Darrah Parker » Slice of Life Photography

Darrah Parker

Slice of Life Photography

08.25.09

slice of life tuesday: my favorite subject

Slice of Life Tuesday is a place to share photos that were taken the previous week and that capture ordinary moments in extraordinary ways. Every Tuesday, I will post a photo from my daily life and ask for you to do the same. It is sometimes difficult to make time for creativity, but this is a simple and low-key way for all of us to take a moment out of our daily lives for ourselves. Even if you take only one photo the previous week, you’ve done something for yourself. Don’t have a camera handy when you need it? Cell phone photos are welcome here! The photos don’t have to be perfect. They don’t have to be pretty. They just have to be.

Izzy is my favorite photo subject. I think she knows when I have the camera out and knows how to pose like a real model. In one of our recent “photo shoots,” she was perched on the ledge in my living room, serenely looking out at the world below. I often wonder what she sees out there and wish that I could switch places with her to find the kind of serenity that she has. But alas, I don’t think I’d fit on the ledge!

Would you like to catch up on past Slice of Life Tuesday installments? Check ‘em out here.

08.21.09

what’s your internal compass telling you?

I’ve been feeling something lately that I’m not so proud of. Please don’t judge, okay?

I’ve been feeling a little jealous.

This week, I felt inundated by amazing stories of friendship and creativity. I’ve been reading stories and looking at photos from some of my favorite creative bloggers who took a trip to the Oregon coast where they laughed and danced and took photos and painted and skipped down the beach. From the stories I’ve read, it seems like it was a rejuvenating and soul repairing girls weekend. And despite my excitement for the people who experienced this good fortune, I felt a little left out. Now, how is this possible? These people don’t even know me! But I’m sure if they did, they would have invited me.

If I dig a little deeper, I’m realizing that these feelings of jealousy are an indication of what I want. They are an internal compass pointing me in the direction of experiences and feelings that I would like to have in my life. So I better do something about it, right?

The first thing I’m going to do to bring experiences like this into my life is to take bold steps and find the people I’d like to surround myself with. That’s why I’ve decided to attend Artfest, a three-day workshop being held in Port Townsend, WA in March. I like to think of it as sleep-away camp for artists. I’ve been hemming and hawing over it for several weeks now, making excuses for why I shouldn’t go (it’s expensive, I won’t know anyone, I’d have to take off work, blah, blah, blah.) But I know that’s just fear talking and if I go, I won’t regret it.

So that’s that. I’m going.

The feeling of jealousy I had this week was a great wake-up call. We’re told that jealousy is a bad thing. And when I first felt it this week, I was embarrassed. I felt like a little kid that wanted to play with the big kids. But instead of sitting and pouting, it’s good to realize that we’re adults. We’re in charge of our lives and we can’t depend on others to invite us out to play.

So I ask you, friends, what are you jealous of? Dig deep and be honest with yourself. Take a look at your jealousy. Where is it pointing you? What can you do to turn your jealousy into action?

** Two quick notes, unrelated to today’s post: Stay tuned for a fabulous video interview with Connie from Dirty Footprints Studio. I can’t wait for you to see what this lady has up her sleeve! Check back next week for her interview and a special give-away. And speaking of interviews, Melly Hocking interviewed me for Bloggy Love Day on Wednesday. Hop on over to her blog to learn how I handle feeling unmotivated, what inspired Slice of Life Tuesday, and see if I can make it through the interview without an ice cream treat. (Hint: no, I can’t.)

08.19.09

slice of life tuesday: magical weekend in the woods

Slice of Life Tuesday is a place to share photos that were taken in the previous week and that capture ordinary moments in extraordinary ways. Every Tuesday, I will post a photo from my daily life and ask for you to do the same. It is sometimes difficult to make time for creativity, but this is a simple and low-key way for all of us to take a moment out of our daily lives for ourselves. Even if you take only one photo the previous week, you’ve done something for yourself. Don’t have a camera handy when you need it? Cell phone photos are welcome here! The photos don’t have to be perfect. They don’t have to be pretty. They just have to be.

This week, I bring you a special edition of Slice of Life Tuesday. Typically, I share one or two photos, but this week, I couldn’t help myself – I had to share a whole photo montage from my magical weekend in the woods! Over the weekend, I attended the wedding of a couple of friends. It was a celebratory, music and dance-filled event, capped off with an evening of camping. As you can see from the last photo, I’m not the biggest camper. But I had fun, nonetheless!

The couple and their families spent months and months preparing for this wedding. It was truly one of the most original and joy-filled weddings I’ve ever attended. I could go on and on about all of the details, but I’m going to let these photos tell the story for me.

Enjoy!