concert and the Thursday night karaoke party. I think it was the sixth or seventh time THIS IS YOUR BAND (http://www.thisisyourband.com/index.php) played for us and I love them every single time.

THIRD WEEK OF MARCH - VACATION!!!

I usually take the week after Summit off and this year I had special plans to visit my friend Jane in Washington, D.C. Jane is in the first year of her physician assistant graduate program at George Washington University and it just so happened to be her Spring Break. Honestly, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Here are the highlights from the week:

SATURDAY 3/12

Jane picked me up from Dulles and after we dropped off my stuff and chatted with her roommates the two of us headed to RAY’S HELL BURGER in Arlington for dinner. Later that night we painted our nails and watched “Red.” It was a perfectly chill way to begin our vacation.

SUNDAY 3/13

Jane made crepes in the morning and I got to meet more of her roommates. Everyone was very nice and the crepes were fantastic. We went to church that afternoon and then went on a walk and invited people over for games in the evening. After several lively rounds of Catch Phrase and Sedarahc (“backwards charades”) the competition got pretty heated. The evening ended with a limbo competition, an arm wrestling tournament, a handstand contest and a dance-off. Whew!

MONDAY 3/14

After fueling up on pizza and hot dogs at Costco we set out for the metro and got off at L’Enfant Plaza and walked into the first museum we spotted. Much to our surprise every museum was FREE. The day went something like this:

SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSUEM (http://www.nasm.si.edu/)

When we walked in we were blown away by all of the rockets, planes, space shuttles, lunar rovers and jets that were suspended from the ceiling and displayed on the floor. It was fantastic.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART (http://www.nga.gov/)

Jane and I walked through the gallery in chronological order and it was very interesting to see the evolution of art throughout the centuries. The oldest paintings there were heavy and religious and the more modern ones were soft and scenic.

SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (http://www.mnh.si.edu/)

We loved this museum! We were mostly fascinated by the dinosaur fossils and I found out that Jane loves elephants. I just kept staring at the skeleton of an ancient crocodilian ancestor that must have been 30 feet long. Eventually we wanted into the minerals and gems area and got a glimpse of the Hope Diamond. Pretty cool!

SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY (http://americanhistory.si.edu/)

We only had about 45 minutes to check everything out before the museum closed. By this point we were pretty tired but we made it through almost ¾ of the museum. We really like the fashion exhibits and we got to see a pair of ruby red slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” (1938). The most random thing was running into a friend from my hometown. It was a wonderful surprise.

After the museum closed we went in search of food. Somehow we managed to walk a mile and a half to GOOD STUFF EATERY (http://www.goodstuffeatery.com/) and it was well worth it. We ran into one of Jane’s friends on the way there and he told us to get the Obama burger. The burgers were really good and the shakes were even better. We made the trip back to the metro and headed home.

Jane built a fort in the living room using the conventional items (couches, curtains, blankets, broomsticks and a pinch of masking tape) and we watched “Jurassic Park” in honor of our dinosaur friends at the Natural History Museum. It was awesome!

TUESDAY 3/15

Our number one priority on Tuesday was to go to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. When we arrived we received tickets telling us to come back at 12:30 pm. It was about 10:30 am so we set out to see the monuments. We made it to the Washington Monument, the World War II Monument, the Korean Veterans War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We even made it to the White House before catching the subway back to the museum.

UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM (http://www.ushmm.org/)

Neither Jane nor I knew exactly what to expect when we entered the museum. The hallways were full of displays and written descriptions of historical events. It would take hours to read everything that was written there. As we approached the section of the museum that detailed life in the concentration camps we saw display cases containing the personal effects of some of the prisoners. There were water canisters, suitcases, combs and tooth brushes, just to name a few. Further on in the exhibit we passed through a room that was full of leather shoes. I kept thinking of the people who once filled those shoes, used those toothbrushes, drank from those canisters and packed those suitcases. It made them more real than ever before. It felt like a small part of them had lived on forever.

When we left the museum we headed straight to the DMV and nearby mechanic to finish the process for getting Jane’s car registered in Virginia. To our surprise the strip mall included a dollar store where I bought my one and only souvenir and a place that sold pupusas (a Salvadorian food). We ordered a couple before heading back to the mechanic. They were mighty tasty.

Later that night we went to Institute and then watched “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (are you noticing a theme here?) We had forgotten how ridiculous the movie was but there was one part that made all four of us jump and scream at the same time. Maybe we were extra keyed-up due to an overdose of Cadbury Mini Eggs. Yum!

WEDNESDAY 3/16

Jane had to study on Wednesday morning so I set out for ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETARY (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/). I had wanted to go ever since I’d seen “Saving Private Ryan” in ’98. After about an hour and a half I headed back to house and Jane and I left for Georgetown. Neither of us knew exactly how to get there but when we came out of the metro station one of the workers was nice enough to give us directions. We just had to walk about four blocks and then cross Key Bridge before we hit M Street which is the main shopping breezeway. We got a nice view of Georgetown University on the way to M Street. We browsed the shops on M Street but we were more interested in finding a restaurant. We decided on OLD GLORY BBQ (http://www.oldglorybbq.com/) and totally loved it. But we couldn’t stop there, oh no!

