no. 97 - finding home away from home

no. 96 - Savoring Fall

same moment different perspective -  holding fall in my hand here »

no. 95 - hello snow

no. 94 - at the pet shop

no. 93 - Fall Cornered

no. 92 - Treats

no. 91 - One of my Most Favorites

This is one of my favorite photos of my project.
It almost looks like I am looking at my reflection - but I'm not.
That's soupatraveler.
This was the last night of camp and we were in the lab and we decided to do an "i am here" / "from where i stand" shot. We both had on our brown boots (not planned), I thought to stand on the blankets and Holly thought to turn one over to the opposite color.
I love it when magic happens.
My favorite because of the colors, the patterns and the similarities between us both.

Read about our meet up at the beach » 

no. 90

Wonderful things will happen when you listen to that little voice.

Never did i think that any sort of personal connection would come from photographing my feet, yet here I was with Holly on this foggy day with our feet in the sand with the cold waves rippling over our toes.

Who she was to me: a photographer living on the other side of the United States, one of my online friends who I shared photography comments with and the person who started the "from where I stand" group, which she graciously allowed me to moderate with her.

photo courtesy of Mae Lee Hacking (what a different perspective for me!)

My "I am here project" led me to "meet" and cross paths with Holly...online.

And yet here we are.

My two little feet in photos were actually connecting me to real people, IN REAL LIFE, which was both strange and exciting at the same time. Lucky for me Holly is awesome (as I suspected she would be).

I'm so happy to have made this connection. The world now seems much smaller than I previously thought it was.

What this means to me. 

Believe in what you do. There is a little voice telling you to do uncomfortable-out of the ordinary things that other people may not understand - like taking photos of your feet.
The little voice is right, follow it because it will lead you to where you should be and connect you to people to whom you should meet.
I belonged on that beach that day with Holly, and with all of the other shutter sisters there that day.

(A quick sidenote - Two of the photos here were taken by two other photographers who were also there that day. I did not realize at the time that anyone else was taking photos of us. Mae and Angie it was so amazing to see, from your photos, a different side of this project. I've shot over a hundred of these photos but I am only ever looking down at my feet, I have never viewed this from any other angle. Through your photos I saw how other people see me - and I got to see myself in the process. This was really, really interesting to me. Thank you for capturing this moment and letting me share it here.)

photo courtesy of Angie D. (thank you Anngeedee!)

Right now my little voice is telling me that this moment is yet another piece of my puzzle that will connect me to much more - what more? I'm not sure.
However, I am definitely up for the journey.

i am here.

we are here.

To Holly: so happy to have met you in person and to have shared this moment with you. Can you believe we were there?!! Looking forward to the next time. =)

Join Holly's "from where I stand" flickr group.
Coming up...One of my favorite all time photos of this project (and Holly is a huge part of it...stay tuned!)

no. 89 - or dare...

no. 88

AT AT&T Park where the Giants usually play baseball, however we are here today watching the Cal Bears play football while their stadium is being updated.
Isn't this the prettiest stadium? If you get tired of watching the game you can always look out at the boats sailing by.

no. 87 - finding me

no. 86 - remembering

Taken at a memorial site on September 11.
I made a conscious effort to not watch the news or any of the special broadcasts about that terrible day.
However I did want to devote some part of my day to remember.
We were the only ones here. It was quiet and peaceful.

no. 85 - sky gliding

One of my goals since the beginning of this project was to dangle my feet from somewhere. I thought a ferris wheel was the obvious choice however this weekend I found something even better at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
Today i am here. Sky gliding overhead, kicking my feet and enjoying a long weekend get away with my family.

In related news...

This morning I got an email from Tracey Clark. Tracey is the all around awesome founder of Shutter Sisters and hosts inspirational photography workshops and online courses. 

I was lucky enough to meet her while attending one of her workshops earlier this year (that's a photo I took of her, cute hair right?).
In her email she told me I was highlighted in one of her Big Picture Class prompts. 

From what I understand the assignment for the week is to capture an image of your feet, right where you are. Point down and click!

She then pointed her class to this site. This is exciting. Really. Thanks for the shout out Tracey!

