Category: Story Telling

People have told me that I seem to know what I’m doing and act very maturely. At certain times I think I fit this description, but a lot of the time no. I think this is a relatable and possibly normal feeling since as a society, we prefer to show others the cleaner, “better” side of ourselves and keep the messier side from view.

I took a picture of my desk because this is the corner of my room that I show during Zoom meetings. Due to this, I keep this area fairly clean and neat compared to the rest of my room. I think this accurately represents how I show myself to others and is literally how people see me.

Envy: a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck.

I think envy is something I feel and can relate to the most. It’s very easy to make comparisons in our society and want the success other are having. This is evidently a dangerous trap to fall in as it makes the situation worse. If someone has found success through the hard work they put in behind the scenes then they deserve the fruits of their labor. If someone is naturally talented or happens to be “lucky” then good for them, there is little reason to hold negative emotions toward them.

I took a picture of holding an apple because when I think of envy, I think of apples, and not just because envy apples exist. I see an apple as a symbol of the fruits of one’s labor someone else may possess.

I took this photo in August of 2020 when the Bay Area witnessed a significant lightening storm that started in the middle of the night and died off in the morning. I would have taken a picture this month, although I felt that we didn’t have many significant storms. I also felt that this photo illustrated how powerful nature can be, even in a place that usually has moderate weather like Silicon Valley.

I always really enjoy watching and taking pictures of lightening, although I know disastrous consequences can come from them. In this case the lightening set off numerous wildfires in California which led to a long period of smoke overtaking the state as well as many people losing their homes. Storms can be beautiful for their wildness, but they act without conscience.

I see this as the subject matter walking away from the dark into the light. While the upper left corner is one of the brightest points, the opposite, the lower right corner, is in the shadows. This could represent the subject walking toward something better.

I initially chose to shoot this at floor level with a tilt to make the composition more interesting, but I also think it could be interpreted in different ways. One way I saw it was the camera represents someone’s perspective and the subject is walking away from them. The lower perspective illustrating how the person walking away has the upper hand and the tilted angle representing the disarray or imbalance felt by the person on the ground.

Feel bored by the same, plain fruit? Simple cubes no longer cutting it for you? If you want to geometrically enhance your everyday life, try using the melon baller!

They say we eat with our eyes. With the melon baller you can make aesthetically appealing, bite size pieces of melon for any occasion! Whether it’s for a special event, a casual lunch, or you just want some melon, the melon baller will always be there! But why stop there? Despite the name, melon ballers can be used on wide range of produce ranging from watermelon to apples, your imagination is the only limit!

Whatever you are going through in life, the melon baller will always be sphere for you!

Photo Credits: Leaves (Getty Images), OXO Melon Baller (Duluth Kitchen Co), Fruit spheres (Lively Table)

Fall and winter are my favorite seasons because during those times you can see the trees change the most. And from a photographer’s point of view, unique colors and compositions can be created using the warm colors of fall or the bare branches of winter.

In our backyard we have a medley of plant life growing in every corner. I know very little on trees species so I will not try and pretend I know what’s in this photo besides a lemon tree. Although, with our variety of plants we still get shades of green amongst the onslaught of yellow and orange from the larger trees, creating a diverse color palette.

Life tends to be represented by bright colors such as yellow, orange and green. The colors show how a plant is alive compared to the dull brown once it dies. Although by admiring a plant’s colors, we may overlook the aspects that are physically keeping it alive. Without color, there is more emphasis on texture and shape. Here the foundation and roots are what is keeping the plant alive and helping it maintain its green color. With the roots just barely popping out of the soil, we catch a glimpse of what they have to do to keep itself alive. By converting a photo to black and white, you are taking away components of the composition, but highlighting other parts of the composition as well.

I found it difficult to capture a picture that would tell the story of a person I am close to. I wondered how the complexities of an individual could be encompassed in a single photo. I decided to try and tell the story of my dad, a part of his life at least. When he was younger he always loved being active and spending time with his friends, he still does. Sports were the perfect combination of the two. The black and white photo in the top left was of my dad and his friends in early middle school while they were competing in a flag football tournament. There are a handful of sports not shown in this picture that he participated in, such as baseball and basketball. In those team he met and made numerous friends along the way.

He carried his passion for sports into adulthood and helped manage teams here and there. The team in the picture was a little league team he managed in 1986 located in Sunnyvale. Another picture on the wall not six inches away is of him and a recreational basketball team he helped coach. His value of sports and the community they create was so significant that he encouraged his daughter from an early age to get involved in sports and make friends, just like he did.

My parents enjoy listening to and collecting records and many of them fill multiple shelves in our house. One time a family friend walked into our house and said it was like going back into a time machine. The music my parents grew up listening to was from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and so on. When I was younger they would play a lot of older music and as I got older I was able to recognize certain songs even if my classmates couldn’t.

My parents were able to share the musical culture they grew up with with me, and now it has become a culture I have adopted. In the recent years I’ve come to enjoy the music my parents listen to over new albums that come out today. Some of my favorites are Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, and Queen. Now, our music tastes are not only fairly similar, but it is something we can share with each other.