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Mom and I sing Christmas songs for the world
My mom, Jonni Greene, is here to visit me for the holidays, and I thought it would be great fun to sing a few songs together. So, here we are singing The Christmas Waltz, The Christmas Song, and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. It was wonderful to share the love of music — and each other — with my mother this evening! And it’s neat that we can share it with the world as well.
Nature tints the morning sepia
As I lay in bed early this morning, I heard thunder, saw the occasional flash of lightning, and then saw the color of the sky change into a natural sepia tone. It was such a phenonmenon that I got out of bed early, turned off the house alarm, got my camera, and went outside to capture the moment.
Yuletide Plates
I am a Jew who loves Christmas. To me, Chrismastime is a season, not a celebration of Christ. I do not believe that Jesus was the messiah. Personally, I do not believe that there will ever be one Messiah; instead, I believe that each baby born brings with him or her a great hope that he or she may help, in his or her own way, to heal the world (tikkun olam). The Nativity story, while I do not take it as fact, resonates with me deeply because of its miraculous romanticism and its underlying themes. Both Christmas and Chanukah convey a message of new hope, light in the darkness, and the triumph of good in the world in spite of hardship. I believe that the themes of Yuledide can be appreciated by Jews, Christians, and Pagans alike because — face it — both Christmas and Chanukah were religious overlays to Pagan holidays in the first place. So, maybe I should just say that I love the Yuletide! (Even though I don’t identify as a Pagan.)
All labels aside, whatever your religion, may you enjoy this time of year and may it bring you a renewed sense of hope!
P.S. These are the Woodland Santa and Pine Cone plates designed for Sakura by Debbie Mumm (© 1998).
P.P.S. I’m so glad that my new 28mm lens allows me to sit at table and take photos of my food with onboard flash! With my 50mm prime lens, I would have to get up from the table and stand over my food to take a photo of it, and with my 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens, I would have to add even more weight to an already heavy kit (since that lens is so heavy to begin with) by piling my 430EX hotshoe flash on top of it all. So, I now have a lightweight photography setup for going out to restaurants, taking photos at the table of food, friends, and family, etc. I’m excited about the possibilities!
Capturing the Light
The act of photographing reminds me of the constantly changing world and the preciousness of each moment.
Andy had set this artichoke on the kitchen windowsill. The artichoke was past its prime, but I liked the way it looked with the sun hitting it this morning, so I ran and grabbed my camera.
The light had changed in the 30 seconds it took me to get my camera, and even during the taking of several shots, the light kept changing. While seeing how the light kept changing, and how quickly I was losing the light that had originally caught my eye, I was reminded of the constant changes going on in the world around me (and in myself as well, I suppose), and the preciousness of each moment. As a photographer, I am "delineating light" (photos meaning light and -graphy meaning delineation, see etymology of ‘photography’). Since natural light is constantly changing, we as photographers capture fleeting moments of light.
But, as people, what do we miss that we don’t capture? Are there moments in our lives, in relationships with people, when the moment is right to be silent or speak up, to be still or to make a move, to look or to listen? Photography is a highly technical hobby as well as an art, and I find that I must remember, as a human being, that there is much to capture other than light.
In Memory…
…of all those who have died in service to the United States of America.
I almost kept this post to just that first sentiment, “In memory of all those who have died in service to the United States of America.” But that would be too safe. And I can imagine being criticized for copping out and pandering to blind patriotism.
Yet I know that many Americans’ patriotism is not blind at all, but rather… forgiving. I am reminded of a story my Granny Greene recounted. She spoke of a woman she had known who worked for the USO during World War II. She said, “When you walked by a young man in the canteen and he patted your fanny, you just smiled and kept on walking. That’s patriotism!”
And that’s what many of us do– smile and keep on walking. We know that Read the rest of this entry
