Photography by krista

It is amazing what you can find in your own neighbourhood!  I can’t wait for my next adventurous client so we can try out this location.  I’ve been meaning to check it out for ages and finally got the chance to explore today.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a little bit of everything.  Some water, some graffiti, a tunnel, some ruins and rubble…all a photographer’s best friend!

I was also grateful to have my step daughter along…she is a budding photographer (she just won an award at school!!) and was able to capture a new profile pic for me.  I feel so happy every time I look at it!

I could do a new post every day on how much I am loving our weather!  If it’s not raining I am doing what I can to be outside!  This afternoon I headed out with some family and friends just to enjoy a stroll by the lake and some down time.  Some were receptive to my camera and some were runners…lol…but they had to put up with me either way!  The light was awesome so I did not want to miss the chance of shooting a few images.  I figured I was due for a blog post as well.

Jessica and Miss R have known each other for awhile but I would say today was the first day they were friends.  It took a little while for Miss R to warm up to Jess and it took awhile for Jess to relax and just have some fun.  It was awesome to see it all come together today.

Miss R and Jessica turned out to be my most receptive subjects!  Smiles and posing were no problem.  Yes you heard me right.  My own daughter posed with NO COMPLAINTS!  I can not remember the last time I got a pose with no teenage eye roll!!!

Mister R was a runner!  We were out to have fun and not for a photo shoot so I just did some sneaking around to make sure I caught a few images of him.  I was not as stealthy as I’d hoped.

The biggest runner of all was Danielle!!  I am extremely proud of myself for even catching this one.  Took some of my best ninja skills to catch her at all.  She has a sixth sense that tells her when anyone is close to taking a shot of her.

Thanks for a lovely day you guys!  Look forward to doing it again soon!

We have not had much of a winter in terms of snow or low temperatures but I still miss the colours of spring, summer and fall.  When there is a definite lack of colour I tend to focus on textures or scenes that catch my eye.  This is one of my favourite hiking locations so I don’t always take my camera but I do always keep my eyes peeled for a different view of an old favourite.  Here are some of the scenes/textures that caught my eye this week!

Yay for colour!!  I’m starting to see colour peek out on my hikes and I am getting so excited for the warm weather and days outside!  Every little hint of colour lights up my mood a bit more!

Sensei Neil is my very first black belt.  I hope you can hear a note of pride in my tone.  He is the very first student to come in to my class as a white belt and progress to a black belt.  He is very close to receiving his Nidan (second degree black belt) and he is one of my biggest assets in the karate program.  Not only has he become a great friend he is also a wonderful supporter of the karate program.  He teaches classes, he assists with classes, he trains regularly (even when he shouldn’t due to injuries!) and he is always a great sounding board for my ramblings!

Sensei Neil would describe himself as passionate, loyal and stubborn.  I see his passion and loyalty regularly and I have to admit I’ve even seen the stubborn…usually that starts with him saying “I’m sorry, BUT…” Stubborn is a little misleading because he is usually standing up for something he believes in and I usually agree (except for that pesky Bruins obsession).  I would describe him as loyal…I can’t say it enough and I am very grateful! He is very determined which I guess is the positive side of stubborn and very funny.  That could be said for the entire karate group.  Whenever we all get together I am having fun because there are so many great personalities.

What would you find in his refrigerator right now??  V8, caffeine free diet cola, fruits, veggies and something he is afraid to grab it’s been in there so long.  He didn’t say it but I would bet a fair amount that there is a bag of Doritos on top of the fridge!

FINALLY someone willing to admit how funny I am!  That was one of Sensei Neil’s descriptors for me…along with loyal and dedicated.

Sensei Neil misses his family a lot since they are all in Nova Scotia and comments often that the karate crew are very dear to his heart and have become his family here. If Sensei Neil won the lottery he would get rid of his debt, take care of his family and friends (that includes me right?  >see family comment above) and open a karate store.

His favourite phrase “Suck it up Buttercup!”

Sensei Frank has to be one of the most patient and kind people I have ever met.  People say I have a lot of patience but he has me beat ten times over.  In the 11 years I have known him I have NEVER seen him frustrated in a karate class.  I mean NEVER.  He may have felt it but you would never see it.  He is always encouraging his students and positive about their progress.  He is always trying to find new ways to motivate and encourage even the least attentive students.

