The Dark Side
“Without darkness there can be no light” – Lao Tzu. If you have seen darkness, you’d appreciate light. No matter how small the light is, it’s the brightest thing you’d see.
“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ― Johann Wolfgang. That’s the reality of life, where there is light there will be shadow, where there is shadow there is light. One can’t exist without the other. In photography, light is what creates the magic in an image but shadow gives the drama. They must co-exist to give the “yin-yang” element in an image. A photographer controls and utilizes the light and shadow to create an image that reflects his/her artistic vision. Likewise, in life one must know when to let the light shine and when to let the shadow fall, and when to shine the light on where it’s dark.
Almost everything in the universe has an opposing force. A super hero would not have existed without a villain. ”Everybody’s got a dark side…will you love me even with my dark side?” – Kelly Clarkson’s Dark Side. Some people shine on you like a warm sunlight, make you feel welcome and comfortable. Some overshadowed you with darkness and make you want to escape. It’s your choice what you chose to do with it… hide it, learn to balance it like a photographer or overshadow someone with it.
Waiting
Thought I share a poem by Dr. Seuss today.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
~ Dr.Seuss
Chasing The Ball
As I watched my son played basketball on Sunday, I suddenly realized a life lesson. Life is like chasing a ball sometime… it’s tiring to be the person behind it and constantly going after it. The only way to stop that madness is either you knock down the fastest kid or get ahead of the ball. How to get ahead of the ball is a choice we all have to make everyday. And that choice we make is affected by the way we were taught and the environment we lived in.
A mother of the opposing team sat next to me kept shouting “no shot” whenever my son’s team was taking the shot. If not, she would be screaming out to her son at the top of her lung “be aggressive.” Finally, her son (a big guy) decided to rushed up and knocked my son down to the floor. As a mom, it was hard to watch my son being tackled like a football player. I’m frustrated. However, she watched it with pride even though she is a mom too. My son got up and continued to play his game like nothing happened. I felt honored and truly proud of him. But at the back of my head… I asked if this is life, are we teaching our kids the right things? To play a fair game when there is no such thing as a fair game in life? You can be the fastest person and holding the ball, but you will be constantly watching your back for the backstabbers. Does this make parenting a hypocritical job?
Self-Expression
When was the last time you exercised your freedom of expression?
In this heavily sedated society that we are living in, self-expression is almost a lost art. Do we lose ourselves in the midst of growing up, living up to expectations, and trying to do what’s right? I think the question is no longer if we are being ourselves, it’s more about finding who we really are. How can we express ourselves if we don’t know who we are? We keep building this life around us without knowing who we truly are. Did life make a liar out of all of us?
Cobbler’s Children Have No Shoes.
As a mom of two (age 12 & 8), I’m starting to go through the old albums trying to remember how they looked like when they were a baby and how it was like holding them. Pictures of old memory suddenly become very important to me. To my sadness, I notice something was missing… I was missing from most of it. While the pictures were full of beautiful faces and cute expressions of my babies, I wasn’t in it holding them because I was holding the camera. Cobbler’s children have no shoes.
Newborn photo
I Take Silent Night Seriously
- Aperture f/2.8
- Focal length 33mm
- ISO640
- Speed 1/13 sec (YES… tripod is a must)
Come What May
I took this picture on a foggy autumn morning. I was planning to go into the creek at the back of my house and shoot some leaves-less tree in the fog. And before I walked passed the gate, I noticed this little weed caught in the fence. The light reflecting from the morning dew was just breathtaking. I was distracted. Now I forgot why I came here for.. all I know is to seize the moment as another minute late, the magic would have been gone. You can’t force beauty into nature but you can appreciate whatever beauty the nature has to offer. Come what may.
