Great photography

Today I went to a lecture given by the BYU photographer Mark Philbrick. Not only did he give us some great pointers for taking better pictures as amateurs, but he also shared a slide show of some of his amazing photography. Here are a few of his shots that are available to post on the internet.













Here is the link to the website where you can see many of Mark's slide shows over the years. If you love photography or if you just want to look around campus through his eyes, the slide shows are well worth your time to watch (especially the MWC win slide show.)
He gave some tips for taking a good picture:
1. Control your background then tell your story with a picture
2. Move out of our comfort zone, try new settings
3. Lighting is everything. Wait patiently for the right light.
4. Experiment with horizontal and vertical pictures. Each work well for different settings.
5. Try and get your own inspiration and style. Don't copy someone else. Learn from them but get your own style.
6. Wait for the shot, sometimes up to a hour. Move around the location and look at the subject from all different angles.
7. Train yourself to see ordinary things differently. In action shots, follow the sequence of the action.
8. Look for one element in each picture that "pops" either a person, place or thing.

I LOVE and value good photography and Mark is one of the best. Of course he has great subject matter to work with. Wow, what a job (if you could even call it that.) If you haven't seen it before or if you haven't watched it recently, check out this wonderful Christmas video make up of Mark's photographs for a collaborative project with several talented individuals in the area.

Media and the Family

Last week our shop hosted the second annual conference of scholars doing research on the impact of media on the family. Needless to say, this was of great interest to me and I loved hearing what they had to say for two days. My assistant Brad and I picked everyone up from the airport and brought them to campus for the conference. We were able to join in and listen to their presentations, eat meals with them and attend the activities as we organized and ran the conference. It's always interesting to see what visitors have to say about Utah, BYU, and the LDS church. Hopefully we're making some friends for all three.


One of the rising stars in this whole arena is a young professor named S. Coyne. She is doing important research in areas of great importance, since media impacts all of us. She is centering her research on media impacting the family and it is very interesting. I asked her to come to our home and speak to a woman's group I'm involved in last month. She gave such great practical advice for the group and for everyone who is concerned about the huge impact that media is having on our lives. She quickly went over all the ways the media has changed our lives in the last 30 years. As you know, it's been dramatic and invasive in some ways. Just think about the way the smart cell phone, texting, taking pictures and video with the cell phone, emails, Internet use, computers, digital photography, online shopping, TV, cable TV, movies, books, Kindle, video gaming, pornography, Facebook, magazines, etc. etc. etc. having impacted our lives.
She gave some great practical suggestions for families that I wanted to share. Here we go:
1. We can't escape it unless we live in a cave. It's here to stay and we need to learn now to use at least some of the advances that are available. It is changing so fast and we need to stay up to date of as much as we can, especially if we have children who are using media. We must stay informed and involved in their lives and choices in this area. If not it can consume them and it may be very hard to reclaim them from the addictions that can occur.
2. Have someone (probably a child or grandchild) teach you how to use your cell phone, learn to text, get a Facebook page, play a video game or sports Wii and use your TV. Don't be afraid to ask them. This is a good way to let them share what they know and teach you how to use it. Join with them in the use of media. Don't shy away. Play games with them. Get involved, not only to see what they are doing, but to join in the wonderful advances that are taking place. If you can't beat em, join em.
3. Monitor. You MUST monitor media usage. You can't just walk away and not know what they are doing, how long they are doing it, when they are doing it and with whom they are communicating and absorbing media. Again - knowledge is power. Set reasonable limits with time spent watching & content. Talk about content. If you hear or see something offensive to you, say so. Talk about it. Turn it off, but say why you are turning it off. This is a time to instill values. They NEED you to instill values as a parent and grandparent. Take charge and let your children and grandchildren know what your standards are in your home. You MUST set the stage. No one else can do this but you, the parent or grandparent.

Here is some more to read if interested. Talk with your kids today about media in their lives and how it affects them both positively and negatively!

• Guilty parents rejoice: study finds some active video games count as legitimate exercise - see here.
• Video games are good for girls – if parents play along - see here.
• Film and TV aggression rubs off on viewers, BYU study shows -see here.
• Meaner than fiction: Reality TV high on aggression, study shows - see here.

6th annual SCERA gala

We had another wonderful evening raising money for the endowment at SCERA again this year.
This article from the local paper summed it up very well.

