Dream Big

I'm watching the Oscars right now. I love to watch the winners of all the categories, but especially the smaller ones - animated short, documentary, etc. It's a good reminder that dreams can come true. You have to dream big, you know. Actually, I think it's impossible to dream small. I think by it's very essence, a dream has to be big. And if dreaming big means you may fall down a time or two, then so be it. One of my favorite proverbs is "Fall down seven times, stand up eight."

It's the fear of the fall that keeps us from trying new things. Maybe it's because you're afraid that one of those times, you won't be able to stand up again. But you do. You always do. It may take a while, it may not be easy, but it happens. In the back of my mind I know that. Which is why I stretch and try new things (ironman, bike commuting, photography techniques, not hiding how I feel).

None of it has been easy but I feel I'm better off for having tried. I did have to learn to stretch mysef and sometimes fly without a safety net. And I was/am very lucky that I have rock solid support from my family and my friends. I should also mention that when I really needed something, someone would show up with it. Seriously. Out of the blue. Like magic. I'm lucky that way. I don't know why. So I try. Besides, if I fail (which I have big time), I'm still further than I was when I started. And that can't be a bad thing.

So...I learned a new technique from a fellow photoblogger this week. It's called the Orton Effect. It's actually been around for a long time and you can do the effect with slide film but I'd never heard of it. It's easier to do digitally and I tried it on a few of my photos. It's supposed to infuse a dream like quality into the shot. Not unlike some of the photos I used to take with the soft focus filters but different somehow.

The books and the round rocks are from last weekend at the mall. The columns are from my AZ trip. And the jagged rocks are from The Getty a few years ago. The bottom photo is what the round rocks look like without the effect. I'm going a little overboard with it which is something I do with new things. I'll probably use it sparingly in the future. But for now it's fun to see how the photos turn out.