A Swan's Special Gift (A Photo Story)

I originally planned to do a different post for today but while I was out on my walk yesterday I was treated to a special gift that I wanted to share with each of you.  Yesterday was "chore day" for me where I try to cram as much of chores into one day to lighten my load of the other days of the week.  This usually takes the bulk of my energy away, but acts as a great workout.  It was such a beautiful day here, I decided to push myself just a little bit further into my energy reserves and go out for walk.  Especially since we hadn't had a sunny clear day since last Saturday and I still had to take my pictures for the day.

Last weekend I decided instead of just going out to take photographs, I was going to start using my weekdays to "train".  So this week I have been working a lot more on my composition with the intention of practicing the concepts when I am out shooting.  Yesterday was supposed to be very structured. I made a promise to myself I would not shoot any people and really work on my lesson for the day, which was lines.

I had only walked to the river (which isn't very far) and decided to look around and try and find some different natural lines to work on composing some photos.  I saw a swan grooming itself right at the river's edge and thought I would check it out.

Lately I haven't had any interest in photographing birds but I figured I could rest on the rocks, watch the swan, and enjoy the beautiful day.  There were a couple ducks around so I set my camera to 1/800s just in case.

After a few minutes, the swan noticed me and started honking.  This is what transpired next:



The swan finished with giving me a beautiful pose, with some gorgeous curved lines just so I was still doing my lesson :)

 These were the best bird shots I have ever gotten.  The amazing thing is I shot them at a focal length of 55mm with my tiny 18-55 lens.  Who said you need a huge 100 pound telephoto lens for bird photography :) 

After the little show, the swan went back to grooming and I went back to my "lesson".  I composed this final shot using my lesson for the day and the swan as my main subject before moving on in my walk to find some more lines. 

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Adding A Little Colour To Your Day

I thought I would share my favorite colour photos from the past week.  This is a tough time of year to get good colour photos because most days are overcast with really bad light.  Thankfully there were a couple days this week where the clouds cleared and allowed for some great shots.

Again I am not going to name any of them, feel free to offer up any creative suggestions :)  I hope you enjoy and as always I would love to hear what speaks to you in the photos, What stories are they telling you?

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The Core of Our Happiness

This past weekend I had a one on one photography lesson and the “inevitable” question came that most people dread, “What type of photography interests you?”  I drew a blank, then uttered a coupled different things.  This question has sparked much more reflection in me much greater than I am sure it was intended for.

For me photography is more than just taking photos.  The opportunity for walking around and exploring different aspects of the city are big part of why I’m drawn to it.  Before when I went out, I would go with a purpose, for instance to catch some shots of birds.  These days however, I just go out to make photographs.  Sometimes they turn out to be landscapes, other times candid photographs, and others times random still life shots.  For me it is now just about capturing interesting subjects whatever they may be, as long as they align with my visual philosophy.

So what is my visual philosophy then?  I think to properly be able to identify what style of photography and therefore your visual philosophy, you have to take it deeper to your core philosophies in life.  What type of person are you?  What do you enjoy?

For me, going through my battle with leukemia changed many of my core philosophies.  I find now I everything has slowed down.  I walk slower, drive slower, and even sometimes eat slower.  I am finding pleasure and beauty in things I would not have even taken a second glance at before.  And as time progresses I have become introspective and reflective.

These are many of the reasons I was drawn to photography in the first place.  But when I look back on the images and reflect, I realize my passion for photography is not in shooting wildlife, or landscape, or people.  It is in capturing a moment.  This moment may occur in any of the genres but it needs to be something that speaks to me philosophically and then I trying to share that moment with my camera. 

It has helped me realize that the biggest change leukemia did, was it made me an observer.  I think that is why I have been drawn to my newest adventure of candid street photography so much.  Some people think it is creepy, which it could be if done wrong.  But it is about capturing life’s purest moments and sharing them.  What can be creepy about that?  When it comes to landscapes and landmarks that I photograph, I seem to only shoot them when the sky is telling a story, whether it be a beautiful sunrise or an angry cloudy sky just before a storm.  With animals, I have found my favorites are always when I catch them in a candid moment just like in people.