"The recent article regarding SCERA's gala was the perfect place to recognize such a "class act." Attending for the first time, we were again amazed at what the SCERA staff and volunteers did to present such a delightful, thoughtful, beautiful evening.

The community sponsors and their generous donations made me grateful to live among such good people. Though SCERA honored amazing recipients that night, we should all surely applaud the dedicated, talented and gracious staff at the SCERA. They truly are a class act."

The writer of that letter to the editor is right! The staff at SCERA is amazing! They work so hard to provide wonderful entertainment in our community. Here is a link to the article in the paper listing those who was honored this year.

It's always such a fun night to get all gussied up, walk the read carpet and contribute to such a good cause. I've enjoyed serving there over the last seven years.

Waaa Waaa Waaa

Sometimes it's really hard to be a BYU sports fan. I should know, I've been at it since 1973. Now, don't get me wrong, my version of being a BYU sports fan isn't the same version as my husband. I don't claim to love BYU sports at the same depth and breadth as he does. Few people do. But I do love BYU sports within my own parameters. I'll admit that I'm a fair weather sports fan. I'm also a woman who loves other things more than BYU sports. It isn't my life. What's the fun in watching or going to the games if the teams aren't any good? There is no point. So, my level of love and devotion has ebbed and flowed over the years. There, I said it (mostly for you Andy.)
I can agonize right up there with the best of them when the Cougars aren't playing well. I can cry when the outcome of the game goes against the boys in white & blue. I can cheer with a lot of passion and I can walk away if I'm not that into it. It's my prerogative, right?
It's been so much fun to follow the BYU basketball team this season. We've had season tickets again this year and we've gone to watch just about every game either live or on TV. It's been very entertaining to watch the five starters work together to accomplish some amazing feats. Jimmer, Noah, Brandon, Jackson and Charles and the rest. They have worked together as a team and it's been awe inspiring at times to watch them play.
Not only does being a BYU sports fan mean that you have all the traditional worries (like injuries, recruiting, coaching and such) but you have a set of worries that virtually no other sports team in the nation has. You have to worry about your team upholding virtue and honor. You know that being honorable will be enforced. You have to hope that the players will uphold their part of the agreement when they signed the honor code and put on the jersey to represent the school, the LDS church and themselves. You have to worry that the coaches will be able to recruit enough quality players who will agree to abide by the standards. Those who don't want to or can't, go elsewhere. In a world of growing promiscuity, this is a gargantuan assignment. But it happens and it is really quite a miracle that so many young men and women espouse such a belief and the vast majority of them actually uphold it. Of course there are other great college age students who attend universities all across the nation, and other great LDS kids who don't go to BYU. But BYU works really hard to hold it's students to a standard that is truly unique.
The BYU Cougars were at the pinnacle of success on Monday morning after beating SDSU and being ranked number 3 in the nation, and they were in the deepest despair by Wednesday night after getting annihilated by UNM. What happened in such a short time that would bring them to their knees?
A little document called "the Honor Code."
BYU as an institution believes in being honorable. It's a basic tenet of our faith. as stated in the 13th article of faith. The imperfect people who work and study there don't always get it right, but it is the goal. The list of requirements in the honor code vary in significance and importance. I suspect that the very most important part of the code was violated - that of using the procreative powers the way that God intended. The honor code requires that there be no sex outside of the bonds of marriage.
Someone on the team wasn't honorable. The specifics don't really matter, other than to say that whatever "it" was that wasn't honorable must have been fairly significant. It was determined that that someone could no longer represent what BYU stands for. Simple as that. His choice brought about the consequence that he wouldn't be able to play for the rest of the season and represent the university. The team had to play UNM a few hours after the announcment. The boys in white & blue were still reeling from this change in events and they acted like they had had the wind knocked out of them. They did have the wind knocked out of them.
But upholding what an institution and a religion stand for is more important than winning a game, or a championship, or a good seed at the NCAA tournament, right?
Right.
TRADITION. SPIRIT. HONOR.
These words are in bold letters on the BYU campus.
I guess they really mean something.

The annual southern swing

What better escape is there during a Utah winter than to head to a warmer climate to visit family? I was able to use my first freeeeeeeeee round trip ticket on Southwest to visit our two daughters and their families, our son and his wife, my mom and her husband, my brother and his wife and my niece. I was gone for eight days and spent a good amount of time tending our little grand girlies. It was a great break from work and cold weather and I wished my husband could have gone. Too bad his job isn't as flexible as mine.