Klio Tea

Start your day off right with a cup of Klio Greek Mountain tea! It's full of antioxidants and saponines, and is guaranteed to give you an extra spring in your step!

kliotea.com//shop-greek-mountain-tea 

Casa Blanca TV Spot

The Sun

I love the sun because it melts away all of my popsicle-cold worries, turning them into a puddle of nonsense.

The Wedding

There are three ways to experience emotions. The first way incorporates only your mind, while the other way involves solely your heart. The optimal way to experience emotions, however, is with both your head and your heart simultaneously processing the feelings and thoughts that are fluttering through the core of your being. Only then, when your thoughts and your feelings are wed, can your soul be truly awakened.

  

Emotional America

Happiness is a warm Remington gun under the beating sun. 

Hatred is a blunted Buck knife in the calloused hand of an equally dull young man. 

Wisdom is a Waterman fountain pen between the fingers of a scholar.

Freedom is a Lucky Strike cigarette nestled within your index and middle fingers.

Why I Love Mad Men

Dear Matthew Weiner,

Your show entitled Mad Men has captured my interest like no other show in existence. I appreciate the heightened degree of light and detail that you shed on the little things that permeate the character's day to day life, from Don Draper's top hat, to Roger Sterling's Lucky Strike cigarettes. Despite being in New York City, the show really seems to move along at a comfortable pace.

Regarding fashion, there is not a single character yet that I have spotted that is not dressed in a dapperly manner. From anonymous elevator operators, to random people strutting about downtown, each and every person that fills the frame flaunts an impressive amount of style. One truly feels the zeitgeist of the 1950's New York ad agency environment while watching this show. Additionally, this recurring theme of fashionable people would not be nearly as sacred if it weren't for the exquisite use of light and shadows. Despite the majority of the show taking place in an office setting, one does not get that feeling of a corporate environment with unappealing lights and hues. Quite on the contrary, most of the time the cinematographers make use of what appears to be window light. As a photographer, I can say this show really spurs on my creativity and encourages me to be creative with how I use my light, and it also keeps me in check to make sure that I am being intentional with the way I craft the light within my images. Lastly, I really enjoy the vintage songs that play at the end of each episode while the credits come up. Often times I will close my eyes and enjoy the waves of pleasure that fill my mind as I think of all the quaint pleasantries that took place in the episode.

So thank you to Mr. Weiner and the entire Mad Men crew/cast for sharing with us your creative talents.

Regards,

David Dobreski

The Nature of Silence

As I've grown older, my view of silence and the idea of it has changed from thinkin of it as a harbinger of awkwardness that must be avoided at all costs, to now realizing that it is a multifaceted entity. Silence takes many forms and fits a number of unique situations. There is a serene side to silence that is most often experienced in the woods or whilst sitting at the edge of a lake. There is an uncomfortable, slightly agitating type of silence as well. The type that you may find looming at the center of a group of people at a party. There is also a silence that bursts at the seams with tension and echoes with the harsh words exchanged several moments prior. Perhaps the most luxurious and sought-after form of silence is that which resides between an elderly couple who have loved each other for a lifetime and know one another so very well that they don't even need to exchange sentences to know what the other is thinking. 

Campfire Community

I am the center of attention.
A circle of entranced people stare into my bright eyes.
I often bring people together, similar to a thread that binds separate strings of fabric together.
My embers radiate into the faces of my spectators.
I am a campfire.
Come feel my warmth.

October in Ithaca

I am glad to say that I was recruited as a blogger for the CIAS Honors program here at RIT. While this might sound like sacrelig, I see this as an opportunity to add to my fortè. Check out my latest post.
http://honors.cias.rit.edu/october-in-ithaca/

Volleyball Proverbs

In the spirit of open-mindedness, I decided to try something new during this first semester of college, and so I joined an intramural volleyball team with my friends. Aside from casual pick-up games during lunch time in high-school, most of us are quite inexperienced on the court and are pretty mediocre at volleyball. But while we as individuals might be mediocre, together we are outstanding because we play off of each others strengths. And what is a team if not a group of zealous individuals with a common interest?

