of photography and life

So, I've never been one to be disappointed by imperfection. Heck, I've made more amoeba-shaped pizzas than round ones and still enjoyed them. It's about trying and giving it your all and letting yourself be yourself...even if that means not being perfect.

Lately, I've been rather over-critical of myself...."sweating the small stuff" as the saying goes. Who the hell am I trying to impress? Why can't I be me always? It's all about expectations. It's about how I perceive other's expectations of me. Do ya' know what I mean. Acceptance? Maybe.

I took this shot at the Portland Museum of Art without my lens hood. I thought it was a nicely composed shot...but the dang lens-flare ruined it, I thought. So, I tried to recapture the shot WITH the lens-hood. Well, when I got home and reviewed my pictures it became apparent that the first shot was better, even with the lens flare.

What this tells me is, be happy with who, how, what or wherever. Life's too fucking short to beat yourself up...enjoy. I've known this for a long while -- My High School Graphic Arts teacher, Mr. Bill Smith, would start out his classes reading Zig Zieglar's book "See you at the top". He believed in positive reinforcement and motivation. His attitude rubbed off on me, and made a positive impact on my outlook. However, I lost sight of that for a very little while.

The combination of a crappy job, moving away from my family in SoCal, and trying to "Make it" in a new city gave me a bad case of "Stinkin' thinkin'" (Zig's famous words). But I'm getting this ship back on course.

SO, this picture may have a flaw or two, but I like it just fine. And, HEY, doesn't the polarizing filter make the sky look pretty cool?