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San Francisco, CA, March 2007

As we've seen with this week's Thematic Photographic journey, happiness can take on many forms. (Not sure what I'm talking about? Click here. I'll wait.) For me, happiness is knowing that I've had a good, productive day of churning and sharing ideas with really smart people, then turning those exchanges into something tangible and cool, like an article or an interview. It's an absolute gas, but often by the end of the day, I feel like I could sleep for a week.

So happiness could mean kicking back with the remote and resting the body and mind for a little bit. We don't always have to be "on", after all.

Your turn: Right? Wrong?

About last week's traffic-themed long exposure: I love these kinds of shots not only because the results are so weird-looking, but because of the process I get to follow in shooting them. There's a certain personal sense of peacefulness - a photographer's zen, if you will - that I get when it's just me, my tripod-mounted camera and a remote control in my hand. It's one of the few moments during any given day when I can completely control every element and ignore everything else. Not that I deliberately want to ignore folks, of course, but there's something to be said for unplugging for a bit every once in a while. I'll stop rambling now. Your turn...

This week, honorable menschens go to the following good folks:

• Heidi: "Moving at the Speed of LIFE."
• Awareness: "Life in the fast lane..."
• Barb: "The River of Time."
• Em: "Going nowhere fast."
• Christy: "While I stand still..."
• Craziequeen: "So, sir, did you get the registration plate?"
• Bradley: "TRON."
• Sarah: "Don't blink."
• Salubrina: "Bended light."

But because there can be only one winner, PastorMac's Ann tops all with "Life went by me like a blur." Made me kinda sad, but it touched on what I felt as the cars whizzed by in the darkness. We need to pause more often, I think. Her blog, It's Always a Production, is a delightfully real peek into the very real, very full life of her family. Highly recommended. Have fun with this week's photo. And no jokes about my feet, k?

One more thing: I've noticed a few comments in recent weeks from visitors who've said they didn't post their own photos because they weren't "perfect" enough. This photo, a quick snap with barely-adequate lighting and composition, is far from perfect, and I'm sharing it here for a reason. Specifically, not every photo needs to be ideal. As long as it sends a message, or touches the eye and the brain in some way, then it's worth sharing. I think we need to get a little more comfortable sharing the merely adequate snaps as well, since photography is more about participation than perfection. I hope this encourages more people to post whatever they've got.