One of the many great things about being a part of a team is that you have the opportunity to grow as an individual, while those around you also grow and flesh out their foibles. One of the many lessons I learned tonight as we fought the Apocalypse (ironically, that was the name of the team we played) is the importance of being intentional. Either go for the ball or don't. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. If you yell, 'mine!' then you better go for that ball like its the only thing that matters.

On Connecting and Networking with Others

Well it's official. I have been living in a college dorm for one week now, and I have learned a myriad of things about myself, my roommate, the people on my floor, and the world around me. One particular lesson that has surfaced since I've been here at Rochester Institute of Technology is the importance of networking and connecting with others both intentionally and actively. I almost feel that the previous statement is redundant, because to be an effective social being requires effort (and sometimes a lot of it). Once you have established a solid posse, then you can relax a little. But until that point, one must focus a lot of energy into meeting people who share common interests and have at least somewhat similar worldviews and paradigms. And even when you have a solid group of friends, you can't simply sit back passively and watch. You must get engaged and delve into your life, not sit back and wait for good things to approach you.

One idea that I have been constantly reminding myself of is the fact that for every minute I spend alone, I am subtracting an entire minute that could have been spent making new friends or rekindling old friendships. While I do think that some alone time each day is important, I also know that too much is not only unhealthy but also unproductive. Humans are relational creatures, made to connect with others and be in community with loved ones. With that said, I am proud to say that I have made the most of this past week, seizing every potential opportunity to make a new friend. And my hard work has paid off already. I am looking forward to many, many more weeks of intentionality and networking. Cheers to starting college off right!

New Horizons

As I wake up from a solid night of sleep in my new dorm room, a flood of thoughts sequentially enter my mind. I am reminded of how I went out on a limb by choosing RIT since I was unfamiliar with the school, the people, and the whole state of New York. And yet I am pleased to say that this is already beginning to feel like my home away from home. I have met many friendly people, and I feel that I can just totally be myself. I can't wait to plunge further into this new adventure. I plan on making memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. Cheers to a new chapter of life. I am so blessed to have this opportunity to attend RIT.

(Net)work

Lets face it: ever since the internet came about, the world has become a whole lot smaller. Austin Kleon writes in his New York Times best-selling book Steal Like An Artist that we are no longer ruled by geography. Instead, sites like Twitter allow us to effectively connect with and be inspired by a select group of like-minded people.

Kleon dedicates an entire chapter to pound home the fact that the world is a small town, so be nice to everyone with whom you cross paths. In other words, what goes around comes around. I like to think of each interaction that I have as an opportunity to expand my world and every new person I meet as means by which I add a link to my ever-enlarging web of connections. Each day I strive to be intentional about networking (both in person and online) because I have seen first-hand that hard (net)work pays off. I am fortunate enough to have a role model like my father, Mike Dobreski, who is an extremely gifted person and fully understands both the importance of networking and the steps to networking efficiently. In fact, he recently started an organization called Executive Educational Consultants, which has gotten where it is today because of my dad's hard (net)working and lots of prayer.

The Frame for the Canvas of Life

Property rights are the frame in which the canvas of life is displayed. Whether we notice it or not, property rights dictate much of our day to day life, from where we can park our car to the things we photograph. My economics professor, Bruce Rottman, ingrained in our heads this past year a theory called the Coase theorem. This economic theory refers to a competitive marketplace and states that when property rights are clear, and transaction costs are zero (or close to zero), an efficient outcome will be reached for both or all parties involved.

Utility or Friendly Façade?

Gift-cards, pleasant as they may seem, are one of the more hotly debated topics when it comes to gift-giving. While some argue that they are impersonal and don't truly profess one's kinship to the receiver, others claim that they are just as personal as an actual gift.

Well I am bringing a third opinion to the table. From a utilitarian perspective, gift-cards serve little to no purpose at all. They are simply a substitute for the ugly alternative called money. Money seems to me to be the most impersonal gift out there. While none of us are going to complain when we receive cash as a present, there lacks a personal signature when we give money. There is nothing about a fifty-dollar bill that reminds us of grandmother. These Federal Reserve notes are the same impersonal means with which we go about our day to day lives, exchanging it with strangers for the goods that we desire. Gift-cards are simply money in disguise. They serve the exact same purpose, except for your potential locations at which you can buy things has been severely narrowed down. How thoughtful.