Sensei Frank describes himself as friendly, insightful and outgoing.  All true!  He gets along with everyone and is often the life of the party with a wealth of funny stories.  My favourite stories have to be hearing about past and present students.  They are always told with a touch of humour and extreme passion.

How would I describe Sensei Frank?  Patient would have to be first…he’s got buckets of it!  Committed for sure.  Whenever I send an e-mail asking for help he is always one of the first to reply, at times re-arranging his own schedule to help me out.  I am extremely grateful!  He is definitely funny…and I never like to give anyone else credit for being funny lest people think they are funnier than me!  He did NOT use funny to describe me but he did say I was friendly, ambitious and caring.  I’d like to think they are all true!  Is it possible they are being so kind because they have to work with me??  Maybe I should interview my kids and get to the nitty gritty!

Some random thoughts…if Sensei Frank had a super power it would be reading minds BUT he would only use this power for good!  His favourite drinks are a Pina Colada and a Black Russian.  If he won 20 million dollars he would pay off his mortgage then donate money to various charities.  One of his favourite and/or most used quotes to the karate students …”I’m old enough to be your grandfather.”

Another feature on one of the awesome people I know!  Sensei Karen has been part of our karate program for a few years now.   Like many of us she comes as a karate family.  She holds the rank of Nidan (Second degree black belt), her son is a Shodan (First degree black belt), her daughter is a Shodan Ho (Junior black belt) and her husband is one of the greatest karate supporters of all time.

When asked to describe herself she chose dedicated (true!), hard working (true!) and detail oriented (very true!).  She is often found in the dojo getting extra training as she prepares for the many competitions she participates in.  Her favourite part of training is the quest for perfecting technique in her kata, weapons and kumite.  She is no stranger to repetition!  Recently Sensei Karen has taken on a regular teaching role and she loves to see the light bulb go off for the students she works with.  The moment when things “click” for her students is a satisfying one.  Her favourite exercise to dish out….touch and jumps!  My three words to describe her are determined, focused and fun.

If Sensei Karen was an animal she would be a monkey…anyone who’s met her needs no explanation!  For everyone else she just has a monkey kind of personality and is very inquisitive!  She is definitely a bit like the inquisitive four year old asking “why?”

I’m a huge reader so I am always asking people “what are your reading?” so I can add to my stockpile of things to read.  Sensei Karen recently finished “The King’s High Tomb” by Kristen Britain and she would definitely recommend it!  It’s engaging and descriptive without getting overly detailed and boring the reader!

How would Sensei Karen describe me?  Loyal…this is true!  I’ve got your back!  Happy…most of the time. She didn’t say but I think I should add that I’m funny…maybe even hilarious!  Caring was her third descriptor.  I appreciate that people are sticking with positive descriptions so far!  Let’s keep that ball rolling!

I was hoping to do one big blog post on all of the awesome people who help me keep the karate program running so smoothly.  It has proven to be much harder than I thought to get the images and interviews done in a timely manner.  Instead I’ve decided to just get started so the posts keep coming.  I also figured why stop at the karate people.  I know TONS of awesome people that really deserve some attention.  They are my celebrities.

I am starting with Miss Eryn, one of my assistant instructors in the karate program.  She always comes in with a smile and a boat load of energy.  She is growing up to be such a great teacher and the younger students always love her enthusiasm.  On top of that she is always willing to help with the behind the scenes work…taking attendance, running errands, organization, etc.  Anytime I start a sentence with “Can someone help me with….” I don’t even need to finish it before I hear Miss Eryn shout out “I’ll do it!”  This past year I have seen her grow so much.  She competes regularly and her bo kata is a force to be reckoned with.  She is starting to show the same improvements in her kata and has taken on the challenge of a new competition kata this year. (Kata-a combination of positions and movements in karate performed as an exercise)

I was so grateful for her willingness to participate in this project and put up with my silly questions.

Three things I would say to describe Eryn:  Energetic (obviously),  Motivating, Speedy

Which character would she be and why?  She had to think about it.  I think I threw her off guard with mostly non-karate related questions.  After some thinking she decided on Yoshi (one of my favourites!!) because he has a good character and a good personality.  Those were her exact words…”good character and good personality”.  You have to admire a 12 year old that respects those traits.

