PSA-Amendment 48- NO, NO

Last week I was asked to shoot the rally kicking off the fight against Amendment 48. I went down to the Tivoli's multi-cultural lounge on the Auraria Campus and just took in everything that was around. I looked at some of the literature and listened to the speakers who were explaining what was at stake. I took some photos.

Amendment 48 is real powder-keg of political and personal impact. This amendment approaches the controversy over the when life starts and like throwing a rock in a pond, the effects move outward from the center. This legislation affects complicated matters such as abortion and in-vitro fertilization, but also affects women of all ages who use birth control. This amendment would outlaw the use of birth control in that it interferes with the creation of life. Get real.

I haven't had many fears in my life, but unwanted pregnancies was at the top of the list for a long time. All my husband had to do was hang his pants too close to the bed and I got pregnant. Being pregnant is a wonderful experience, don't get me wrong, but it effectively consumes your time, attention and energy, saying nothing of raising children for an average of 20 years. That's a real fear, giving away that much time in your life, especially if you're done with the privilege of reproduction. It's time to move on to other phases in life.

Enter birth control.

Amendment 48 would make the choice of using birth control unavailable thereby throwing our society back about 100 years. It makes me cringe, thinking of my daughters being unable to control their reproductive choices. As a grandmother, I'm happy to have a passel of grandkids, as a mother I think my girls would be awesome moms, but as adult women, I'd be sad and angry if their choices were limited by narrow-minded right-wing conservative bucket-mouths.

It's like they fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down.

This amendment puts the quality of women's lives in jeopardy. Not just women who have decided or need to terminate a pregnancy, but couples, men and women who wish to use in-vitro fertilization to create a family, and the amendment would limit research that tries to ferret out the secrets of human physiology. These are all complicated situations, with no easy answers. The answer is easy on this amendment. Like the sign says, "48, No, No."

Ink blot photography

Looks like a lab experiment or something from under the microscope. This was the last image I made, I was starting to get a little creeped out and decided to go back to watching the news.

More Night Sky

This is my view from the balcony looking across the "park."

Night Sky

I was sitting on my balcony last night watching the funky clouds go by. I grabbed my camera and made a few images. A little spooky, but the dark stuff is what makes life a little more interesting. These images were made with my D200 with my 80-200mm lens and I tried my skill at hand-holding as opposed to using a tripod. I got fair results.

I decided to try an experiment: I bought a Nikkor f1.8 50mm fixed focal length lens cheap at Camera Trader. I'm going to try and shoot using just that length lens. Kenn has been after us (Josh has too for that matter) to shoot at EITHER range of the lens. Shoot at either 18mm or 55mm. Shoot at 80mm or 200mm. Move your feet, not the lens. I'm curious to see where my meter length strength resides.

Good thing fixed focal length lenses are cheap. Cheap all right. Frickin' plastic. Argh.

Mystery Shoot #1

A couple of weeks ago my friend Travis launched the initiatory "Mystery Shoot" event. Mystery Shoot is an invitation only group that gets together on specified dates and the photographers have no idea where and what they'll be shooting. It's a fun chance to meet people, compare styles, gear and vision. Each member takes a turn "hosting" an event that hopefully will challenge and explore the participant's creative energy. It's a good time.

The first Mystery Shoot took place at the Denver Zoo, a simple way to get everyone's feet wet with plenty of subject matter. My favorites? Details shots.

Mr. Buffalo obliged.

Como

Como is a small town in the South Park area just west of Kenosha Pass. It's a magical little area that contains a flat plain of prairie grass lodged up against the surrounding mountains. Forest access roads are plentiful, with varying degrees of difficulty available for 4-wheel vehicles of all types. Today, my jeep isn't going into the back country; it's stupid to go there alone. Houses are far and few between, but Como is an ancient railway stop that sports a small community of all ages and occupations and includes a community center. It was my goal for the day, saving the bouncing ride for another time with family and friends.

More DNC thoughts

After seeing everyone's images in both the classroom and the photog's meeting at the Met today, I realized how much I missed out on by being inside on the camera stand. Funny, I'm the only one who had the camera stand pass, and I was the most isolated from all the important stuff that was going on.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for the opportunity, but when I fell back on my organizational and management skills like I usually do, I missed out on the chance to acquire new skills and be somebody different. They are hard lessons to learn, the ones when you're trying to change how you are perceived and what you want to accomplish. We're always evolving as people but if we try to venture off the beaten path, we can encounter resistance from both outside and inside ourselves. The inside resistance is the hardest to overcome.

Anyway, the images made by my 4600 class and the photogs at the Met were really special. I was stuck on the camera stand having to slyly take images at limited intervals. It wasn't about embracing being a photojournalist and the freedom of that, it was about toeing the line and doing what I saw needed to be done for the Associated Press's editing needs. Funny thing was that the other camera stand person didn't want to be outside shooting the unwashed masses, they wanted to be inside shooting the formal stuff. If there would have been better communication, I would have happily traded and spent part of the time outside. I could have done it and done it well.

Now, the opportunity is passed.

I learned a lot, don't get me wrong, and I'm most grateful to have seen what few people get to witness. I just want to see myself being successful at something other than the skills I've already spent a lifetime working on. I wanted some confidence and chances to stretch my photographic wings. These are the hardest things to ask for, those things that you have to give yourself.