Strands of Voices

Life is meant to be a series of pocket-sized dances, rhythmic pulsations flowing in and out of one individual to the next. We were created to be social creatures, every person being a vein in the circulatory system of this planet. We thrive when we find our rhythm because it means less change. These habitual tendencies are often formed when we are with our friends. One could say that when we spend time with a person we are matching their beat or tempo.

As we leisurely stroll down the crowded streets side by side, I notice that our tempos are matched when my right leg advances down the sidewalk at the same time as her left leg carries her. Meanwhile, our voices synchronize and as we converse they weave in and out of each other like a strand of DNA, reciprocating as one unified sound and ultimately giving life to the other.

Hindsight Spectacles

Lately I have been journaling everyday, and as I imagine my 30-year old self flipping through these records of my teenage life I can't help but wonder what will really matter when I am that old and can look back in hindsight. Will the 20/20 perspective of my past be a remorseful experience or an encouraging and pleasant hobby? What will be of interest when I reflect back on these golden years? I am starting to get the feeling that the exact details of what my teenage life consists of will be less important than what my life is about. 

This same vein of thought was present in the mind of the professor at a Brook's Institute workshop I attended who often would encourage us to take pictures about things and not necessarily of things. In other words, that which is implied often times packs a greater punch than that which is explicitly brought out into the open. The word of and the word about are inherently and necessarily quite different in their connotations. In most sentences, the former precedes a material or physical object or place. The word about on the other hand is often tied with a thought, or a feeling, or even a person. 

Do you think about things or do you think of things?

Night

Night
when words fade and things come alive.
When the destructive analysis of the day is done, and
all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again.
When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree.
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The Neon Palette

The dance floor is a static gateway to freedom and offers license to express oneself fully. In this busy and stressful world, dance clubs have swooped in and offered a momentary escape from the adversities that weigh us down. The dance floor is a blank canvas, and your footsteps create something beautiful upon a dirty floor. As the sweat drips, one feels that he can do whatever he wants and doesn't have to worry about what other people are thinking. In fact, they're probably not even thinking (at least not critically). They're dancing. There are very few things better than being surrounded by friends in the center of a dance floor as the flashing lights infuse with sound waves for a stimulating and heart-thumping evening.

The Zenith of Existence

As I was just going through my Facebook friends and inviting them to my birthday party, I would see their thumbnail photo scroll up my screen, and my mind would replay a recurring memory for each person. Interestingly, all of the memories that went through my head were of my friends at their best, brightest moment - in pure, energetic laughter. And that got me thinking, maybe when we laugh we are doing what we were created to do. We are reaching the zenith of our existence when we laugh uncontrollably. To be fully human is to let down all of the walls, worries, and concerns and just belt out in uninhibited, mirth-filled, blissful laughter. We are not, therefore, defined by our darkest moments but by our brightest. And since joy is communal, our character is molded and shaped in the presence of others. And those people who are present and attentive during those transformative moments of light oft become our closest companions. One thing I've been learning recently as I've started a new hobby (knife-throwing), is that if I don't feel fulfilled while partaking of an activity, or am not truly enjoying something on an emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual level, then perhaps I wasn't meant to invest my time in that particular activity. Oh, and yes, I did say that knife throwing is my new hobby :)

Divine Cushions

Not only is having a negative attitude inefficient and a waste of time, but it also does no good for anyone at all. The problem is that if we look to our surroundings (media outlets, other people, etc.) in hopes of acquiring a positive mindset, we will not attain optimism. Our world and our individual environments are always going to be chaotic,  and therefore we must look to another outlet to instill in us a spirit of hope and joy. Personally, my joy is a direct offspring of the faith and hope I have in Christ Jesus. For others, they look to their job for their sense of well-being and joy. When bad things happen to me, God is not only my King and Lord, but He is also my cushion and He catches me from plummeting into despair and misery. I have learned during my short time on this earth that to root ones hope in earthly things is folly and will lead to destruction. Therefore, we must put our faith in the unseen, in something holy (set apart) from the physical planet upon which we stand.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is seen is eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:18

The Irrelevance of Distance

One of the great things about social media (specifically Facebook) is that it has made it easier to maintain connections with friends who live far away. I met this really nice girl from Colorado named Ashley at a photography workshop this week, and if I ever happen to be in Colorado I know exactly who (and how) to find her. It's incredible how much smaller our world is becoming. And yet somehow it seems more complex and unknowable than ever. For me, Facebook is the adhesive that binds together all of the connections and friendships that I have formed over the years. I can only imagine how limited and disconnected I would be without Zuckerberg's glorious creation.

