Some new pics...

The Chedi Hotel, Muscat, Oman - do yourself a favor: book immediately.

Happy New Year - thanks 2010! :)

Well, so much for the "Picture a Day" idea! To be honest, I've been too busy to do it! Which is a good thing, I guess, but I thought I'd show some of what I've been up to. Since I wrote last, I've traveled to Egypt and Sri Lanka (which, by the way, I must HIGHLY recommend - Egypt on the other hand...I'd skip), been SUPER busy with work, been commissioned for a couple (ok 14) new building photo shoots and have just, in general, been enjoying life to the fullest.

Here's some shots from the last 6 months....saying goodbye to 2010 on a really happy note! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Am I "World" Peace?

The other night, my boyfriend and I got into an argument. Two people who typically can't take their hearts off of each other were suddenly in a battle against each other....a battle of "who's right" versus "who's wrong"...or even who is "more" wrong or "more" right?

Suddenly there was a line that had been drawn between us..and instead of standing together, we stood on opposite sides of that line.

He threw a rock, I retaliated by throwing a grenade. He shot with a pistol, I pulled out an AK-47. It got ugly....and bloody, and in the midst of actively hurting each other, we both continued to stand our ground. Two people who love each other more than anything and are committed to each other. Two people who wake up together, eat together, share stories, laughs, tears....people who travel together, who understand the other one's quirks, likes and dislikes.

Those two people were now on a battlefield standing facing each other, with strong resolve in their eyes and hearts.

I sat on the edge of my bed, while he stood by the door in a threatening move to "leave" unless I could surrender myself to the "being wrong". I refused. I felt like I had a full on metal rod shoved up my spine, that was not going to allow me to bend or be bent in any way, shape, form or fashion.

I'm assuming he felt the same way as he made the last gesture to get me to bend, before he walked out the door.

I sat there for a very long time...in shock that he actually left. He actually walked out on me. Why couldn't he just say he was sorry??? Why couldn't he just put his f'n ego down for one moment and realize that harmony between us was more important than who was right in this argument? Why couldn't he??? Why couldn't HE???

Then I thought of the state of myself in that moment. How resolved I was and how committed I was to my ego in that moment. To being right. To not being the "weak" one that would make the first step to put down my weaponry and instead hold out my hand to him...who I love...to say, "I'm sorry...let's get over this, shall we?". But in that moment....I couldn't do it. Not even to him, who I love DEARLY.

I sat there with my "resolved", "stubborn" self and it all became so clear to me....the "unrest" that exists in the world...in Palestine and Israel, in Iraq, in Mexico and the US...the world peace that we all want and why its so far away. A peace that we all so beg for and don't understand WHY people just won't stop killing, hurting and hating each other.

Hating people that they have never loved...people that they have never even had dinner with...never having seen so much as a smile on each other's face, people that they have never made laugh...people that they grew up being TAUGHT to hate? How can they put down their weapons and hate? How can they give up their "Resolve" to be "right"?

How could I ever see WORLD peace, when I wasn't willing to have peace in my own personal relationships? How could I ever expect Palestine and Israel to stop their fighting? How can I ever expect the unrest in Iraq to stop? How could I?

World Peace doesn't start when the world wars stop.

It starts at the most basic level: It starts with Me.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" ~Ghandi

PS Yes I then made a call to Chris. :)

When you can't say something nice, upload a photo

Happy Weekend...

Not a lot to say today...just thought I would try to post at least one photo for the week...

Hope you guys have a lovely weekend!!

Photo:
Qasr Al Sarab Resort Entrance
Located in Abu Dhabi/Liwa

Learning my "Lens"

One of the things that I love most about photography is that you can give 10 people a camera and an object and no two pictures of it will come out the same. This fascinates me...and the more I learn about photography, the more I love the ways in which we can use our own "lenses" to show life, people, the earth, buildings, etc.

I've recently hired a photographer, whose work I am enamored with, to teach me the technical aspects of photography, i.e. f stops, shutter speeds, white lighting, d lighting and the like.

However, what I'm trying to teach myself is how to find my own "lens"...the view of the world that I give that distinctly makes a photograph a "Tiffany Allen" photograph.

Frequently "lenses" are not that recognizable....and I find, for me...that there are few exceptions to this in the photographic world.

Anson Adams does this well. His is a recognizable "lens" for sure. Helmut Newton has a famous "lens" for fashion...Annie Liebovitz a famous "lens" for portraits...

mine? Well...I haven't exactly figured out the specs of my "lens" yet...but I know one thing for sure....it will be abstractly pointed at a building. I absolutely want to become a well known (heck I can say "famous" can't I?) architectural photographer. I just can't get enough buildings...their details, their surroundings, their context, their use, their shadows, their art, their place in the world...in nature....in our lives.

Here are a few of my new favorites...don't pick too hard on the skies (I'm still learning how to fix a "boring sky" in Photoshop) but I'm enjoying SO much the process of learning my lens.

My glowing father

K, so enough intense emotions and love-sickness....back to the pictures.

I've decided to hire a photographer to pretty much take me under his wing and teach me the trick of the trade. Until we start our classes, however, I've been youtubing photoshop tips alot...there's SO much you can learn from youtube!

I drug out my hard drive and started rummaging through old pictures that I wanted to do something with, but never did...and I found some that I took at Christmas while home with my family. My heart got stuck when I saw this one of my dad sitting in the "Game Room" at our family home in Texas...its just so "authentically" him...

So I pulled him into Photoshop for some color re-working and I found this "distort" tool that is called "diffuse glow". I like diffusing things...and we all love things that glow, so I applied it to this picture and I love it!

This one's for you, Daddy!

(Did I mention being homesick?)