Welcome all! Thanks to those of you who have already sent me lovely comments. Feel free to send me a note or link to your photos, I would love to be inspired by your "where I stand" shots. (email: info@smallroots.com)

I also co-moderate a flickr group called "From Where I Stand" - feel free to join in the fun there. (I see Holly has already started a discussion for Picture Inspiration peeps!) http://www.flickr.com/groups/fromwhereistand/

Lastly some of you have also said that you might start your own similar project. If you do, send me a link and you may be featured here. Have Fun!

no. 84

wish i had such a nicely manicured lawn.

no. 83 - at the candy shop

We walked in to find candy of all kinds, shapes and sizes from the floor to the ceiling. We might have been in candy heaven. Decisions were not easy.
We opted for the chocolate covered honeycombs, poprocks and soda gummies.
They also have gelato. Yes we will be back.

no. 82 - dancing in the streets

I came across this lady and her partner dancing in the streets.
I'm glad to know this couple is here. I would like to revisit them one day - perhaps in the day time and perhaps when I have more time.

no. 81 - soaking it in

off my feet, soaking in the last bit of light of the day.

no. 80

no.79

I have fallen behind on the I am here project. It's not that I don't think about it. It's not that I don't continue to take photos of where I'm at. I think I'm moving into a new stage of this project. Recently I've been taking lots of photos similar to this one above.

If you have been following the site you'll see that it's outside of my "standard format".

I keep feeling like I'm going against the grain, disobeying my own rules.
However...
It feels right.
So I'm going to go with it and see where it takes me.

no. 78

same place where I took the no. 18 shot last May, 2010.
this time there were more hints of pinks in the bunch.

 

no. 77

It's easy to smile when you're spending a day at the beach.

no. 76 - your name here

Finding my mark. Are the stars trying to tell me something?

no. 75 - close your eyes and...

no. 74 - i might have...

stopped.
i am here today, smelling the roses.

no. 73 - night owl

a glass of water and i'm off to bed. hoot.

no. 72 - Finding Home

this year one of my resolutions was to finally "move in". my house has never really been made into my home, a home that is mine and a reflection of me and the people who live there.
It's slowly but surely getting there. it's been fun. i've been finding me, and my family, in the process.
Home, there's no place like it.

no. 71

no. 70 - mine

everybody gets theirs. this is mine.

no.69 - restoration

no. 68 - tropical vacation

Here I am on a tropical vacation...well, ok not really but it does make me look like i am and I'd like to think that I am so we'll leave it at that.
(perhaps the flannel gave me away?)

no. 67 - night walk

looking for signs of where to go

no. 66 - back at it, ode to spring

my trees have just about lost all of their blooms.
the pink season doesn't last long enough.

the i am here video collection

Celebrating ONE!

Year one of the "i am here project" is now complete!
This project chronicles my journeys, from a feet perspective, throughout the year.
When I started this project, I didn't know exactly what to expect.
I put no pressure on myself to photograph my feet every day or even every week.
My goal was to challenge myself to find interesting compositions to fit within my predefined format.

Before we get into the what, whys and hows …

This just in!
In exciting news some of my photos have been picked up by Chronicle Books and will be published in a Shoegazing notecards set. Along with other artists this collection is scheduled for publication in FALL 2011.
Yay me!

Now back to the what, whys and hows …

the concept
The i am here project is a photo journal of where i have been. Photos will show only my feet and where they were planted for a moment in time.

the formula
My feet always had to be in the same place and it was the world that needed to change around them. It started off being a square format with my feet at the bottom center. You'll see I changed this up a bit at the end.
(Hey it's my project and I can change the rules when I want to.)

take aways
- I learned to pause, be in the moment and appreciate where I was at
- It forced me to focus on composition within a box
- It helped open my eyes to see photography opportunities (one baby's bath is one mama's photo opportunity)
- Taught me to take my camera everywhere (the moment you don't is when something amazing will happen).
- Encouraged me get out of the house, see and experience more

favorites

no. 43 - the clown one
It was my first (and only) stranger experience. It was a bit odd standing tummy to tummy with a stranger however this guy was in a clown suit, so who was the strange one in this scenario?
(secret fact - that heart on the shoe says "jesus loves you")

no. 51 - the yellow brick road
This was taken at the Wynn casino in Las Vegas. From the moment I walked in, the angels sang and trumpets sounded - I looked down and saw that I had hit the "i am here" jackpot! So much beautiful tile work to be found.
Stop by next time you are in Vegas - there is so much eye candy above and below you won't regret it.



what's next?
The project will continue. It's a no pressure project for me that I enjoy doing and will continue to do so until it becomes no fun.
I also plan on publishing a coffee table book for myself to document year one.

future goals
Although I did not shoot my feet with a white tiger or dangle off a cliff I did visit a couple of beaches, met a few dogs, and jumped into an empty bath. This year I hope to dangle from something (I'm thinking a ferris wheel might be nice), find a new animal and maybe put my feet in snow. For the record I did plant my feet in snow on one occasion last year - it was only about two inches deep and I happened to not have my camera that day - bummer.

I'm excited to have completed one year and look forward to seeing where my feet will take me next. Stay tuned...

let's celebrate!

in honor of year one

no. 64 - both ways

our break in the rain

a quick break from the regular format.
today we're jumping in puddles.

no. 63 - sir boni

Met this fellow while out and about. I have forgotten his name and
have since decided to call him Sir Boni.