Into the Wild

"Happiness is only real when shared." - Chris McCandless

Emotional Plateau

I love having the ability to express my feelings and emotions through photography. In some ways, I feel that I can more accurately and vividly portray the palette of my emotional plateau through a photograph. Often times when I create an image such as this one I feel like I am looking at a mirror and the reflection is not one of my face but of my soul. As a photographer of 5 years, it is very rewarding to finally have the ability to pre-visualize an image in my head and then perfect it 

until the pixels on the LCD 

screen of my camera mirror 

the image that I had imagined.

 

The Photograph as a Seal

In this fast-paced world, the time that we spend in person with friends is not only becoming less and less, but it is also subsequently becoming more and more valuable. Sharing a meal or an intimate conversation in the heart of a bustling and monstrous suburbia is an enjoyable experience, but can be easily forgotten. And this is where the power of photographs comes into play. When you hand the waiter your iPhone and ask him to take a picture of you and your friend, what is actually happening is that the pleasant rendezvous is actually being solidified and made into a concrete entity - one that will last much longer than a lone memory. Susan Sontag writes in her book, On Photography, how people in modern societies look to the lens as a way of confirming the authenticity and reality of the event in which they now stand. 

Consume

In case you haven't noticed, our lives revolve around food. The simple activity of sharing a meal with another person has profound effects that oft go unnoticed. We create bonds with people when we dine with them. In fact, the need for food is a common thread that unites every living thing. There is some dynamic about the act of eating that requires one to be vulnerable. Normally, we don't sit down and eat a meal with someone we don't like. We let our guard down when we eat. Eating is such a primitive and ancient activity, one of the few that has remained constant and prominent throughout all of history. In some ways, eating a meal with someone else is one of the most intimate things we do in public. It is commonly said that we are what we eat. Perhaps this saying rings even more true in the context of communal dining. When we share a meal with another person, we are joining in synchronously with that person and nourishing our selves from the same platter, which unifies even the most distant hearts.

Midnight Drive (Time-lapse)

http://vimeo.com/67620242

The Unity of Chaos

The Freedom Tower.

The older I get, the more I realize how complex and unpredictable the world is. Just look at the people around you. We are all inherently confused and uninformed organisms. I think that the majority of people, myself included, often carve out a box consisting of specific ideas and routines. One example of this is a group of tight-knit friends that make a conscious effort to shield each others backs and reciprocate in kind deeds to one another. And while this may sound naive or narrow-minded, if you take a step back and consider the alternative, suddenly rational ignorance doesn't sound all that bad. The only context that I can think of in which we as humans have any morsel of control over our surroundings is that of the home environment. In nearly every other sphere of life, especially in the urban landscape, there are literally millions of factors and forces that affect us on any given day and there is simply no way to even begin to realize all of the variables that are out of our control, much less control the variables themselves. In science they call this an independent variable. In a bittersweet sort of way, the fact that we all live in this chaotic world means that we all go through it together, and thus a sort of harmonious, coalescing vein weaves throughout every individual and to the next, and when we love we are tapping into that communal tie. Chaos knows no social classes or races, since nobody is exempt from havoc. While we as humans may try to convince ourselves that we can determine our own destinies and that we can simply go out there and seize the day, the truth is that we rarely have the luxury to predetermine the outcomes of all the occurrences that take place right before our eyes. The good news is that we have two powerful means of dealing with the events that unceasingly reproduce: the first is reaction, and the second is retrospective. The way we react to something ultimately depends on the attitude that we choose to employ in the situation. If we choose to make the most of the outcomes, regardless of whether or not it is the ideal one, then the outcome will have been fully expedited and therefore stewarded to the best of our abilities. The other tool with which we can clarify this unclear world is retrospective. Hind-sight is 20-20, so remember that it always pays off to look back on the things we experience and learn from them what we can.

I want to conclude by sharing with you a couple of quotes that I feel are both relevant and encouraging.

