Thoughts form behind the camera and the wheel

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A Taste of snake
Prepairing for landing

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Technology & Art Ride off into the sunset!

Today is the last day of, and the last few hours of the first month in 2012.  I am hoping to blog at least once a month and I am getting this in because in just a few hours this month will be over.  This blog will be different there may or may not be pictures.  This blog is more about me exposing my own inner threads rather than pictures.  It has been quite an eventful month.  My camera of 4 years may or may not have kicked the bucket.  If it did it is time to move on and start saving for a new one and if it didn’t then I will be really excited and start saving for a new one after I get my motorcycle.  It has been 2 months now since I have not used a credit card.  Strangely enough this has been harder then quitting drinking. I no longer feel like they own me, I feel free even though I am still tied to them until the last dollar.  In my mind I am free because I know that I have broken up with them and that our relationship is over.  It has also been the most liberating 2 months, every month I pay them back and don’t use them it is like saying the greatest fuck you that I could ever say. I am doing the Dave Ramsey plan, I think he is pretty genius in the way teaches people about money.  It has changed my life and it feels so good.  I now feel and can see a way out of this.

Clay has found its way back into my life. I spent a Friday or 2 ago filming, and taking pics. of  Kirsten working on the hands at The Florida School of Massage.  I took this quick clip with my phone and it is not one of those fancy phones either it is a metro pcs wanna be fancy phone that I love and feel thankful for having a consistently cheap phone bill no matter what I do.  Someday I will be an i phoner maybe, but by the time I go there who knows what will be the best.  I say my phone is not fancy but it is the fanciest phone I have ever had.   No the megapixels don’t compare to others and the internet works kind of slow but it is pretty close to as amazing as the stuff that me and my sister wondered as kids would ever happen.

SOME DAY THIS WILL LOOK LIKE

THIS.  

Here is a pic. of the guy that invented the cell phone on his first cell phone call ever .

If the i phone was carried through a company that I could get all of the perks for $50 a month no matter what then I will upgrade but until then I am pretty content with my metro phone.  Kirsten lent me her pottery wheel.  All I need to do now is get some clay.  This spring I will be able to chill out under my carport, throw pots, film myself throwing pots etc. I am about to embark on a new artistic endeavor which I think will provide me with infinite amounts of fun and inspiration and that is working with Art Clay Silver.  I am going to be working with clay that is really composed of silver and once I hit it with a torch it will harden up and within a few minutes it will transform into jewelry.  Stay tuned for all of the new exciting adventures to come.  Until then I will be going to sleep wishing I was at the beach.  

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January 31, 2012 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Butterflies and Poop on the Prairie!

I hopped on my bicycle for the first time in a few months.  Optimistic and excited about being active and outside and curious about what I may find on my journey today.  When I got to the La Chua trail the sun was beating down heavy on me and I knew I was not there at the magical lighting time of day.

I could see and feel nothing except for the sensation of being too hot.  I am amazed by this ever changing prairie.  Everything was so grown out it was hard to see any creatures beyond the sun.  I decided to take the path less tread upon on my way back.  I had given up on seeing anything interesting and to taking any pictures.  I just wanted to escape the heat and get back on my bike and ride the shady part of the hawthorne trail before returning home.  All of the suddenly I saw 1,2,3,4,5 butterflies all together just waiting to have their portrait taken I am sure.  I very sneakily and patiently snuck up to them in hopes that they would not fly away.  I took some pictures.  Got closer took some more.  Got even closer and doug my elbows down into the dirt and took some more pics.  They did not leave.  I have startled many a butterfly pollinating a gorgeous flower.  But these Pollinators had me in shock.  They were all getting down on some horsey dung. They were so into it that they did not even care that I was there.  Is it possible that this dung is even more of a treat than a flower.  There were beatles underneath the dung moving it all the while the butterflies continued to surf the dung and fight for the juiciest spot.  Again my elbows are in the dirt….Fortunately not in the dung and I am in utter amazement.  I love that nature never fails to amaze me and even when it seems like there is nothing going on on the praire there is more happening then I will ever be able to imagine.  I will admit that I did start getting hungry watching them chow down on this pile of dung.  The butterflies were almost at full capacity for this dung cafe.

I forgot about the heat, the dirt,  the smell of shit, and was over taken by the beauty.  By the contrast.  I love contrast.  Eventually I left after spending quite a long time with them.  I am leaving.  On my way out I find a smaller pile of dung with more butterflies getting down.  I am amazed that they don’t seem to be bothered by me. 

I do some research when I get home and find out they are so down with this dung because they are getting salts and other nutrients.  I also learned that they drink their meals so who is up for the dung diet smoothie.    

