A friend travels from Tokyo.

My eyes always want to take it all in at once. This is not possible so I am thankful for my camera that allows me to see the richness of life. I can see the future and the past in a lot of my works.

Recently on a shoot with a friend* that should've been a friend way before now. We were not so much lost but wandering in the creative state just creating. Andy Faulk* was in town from Tokyo Japan on assignment for Manfrotto ask if I wanted to go along. I have wanting to meet this gentleman since he left here about 6 or 7 years ago to go to Seoul Korea. So when he asked I jumped at the chance.  

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I was shooting BTS shoots and capturing portraits at a different angle than I usually do. It was what my mind needed at that time. It's truly refreshing to see something new you have seen over and over. Like a long lost love* Being a 2nd eye allowed me to really relax and just have fun.

It was nice going out with these two beautiful beings and just playing. So often we forget to play, but not I. Being a talented photographer and  the gorgeous muse that she is Casey was exactly what I needed that day. Inspiration is constantly surrounding us. It's right in front of you daily. I choose to see this magical world where everything is possible.

Hugs and High Fives for Life!

Check out the write up we worked on together here:

http://www.manfrottobags.com/andrew-faulk/27/06/2016/over-creeks-through-woods/

Check out Andy's work here:

http://www.andrewfaulkphotography.com/

Pushing Forward

All of us will experience hard choices, stressful events, and difficult situations that will impact us in one way or another for the rest of our lives.

Hard times happen. They teach us lessons, make us stronger, and give us a deeper sense of self. After all, would be sitting in the sun mean as much if you hadn’t of experienced the storm first?

After every storm there is calm, and then the sun shines. If you keep remembering that, you will make it through.

Give yourself the opportunity to feel and process every thought and emotion. This is what the experience calls for. We all know what happens if we bypass or bury our emotions. We must allow the process to happen and give ourselves the space and time to feel everything.

Now I take as much time as I can being positive. It is not easy on a daily basis,but I choose to have a happy life even when circumstances say there should be none. I am full of light and joy for each day to me is a new way to see out of the darkness. 

Rudy Aguilar Thank you for allowing me to go along with you to shoot that night in West Asheville. It is always so much fun just being around you man!

EMMA D, I'm so thankful to know you! You are a walking dream :) Look forward to creating with you again and again!

Series 'CONNECTED' Number 1

I remember my grandmother taking me downtown to Woolworth's. We would sit and have a cheeseburger, fries and an ice-cold coke. Then we would shop around for bargains and I would take in all the little ol' ladies. They were all so nice and colorful. It was a pastel time in my life. That's where the love for people watching began.

My favorite person to watch was Ms. Gahniva, or that's how I remember addressing that beautiful lady. She had a gum disease that some would say had deformed her face. I thought she was unique, kind, and accepting with a child's inner sight. I did not judge her on beauty, but on how she treated me. She still outshines most people I have known and probably will know while on this earth. True story. For those who have lived in Asheville since that time, you will know this story to be true. Ms. Gahniva would walk down the street balancing a 2 liter coke bottle on her head. Seemingly, she barely noticed it was there. I always wanted a drink from that 2 liter bottle. It must be something special! She would also talk to pigeons. They would keep pace and follow her about. I never knew the language but they definitely would talk back.

We all have a beautiful story on our faces.

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I see so many people I know in other people's faces. I have done this for the longest time. That connects me to them, and yet I wonder what they see. I've been told I have a doppelgänger in Charleston who I have yet to meet. I hope he is faring well after the recent storms there. 

Sometimes, the connection is fleeting, gone as I pass by. Other times, it deepens and the paths and story threads of two human strangers meet and time is changed. When I am going through a day and I start to feel it all colliding together and losing focus, I slow down and refocus. Those blurry moments are what I recognize and take time out for. This awareness in myself allows all the right steps to take place in order for me to experience someone or something new, someone or something that I haven't ever met before. Good things often come when you are open to them.

Today was such a day for me and I look forward to sharing a project I am calling, 'Connected.' Without a doubt, I see it. I have no control over not seeing it. As the simple and yet THE most impossible task if you can read, to see a word and not read it. I see the paths as they slightly collide and miss by seconds into inches. I have never seen such a lovely dance. No one knows the steps but it is all ebb and flow and we are all caught up in it.

I will sit in one spot for hours and just observe.

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I recently decided to try and capture what I see and feel is happening between all of us. Those missed encounters by mere seconds, happening every moment. The future is determined by you and those that shape it around you. 

Møniça-Theragraphy Session

This is Monica. I met her around 6 years ago working downtown. First impression Intelligent, lovely, feisty, strong, talented and funny. Working in the restaurant industry I rarely think on someone's life. You know, How they are doing. This lady was a sister from another Mr for sure! Time passed and I wondered how my sister was doing.  Since I last saw Monica she has had two beautiful children and is a loving and caring mother. It was nice to help pull my friend up with the help of many others in her life recently in a session.You are respected my dear! Keep your faith and your light~ Stay beautiful inside and out.

We all will know of strengths when we are at our weakest. I know the test is coming and in my life I look forward to the weakness. It comes less and less the more you realize the life you want to live. The eternal struggle of good and evil in all of us. We all know the faux faces. I choose to roam with beings looking to see themselves in a more fitting situation with everything around them. I personally have been 'destroyed and rebuilt' many times. All the while learning what to do and not to do. It is that simple. We forget as well daily. So how do you stay happy in a Mad World?

    Look for your higher power! Whatever that means to you. I live in a world that I choose. I have no time for negativity in ALL it's forms. I see it and I make a new path. 

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Transformations

“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.”

— Napoleon Hill

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To be apart of a ritual where you are allowed to witness a transformation was a recent honor of mine. I always appreciate the creation of new works. When something is not understood it makes me want to know more about it. There is no bigger or more profound power than the power within ourselves. Own your time here! Hesitate and you will not know what life is. Run right at it like your know you will win even when you are slipping just to get up! Powerful Session!

There will be a shift in all of our old processes or we shall not evolve. Period.