Peyton Lea

Foto Friday!

Peyton Lea — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:40:53 +0000

Though I do plan on mixing it up with Foto Fridays, I am going to add another Iceland photo. So many people have come up to me and asked why I wanted to go to Iceland of all places. Before I went, I didn’t have much to say besides, “I’ve heard it’s beautiful.” Now that I’ve been I get to say, “It’s beautiful.” Major difference. Anyway so in an effort to convince folks that they should go to that wonderful country at some point in their lives, I’m going with another Iceland shot for the January 20 version of Foto Friday. I hope you enjoy!

This is Skógafoss, a waterfall in southern Iceland. The photo is also meant to capture the joy it brings those who stand at its base and get hit in the chest with the powerful sound. In this case a couple takes each other’s pictures near the base of the fall. This also helps give the scene some scale (it was HUGE!)

A Sign of Things to Come..

Peyton Lea — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:53:05 +0000

Foto Fridays!

Peyton Lea — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:35:05 +0000

I’m instituting a new blog feature. Every Friday I’m going to post a photo of mine, with a little text about it. Some old school photos, some new school, some that didn’t go to any school. According to the stats provided by wordpress, no one really looks at this blog anyway, so I might as well use it to entertain myself.

Foto Fridays. Boom.

And the First Foto Friday foto is………….

Vatnajokull Glacier in Iceland! My buddy Rosser and I took an 11-day trip around Iceland this summer and while driving our tiny Yaris rental, stopped for a moment to see this beautiful landscape. The fog rolled in right when we got there to create a nice dramatic mountain/glacier shot. Enjoy!

Late night musings

Peyton Lea — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:11:22 +0000

I suppose I could point out the irony of me watching a video of a song called “Narcolepsy” at 3am as I am basically being an insomniac, but maybe I’ll just share the video. North Carolina’s very own, Ben Folds.

The Early November = BACK TOGETHER!

Peyton Lea — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:54:33 +0000

One of my favorite bands of all time, The Early November, are reuniting after years apart, and I couldn’t be happier.

Iceland

Peyton Lea — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 02:29:25 +0000

Untitled, originally uploaded by Peyton Lea.

December 15

Peyton Lea — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:35:13 +0000

The darkness of this day
juxtaposes all the good that comes in May.
It was a hug from a father
twelve years ago
that made impossibilities
clash with reality.
A feeling which would
pour from my eyeballs in the subsequent years.

The bus that morning was late.
The faces I saw were forlorn
they didn’t want to tell me.
The air tasted bad.
I stared at S.E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders”
I was told to read and wait.
they didn’t want to tell me.

Eventually my dad rushed in
like water breaking through a dam
and hugged me and wept
and I knew.
I felt his tweed coat
I felt his grip
and I knew.

My mom at the hospital was inconsolable.
She was so relieved to see me
to see the eleven year old me.
It had sunk in for her much quicker the tragedy that was.
That still is.
My brother was removed from this earth
at an age when life is just beginning.
He was developing into a man.

It still hurts as sharply when I imagine who he’d be today.
My stomach and heart still switch places.

But surrounded, perhaps not always physically,
by those who knew him
who loved him
helps make this day swallowable.

It’s with tears, as it was twelve years ago,
but it’s also with love
that we keep pushing forward.

poem, fall.

Peyton Lea — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:31:08 +0000

What if fall lasted forever?
If my feet kept carrying me
through sixty-five degree days,
where the sun stays low in the sky
illuminating the world yellow,
crushing acorn tops and
colored leaves that finally gave up and let go.
What if that smell of
the earth changing states
resided indefinitely in my nostrils?
Pumpkin spiced candles to accent.
Cinnamon and apple.
Cider made of the same; beer, too.
What if I was moved to run
with my arms widespread
on a leaf-covered street… always?
Still with enough leaves suspended
in the air, applauding as I go.
Would it still hold the same magic?
Would I still want it to last forever?
Or is this, like most things in life,
and perhaps life itself,
so sweet because it doesn’t last?
Because the leaves do fall,
and we start over.

Strange, but great somehow.

Peyton Lea — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 22:37:44 +0000

Carolina, I Love You

Peyton Lea — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 03:49:32 +0000

Here is a short film I shot last summer. To be quite honest, I really wanted to test my new Sony NX5U and happened to have an old script I had never gotten around to filming. So with help from Luke Gunn and Kat Nardizzi, I had actors. With help from Steve Exum and Luke Lemanski, I had a crew. And with help from Palmer Dillion and Rosser Douglas, I had locations (116 Oak in Elon and the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville).

Honestly, the film is meant to be a simple, thought-provoking story about love. I think I wrote it on one of those rainy, “what does it all mean?” type of nights. I don’t know. But with influences from past relationships, the story proves to be pretty personal. It was fun to make, and the camera test was successful. The Sony did give me a stuttery film look, but I do think it lacks that true film-like shallow depth-of-field. Anyway, hope you like it…