What is her favourite colour? Purple, because violets are purple.  (said with a tone that implies that should have been obvious to me!)

What are her favourite parts of training? I let her answer but I’m sure I could have predicted her answer because it sums up Eryn in a nutshell.  Her favourite part of training is working as a team and meeting all of the new people.  This is also what she loves about teaching, all of the new people she gets to meet.

Her favourite exercise to dish out is burpees!  Who doesn’t love a burpee??

Her 3 words to describe herself are silly, weird and crazy.  I totally agree with silly…she has a great heart and a fun personality.

Since it’s my blog I figured I would get all of the awesome people I know to give their take on me, without forcing them to be complimentary…lol.  Eryn’s 3 words to describe me were fun, energetic and silly.

Been there, done that and I am ready to move on.  I’ve been feeling under the weather off and on for a couple of weeks and it’s possible I’ve gotten a little batty at the end of it.  I’ve definitely been talking to my cats more than is typical and am earning my title as the “crazy cat lady”.

My cats spend about 99% of the day laying around and the other 1% driving Paul crazy.  After so much rest time I want to yell at them “GET UP…you’re wasting your life!”  I warned you I was losing it a little  It is so frustrating to be on mandatory rest when my brain is racing and I can think of a billion things I want to do.  Luckily it was on and off resting and I was able to get to karate most nights.

I’ve missed my camera, the gym, the outdoors and have gotten a little stir crazy.  I honestly don’t know how these cats do it all day but they certainly seem content.  Luckily I am back at it this week and definitely felt the cats deserved to be the feature image!

My favourite quote from a night out with Paul for his birthday.  Paul has been prepping for his 39th by talking about it lots leading up to the day.  Apparently that kind of systematic desensitization makes it easy to accept your new age on the actual birthday so he wasn’t as shocked by 39.  However, I think 40 will be a little tougher…he should start the desensitization process now.  I used to be totally freaked out by aging…for quite awhile I was 29 and so many months.  I dreaded saying thirty anything.  What changed?  I was talking to someone at the Y and I muttered something about “hating to get older”.  I will never forget his response “hmph, that’s silly, if you’re not getting older, you’re DEAD!”  Fair enough!  That was a little dose of reality that made me change my perspective in a hurry.  Sometimes the “number” still freaks me out but not nearly as much as it did in the past.

We’ve had a good week here.  The family celebrated Paul’s birthday on the weekend with breakfast in bed, ice skating and cupcakes!  Last night was the grown ups turn to head out for dinner and a movie.  I know he wasn’t expecting to be subjected to a mini photo shoot but I like to mark special events with some kind of photographic record.  When he hits 60 he can look back at 39 and long for the days…LOL.

There are so many fabulous photography challenges and projects out there if you are looking to work on your shooting skills.  Two years ago I did a 365 project (a photo a day for the entire year) which was extremely rewarding and so much fun.  For 2011 I did not feel as motivated to take a picture every single day, although I could have uploaded my iPhone photos and had several a day for the year.  So I dabbled with ideas here and there but did not keep a specific project going, then I felt guilty for not following through as consistently as I did with the 365.  I ended up frustrating myself more than anything.  I love photography so including frustration in the process was just silly.

I continue to get excited whenever I hear of cool photog projects and am tempted to jump on board.  However, I would like to reduce the frustration factor in feeling like I ‘have” to do something a certain way.  So, what’s the result of all of this over thinking???  I have been jotting down all of the challenges and projects in a notebook and will tackle them as the mood strikes me.  The only requirement I’ve put on myself is to be shooting non-client images regularly.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my clients but I also want to keep my brain working on new challenges.

There could be some definite overlap on themes and challenges but again…that’s not breaking my rules!!  It’s really awesome when you make your own rules…you always win!  So, the overall theme for today was “Where I Live”.  I just grabbed my camera and strolled through town taking some random snaps.  A little bit of overlap with the theme “shoot from the ground” as I tried to take a few from a lower perspective.  Here’s what I’ve got!  My house, our towns welcome sign, memorial hall (former home of our awesome haunted house), the view from the bridge, my favourite pub and my favourite tree.