"The curious tasks of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design." F.A. Hayek

"I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Big Bear Video

I am really starting to realize how prominent video has become and will become in the future, so you can expect to see a lot more videos on this blog. But do not fear, I will continue taking photographs! I am excited to see where this new medium will take me!

Here's a video I made of a trip that some friends and I went on this past week: http://vimeo.com/lensartist/classof2013

Coalesce and Oppress

In the 10th Federalist Paper, James Madison throws down some solid arguments in favor of an "extensive republic" as opposed to a democracy. Let's dissect the differences between a republic and a democracy. For starters, in a republic, there is a delegation of the government to a smaller number of citizens elected by the rest. Another advantageous trait of a republic is its sheer magnitude. While this may initially seem to be a downfall, it actually makes it more difficult for a majority to coalesce and oppress the feeble voice of the minority(s). In other words, an extensive republic doesn't allow for a tyranny of the majority. In short, a republic controls and even limits the effects of factions better than a democracy.

Relive

Perhaps one of the most powerful abilities that photographs possess is to act as a catalyst for the memories of our mind. While I have not experienced this effect firsthand very often (since 90% of the time I am the one behind the camera creating the memories for people to enjoy), tonight I enjoyed reliving the happenings of yesterday by looking through the prom pictures of our group.

No matter how hard one tries to live in the present and to make the most of everything, eventually every experience is archived into the deep library of the mind. By looking at photographs of past significant events, a pungent yet pleasant nostalgic vignette can be resurrected. So remember to hire photographers like me to capture significant events in your life because even Bob Dylan knows that "the times are a-changin'."

Copyright Orphans

There are times when government really crosses the line. In fact, the government seems to do so on a regular basis. Take, for example, a law passed 2 weeks ago by the UK Parliament that legalized the use of 'orphaned' photographs. In other words, if the owner of the photo cannot be contacted, then the photo can be used for free and without the owner's consent. The implications of this law (called the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act) are large. As Oswald states in the article New UK Law Makes Robbery Legal, "this extraordinary change in the law drive a horse and cart through copyright protection."

I think that as more valuable and personal content is stored in the cloud, the concept of property rights and intellectual property will start to disseminate, and government will become increasingly Big Brother-esque.

On a positive note, this growing dilemma provides many opportunities for individuals with technological expertise to design software and/or technology that empowers artists by concreting their copyright ownership over their content, thus allowing them to publish their work fearlessly onto the web. Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom, for example, provides tools for photographers and graphic designers to safeguard their work from the claws of malicious corporations. Specifically, Lightroom enables its users to watermark their work and decide where to place it and the degree of opacity. A much more advanced feature that Lightroom provides is the ability to embed IPTC metadata into the digital photograph. Precautions such as this are becoming more and more essential for those of us who want to safely publish our work onto the internet.

Pulchritudinous Smoke

I've always been fascinated with taking pictures of smoke, fog, or any other type of vaporous gases. And yet I have never quite been able to put my finger on what it is about smoke vapors that appeals to me. Perhaps it is the evocative feeling of intrigue and mystery that one feels when surrounded by it. Driving through dense early morning fog is like ice-skating on a frozen lake. Aside from the crisp stroke of blades beneath ones feet, nothing else seems to be moving. The water droplets appear to be suspended in time and space, forming an ethereal atmosphere above, behind, beneath, and on either side of oneself.

The boy in the red coat is as frozen as the pixels in this photograph. Entangled in a veil, suspended in mid-air, immortalized by a backdrop of water vapor. One moment the boy seems to be running away from danger, but when one glances a second time at the image it seems to exude playfulness and ingenuity. Similarly, the nature of water, multifaceted as it is, is portrayed in this image as drama-inducing and as a harbinger of mystery.

Shoot What You Fear

Art is possibly the most remedial and healing hobby in existence. And yet it can also be the means by which a man's sanity is abolished. An obsession, if you will, that parasitically torments the host, while simultaneously outputting marvelous work. The artist ultimately determines whether his tool - be it a paintbrush or a camera - is a flower or a handgun.

