Experimentation

It started off like one of those days where you wake up in a dreamy state, getting up without ever telling yourself, feeling like you are talking in your sleep. While lifting the camera from my bag, I instantly became aware of my dreamy state and remembered what Sandra Cisneros, author of "The House on Mango Street," told the class about writing while on an OLLU field-trip.
I remember her specifically telling us, "the best time to write is early in the morning, or right after waking up...it's easiest at that time because you are still in that dream state, allowing you to write what you feel rather than having to think."
Setting my camera aside, I grabbed a piece of paper and pen and just started writing. It had been too long since I'd felt any inspiration to write a poem, so I did. I usually write with an obsessive compulsion to edit after every sentence, not thinking or doing this felt really weird.
It wouldn't stop there. After writing the poem I decided to keep the creativity going, so I start ed taking pictures, of anything. One thing led to the next and I somehow ended up taking pics of paint brushes in water, more random objects I loved to experiment with.
I took pictures till 2:30 pm, completely void of food and any desire to eat or change my mind-set. The best part was noticing my dreamy state of mind and taking complete advantage of it, something I really want to do again.

"Remember The Simple Things"

by Tyler Cleveland


What time is there?
To remember the simple things
The simple things
Like ice-cold lemonade
Bitter-sweet memories
Memories of summer's span
Ending before it can ever begin.

What time is there?
To remember the simple things
The simple things
Like newspaper clippings
The continuation of life
Time's most captivating images
Holding you by a stare.

What time is there?
To remember the simple things
The simple things
Like remembering this day
Memories spent and time erased
Moments taken advantage of
To stop and think
Remember the simple things


I don't know if that was any good, it just felt right. :)

Here are some of the photos I took. I want to eventually use a set of them for a segment of my website (soon to be). The segment will be devoted to certain methods that a photographer's eye incorporates into an image, stuff like Emphasis with cropping, Filling the Frame, Use of space and subject, etc. But for now, here are the pics:


Loved the distortion from the glass, moving the light around (all of these look really good full-size) Click Me!

1st Original

1st with crop emphasizing the brush distortion (with glass curve)

1st w/ crop emphasizing the paint distortions (with glass center)

1st with crop emphasizing both, neutral

Contrast of textures



Had to use manual focus and a tripod for this set:

Click me!


Absolute favorite, it's all about the fat brush, haha

A little abstraction


I love cropping




Which ones are your favorite?