The butterfly is...

...the ultimate agent of progress, growth, and change. It's life cycle is a frequently used metaphor to encompass the variables of the day to day. Often, though, the mistake in adapting this symbol to our everyday living is that it used as a once and final happening. We often assume that undergoing a metamorphosis and coming out a completely different and more evolved being on the other side is an isolated occurrence. We must get away from this view and remember that personal change and growth is constant. We are never a final and complete being. There should always be a period of self reflection where we hold to things that have served us well, release the things that have not, and develop new things to take the place of those let go. We should not just be the butterfly but be the perpetual butterfly. No growth ever comes out of stagnation.

To look at the world...

through the eyes of a child is to not look at it through the lens of naivete but uncorrupted eyes. Children have not had the experience of being betrayed by a close friend or loved one. Children do not have the selfish internal mechanism that makes them want to deceive and take advantage of others. Children do not have the polluted mind of someone who has been conditioned with ignorant and prejudiced views. Children see the world for what it could be if everyone dropped the facades, the charades, let go of the dogmatic views, open up their closed minds, embraced differences, and a celebrated the uniqueness of every individual. This world view, that of the optimist, is much better to have than that of the realist. The optimist see the world for what it could be and strives to make it so. The realist only sees what is, stays idled in this narrowed scope, and perpetuates the problem because they fail to see beyond it to a solution.

This picture was taken at a Barack Obama campaign rally in Charlotte, NC; in fact, it was his first rally in North Carolina after accepting the Democratic presidential nomination. I went here armed only with a handheld Kodak C613 Easy Share camera. I didn't have my Sony Alpha 300 DSLR yet and it wouldn't have done any good in the sea of people that were the spectators. Despite having only a casual snapshot camera, I was still looking for a great picture. This was when the photographer in me was still merely making his presence known instead making his presence present. My wife and I were able to get a spot directly in front of the stage about 50 feet away. I got some great shots of Obama making his speech then decided to see what I can get from the crowd.

The thing that stood out to me was not the tens of thousands of people that showed up to the rally but the thousands of parents who brought their young children. I even recall the first Obama rally I went to during the primary season and I hoisted a kid onto my shoulders so he could shake Obama's hand. The look on his face had enough "Thank Yous" for a thousand lifetimes. At this rally there was so much emotion in the air. The parents wanted their children to witness and be a concrete part of this history in the making. The look on this child's face emcompassed everything felt about that day. He had a look of hope, a dream dancing in his head, an outlook on tomorrow that was being made possible by the coming change. He was and still is seeing the world for what it could be if everyone would just let it be on its own.

Summer is finally here...

...and that means doing all the things I wanted to do during the school year but was not able to. My wife and I always made the most of our down time together, but the summers allow our free spirits to cut loose more than usual. This shot was taken during one of our many excursion to Uptown Charlotte (which is really downtown if you've read some of my earlier posts). We went to just hang out at the library and I have a resolution to take my camera with me everywhere this summer. After the libary (and picking up a couple of books on photography) we hit the streets to see if anything could catch my eye. I only took about 17 photographs, but this shot allowed me the opportunity to experiment with the slow shutter. My wife was still enough to come out clear and her dangling earring coupled with the streaming fountain made for a perfect combination of motion and stillness. I flipped the photo to black and white while keeping the earring in color for affect. I am very much looking forward to how much progress I stand to make this summer. Here's to gaining.

If you're a believer...

...in a higher power, regardless of what name you give it, you probably find yourself looking for signs or evidence of Its presence in your day to day life. Some people I know look for It in the big things, the huge occurrences. I often notice the Presence in the simple and everyday. These little happenings often add up to one big revelation. With the way I function if I spend so much energy trying to make out the big picture, I miss all the little things that make it up. In this picture I was trying to capture the typical sunrise over the mountains. I took about six shots and all of them looked the same save for the position of the sun in the sky. By chance, I happened to look at the mountains away from the rising sun and I saw the beautiful scenery being illuminated by the rays of the coming dawn. Then I snapped this shot. Little things...