I've moved!

It's a new season, and I've moved  to a new space.
You can now find me at
KristinaWoodPhotography.blogspot.com

on living creatively

"Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything."

-Eugene Delacroix

I love the essence of that quote.  I think he is calling us to be free.  Freedom from guilt of using our gifts, freedom to try and fail, freedom to entertain new ideas we feel are too silly or lavish, freedom to take time for ourselves, freedom to splurge a little.

I have been reading a great creative-recovery classic by Julia Cameron called, "The Artist's Way: a Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity." It has been expanding my mind as a creative being and clearing the way to become more playful and authentic in my creative pursuits.  Creativity leads to spirituality.  And, spirituality leads to creativity.  I love this quote from the book, "Our creative dreams and yearnings come from a divine source.  As we move toward our dreams, we move toward our divinity."

I never feel more alive than when I am letting creativity flow through me.  Maybe it is taking a pencil to my sketchbook, a watercolor brush to the page.  Chopping an array of colorful vegetables for a salad, planting seeds in the garden.  Searching for a piece of music and creating some fun choreography.  Noticing something I haven't seen before like water drops in my herbs or details in a flower bud.  There is something about just noticing the world around me that allows me to connect to the creative part of my soul.

I am learning to listen and be in touch with my creative side, the playful side that longs for beauty and meaning and life.  

It's a new journey, full of unknowns, but I like the journey I'm on.

sparklers: painting with light {photo tips}

Happy Independence Day!

Hooray for the 4th of July!

Watermelon, parades and sparklers.

These are the things I love about this day.

And, of course, capturing fireworks.

Here are some favorite photos from our last 4th of July in Orlando.

It's hard to believe we've been in Colorado for nearly a year!

There are many ways and settings to capture fireworks.

I like to start with an ISO of 200, and play with my settings based on available light.

For these shots, my goal was to capture the light painted by sparklers.

I mounted my camera on a tripod, and since it was pitch black, I left the shutter open for 2sec. 

I asked my kids to make various shapes in the air with their sparklers, tracing them over and over again, as if they were painting with light in mid-air.

Voila!

Shapes of light!

f/5, 2s, ISO 200 

f/8, 2s, ISO 200

In the shot above, I'm focusing on Mr. Z who is standing still making circles with his sparkler, while one of my girls ran through the shot, creating a stream of slightly unfocused light.

f/5, 2s, ISO 200

This took several takes to get the spacing just right.  Plus, we had quite a few backwards "S's" until we figured out how to do mirror image letters :)

f/5, 2s, ISO 200

Tips:

mount camera on tripod

shoot in manual mode and focus on the light

experiment with moving into and out of the frame

play with speed of movement (slow movements result in brighter lines)

HappyPainting!

fern lake hike

 We've been rained and hailed off the trail two times this spring.  There was a 30% chance of rain each time, and wouldn't you know, it poured on us!  Luckily, we had packed ponchos, but the downpour turned the trail into a mini-stream soaking our shoes and legs. 

It was fun at first, but by the time we got back to the car, we had some wet, cold and grumpy kids on our hands.

We didn't get to finish the Fern Lake hike, but we're hoping to try it again this summer.  It's a great family hike with a nice stream by the trail and great boulders for the kids to climb.

Colorado Springtime

It's Springtime here.  

Most of the time.  One day it was 70, the next day we had snow.

Last week, I got a tan.  This week, I'm back in my fleece jacket.

But, the grass is green again, and my garden is starting to grow.  

Flowering trees are in bloom and so are wildflowers!

I woke up early one morning last week (strange for me!)

and decided to get up and head across the street to a field 

where I knew these pretty flowers were growing.

Happy Spring!

nature lovers: frost

The frost was a great artist yesterday morning. 

 He painted the trees beautifully.

I can't believe I almost didn't take time to capture it.

Z has been sick all week, and I had to run out to get some things from the store.

Duty was calling, and almost kept me from the highlight of my day.

Yet, I felt that inner prompting saying "Go.  Take a moment.  Enjoy." 

So, I did.  

I'm so glad, because by the time I got back home, it was already starting to melt!