A deep connection with the outdoors

From the time she was born she's needed to be outside. 

Everyday. 

Rain or shine, it doesn't matter.



 
Any excuse, just let her be outdoors.

She gets lost in nature.  Plants, birds, butterflies

A collection of pachyderm stunts

Does he think he's holding the elephant up?

© Photographer: Susan Leggett | Agency: Dreamstime.com


© Photographer: Cheryle Myers | Agency: Dreamstime.com

More fun elephant photos available here...
http://www.dreamstime.com/circus-elephants-rcollection18172-resi3427385

The Ants go Marching...

I have no idea how he does it.
But, the current featured photographer on Dreamstime has an amazing collection of ants!


© Photographer: Andrey Pavlov | Agency: Dreamstime.com

© Photographer: Andrey Pavlov | Agency: Dreamstime.com

For some reason I find these intriguing, and not creepy like spiders would be.

So excited!!!

Each month or so Dreamstime posts an assignment for their contributors.  The most recent contest is focused on going mobile.  Mobile cameras, mobile shots. You get the idea.  But not just any spontaneous shot will do.

The assignments have a theme, but as with all their stock photos the Dreamstime editors only take the best.

The editors at Dreamstime are particular.  Meticulous, really. They have very high expectations.  Ok, they're picky.

There, I said it.  But, I'm glad they are.  Here it is....

http://www.dreamstime.com/-rimage27577788-resi3427385

my first assignment photo.








This is as "mobile" as it gets.  Gooey, sticky marshmallow smore's and a five year old in heaven.

A new collection

My daughter sings in the Oregon Children's Choir.  I try to capture the feeling, the emotion, the power of their songs.  Yet, it's one example of when photos just don't do justice to the whole experience.

Here is my latest Dreamstime collection of choir photos.
http://www.dreamstime.com/childrens-choir-singers-rcollection19429-resi3427385

Summer travels

This last summer we took the girls on a vacation to California.  

Yes, we packed up the travel trailer and spent two weeks "camping."  Which means hours upon hours of driving and a daily dose of Dramamine for the youngest who never fails to get car sick.

In case you were wondering...  we must have looked like tourists.

In other words we had the GPS on the dashboard, a stack of maps in hand and a panic stricken look as we drove for hours on end through places we've never been.

The highlights?  The Redwoods, Disneyland and California Adventures, and Yosemite National Park.  

If you ask our kids what they enjoyed most it was campfires and smore's, meeting the Disney Princesses, and swimming in the river.

But the photographer in me was in heaven.  I created a memory book of photos for my daughters on Snapfish, and built a collection on Dreamstime titled "All Things Disney!"  http://www.dreamstime.com/all-things-disney!-rcollection18857-resi3427385     

So many memories.  I wonder where the journey will take us next.

Dreamstime Milestone

I joined Dreamstime in May of 2011.  In the year and a half since then I've hit several milestones.

My first accepted stock image was a photo of a herd of bison. It hasn't sold, but hey, I've learned a lot since then.  

The first image I did sell was of an African Ostrich.

© Photographer: Cheryle Myers | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Recently I celebrated hitting some other new milestones. My 100th sold photo was of the Oregon Children's Choir Junior Academy Singers.

© Photographer: Cheryle Myers | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Plus over 200 approved Stock photos in my portfolio, and total sales of over $200.  This photo of an Amtrak Train has been one of the best selling.

© Photographer: Cheryle Myers | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Dreamstime has given me an avenue for sharing my passion.  And, even though I only have a limited amount of time to focus on my photography, I love every minute.

The inner journey

These are a few of my favorite quotes about travel.  They express what I think about exploring the inner journey through the outer world.

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by.”

~Robert Frost

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” 

~Henry Miller

“You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
~Ansel Adams

My photography gives me an outlet.  A place to share my inner journey without completely putting myself out there.  Simply because, “Photography is all about secrets. The secrets we all have and will never tell.” 

~Kim Edwards

Random is not always unpredictable

"Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature." 

~Eric Hoffer 

If it happens, it must be possible.

Right?

Sometimes, I wonder. 

 Occasionally my life feels random.  Or if not random, much like a circus act.

Random stunts and tricks that seem totally out of place and unreal.  

“CIRCUS, n. A place where horses, ponies and elephants are permitted to see men, women and children acting the fool.”
~Ambrose Bierce

Beauty is Everywhere...

I always have my camera with me.  My daughters even tease me about it.  I can't help it.

I see the world through a lens.  I see beauty everywhere.

On the rare occasion I don't have my camera handy I always regret it.

What am I afraid of?  I know I miss things.  They're are so many awe-inspiring places, structures and landscapes.

    My dream?

   To be able to travel and take pictures.  It's the outdoors that appeal to me.

Too much time inside and I have to escape.   The walls close in on me and I get stressed and anxious.

The best medicine is the beauty of the outdoors.  Nature is my therapy.

As long as I have my camera along...