Reflecting on our personal philosophies should not be limited to photographers only, we should all be doing it.  It will help us understand in our lives and what makes us happy.  If you are not the introspective, observant type, going for a slow meandering walk after dinner will not make you happy.  By taking the time to understand ourselves, we will be able to better make choices in our lives that ensure our happiness.  In addition, it will help us avoid situations we don’t enjoy.  And if we can’t avoid them, by understanding ourselves better, we can control our emotions in times of displeasure.

Have you taken the time to sit down and reflect on your own philosophies?  Think about times when you are happiest and most at peace.  When was it, what were you doing? And most importantly what exactly brought you that peace and happiness.  These are the keys to understanding your own personal philosophies that govern your happiness.  I hope each of you tries it out, and I would love to hear about your experiences. 

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Navigating Life's Storms - The fourth and final P

Our world is one scary and overwhelming place.  All the outside negative influences can easily push us into situations that can make even the strongest amongst us want to curl up in the fetal position.  So how do we get through these difficult “storms” without just curling up waiting for it to be all to be over?  Well first you should make sure you read up on my ways of staying positive in difficult situations J

The 4 P’s of Positivity – how to get through any difficult situation with a smile Overcoming our smaller problems with the help of some P’s Perspective – the 2nd Key to Positivity Positivity always needs Passion These are a good place to start when you are faced with life’s storms, but there is one piece missing.  These help us deal with each storm individually, but even when we succeed and come out of the storm with our gleaming smile and positive outlook, another storm is sure to follow.  This is where it can get overwhelming and even the best us get beaten down.  So the question remains; how do we keep moving forward with all these potential storms coming our way?  We need a navigational tool just like a boat or plane.  This is where the fourth P of Positivity comes to the rescue, Purpose.  What is the purpose of my life? Wouldn’t we all love to have a snap answer to that question, it sure would make things easier J  Unfortunately, I think is has probably been the most reflected on more than any topic in human existence. I am sorry to disappoint but I don’t have the magical answer.  But I can just share with you what has navigated me through my storms of the past year.  I really began reflecting on this topic while in the hospital over a year ago after I had used the first 3 P’s to help me overcome the initial shock and fear of dealing with my Leukemia diagnosis.  Peace, Perspective, and Passion are excellent tools for enabling us to keep our spirits up and staying positive throughout life’s storms.  Purpose is what navigates us through the many storms that we will encounter throughout our lives journey. After much reflection I came up with 3 things that would help guide me through the trials and tribulations of the upcoming year.  First it was survival.  I knew deep down I had great purpose for my life and had much to give back to this world, so surviving this epic battle was paramount.  Second, I wanted to give back.  This is what inspired my blog.  I knew that if even only one person could find solace, inspiration or enjoyment from my journey, everything I would go through would be worth it.  Finally, I needed to be open to finding “life’s purpose”.  This is that whole philosophical side of the coin.  I think it is the engine though that keeps us moving forward in our darkest hours.  Now that a year has passed I still don’t know the over-riding purpose for my life.  Survival is still a major focus but it has changed slightly since my bone marrow transplant.  I find I have embraced a much healthier lifestyle since the transplant (I have lost 30 lbs, with more planned to go J ).  I feel so blessed to still be alive and kicking, I think it would be insulting to me and my donor to not respect my gift and live a healthy, positive, wonderful life.  I am still using the blog to share my reflections.  Again this has changed over the past year as well.  I am finding reflections and inspirations in more than just my battle with cancer.  I really enjoy looking at different aspects of my life and reflecting on how it teaches us.  This keeps things interesting because I never know whether my post will be inspired from cancer, photography, reading, YOUR COMMENTS, etc. (I write your comments large because I can’t count the number of posts that have been inspired by you my readers.)  Finally, I am still keeping my mind open to my great purpose in life. I don’t have any plan on how to achieve this, I am just going to keep being open to opportunities that come my way, stay positive, and be open to where this wonderful life leads me.  I have started to realize something though.  Our great purpose in life is an ever changing affair.  I think this is why it is so hard for us to concretely identify it.  As we change as individuals our over-riding purpose will change as well.  Just like when a ship changes course in a storm the navigation system adjust to direct them forward.  I wanted to leave you with my favourite quote with regards to this topic by Richard Bach: “Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished.  If you're alive, it isn't.” I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.  Has there been a tough time where you found a purpose that helps you navigate through your storm? Did You Enjoy This Blog? Get all my posts delivered FREE to your email!

