Birthday Girl

Today is my birthday. I took these self-portraits a few days ago, and they seemed the most fitting thing to share with you. This is me, late at night, with no makeup and a ratty old shirt that I love. Me, just as I am. I didn't add any of the flare you see or alter these in anyway.

I woke up early this morning when my husband left and laid in bed for a while, thinking about all the things I experienced in the past year - all the trips I've taken, the great pictures I've shot, the small victories I've achieved. I dreaded last year's birthday and it was a very unspecial day, so I decided this year would be different. There are no parties anymore, no cake with candles, but there is so much to celebrate. It's ok to do it quietly. Instead of thinking, "I'm one year older," I have vowed to think, "I made it one more year and for that I am grateful."

I used a macro lens to take these, which made this quite an imprecise art. I love some of the things it captured, though. The above is my favorite, I think. It's jut my neck and my chin, but something in it seems special. I suppose it's because I would never intentionally frame a shot that way, indeed I think I've never looked at that part of myself quite that way. That's the thing about photography, macro in particular - you can see things through the lens that you couldn't see with your naked eye. And sometimes, the lens sees more than you could even imagine. Sometimes what it captures is a beautiful surprise.

Sometimes it shows you another truth, just like deciding to think a different way is yet another truth.