The funny thing is that I write in this blog almost every day… in my head. Yeah, a lot of good that’s doing anyone.

Yesterday I was driving home and I took another snapshot of a cloud formation that looked like something to me. I thought I should start adding this little collection to my blog. The day before I took some shots of some of the Speakers (a project I have been working on for over a week) for TEDxABQ 2011. I thought, “I should post these in my blog and talk about this process”. Last week I realized I have been having some issues with billing and accounts receivable, and I thought I should blog about that too. See a trend here? The road to getting nowhere is paved with good intentions.

So, I am going to try and push myself to get on here a few times a week. I enjoy the writing, I have just over-extended myself again and it’s hard to find the time. But I’ll try and make the time. I promise

About 6-7 years ago I was a friend of her oldest son’s, and when Dawn asked if I would be interested in modeling for a portrait idea she had been playing around with, I was estatic in the way only a vain teenager can be. Nothing spectacular as she had just started exploring her interest with photography and her first camera, which I believe was a total whopping 3 mega pixels at the time and was the size of a square Kleenex box, though about half as thick. It was a dark and moody portrait with black lace and she played both makeup artist and photographer. Took us several hours and many side distractions before we completed a couple of images that we were happy with. Though it wasn’t until after the shoot when she had uploaded them onto her computer that we realized even though she had successfully given me a ghostly smooth, white complexion, we had forgotten my summer tanned arms and hands, which she had posed me laying my head on. An awkward looking portrait for sure, but a start non-the-less. Through the following years Dawn asked me a couple more times to pose for an idea here and there, but I found myself more and more attending her shoots not as a model, but as a very interested assistant. Many of which involved a pre-shoot session with me as the guinea pig. Dawn’s creativity and enthusiasm for her work was contagious, and I found myself as an eager participant in the search for the right lighting to a scene, or for that missing piece of the puzzle that was needed to impress upon the observer the emotion and story behind every photo, and every pose that had grown from Dawn’s very active imagination. Something that inspired me even more wasn’t just the extravagant scenes that she was able unfold before me and others, but the ones that she could pull out of a normal day to day place, such as something from the side of the road, or outside her office window.

As a beginning photographer with an already packed schedule as a full time office manager and a large family, even with a very supportive fiancee the extra lighting set or essential tripod didn’t always enter into the equation. However, Dawn is nothing but a genius when it comes to ingenuity. After bumbling our way through many “all most” make-up disasters (that might have involved gluing feathers my face), jury rigged shoots with the assistance of many pieces of insulation (cough) I mean reflectors, and maybe one incident that involved a skunk, Dawn has not only spread her wings as an artist but has also become a resourceful asset for the community.

The experiences that I have gained while working with Dawn are varied and wide in range, from start-up local models to professionals from out of the country, fairy tale childrens portraits to weddings that bring out the excitement of a new beginning, to the rescue of random wild life with no safe place to call home, and chasing down insects for a quick shot. It is because of these experiences, and the support of my sweetheart, that I find myself with a brand new camera, not only eager to start unfolding my own fairy tales and capturing my own precious moments, but to work alongside a very close friend with an exceptional (and slightly skewed) view of the world.

When I first got my Tamron 70-300mm lens one of the first things I did was set up a tripod in my front yard and shot the moon. They were not the best photos, but they weren’t bad.  What was impressive was the amount of detail I could see from so far away.  It was an exciting moment for me.  However, there are so many lunar photos out there that I couldn’t see much use for the images, print or otherwise, so my excitement waned (pardon the pun) and I haven’t taken photos of the moon in a long time.

Last night found me in my front yard again, huddled in a bad mixture of clothing that made me look like some kind of reject from Northern Exposure. ( I loved that damn show) But I was comfortable sitting on the tail of my husbands pickup truck- and with tripod at the ready I was more prepared than I had been previously. This time I had gone online and printed some photography tips, approximate times for the event, and weather conditions.  So I knew there was a chance I wouldn’t see much, if anything at all.  And I knew the images were likely to be standard “moon’ photos.  But I loved the idea that I’d be possibly photographing the first Total Lunar Eclipse to fall on Winter Solstice since 1638 – – an event that won’t  be repeated again until 2094.  Not that you’d be able to tell that bit of info from the photos, but I’d know.

