Leadership and the Sophomore Slump

Elle September 12, 2015

I've hit the infamous sophomore slump with this project, although it's not for a lack of creative desire - I've managed to keep up on the photographic front and even squeezed in a few adventures. The photographs I've taken seem to continue to improve in quality, composition, and drama; I've just found it difficult to write when all of my thoughts have been mundane. The old adage "when it rains, it pours" applies to my situation, with multiple unexpected demands cropping up at work and overlaying on top of each other. Unlike previous assignments for which I was voluntold and just didn't know how to say no, these latest management tribulations fall squarely under my responsibility. I'm not one to shirk from duty, so I've patiently (to the tune of the last 9 months) managed situations, put out fires, and demonstrated the so-called je ne sais quoi of being a strong leader. And I will say, the last 9 months have been more mentally and emotionally exhausting than just about anything else I've undertaken.

Like anything else, I'm sure it will get better and I'll look back onto this period as a proving ground for my capabilities as a leader. In the meantime though, it just feels like another frivolous first world problem when compared against some of the tragedies occurring around the world. And yet, I'm so entrenched and exhausted by the day to day, I haven't had capacity to consider anything outside of my bubble.

I love travel and adventure and I don't blame my peers who quit their corporate jobs on a whim to pseudo-glamorously backpack around the world without a plan to "find themselves," but it's always been a little tongue-in-cheek for me when their posts to social media meticulously catalogue their journeys of escape and wanderlust at iconic places around the world, but their return to reality is silent. They went on an epic journey to build character and life skill, but they don't seem any different once they return. I may not have visited all 7 Wonders of the World in the last 3 months or quoted Tolkien to rationalize a lack of direction, but I have put my nose to the grindstone and managed unsavory situations that no one wants to deal with - the battle scars of leadership. Through that, I know I have the discipline, good judgment, and sheer grit to make it through any sort of hell. Not to mention, an intact savings account.

I did manage to take some vacation amidst the chaos to travel for a wedding and spent a few more days in Maryland and Washington, DC to draw inspiration from other great leaders in history.

Active Shooting Hours: 16 Review Hours: 4 Hours To Date: 271

The Island of the Pelicans

Elle March 27, 2014

Innocent sounding enough, but Native Americans avoided it, believing it to be cursed. Early Spanish explorers initially called it La Isla de los Alcatraces, after the flocks of migratory birds that nest there; it would later be known simply as Alcatraz. First a lighthouse, then a military garrison and prison, and finally, and most infamously, a federal prison housing only the most troublesome inmates who had a penchant for escape elsewhere.

Even during one of the most beautiful days I've ever experienced in San Francisco and amidst the throngs of tourists, there's something unsettling and eerie about the place. Beyond the rumors of it being haunted, it's bleak and cold. The natural light that streamed into the cell block created harsh contrasts and the incandescent lighting inside the cells themselves cast a sickly yellow tinge upon everything and everyone inside them. It was a stark contrast to the glorious weather outside.

Perhaps the highlight of the trip was meeting an actual former prisoner, Bill Baker. He has written a book about his experience and happened to be on-island during our visit. We were fortunate enough to get signed copies and ask some questions... of course the boyfriend being far more thoughtful than I, asked the better question: What would you have mailed yourself, if you could have? He responded hilariously that he would have mailed himself either a pretty woman or a speedboat to get off the island. It's amazing to me that he was able to maintain good spirits and humor despite all of that time locked up in a bleak environment not optimized to actually rehabilitate anyone.

Freedom and captivity

Welcome to Alcatraz

Cell blocks

A key hanging from the gun gallery

On any other island, it would just be a glorious day. On Alcatraz, it further underscores the dilapidation.

So close, yet so far.

Active Shooting Hours: 4
Review Hours: 2
Hours to Date: 132

Halls of Science

Elle March 19, 2014

72 Nobel prizes, 15 Turing Awards, discovery of 16 elements on the periodic table (more than any other university in the world... Go Bears!), University of California, Berkeley and Berkeley Labs are collectively a heavy hitter when it comes to scientific discovery, research, and contribution. And then, of course, there's the California Academy of Science... natural history museum by day, club and bar for the scientifically-minded on Thursday nights with its Nightlife events. Aside from the nostalgia of revisiting old stomping grounds, I wanted to to capture the exploratory, innovative, and erudite spirit of these places in an image.

This was a tough endeavor since the lighting in both places were harsh. At Berkeley, it was early afternoon with the sun bearing down and buildings created shadow, which resulted in unwanted shadows. At the Academy of Science, there was harsh overhead lighting in the rainforest exhibit and no flash photography allowed anywhere. Not to mention people everywhere in both places... and not helpful crowds blending in the background to add to the scene, but random individuals wearing obnoxiously bright and distracting floral patterns that distracted the eye.

Not as successful as I would have liked, but I still managed to have a great time... of course, the drinks at Nightlife helped with that!!

Looking from North side back towards the Campinile... otherwise known as how engineers see campus.

The lighting of this photo is all off since the background is in bright sunlight and the foreground has the bear statues in the shadow of the building to the right. Opening the aperture or slowing shutter speed resulted in blown out sky and bears that were in shadow. I'm not sure this could have been corrected with just the camera given the natural light and short of waiting for the sun to be in the right spot at the right time. Even with a neutral density filter that would tint the sky and not the ground, the vertical lamppost and the Campanile itself would be exposed incorrectly since they both would cross the neutral density filter line. Tricky.