We went to GEORGETOWN CUPCAKE (http://georgetowncupcake.com/) which is featured on TLC’s weekly show “DC Cupcakes.” We had to wait in line for about 15 minutes before we could go in and I was surprised by how small it was in person compared to how it looks on TV. I was even more surprised to see both owners (Katherine and Sophie) working behind the counter. Katherine was taking time to talk to the kids in the shop and it was pretty cute. I couldn’t help but try to snap a picture of them.

On Wednesday night we went to dinner at Jane’s friend’s house and I got to see two of Jane’s former roommates from P-town. It was a happy reunion. After dinner Jane and I drove to the LDS Temple. One the way there we passed the WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL (http://www.nationalcathedral.org/). The GPS unit in her car took us on quite the trip and on the way back we decided to ignore it until we got on a freeway. Jane told me the streets of DC were designed to prevent an enemy infantry attack and that totally made sense to me because the streets are crazy there! She was a real trooper and got us to and from the temple in one piece. I even caught a glimpse of the Iwo Jima Memorial. When we got home we pretty much collapsed and watched “Jurassic Park III” (inside the fort, of course).

THURSDAY 3/17 (St. Patrick’s Day)

On Thursday we bade farewell to Washington, D.C. and boarded the bus to New York City. We booked our tickets on MEGABUS (http://us.megabus.com/) and they were only $17 (each way)! The bus was a double-decker and we got a seat on the top level. The ride was 4 hours and 20 minutes long. When we arrived we promptly located an uptown subway entrance and checked into HI NEW YORK HOSTEL (http://www.hinewyork.org/). I had stayed there last July and liked it just fine. After we finished putting our stuff in our locker we headed back to the subway and rode to Times Square. We looked for a restaurant and happened upon another barbeque place (http://www.virgilsbbq.com/). It was hard to not compare it to the Georgetown restaurant and even though Jane was squished in the middle of four tables, we still enjoyed ourselves. The best part was the mint ice cream sandwich we shared.

After dinner we walked to the Minskoff Theater and saw THE LION KING (http://disney.go.com/theatre/thelionking/broadway/#/home/). During the opening number the audience cheered and clapped every time a new animal appeared on stage. The atmosphere was electric and contagious. It was a great show and afterward a few of the actors were wandering the lobby collecting donations for Broadway Cares. Jane and I also cared but we hoped that a portion of our $120 tickets would make its way into the Broadway Cares collection bucket.

FRIDAY 3/18

We designated Friday as our final museum day. First we took a quick trip to the Lincoln Center to take a look at the Julliard School and the LDS Temple. Next we walked to Columbus Circle and took the subway to 81^st Street.

AMERICAN MUSUEM OF NATURAL HISTORY (http://www.amnh.org/)

At this point in the week we had paid a whopping $0 for museum admissions (gotta love D.C.) and it was a bit of an adjustment to pay a “suggested donation” of $16. However, we knew we would get to see more dinosaur fossils and so we forked it over. Unfortunately the subway/basement entrance we came in through was less than show-stopping. We had to walk for a long time before we saw jaw-dropping displays but when they finally appeared they were definitely worth it. The creepiest thing there was a huge spider crab and a little sign next to it saying the largest ones grow to 15 feet (from outstretched leg to outstretched leg). It still sends chills down my spine.

THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (http://www.moma.org/)

Admission to the MOMA is usually $20 for adults but it is free every Friday from 4-8 pm (thank you Target!) We timed our visit just right and happily picked up our free tickets at the guest counter. My favorite thing there was probably Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” although I really liked the Pollocks as well.

AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSUEM (http://www.folkartmuseum.org/)

Once again we scored free admission (every Friday from 5:30-7:30 pm) which definitely made up for the fact that they have a mandatory coat check. (You are not allowed to carry around a jacket. You have to either wear it or take it downstairs to the free coat check. Weird, right?)

After the museum run we went in search of dinner. Once again we found an all-American restaurant and even though it had the feel of a tourist trap, we walked in. (We had spotted an Indian restaurant a few blocks earlier but I was way too tired to walk back there.)

BROOKLYN DINER “THE FINER DINER” (http://www.brooklyndiner.com/)

The place was packed but at least we were mentally prepared for cramped seating. I really liked the food I ordered. Jane had her third barbeque sandwich in three days which basically made for a week chock full of burgers and BBQ. We couldn’t help but ogle the dessert cart and we ordered one slice of cheesecake even though the price wasn’t listed on the menu. I figured it couldn’t be more than $9. The cheesecake was a “perfect 10” but you’ll never believe how much the single slice cost: $12.50!!! Ah well, at least we saved all that money on museum admissions.

SATURDAY 3/19

Jane took the subway back to the Megabus station early in the morning and I checked out of the hostel around 11 am and walked to the M60 bus stop. I had a 3 pm flight from La Guardia but Delta tried to pull a fast one and canceled my flight. Luckily I got to the airport early enough to catch a flight through Chicago which got me home two hours earlier than my original flight would have. Sweet!

FOURTH WEEK OF MARCH

Somehow I have landed safely and managed to crash smack-dab into spring. Actually, where I live “Spring Solstice” is really just a date and there’s no telling when sunny weather will head our way and stay. For now I’m perfectly content to walk out of work at 5:30 pm into nearly blinding sunlight. It’s the best!

March, it’s been fun. However it’s after midnight and I really have to run. Good night, sleep tight and don’t fall for the $12.50 cheesecake!