I did a test shot or two, to get my setting range right.  I was fairly happy with the results considering my insignificant little lens.

As the event time neared, so the clouds began to thicken. Yet I manged to catch some pretty good shots though the passing ‘windows’ in the clouds.

So far my experience with the event was looking pretty good, and I had begun to allow myself a sliver of hope, and was starting to feel some twinges of downright excitement when suddenly the cloud-cover got so thick that the moon  and any sign of starry sky at all simply disappeared.

I stayed awake for an hour after that, checking often in hopes that my luck would improve.  My dear husband kept me company during my vigil, playing scrabble with me between my jaunts outside and peering with me hopefully at the gloomy Heavens.  Finally when the clouds did begin to disperse, I could see the moon beginning to wax white in a crescent again, and knew I’d have to be content with my early photos.

Was it worth it?  You bet.  I learned some things, I have some new gear on my wish list, and I had some fun … both with my photography and in scrabble.  I’ll chalk it up to experience and a nice evening to remember!

Assuming I were to believe that (and I don’t… not at all) I still would suggest to anyone interested that there are a variety of ways to – um – work out your creative muscle.  I believe that the way we think is a great deal like the way we move.  The less we exercise, the stiffer everything moves, the more we push ourselves outside our comfort zones – the more limber we become.

As a kid I spent a lot of time alone, so I had to think up things to keep me entertained. So I have been ‘stretching’ my creative limbs for a long time.   Yet, there are a few things I do that keep it fluid.  For the most part, I think these are things that could work for anyone.

(Above: This is me … embracing my oddballness.
Disclaimer: Not everyone embraces my creative side.)

Give Yourself Permission to Be Different:
This sounds like a no-brainer, but the truth is most of us are afraid to be diverse.  It’s outside the bounds of how we’ve been brought up to ‘fit in’. It’s how we function as a society. “You are normal, you do what is expected… so we’ll accept you.”  Except that kind of normal rarely gets a much attention. And the truth is, we get bored with commonplace.  And in our current society we are beginning to appreciate unconventional.   Annie Lebowitz, Pablo Picasso, even Georgia O’keeffe all ignored expectations and dared to be extraordinary.  So remind yourself that in order to be creative you have to give yourself permission to be different.

Some of my first ‘portraits’ are a perfect example.  Face paintings and all kinds of exocitc weirdness.  My models and others around me told me this stuff was too off the wall.  The very same ‘off the wall pieces got me my first writeup and feature here in VerbSap for images like these:

Look at Everything, But Look for Another Angle:
Often what makes an image pop is an unexpected angle.  It is easy to get into the habit of shooting what we see from the point of view we are accustomed to seeing it from, but challenge yourself to try a different perspective.   Lay at a child’s feet and look up at the from the ground.  Tilt the camera, tilt your subject, put your subject in unexpected places.

For the shoot below I stood up on a ladder looking down at my model. I could have taken the photo from ground level, but the effect would have been altogether different.

Be the Teacher – Assign the Lesson:
Sometimes when I have nothing to shoot and I feel like I need to push myself, I give myself assignments.  I have to get twenty great photos in a backyard, or the backyard.   I have to find 15 food items in my fridge and get some professional images.   I have to shoot at least 25 black and white images of things I am used to seeing in color, and so on.  If I can’t come up with a good assignment, I find one on the internet, even if I don’t intend to submit it to the website.  The simple practice of working on the assignment helps me stir the creative juices.

The egg below was an assignment many years ago on a photo site that had contests. I can’t remember the theme, but I do remember racking my brain for a way to make everyone look twice. This accomplished that:

Be Prolific:
It isn’t always true that the more you shoot, the better your pictures will be.  But the more you work at it the better your ideas may become.  Like many things, the more your are comfortable with your craft, the more you are likely to take some risks and try something new.

Look Over Someones Shoulder:
Looking at the work of others isn’t a bad thing.  Once upon a time someone saw and ate the first potato and liked it.  Other people saw that it looked good, tried cooking their own, and came up with thousands of recipes since then we all love and enjoy.  Get ideas, get excited… get inspired. There is a lot of great work out there by some really talented and creative people, try to put yourself in their shoes and see the world from their eyes.