Summing Up my Life in 700 Words or Less (Projects and Updates)

A lot has happened in the past week so I thought I would start this week off with an update.

Commenting at Aaron Outward

I just wanted each of you to know that I love and cherish each and every one of your comments.  I think they add so much to the blog and each of my posts.  I try to reply to each individual comment, although it sometimes might take me a day or so.  So if you leave a comment on a post, make sure you go back and check in a couple days because there will be a response to you.  Sometimes I even ask questions back so make sure you check :)

My Photos

I was surprised with the overwhelming response to how much you all seem to enjoy my photographs, so I have decided to continue posting them.  I am going to try and start each post with one of my photos instead of the cartoons I used to use and then each Friday I will post what I think are my best photos from the past week.  I need your help though!

1.      The Best Pics of the Week Series on Friday needs a name.  Best pics of the week, just doesn’t sound creative enough. I know collectively we can do much better than that.  So please leave your comments with a great creative name for this series. 

2.      I am going to leave all my photos Untitled when initially posted on the blog.  I think this leaves the photo its story more open to each person’s individual interpretation.  But I do think they need a title.  So I would love each of you to leave a comment with what you would name each photo.  I think this will be a fun undertaking and I will go back and update the photo with the best titles.

Project 365

I am still on track with my photography project 365.  I have taken a photo each day so far.  I have built a website to post a photo from each day.  I will probably include a little blurb with each photo but can’t make any promises ;)  This site won’t be updated daily, as two blogs would surely be the death of me J but I will try for weekly.  I will let you know when there are updates.

The site is located at Aaron Offord Photography

It is updated now with my journey so far so check it out and let me know what you think

Health Update

Here are the updates from my doctor’s checkup this past Friday.

·         I am officially in the Team B clinic.  This is the clinic for people past their 100 day post transplant mark.  The only real difference is I have to do a couple different stretches for the doctor to monitor for chronic GVHD and I have to wait A LOT longer to get to see the doctor

·         I began another taper on my steroid.  This week I am down to 70mg and then next week I taper myself to 60mg before seeing the doctors again.  That should mean I will be tapered to 50mg in my next appointment!  That is ¼ what I used to be on. J

·         I no longer have to monitor my blood sugars any longer.  This was more of an annoyance because you have to prick your finger twice a day.  These past couple months have been extremely educational to me in terms of learning how eating, exercise, and hydration affect your sugar.  I have gotten quite good at maintaining my sugars now.  Now I only have to check my sugars if I feel symptoms of high blood sugar or at Amy’s discretion J

·         They have switched my anti-fungal drug.  This drug was really expensive (~$1000/wk) so it is nice to not deal with that.  In addition, I had to take it 3 times a day daily.  Imagine having cherry cough syrup 3 times a day for 4 months and you will understand my pleasure with moving to 3 pills once a week

·         My Hickman Line is being removed on April 21^st! This line hasn’t bothered me but it is such a symbol of journey that I think that its removal when I really start feel like my recovery process has begun.  It will be nice to not have to constantly be worry about it.  They are removing it because all it is right now to me is a potential site of infection and just poses a risk to me.  I am hoping they will let me keep it, if not I intend to sneak it out of there somehow.  This is a souvenir I want really badly, it has been inside my heart for the past 6 months.  I mean if that doesn’t deserve to be framed on a wall what does J

Well that is all of the updates for now. Remember we need a title for today’s photo, so please leave your suggestions.

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