On a personal level, the camera is a hammer with which I chisel out a trophy of courage. In other words, I take photographs of things - animate and inanimate alike - that make me feel uncomfortable. I used to be tense and maladroit around people and in social settings. Now that I have been photographing people and social gatherings for 2 years, I can proudly say that I enjoy being with people more than anything, and have boldly conquered my trepidation. That's one significant reason for my exclusive interest in photography over other forms of art such as drawing or painting; from past experience I can say that many art mediums isolate the artist from community, from other people, while photography is capable of just the opposite.

Once one discovers this freeing aspect of photography, it truly becomes a lifestyle of sorts; it becomes a journey within the realms of your innermost being. If you are daunted by spiders, then grab a macro lens and a camera and shoot spiders, all different types, colors, shapes, and sizes. If you fear being alone in the dark, go outside at midnight with a camera and a tripod, and let the creative impulse cast out all fear. Just as the sensor of a camera absorbs light particles, it is also capable of enveloping the entities that frighten you most.

Hearts and Minds

"We do not take pictures with our cameras, but with our hearts and minds." 

-Arnold Newman

Social Gatherings

As a photographer of 4 1/2 years, I have had a taste of many genres of photography. I started out as a landscape photographer, but incrementally I adjusted my focus towards people and events. It was about 2 years ago when I first plunged into the field of event photography. You may be wondering, "So what exactly is the appeal to event photography?" To that I would say that each event is an entirely new experience. I never know what to expect. Sometimes the events turn out less than ideal. Other times I feel that there is nowhere else I would rather be. Every once in a great while, I will be photographing an event and will feel that wherever I point my camera lens, I am guaranteed to capture a magnificent shot. More often I find myself in the opposite situation, standing in a room with very little light and very little space. And yet I feel fulfilled so often when I photograph these events. Even though I almost always walk into the event as a stranger, I often leave having formed great friendships. Interestingly, the events in which I actively engage with the environment and converse with the people are always the events from which I derive the best images. When I take the more passive approach, and lazily wait for the decisive moment to affix itself in front of my camera lens, I leave the event unfulfilled and also with a regretful feeling. For me, to be an event photographer means to probe the entire locale keenly hunting for quintessential illustrations of golden vignettes of the human condition. As it says in my artist statement, I try to answer the question of 'what does it mean to be human?' through my photography. A major puzzle piece that forms part of the answer to this question can be found amidst social gatherings. After all, a critical part of being human is spending time in community with others.

Brave Reflections

"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. My own line of reasoning is to myself as strait and clear as a ray of light."

-Thomas Paine

Counting Sheep

Every day we seem to get busier. Our days are like an energetic, teenage girl at a shopping mall, often uncontrollable and sometimes even a bit overwhelmed. At the end of the day, when our heads hit the pillow, it isn't always a quick, seamless transition from reality to the dream world. So we compensate. We take drugs, rely on them really, in order for us to fall asleep. By drugs, I am referring to any sort of sleep catalyst, be it sleep pills such as Advil PM or be it drifting off to sleep with the help of calming melodies from your Songza app on your iPhone. Yet how good is this reliance on outside forces? We've become unable to rest, and as a result most people wander around lackadaisically for most of their life, sleep-deprived and desolate. So remember to do the things that will ensure a well-balanced, healthy lifestyle. Shut off the iPhone screen, turn off the tv show, and let your worries set with the sun. Those sheep aren't going to count themselves.

Drain Your Batteries

As a technological enthusiast and a well-rounded human being, I feel that it is only proper that I should be a good steward of the electronic devices that I own. The way I go about doing that is reading and rereading the manuals so that I can make the most of them and become familiar with every knob, lever, and whippersnapper. One priceless piece of information that I picked up recently from a MacBook Pro jock is that the best way to maximize battery life - both short term and long term - is to fully charge the laptop up to 100%, and then keep it unplugged until it reaches the single digits realm. Believe it or not, this is healthier for your laptop than leaving it plugged into the wall all day, everyday.




As I was thinking through this idea, I started to see a correlation between MacBook Pro batteries and the batteries of human beings. The optimal 'lifestyle' for a laptop is to get juiced up all the way to 100%, and then detach from the power source and live unrestricted (a yolo lifestyle, as some would say), giving everything until the energy is gone. Are we as humans all that different? We were created to work hard and play hard. Not to work some while playing on the side, but to whole-heartedly devote ones time, resources, etc. fully to one project. The harder one works, the sweeter his slice of leisure will taste. The best lifestyles are those that are balanced. Know when it is time to plug in and rejuvenate, & when it is time to unplug and let loose.

