Joshua Tree Under the Milky Way from Henry Jun Wah Lee on Vimeo.

I can’t remember where I found out about Henry Jun Wah Lee’s incredibly time lapse photography, but ever since I’ve been mesmerized viewing the videos. The video above of the Perseid meteor shower and the Milky Way as seen from Joshua Tree. When we were in New Hampshire we were able to see the Milky Way from the Kancamagus Highway like I hadn’t seen it in a very long time. Everyone should have the opportunity to see the Milky Way like that.

The other video/time lapse I fell in love with is the Time Lapse Tour of Yosemite National Park. A place I would love to visit and hopefully will someday with my camera.

Craig and I were having a good discussion tonight about his take away from reading the book The Not So Big Life by Sarah Susanka. One thing he mentioned was the concept of your life being like a movie, and then having that feeling of why am I in this movie? If you’re answering with “I don’t know”, then it’s pretty clear something needs to change.

Several years ago, that question went through my head quite often. I had considered what life would be like without me in it and just wanted a break. It seemed like the weight on my shoulders was too much to bear. I’m grateful to say things turned around and particularly this year I re-inspired myself to not lose another 10 years to doing for everything and everyone else. Because at the end of the day if I’m not happy with my life and who I am, what else do I have.

In that spirit. I happened to love the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. I always found it funny and cathartic. It’s a great metaphor for what many of us do, sometimes without even realizing it. We make decisions that are not ones towards a life we’d love but rather slow chips away at ending the one we’re in. But amazingly like the movie, changing your perspective, removing culprits from your life that bring you down, can make huge steps towards being in a life you actually like and want to wake up to and be alive for. You always have tomorrow as an opportunity to change the path.

Find that road not taken.

There are some great tips to avoid creative blocks over at Inspired Mag‘s website. The one I have the hardest problem with is #5 self-doubt. Which lead me to remember Leah’s post about Self-Employment: The First Six Months. She mentioned previously feeling guilty when a potential client would say they couldn’t afford her services. I’ve had that feeling many times, and foolishly buckled to bringing down my rate to something where it was no longer respecting my time and services. She summed it up best, “…let go of the guilt that I can’t help everyone.”

The other tip in the article that I need to follow more is #3 Take a Walk and #6 Get Away for a Day or Two. Staying home and just not going out is not the same. My home is my office, and it’s filled with personal projects that also peek at me from behind their boxes and I feel like I should at least be doing those. I remind myself to just go look at my OmniFocus “Due” perspective and only worry about what is there.

Walks are so underrated, I had forgotten how cathartic they can be. We took a peaceful, albeit very cold walk yesterday along the river. It reminded me how much I like what I do, along with memories of our days driving up Route 7 and planning out our future. It gave me hope. I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but somedays it’s what I need to be reminded life is about. The dreams and reaching for them.

Thank you to my dreamer, who constantly reminds me to never give up.

More than 130,000 advertising professionals have lost their jobs in this “Great Recession.” Lemonade is about what happens when people who were once paid to be creative in advertising are forced to be creative with their own lives.

Craig and I have talked often over the years of the “what if I lost my job” scenario. Both of my last two jobs had layoffs, and I grew to understand in my first job at a dot com, that at any moment it could be you. Don’t take it personally, you’re a number in the end, not in a bad way, just a salary and when budgets are not being met, it comes down to numbers. To me layoffs have become a fact of life, I’m always some what prepared in my head, a box under my desk and trying to stay one step ahead.

The advertising industry to me feels like the canary in the coal mine. The arts always take the first hit of being the “unnecessary” expense businesses cut in tough times. The irony there is with good marketing and imagery your product will continue to be successful.

It’s wonderful someone is making this movie. As creative professionals I think we generally have the ability to bounce back quicker than others and start off in new directions. Many times, happier directions more in line with our true callings.

America
by Walt Whitman
(1819-1892)

Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
Chair’d in the adamant of Time.

via (kottke.org)

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some very talented people over the years, and still do currently. Some people I’ve connected with in the field I’ve never even met in person and I’m regularly humbled by their talents. They inspire me. They also remind me I’m not alone and it’s a process that keeps me growing.

I’m taking a risk, something I don’t seem to like to do when it comes to my career and have said “yes” to several side projects. My time is limited but I need to feel inspired and alive again. The opportunities that have been presented to me recently are exciting, challenging, inspiring and making me very happy.

I hope to look back at this time with a large smile on my face for having grabbed the reins and taken my life in a direction I wanted to go in.

And to think I haven’t even received my copy of Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It book.

Americans have access to:

• 1,000,000,000,000 web pages
• 65,000 iPhone app
• 10,500 radio stations
• 5,500 magazines
• 200+ cable tv networks

Pretty impressive numbers. The folks at XPLANE™ have created another video educating and inspiring the community. This is from their Did You Know series.

We forget sometimes how much things have changed and what kind of future possibly lays before us. The power of the computers in our pockets is incredible in relation to just 20 years ago.

I stumbled across SAAB’s microsite called “Change Perspective” tonight, all I can say is I’ve been back to it 5 times to play with it and sent it to several friends.

Flash has been of much debate in the web design community. Some vehemently oppose it, others think it’s the solution to everything. My feelings are more middle of the road. In the right application it’s the only tool for the job, this site happens to be one of those.

The music is great. The whole site is clean, simple, easy to use and just feels like fresh air. My favorite part is the safety section with the pop up book. Visit the site.

(Via bikepornftw.)

