Dreamscapes – Expressing my Creativity through Photography

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Sheryl Checkman

Riverscape

I received a new Olympus OM-D EM5 Mark II mirrorless camera for my birthday this year. Up until now, I’ve been using a Canon G11, higher end point and shoot camera. I liked that camera but felt limited creatively. My new Olympus however, is allowing me to tap into my creativity, while I am learning to use it! I am hoping to grow, not only as an artist and designer, but as a photographer as well.

I’ve started a series of photographs that are impressionistic in nature. I am calling this series my dreamscapes, because they are landscape photos with a very dream-like, painterly look. For the most part I am making these photos within the camera, only relying on the computer to enhance colors more to my liking and mood. The photo above, Riverscape, was taken looking at the East River in NYC from Carl Shurz Park on the Upper East Side. The photos below, Park Bench Dream and Park View were also taken from Carl Shurz Park, but the vantage points and subject matter produce much different photos.

This series is all about looking at things differently in order to create a unique work of art. The photos below are available for purchase at my Etsy Shop. You can click on each to go right to the listing. I welcome your thoughts and comments!

Park Bench Dream

Park View

Challenges in Yoga mirror challenges in life

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Sheryl Checkman

Firefly pose side view

Yoga is a never-ending practice of self-exploration. Each practice is different. What I can do one day, I may not be able to to the next. On the other hand, what was once difficult can also become obtainable. The same is true in life. My yoga practice allows me to check-in with my body and mind for 75-90 minutes and explore the possibilities and boundaries for the day. Being a somewhat “type-A” personality, I like to challenge myself, working on guiding my body into new, often difficult poses – preferably without hurting myself. The key here is to listen to my body’s signals, and know when to stop. I may not be ready to get there today, but maybe next time.

Headstand is one of those yoga poses that I thought I would never be able to do. It just looked too scary to me to even try. But I did try it and thanks to my wonderful yoga instructor Suzanne and the intention that I set for myself to overcome my fears, I now can do it with very little effort, and no fear. I don’t even need the wall (most of the time!).

Next, I challenged myself to learn Firefly, or Tittibhasana, as it is known in sanskrit. This is an arm balance pose that requires a lot of core strength. My instructor told me how to start out using blocks to get into the pose at first I then looked at some pictures and videos online showing the full pose and little by little I have been able to accomplish it. No longer using the blocks, I can now hold the pose longer and get my legs out straighter at each new attempt. If I fall out of the pose, I just try again. No judgement. I found this video online that gives a good explanation of the pose. Next up: Side Crow!

Firefly pose front view

What I have learned through challenging myself in yoga is that whether or not I am able to do the full pose is irrelevant, it is that I keep trying, accepting each days’ accomplishments for what they are, without judging myself. I may never achieve the full pose, and that’s ok. It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Now the biggest challenge is to take this into my life off the mat.

What challenges are you working on?

I could have swam with Diana Nyad!

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Sheryl Checkman

Diana Nyad swims 48 hours in Herald Square

How many times do you find yourself saying, “If only…”? For me the latest version came when I walked over to Herald Square a couple of week nights ago and saw Diana Nyad at about the 12 hour mark of her 48 hour swim to benefit the New York victims of Hurricane Sandy. Being a swimmer myself, I thought how cool it would be to swim beside her for a few laps. I walked over to one of the security guards and asked how one would get to join her in the pool. Alas, I would have had to sign up weeks ago! If only I had found out about this opportunity to swim beside Diana Nyad in time to sign up, I would have had an experience of a lifetime! But, just standing along the edge of the pool, so close to the water that I could have touched it was still an amazing experience!

Diana Nyad is an inspiration! After 30 years she finally realized her life-long dream to swim 103 miles from Cuba to Key West this past September. Her failed attempts over the years never caused her to give up that dream. While the thought of all those hours in the water makes my skin prune, I admire her determination and I applaud her success. It just makes me want to keep on striving to achieve my dreams. After all, anything is possible if you keep going after it!