PS - If you use a desktop computer, I am sorry but the previous information does not apply to you. Send me a message and maybe I'll write a post for you desktoppers out there  ;D

Dream Bluffs

Now more than ever, people want to be in control of anything and everything. This desire to grab the reigns and steer our lives down the seemingly best path has resulted in isolated beings with an unhealthy appetite for power. And yet some of the most delightful occurrences rise to the surface the moment we admit something or someone else into the command center of our life. Whether this entity is an artistic impulse or a lover, a surge of energy pulsates through our very being when we can learn to loosen our grip on life. We feel relieved because our expectations are more flexible and we can rebound quicker when things dont go as planned. The truth is, we don't like being control freaks. It is a hindrance and causes us to become hysterically paranoid. Think of the times in your life when you let something else take control - even if it was just for a couple minutes. To use the example of cliff-jumping, there is a blissful feeling that wells up inside of a person when they forfeit control of their being to the power of gravity. This thrill exists only when they let their toes sink off of the coarse edge of a steep cliff and allow the force of gravity to have its way with them. The result? Unprecedented zeal. Similarly, when a person enters into the land of dreams he is bestowing to his subconscious the authority to drive the steering wheel of his imagination. At that point, the thoughts or dreams that may emerge into the conscious are somewhat unpredictable.

David Dobreski Photography

/// David Dobreski Photography ///

A compilation of some of my favorite images that I have captured over the years.

http://youtu.be/vSsjtZPdgxw

Lacey.

Susceptibly Forgetful

Often times we find ourselves bogged down by tasks and details, making it quite difficult to take a moment to relax, walk outside, and breathe the fresh air. Pressure seems, at times, to define the lives of people in the 21st-century. We harp on ourselves for falling short, missing deadlines, or not arriving on time to various places. Each year we aim to try harder or reach higher, but somehow those resolutions never seem to be fulfilled. Why is that? Humans perform best when given clear incentives, not vague ideals. These cliche abstractions of trying harder and reaching higher are pounded into us from such a young age that they quickly lose all meaning. The solution? Clarify your incentives. Successful athletes don't reach the echelon of grandeur by aiming to run faster, get stronger, or jump higher. The only way to meet ones goals is to construct a concrete game plan that is well within ones abilities. If you want to get back into the habit of flossing, the worst way to go about doing that is to attempt to floss all 28 teeth right from the get-go. You will surely crash and burn in no time with that approach. The only way to reform that habit is to tell yourself: I am going to floss one tooth on a daily basis. Once you have plowed that canal in your brain, thus forming a habit of flossing one tooth every day, then - and only then - can you start flossing two teeth daily. You are much more likely to reach your goals with this approach. So remember: take the sniper approach, not the shotgun approach. Pick off each project in life with minuscule but consistent efforts and you will find greater satisfaction.

"Arctic Tears"

Today I took photos for a client. She is a very talented artist and is extremely motivated. Sometimes I think she can create an awe-inspiring painting faster than I can click the shutter of my Canon. Her title for one of her paintings is Arctic Tears. This particular piece was different than the others. While most of her paintings consisted of warm hues and bright, joyous pigments, Arctic Tears comprises cool blues fused with deep, icy black gradients. She explained that when an iceberg melts, the surrounding water grows darker.

The Post of Survival

My friend Tenley

I heard a statistic the other day that 90% of blogs don't last longer than 1 year. Well I am happy to say that I am not part of that statistic, since I started my blog back in the fall of 2011 and I have been posting ever since.

With that said, I haven't posted anything in far too long, so this post is just an attempt to build up my momentum in hopes that I will get back into the habit of posting on a regular basis. While most habits are easy to form and difficult to put an end to, blogging is totally different. Interestingly, blogging on a regular basis is a difficult habit to form and work into ones schedule, but that habit can slip out of your daily life like a thief in the night! Funny how that works.

On a completely different note, I am very excited for this week because my good friend Bob Openshaw is taking me to WPPI (http://www.wppionline.com/index.shtml) in Las Vegas. I am not quite sure what to expect, but I hope to meet passionate photographers like myself and learn fresh, new things about this craft.