To find out more about butterflies you can go to many places online here is one I just checked out.  www.gardenswithwings.com/facts-info/FAQ.html

Finally I am so hot and hungry I can’t take it anymore and as I am heading to get on my bike and ride home I look down and I see a little furry ball with bones peaking out at me.   I pick up the ball of fur I look into it.  It is filled with goodness.  I look up in wonderment of where the owl was that spit this up.  I have been learning a lot about owls from my co-worker Charlotte Loomis and I know that the owl must be just above me.  I shuffle through brush.  I look beyond the glare of sunlight.  I try to use my camera as binoculars I take a few pics.  I am sure that this is the owl but damn it is well hidden.  Suddenly I have to move because my feet are covered in ants.  I stay a bit longer.  I don’t get a good picture of the owl but I get the thrill of knowing that I think I know where it is.  I leave I hop on my bike I hit the hawthorne trail again.  I feel my glutes burning, I am loving it, I feel my lungs grasp for air.  I am out of shape but having a great time.  I let my cat smell the treat when I get home because he is so nosey and loves smelling everything.  

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October 4, 2011 | Categories: birds, cats, florida photography, gainesville, la chua, la chua trail, marcela martinez, Nature, paynes prairie, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Qi Gong with the Humming bird!

It was my third day of seeing and doing qigong with the hummingbird. I decided that I should back off a little and moved 20 feet away from where he/she was feeding. I did this because she stopped coming around while I was there. I had moments of imagining that I was this delicious flower that hummingbirds would love to be around. I sent off as many loving vibes as I could to this hummingbird to let it know that it would be safe around me.  I remembered a moment in time when I helped a hummingbird who was stuck in a garage to find its way out.  I felt strongly that it was time to give space to this beautiful creature even though yesterday I was doing qigong 2 feet away from her feeding grounds. She came and fed from the beautiful flowers but every time I slowly reached around my body to bring out the camera she would fly away. Right at the end of my qigong yesterday I decided to sit down next to the irresistible red flowers and just see if I would be gifted with her presence again. I waited with camera in hand set to manual mode, manual focus, aperture, and ISO. I waited and the moment that my camera rose to eye she appeared in front of my lens but every time I set the focus she would be onto another flower.   30 seconds into this beautiful experience I feel her fluttering right in front of my camera, suspended timelessly in the air in front of me. I see her hovering before me picture perfect with my camera in hand but I am set to manual mode so I just see a blur through the lens she then hovers over to my right side, still no pictures taken and within a matter of secondlessness she is gone to I don’t know where. Wow how lucky I felt, even though I did not get to even see her through the blurry lens as she fluttered 6 inches away from my face. I am thinking that this qigong thing is working. Qigong and photography. Qi gong not only helps me increase my Qi it also helps me get really get in touch with my own internal nature and also the breath of the bird and the plants around me. It allows me to become a part of the environment.

Today I decided to stand with my feet in the water of the pool 20 feet away from the hummingbird likes to feast. My plan is to give space to this creature and observe her from afar as I do my practice.  At the very end of my qigong Session I decide to embrace the energy of this fastly fluttering bird and take all of the qi that I have manifested throughout my practice and I place it in my dantian right into my belly button.   As I am planting the energy of the humming bird inside myself she appears 20 feet away from me feeding.  At this point I have had multiple encounters but still no picture. I am blown away by this moment and I am feeling quite excited. I am far away enough that she does not seem to be bothered that I am taking out my camera. I place it up to my eye and decide at least I will get one photo even if it is from farther away than I imagined. As soon as the camera is resting against my eye she begins to fly away and I follow her curiously with my camera. Suddenly it appears as if she is not flying away at all but flying right next to me. Yes! There were some flowers next to me that I had no idea that humming birds were interested in. Because my camera was already in position she seemed not to notice or be bothered by me or my camera. I felt extatic to be able to be so close while she was feeding and to be finally be able to photograph it. What a gift. It inspires me to think that right as I placed the hummingbird energy inside me that she flew up right next to me and that I was able to take the close photograph that I had wanted so badly. It is so beautiful to photograph creatures in their natural habitat. It is their choice and decision when and where to share themselves and I feel so blessed and thankful that I was able to experience this. I had an experience similar to this once but it was years ago, a hummingbird visited me in a dream and hovered before my face and I felt so lucky. It seems some of my dreams are starting to manifest. I always get interested in animal totems so here is a link to what the hummingbird means! http://www.birdclan.org/hummingbird.html

Here is one of my favorite facts that I just read about the hummingbird, “The hummingbird is the only creature that can stop dead while traveling at full speed; can hover; or can go forward, backward, up or down.”  Please share your experience and or encounters with hummingbirds.