There’s more I could add to this post, but hopefully my basic premise is clear here.  Some people may come by that creative gene naturally, and some people may have to work at it a little.  But anyone can learn to stretch their imagination with a little work and some effort.

That is one of the things about me that I always face.  I am my own worst critic, and it is hard for me to look at my own work and be open minded.  The best time for me when it comes to photography is during the shoot and during the editing process.  I am usually excited, motivated, full of enthusiasm.  When the work is complete and the ‘Ether’ has worn off, I can’t hardly stand to look at my own work.

It drives me crazy.

This applies to so many of my projects, even my own logo design.  I find myself creating what I think I might like, and send out examples to people I trust to tell me the truth, and then work to accept whatever they say about the final project.  Good or bad.

So, if I am sketchy for the next week or so, the website is why.  I am like a worry parent when a teenager is staying out too late.  Pacing the floor, ya know?

There are tips and tricks for accomplishing most of your photographic desires, and I want to share with you one of my tricks to making landscape photography less incalculable.

The photo above was almost a year in the making. I drove by this cemetery many times before the warm spring day I decided I wanted to shoot it with a cloudy sky in the background. I pulled out the little notebook I keep in my car for just these kinds of occasions and wrote down some notes with the location, time of day I thought would work best and the kind of weather I wanted.

When the weather looks promising, I scan this notebook for locations I have written, and dash over to get some shots. Because I had noted the cemetery location in the spring, we didn’t get any good cloud storms until the end of summer. But when the weather was right, I had my trusty notebook and the locations I wanted to visit to get my shot.

It worked out pretty well, I think. Now I just have to be at the other 300 locations I have written down at the right moment!

(TEDxABQ audience heads out for a quick lunch provided by the event, © Photo Dawn Allynn 2010)

Someone I do frequent projects with, and long time friend, Tim Nisly, had spoken to me back in 2009 about the possibility of me shooting at a TEDx event.

(Tim Nisly, TEDxABQ Curator, © Photo Dawn Allynn 2010)

I didn’t know anything about TED or TEDx events, and didn’t give the whole thing a fair look, to be honest.  For some reason I was under the impression it was some weird pyramid scheme.

(Emily Leech, TEDxABQ Speaker, ©  Photo Dawn Allynn 2010)

How wrong I actually was didn’t hit me until I attended TEDxABQ, in fact. The speaker filled day was so exciting that it was an effort to focus on the job. I was hooked.

Now I see TED and TEDx events as being a place where I can learn, get impassioned about, and meet like-minded people who like to do more than sit on their rump and wish.  It’s almost a tangible epiphany.

(John Freisinger, TEDxABQ Speaker,  © Photo Dawn Allynn 2010)

The TED and TEDx Talks can be found online. Treat yourself to one. Browse until you find a topic you really love. Want a place to start? Here are some of my personal Favorites

Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education
Mary Roach: 10 things you didn’t know about orgasm
Johanna Blakley: Lessons from fashion’s free culture

For more images of the event, visit the TEDxABQ Flickr Group Here.

When I am bored and there is nothing else to do, I sometimes grab my camera and play a game with myself where I try and find as many things to photograph as I can in a small area I have defined. I sometimes catch myself making up stories for what might-have-been.

I work near an empty lot that has had old cars and vehicles and a ton of other miscellaneous items behind it’s fence for longer than I have been in this area.  A colony of feral cats I care for sometimes lounges in this fenced area, which is mostly safe from predators.  I have taken photos here before, but I like to press myself to see something new in an old spot.

Keep in mind, most of these photos you never see.  They are not very noteworthy, often more practice for my photography skills, and an exercise in forcing me to be creative.

And I thought I’d share some photos of the last time I was in the abandoned lot photos, and the stories, with you.  I’d be interested in knowing if you do anything similar?  What practices do you have that keep your creative juices flowing?

