Year(s) of the Asterisk * Part 2 : One decision at a time.

Yellowjacket, getting itself something sweet. 2020/09/06 #yellowjacket #pollinator #goanddo #dothework

A decision down, more still to come.

Since the last post I’ve been a little busy. Cultivating an old routine and making it new again, journaling. Journaling for me includes sketching as well as writing. I do have a fine art and design background, and drawing and painting were my main creative ventures. So I wanted to try and bring back those practices, that helped me develop ideas, that I let slip away. Yesterday, I made a modification to my site, there was an old 365 project that I had started in 2019 and subsequently let die, so renamed and reclaimed as an Image Journal. It’s a place just to upload images for ideas, reference and just to say this is me right here right now. It’s not Instagram, which for me is more of a promotional space. But more of a space for generating ideas, a space to take note of things for future ideas, concepts and projects etc. As well as just to say this is me right here right now. It’s also not a blog exactly, it can link to and probably will at different points, but it generally won't be as formal or detailed as a blog post or series of post.

Ex: Imagine a book with pages that are not lined, where you jot down an idea next to a sketch and maybe a taped image you captured to help illustrate your idea to yourself. Just to remind yourself at later date. Thats kind of what I’m going for. So yes a visual journal, not necessarily daily but will entries made often.

---

Pollinators

Along with the Image Journal, I am also beginning to share images and video that I have captured, that show moments in the woods or wherever I go. This ties in with the general theme of my photography, Where I Go, What I See. Below is an example of that. The still image and video are of a Viceroy Butterfly that I captured during one of my recent visits to Oxley Nature Center. This is particular moment is shared in the Pollinator gallery under the Projects tab. I feel it’s so important to protect our pollinators, all of them not just the honey bees.

Viceroy Butterfly, a moment in the woods @oxleynaturecenter

13 days 12...11...10...9... to the Re-Boot!

13 days until it starts, until I begin again to capture “Where I Go, What I See” everyday. Stay tuned for more information on what in the world that actually means.

Cottonwood, Little Sahara State Park, Waynoka, OK

Downtown over 6th.

Shooting the image that you have long wanted to shoot. I spent sometime finding a location where a composition I was looking for was possible. Sometimes it takes time a lot of time. The image of Downtown over 6th street, is not perfect, but is very close to what I was looking for. The power lines that bisect the buildings of downtown was not in my original concept but I am not completely displeased with the resulting image. I had contemplated removing them from the image but then I thought it would be dishonest, I have also come to the thought that the power lines actually add to the image, giving it some weight of reality, of what truly is there.

Downtown over 6th street.

I haven’t been producing images, content as I thought I would be when the year began, example i began writing this post on 3/14 and just now posted it, but I posted it. I started a 365 project at the beginning of the year as do many photographers. Unfortunately I allowed myself to become distracted from it, and just shooting in general. Struggling with some close and personal issues since the end of last year, they caught up with me, and I was unable to push them to the side. However I do intend to resume the 365 project and complete it this year. With an * of course, but completed nonetheless.

Projects, Big and small.

Slabs of granite, mounted in a way that turns them into a giant Xylophone. The tones created were awesome and low.

New project, 365 Photography Project. A 365 Project is a photography project, you take one photo each day for a year on a subject of your choosing and share it with the world.

So, Why do it?
Taking a photo each day can be a big undertaking, however the payoffs and the sense of achievement at the end are great. Taking photos every day will improve your photography skills, there's no doubt about it, using your camera so much will help to remind you about lighting, composition. Forcing yourself to come up with new ideas and helping to inspire you to look at things differently and reimagine your composition and thoughts about the next image.

So if you decide to embark on a 365 project, which I hope you do, remember to start out slow, don’t get over whelmed with feeling the pressure from having to create a new image everyday.

I’m not really giving myself criteria to follow other than to take, edit and share an image everyday this year, thats it, simple and to the point.

365 Project: #1 : 1/1/2019

Gathering Place, I found these mirrored slats in an area with some other interactive elements. #dothework #goanddo #liveyourpassion #365 #365project #gatheringplace #tulsaok #travelok #oklahoma

Click here to visit my 365 gallery page.

Being mindful of the details...

Bees are awesome, so be kind to the pollinators.

Spent some time outside today, I've been needing that for a while. Here in Tulsa, OK we are privileged to have such a great park, Oxley Nature Center. Its a wonderful place to spend time in the woods.

Usually when I come out here, I have a tendency to try and capture the bigger image, to give context although I try to pay attention to the details. This time I actually did focus on the details, I slowed down and took my time.

Pollinator population declines and conservation.

Pollinators provide a key ecosystem service vital to the maintenance of both wild and agricultural plant communities. In 1999 the Convention on Biological Diversity issued the São Paulo Declaration on Pollinators, recognizing the critical role that these species play in supporting and maintaining terrestrial productivity as well as the survival challenges they face due to anthropogenic change. Today pollinators are considered to be in a state of decline, some species, such as Franklin’s bumble bee (Bombus franklini) have been red-listed and are in danger of extinction. Although managed bee hives are increasing worldwide, these can not compensate for the loss of wild pollinators in many locations.

Declines in the health and population of pollinators pose what could be a significant threat to the integrity of biodiversity, to global food webs, and to human health. At least 80% of our world's crop species require pollination to set seed. An estimated one out of every three bites of food comes to us through the work of animal pollinators. The quality of pollinator service has declined over time and this had led to concerns that pollination will be less resistant to extinction in the future. (section from  Pollinator-Decline)

We can help and heres how, Million Pollinator Garden Network 

Beatles, pollinate too, like these Soldier Beetles. Its so important to try and protect all of our indigenous wildlife. All life flora and fauna fill a niche, even mosquitoes.

Spiders are our friends too. Spiders like this Orb-Weaver Spider do a great job at helping to maintain and regulate other insect populations. Just like a variety of Bat and Bird species.

Out at Oxley Nature Center, there is a lot of water. Either Sherry Lake, Eagle Creek, marsh areas and canals. While hiking along a canal leading from Sherry Lake to the High Line Trail, I found this Shortnose Gar chilling in the water and slowly heading the same direction as I was.

Whenever I visit Oxley Nature Center I usually see deer. Not always in the most advantageous to get a photo, but will usually see one or eight. This time I came across the Whitetail fawn, just hanging out feeding on some low lying greens and leaves.

Its not just about the animals and insects, there are moments when you just need to stop and breathe. And when you do, you slow down, and you really begin to notice the details, the little things that usually go unseen and unappreciated. The thistle pods were leftovers from the lunch of forest inhabitant. I almost missed them on the side of the trail the way they blended in with the rest of the litter on the forest floor. The reflections in the water bedding up on the lily pad hides amongst the hundreds of other pads in various stages of decline as we head into early fall.