Today was our 9th anniversary. Looking forward to many, many more years.

lights on from thesystemis on Vimeo.

Now the grass a luscious green, the plantings haven’t come in yet, but the trees were in full green leaves. We explored a section of the park we hadn’t been to. I can’t wait to go back with my bike, and ride this never ending road.

There is a beautiful stone wall that runs the length of this road on either side. I loved the old trees.

We headed back to the main house to enjoy the sunset from the back porch. There were people playing frisbee and families enjoying the grounds. As the sun started to set, I realized there was this beautiful glow off the windows.

I’m finding it very hard to capture a sunset straight on, I need to read up and experiment more. Before we left I walked up to the big apple tree and noticed the silhouette it’s branches made. I like how the branches resemble a printed pattern.

We walked back to the car in the dusk light, and I snapped this one last shot from the parking lot.

If you live in the area, I can not recommend enough visiting this park.

Several weeks back my photography friend’s, Shanna and Kelly, decided it had been too long since our last photography field class. Sadly enough, Shanna couldn’t make it today, but Kelly and I headed over to Harkness Memorial State Park to shoot photos. I went to college on this side of the state and discovered this park with Craig while driving around and exploring the area. Since that time I love to come over and visit. There’s a mansion on the property, gardens, a long stretch of lawn and ocean front.

We decided to head over a little later and let the morning storm clouds pass. When we arrived it was sunny and a light breeze. Perfect for our photo walk. Craig kindly came along and allowed me to shoot photos of him. I am very happy with how the photos came out today.

Slideshow available here.

The technical:
I shot all of today’s photos with a Canon Digital Rebel XTi, Canon 50mm 1.8f, Canon 100-300mm, Canon 18-55mm kit lense and tripod. I used primarily for the sky photos a graduated neutral density filter. I also shot, but not shown here, 120mm format black and white film with a Diana F+ camera. I’m hoping to work on those soon. I post-processed in Adobe Lightroom 2.0.

Processed with a Lithograph preset in Lightroom.

HDR of the park from the ocean side.

Craig coming to get me.

I think the root of the issue is me forgetting that I have all sorts of things to share from the insanely busy past 15 years of my life.

Do you find yourself doing this as well? Is it considered “uncool” to post right away your own story? or am I just being worried for no reason?

I feel the same. (Illustration by Alex Noriega)

(Via swissmiss.)

I can definitely relate to this and have certainly felt this many a day.

This is one of several amazing pieces of photography via, Light Art Performance Photography’s website. Their work is beautiful and inspiring. I love long exposure photography. Please go visit their site to see all their incredible work.

On a side note, I liked the music so much I bought it as well. It’s by James D. Stark, called “Ready” [iTunes link].

I found all of this via Colin Devroe’s post.

This year, I ended up getting very sick after only one day up there and spent most of the trip attached to tissues, DayQuil/NyQuil and chapstick.

Craig drove me around and I shot video. We first headed up the Kancamagus Highway out of Lincoln. Oh, I just remembered we also got to see the Venus, Jupiter and Moon alignment very clearly from up in the mountains.

The next day we drove through Franconia Notch, where my parents used to vacation for 20 years. The area feels like a second home to me.

I snapped this photo in New York City in 2005. I was shooting with a Canon Powershot G6. We were waiting for the subway to take us to see the Gates installation in Central Park. I found the man standing next to the pillar so still and unaffected by the fast moving train, amazing, since to me this was still a new experience.

The flag being caught as well was not intended but I like it’s addition. I also like how his reflection even showed up in the blurred train.

I am truly looking forward to the next month or so when pictures like these will be more prevalent. I’m waiting patiently for the trails to finish thawing and turn from mud to packed dirt again. My bike is in my office waiting for a prognosis on the fork which has some rust on it, but otherwise just needs a check of all systems.

While the visuals of Spring are amazing in their own respect, I’m looking forward to the scents. Fresh grass, flowers, budding trees, a warm breeze. (I’m choosing to forget pollen which will have me sneezing shortly).

What is your favorite parts of Spring? or is this just that in between season to Summer for you?

Beautiful.

(via noquedanblogs)

“

(Via swissmiss.)

I look forward to this future and all it can offer.

(via SwissMiss)

Found Melody hidden under the bedcovers the other day. I’m not sure if she realized she was fully hidden since I could see her paw and tail. I came around to the other side to see her peeking out from underneath. She’s something special.

Timelapse video of a cross country flight at night, flying above clouds glowing with city lights. My advice to you is to make the video full screen, put in your headphones and enjoy the soothing ride. (via migurski)

(Via kottke.org.)

This is so beautiful. I flew from New York to California during June of 1990 on an evening flight. I was mesmerized by the patches of dark and then the cities that would light up from below. I remember Las Vegas really standing out, and when we landed in Los Angeles it seemed to be even brighter. The music is so soothing. Enjoy!

(Via Corrie Haffly.)

This is so incredibly cool. I applaud the person who made it because I would never have the patience to create this.

This was taken in June of 07 in Cape Cod. I cannot wait for spring this year, to get out on my bike. 2008 I don’t know even know what to say. I didn’t do anything physical just worked and slept. I am determined to not start my 30′s being the inactive person I’ve been of my 20′s.

I really enjoyed our bike trip that June. I had never been to Cape Cod and I was looking at everything with a fresh set of eyes. Maybe this time we’ll go for longer than 2 days.

The first photo in the set is just amazing.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/sailing_around_the_world.html

I love the acronym for CRAP. Must post that somewhere.