Admit it. Your life is moving faster than you thought possible. I’ve had my iPhone almost 2 years, and I am an addict. That device has become my business and personal lifeline with not only phone but email, calendar, contacts, personal Facebook, business Facebook, business credit card machine (Square), full web browsing, website and blog management, Twitter, Pinterest, and Words with Friends (yes, it is important too). It’s wonderful! And it’s horrible. I’m available 24/7 and everyone knows it. What’s my point? STRESS! We all have it. So, what are you going to do about it? If you don’t have a hobby that doesn’t involve your iPhone, then get one. Put it down and do something else. I am an artist who has dabbled in a lot of different mediums.  My current obsession and stress reliever is macro photography. You should try it. Most point and shoot cameras have a macro setting, and if you own a DSLR, try renting or borrowing a macro lens to see what you think. I acquired my macro lens from Heather Manor of Girl Hearts Camera. This purchase was pure impulse as I was browsing Craig’s List, and it is my best impulse buy to date. Macro photography forces you to be still and quiet and breathe deeply. Most literature about macro photography will tell you to always use a tripod to keep the camera as still as possible. You could go for a hipod if needed. This is true! However, I like to go outside and stalk bugs and birds and other nature right in my back yard. Sometimes, nature is very close to the ground, and a tripod is more trouble than it’s worth. Really, I’m just lazy about getting the tripod out, and I don’t mind lying on the ground…or using my knees as a substitute. I have found that pushing the shutter button as I’m exhaling will also help with hand shaking. I watched the Olympic archers and Katniss on the Hunger Games movie exhale before releasing an arrow, so it must be sound logic. Being still and quiet, breathing deep, focusing on releasing your breath smoothly…gee, that sounds like stress therapy! I have always used art as a stress reliever, but I have discovered that Here is my macro therapy from this morning. The hummingbirds were very active, and I was determined to get some photos. You can see how suspicious he is of me sitting so close to the feeder. He never took his eye away from me, and he came up to check on me between sips.

My husband took this picture of me with his phone while I was being still and quiet trying to capture the hummingbirds on camera. He said I looked like a statue. I don’t think the birds were fooled.