I fancy myself a photographer.  The truth is I own some cameras but have never truly mastered any of them.  Starting out in film "back in the day" I began on an old Kodak Instamatic followed by Kodak's version of a Polaroid camera to (at last) a true SLR: my trusty Pentax K1000; perhaps the best film camera to learn on.  For years I shot film until finally film got too expensive and rare to find and develop.  I guess I could have set up a dark room but remember I've never mastered photography. This is the truth: I'm just a "photo-tinkerer."  The '90's weren't good to me in terms of photography as relates to equipment.  Mostly point and shoot cameras were used to snap pictures of my kids.  I still have a brown paper bag full of rolls of film too expensive to develop now.  Sometimes I feel like a failure for not taking the time to develop all of that film.  But shooting a roll of film of my kids' birthdays and events and then another roll of film and still another; it all added up and now resides in a brown paper bag.  A sad way to end up. Finally, after the dull years of my photography I finally got more diligent about things.  I moved to digital SLR and bought a Nikon D40; a great starter camera but I quickly outgrew it.  I then moved on to a Nikon D90 and then to a Nikon D7000.  And that's it. That is where I have ended up.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my Nikon...a really great camera but I have yet to master it.  I'm a "novice" novice. What helps me in photography is that I have an "artistic eye" (I just made that up; no one has ever said anything of the sort about me). I often see things to photograph that might be unnoticed by others.  I'm not sure what the title would be for that.  Geek?  Nerd?  Weird?  Odd?  Amazing?  No title is actually needed.  It is what it is.  The photo above was taken behind the old Jefferson Hotel in downtown Birmingham, Alabama.  I simply like the look of black and white for this picture and the direction it takes my eye down the back alley.  Usually when I shoot photos I am undertaking the endeavor for myself and because of that I don't always have to master every shot to get the photo that I like.  And that, in and of itself, makes me happy.  Perhaps that is what happiness is...finding it in the moment without worry of what someone might think; just allowing the moment to be whatever it needs to be.  In that regard I don't have to be a great photographer; just a happy one.

You Have Something to Say

It has been a while  since I last posted anything here, and it is not vital that one should always have something to say or write.  It is important, though, that one's voice not go silent because one believes there is nothing to say.  We all have something to say.  We all have feelings to share even when we want to keep those feelings close.  We all have thoughts and opinions.  Some of us have learned there is a timing in sharing thoughts, opinions, and feelings. 

What stirs in your heart?  What gives you cause to proclaim your station in life?  Society is filled with people wanting to be heard.  Just read the newsfeed on your Facebook page or give a few minutes to read the 140 word blurbs that your friends are "tweeting".  Introverts and extroverts alike want to be heard from on occasion, but the question that hits at the heart of matter is this:  are we saying anything of substance?  Do we make noise simply to be heard?  Are we like prisoners trapped in the dark cells of our souls clanging a tin cup along the prison bars?  Trapped.  Forgotten.  Can anyone hear us?  Will anyone help us!

I guess what I am seeking to say is that it is painful to speak and not be heard or worse, ignored.  It is painful to feel deeply, desire longingly, think openly and come to the conclusion that it does not matter what one thinks or feels.  Each of us by virtue of our collective share in humanity have value and worth and something to say about life and living.  Perhaps, what we say will not make any sense to the casual hearer but is it not better to seek to speak and risk being misunderstood than to give up and believe there is nothing worth communicating?

You have something to say.

Speak.  Write.  Share.

Be heard.