Here is a link to time warp video of a hummingbird on youtube http://youtu.be/D8vjYTXgIJw

Here is another link to another cool video that I found on humminbirds featuring Hummingbird babies growing up in the nest, from “Eggs” to the actual moment they leave the nest!  The only thing I don’t like about this video is the music,  play your favorite song and turn theirs down and enjoy the hummingbird growth process http://youtu.be/gG59PaCiiDg

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August 13, 2011 | Categories: birds, hummingbirds, Nature, qigong | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

woodpeckers photography, qi gong & adventures in owl land

I have recently been thinking about what a wonderful tool qi gong is for personal transformation and for my photography. Today I went outside very resistantly to do my qi gong practice. I missed 2 days in a row and was just feeling really down in the dumps. I was feeling quite angry, scared, judgemental, and sad and I did not want to do qi gong even though I new it would help me shift. I went outside into my backyard and found a wonderful place in the shade to stand and do my practice. I could hear the woodpeckers and see them much better than I have been able to in the past. There was 1 wood pecker a few hundred feet off to my left and there was one that kept inching closer to me just about 20 feet away. I remembered following a woodpecker a few weeks ago and everytime I would get close enough he would fly to the other side of the tree. While doing qi gong I realized that he was not trying to hide from me but perfectly in my vision for quite a long time. I began to really realize that doing qi gong makes me much more a part of my environment and allows me to meld into my surroundings. The woodpecker was able to have time to sense my energy and to choose whether to come into my field of energy. I watched this beautiful creature as i moved my arms and breath. It is important for me to really become a part of something before I just start clicking away on my camera. I decided to get my camera after my session of qi gong. I knew that It would be different leaving the field and then coming back. I came back and the woodpecker was gone. I stood and waited, I sat and waited I was able to get a shot or two. I am now going to bring my camera with me on my qi gong journeys so that I can remain in the space without having to re-enter. I can wait for the woodpecker or other animal to share itself with me rather than chasing it down. I will continue to share my journeys on here. Through qi and phototgraphy. Everything is so integrated. What a beautiful morning. I feel less angry, sad and judgemental. I am looking forward to what I may see as I explore photography with more patience. Here is a little bit on woodpecker medicine that I looked up online http://www.birdclan.org/woodpecker.html I just found that my birth totem animal is the snake http://wolfs_moon.tripod.com/birthtotemsnake.html

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July 7, 2011 | Categories: birds, florida photography, gainesville, marcela martinez, Nature, paynes prairie, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

living my dreams and selling my photos

I am on the edge of a new frontier. Hoping to make a living doing what I love standing at the edge of the cliff and diving into my dreams hoping to land in clear blue water and to see all that nature has to offer.

I have just recently started selling my artwork and the process has been quite a journey.  The step that comes before and in between every step for me is being my own cheerleader encouraging myself every step of the way.  Realizing that if there is the possibility of disaster there is also the possibility of success.  I must also say that when I have not been able to find the motivation to completely believe in myself there have been friends and family along the way who have arrived at the perfect moments where I have needed a nudge and encouragement to make it to the next step.  I feel very thankful to have supportive and loving people in my life.  Step 1 deciding what the hell to print. Step 2 getting my photos printed. Step 3 figuring out framing and picking out mat board. Finally deciding whether to sign the mat board or the actual front of the photo. In the professional world everyone seems to have a different opinion on this. I have decided to sign the front of the mat board and the back of the photo.  I have read so many different strong opinions on where people should sign and I have come to the conclusion that it just does not matter that much.   Many years ago someone decided what the standard was for signing and some people have followed and some people have rebelled and that is why I think it is important to make my own logical decision. I like signing the back of the photo so that if someone wants to re-matt the photo in the future it will not be separated from its signature and I also like signing the front of the mat.When being confronted with the thought of signing my work I became very nervous wondering what my signature would look like. I was hoping that it would not look like that form of chicken scratch that I have developed over the years from signing credit cards.  I had such good hand writing in 3rd grade.  Before going into the store to sign my framed photo I practiced signing my name on a piece of paper over 100 times only to find out that my neatest handwriting looks like my 3rd grade handwriting.   I was hoping to have my handwriting look like a professional photographers handwriting.  I have taken the photos that I am selling and I am doing the best signature that I can do as myself and that has to be enough.  I don’t know how to change or fake it and I am sure with time it will evolve into something more beautiful and maybe with time I will realize that what I am doing now is just beautiful enough.  I remember a day in second or third grade where we got a sillhouette cut out of our faces and I remember hating mine thinking how big and ugly my eye lashes looked and how my lips were too big.  I wish I still had that cut out because I now remember it as beautiful.  This silhouette above is not my own just one that I found online to remind you all of what I am talking about.
I do agree on using acid free pens, tape etc. Now that everything is framed, matted, and signed I must put a price tag on it.  I am at the place in my life where I am selling my photos and tapping into my desire and confidence to dare myself to do something that I love doing so much.12x18 photo double matted to an 18x24 frame

Peacock in Full Bloom

12×18 photo double matted to an 18×24 frame

$222 sold but can pre-order Please allow 1 week for printing and framing + shipping time

This photo has sold but you can pre-order it through paypal.  Please note that this does not include the price of shipping it will depend on where you live and I will notify you as soon as I find out the cost of shipping.

