I enjoy working with my photos to create a photomontage — practicing skills on the computer helps keep them fresh in my brain. Though I’m not a photographer, I enjoy taking photos, and some of them come to mind as inspiration when I start a composition. Going back through photo albums on the computer refreshes some great memories of places I’ve been and what I’ve seen there. For my Mime collage, I photographed her in Amsterdam, the background is from inside Blarney castle (yes, I kissed the stone there), the ram’s head sculpture was on a wall at a castle in Ireland. The little girl was a recent addition from a wedding I attended, with a butterfly wing photographed on a visit to the Strong’s butterfly garden. I was getting stuck (and frustrated) on a few techniques with the computer program but worked out the kinks.

Getting outside with the camera makes a great opportunity not only to get some interesting shots but to look at things in a different way, get some exercise and fresh air. The other day I tried to photograph a spider – but was having a hard time getting a good focus on the tiny thing on its web as it was suspended in midair. Reminds me sometimes we’re so busy looking at the “big picture” that we forget to notice the little things in life. Sometimes we are so distracted that we lose the now, the moment we’re in right now. Go out and breathe it all in, right down to the littlest spider, or a child laughing. You might be surprised how it can uplift your spirit.