The first two photos are of a  blue Ford Galaxy, to my knowledge a 1960’s model.  Sleek and sweet, I couldn’t help but imagine a family in this car   driving to Santa Fe from Albuquerque on US Highway 85. Perhaps they are going to see Grandmother, or to visit Camel Rock. (there is no casino there yet, just a small mom and pop trading post where you can pick up an ice cold root beer for a dime.  Driving the car Dad has his arm out the window, cigarette in hand, humming along to the sweet crooning voice of Johnny Rivers singing Baby, I Need Your Lovin’, Mom with a Big Red soda sipping and watching the scenery pass along, hoping to God the kids won’t need to go to the bathroom until Santa Fe.  In the back seat a couple of kids are working on coloring books, engaging in elbow wars every ten minutes or so until mom turns around and shoots them a scowl.

I imagine when the new owner bought this car, he stood at the back and admired her perfect new finish, picturing the looks of envy from his friends.

This is one of the cats I take care of, we call her Gracious, or Gray.  She’s been here almost two years, and probably knows the inside of every car on this lot.  She had a liter of kittens here this summer, and watched them play under the trees and among the worn tires until they were old enough that I could find homes for them.

This is a huge work truck with a very long and wide flat bed on it.  The bed is long thick planks of wood, and I imagine that it was once the means for a great deal of brick or some other heavy material was transported to people all around the Albuquerque area.  I wonder how far the driver went with his loads, did he know hi customers by name, on a route he enjoyed driving on a regular basis?  Or perhaps every face was a new one, and has he wove his way down the road, he looked forward to relaxing when he got home.

This is Mischief, our chief mouser.  Before she arrived we had a serious mouse problem, and she can be often see trotting off to enjoy her Catch of the Day.

The large mattress she is standing on could be old or fairly new.  I can’t help by wonder how many heads have napped here, once upon a time.  Did newly weds cuddle here?  Did someone lay on one side, feeling lonely and unable to sleep?  Did a couple of small children snuggle with mom and dad on a Saturday morning?

This was interesting.  A Nuclear Densometer Checklist.  The date on it is from 1989 – –  twenty one years these papers have managed to stay intact in the back seat of this old Plymouth Duster.  According to Wikipedia, “A Nuclear Densometer Test is a field test used in geotechnical engineering. The test is performed on a compacted base to establish its percentage of compaction.” Below this picture is a photo of what I found in the front seat and my musings on why these papers are still in here.

Schaefer Beer cans, hard to tell how old they are, but one of them was stuck pretty hard to the floor board in the front.  Was Mr or Ms Duster driver drinking while driving their car, perhaps on the way home from doing a Nuclear Densometer Test?  Hm, maybe a car accident would explain leaving all the paperwork on the back seat…

Just a note, but my husband shudders when he mentions this beer.

A dirty t-shirt, not so old from the look of it, half buried in the dirt.  Perhaps left here by a young man after a tryst with a pretty girl in an abandoned lot.  Maybe a car drove by and slowed down, and in a startled rush in the dark Romeo couldn’t find the shirt, now a half buried reminder of kisses and romance.

The shoe, worn out and caked with dust, a goat head sticker plant using it as a trellis surely came from a teen who once tossed his shoes over the power line on a hot summer afternoon.  He and his friends, bored and baking decide this is a good way to leave their mark on the world, and it takes probably thirty wild throws before his shoes catch hold.  The shoes hang there for over a year, annoying the crap out of a crotchety business owner nearby who likes to mutter about delinquents, until the following summer during the wet monsoons the strings break, one shoe bouncing into the road, the other landing in the lot where it still sits today.

A young man who fancies himself cowboy material saves up and buys himself a felt hat and a pickup, figuring when he’s not driving with a pretty gal under his arm, he can charge his buddies a quick $20 to move their crap when they call him.  But the highlight of owning the truck ends up being the day he and his dad drive to the Pecos to go fishing together the year before Dad dies, and they have one of the best days of the young mans life on the tail of that truck, drinking beer.

Once upon a time a young woman stood in front of this car with this very same view.  She liked mechanics, loved cars, and revels in the fact that it is way cooler than her older brothers Corolla.

When I was in high school my father ignored my pleas for a Chevelle Super Sport and got me instead a very rough, blue Dodge Dart Swinger.  I grew to love that car, and my friends and I christened her ‘The Blue Maggot’.  (more story there than I can fit here.)  I slipped this photo in, sans story, for sentimental reasons. Insert your own sentimental meanderings below.

Love it or hate it, that’s how this ole head of mine works.  How I process what I see.  Whatever else it is or isn’t… it’s always fun.