Baby Bison on The Prairie

12×18 photo double matted to an 18×24 frame

$175



You can currently purchase them at the bookstore at the Florida School of Massage or  it can be purchased directly through pay pal I really love taking photos and sharing them and I am excited that I can now share them in a printed form. Please note that this buy now price does not reflect the price of shipping. Shipping will vary depending upon where you live.

Some of my smaller prints can be purchased on etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/marcelamartinez?ga_search_query=marcela+martinez&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

Are you making a living doing what you love doing the most? If so what are you doing and what do you love about what you are doing? What was the easiest thing about following your dreams? What has been the most challenging? How have you overcome or are you overcoming these challenges? Please share any of this info along with a link to your website and or blog.

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May 15, 2011 | Categories: Nature, selling artwork | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Prince Leo & The Green Grass Snake

I came home from work the weather was perfect and has been perfect all day.  There is no need for people to use the AC when the weather is perfect, well my version of perfect.  Today I am really enjoying the breeze, the sun, and the fresh air.  As I am walking into my house I realize that I am about to step on a snake.  I intentionally step wider and I fortunately manage to step over the snake.  It is no big deal, this has happened to me many times before but it has never happened when my cat was around.  Prince Leo happened to see the 2 foot long grass snake slither off next to my van.

Kitty snake snack

I kept wishing that the snake would move faster but he was not yet in his grassy terrain.  My cat scoops him up into his mouth and runs off with the snake like he has just won the lottery.   Do I try to stop this from happening or do I take pictures?  I grab my camera and as I am taking pics I am intrigued and disgusted with what his happening to the snake and to me but my cat is having a great time.  Should I be taking pics of this?  Do I try to stop nature or just simply witness it with my camera.  It sounds so funny to say “stop nature” as if it is even possible.  I wonder how it feels to be on an african safari watching the lions feed on the gazelles and the baby elephants.  The other day I was at Paynes Praire and saw an alligator with a turtle in its mouth and just as Read the rest of this page »

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February 28, 2011 | Categories: cats, Nature, snakes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments »

Sunrise, Sandhill Cranes, Harriers, memories of Asheville, NC

I woke up around 6:40 am and I arrived at The Florida School of Massage during the nautical twilight and by the time that I left the building with camera in hand the sky had already shifted into the civil twilight.  Within a period of 2 minutes the sky shifted from black to blue. I stayed up last night and discovered all of these different terms for twilight, before reading about these terms it was just night or day for me.  I drove .5 miles from FSM to the outlook at the prairie ready to film my first sunrise at Paynes Prairie with a tripod, and the intention of leaving the camera in place to capture the whole event.  Its cold around 40 degrees but I actually felt warm with excitement.  It was looking pretty cloudy.  I began thinking how out of touch that I have gotten with nature.  Now where exactly is the sun going to come out?  I knew which side of the road just not precisely enough for a close up.  I was pretty close but was I close enough that I could have the camera already set in a close up position to capture the beautiful event with out having to move the camera over a few centimeters?   I set up the camera where I thought the sun would be popping up.  I turn on my SLR camera to capture some still shots while the video camera is filming the horizon.  I see a bunny hopping through the brush.  I met a guy who was doing almost exactly the same thing that I was doing, video camera on tripod and SLR for still shots.  He pointed out a bird called a Harrier that I was able to get a few pics of. The cry of an eagle was far off on the top of a light post.  The sun rises behind thick clouds.  I stay and take pictures of the harrier then a few sand hill cranes.  Then the cranes keep coming and coming and coming.  I am getting hungry.  I reflect on a day years ago playing a show in Asheville where there was delicious food for all of the bands and people at this festival and I remember all of the people coming from different directions to get some delicious food.  I pretend that the sandhill cranes are like us waking up from different parts of the prairie and excitedly flying to a shared communial location.  I fantasize about how they are meeting up to greet the morning and eat together.  I am getting hungry,  I dont remember the food that I ate at that festival but I remember the sense of community and feeling like I was really living my lifes purpose, a little rough around the edges but going for my dreams and having a good time doing it.  That was the year that I broke my toe minutes before we were supposed to go onstage and play.  Yes I droped the 50 pound amp that I later named the bone crusher on my left foot.   Read the rest of this page »

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February 7, 2011 | Categories: birds, florida photography, la chua, la chua trail, marcela martinez, Nature, paynes prairie, sandhill, sandhill cranes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

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