Do I Like It or Do I Not? I'm Still Not Sure

Untitled

Texture and light and abstract.  All things that I really enjoy when photographing.  I've been going back and forth on this one for quite some time.  I want to share it and then decide against it.  I like it, but find it a little distracting.  While quickly scrolling through my images that are in my "holding area", I was drawn to this one again.  And, well, that was it.  Tonight was the night I was going to quit talking myself out of sharing it and going with my initial gut instinct.  So, here it is.  Not sure what you all will think.  Is it art, is it not?  I don't really now, and honestly that is for each of you to decide.  For me, there is something about all that texture and the playful light, it just keeps pulling me in.  I'm not going to tell you what it is, at least not yet - can you tell me what it is?

I was also wondering something.  Is there anyone out there that is interested in learning some tips on taking better photos?  Not that I'm an expert by any means, but just some tips.  Let me know if you are.  I'm thinking about setting up some easy ideas to improve your photography.  Nothing technical, just very simple things.  And, I have also been asked to share how to use an SLR camera and am putting that together too.  So, if you are interested in something like that, please let me know.

All art requires courage.  ~ Anne Tucker

Got a Little Rambly Tonight

Hilt

How can it only be Tuesday evening?  I feel like I've already packed a months worth of activities in the past 3 or 4 days.  And yet, I'm still standing, so I guess I should be thankful/proud of that.  You know me, always looking for the positive spin on things.  Can't help it, ever the optimist . . .

So, here is another from the good old black and white film.  Just love it.  As good as digital gets, deep deep down inside (and for my family members this is not referring to deep dark trouble) my heart will forever love black and white film.  Nothing you haven't heard before.

Now as for deep dark trouble, well it's kind of a family legend - along with things like Turkey Lip and Knot head.  You know, those phrases that make sense to no other sane person but have great and wonderful meaning to each of my crazy family.  Should I explain further?  You tell me . . .

Okay, so I'm not sure how this quote fits in tonight, other than I just plain enjoyed reading it.  So, here ya go:

For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Greenest I've Ever Seen

All About the Green

At the beginning of March, my son's school had an activity - lots of fun things for the kids, baskets to raffle off, music and of course food. It's all fun and raises lots of money for the school. Sure beats having to sell items to friends and family. This year they brought in a lot of new food options. And one of those options was called the Happy Hippie Hot Dogs - or something along those lines. I did not choose to eat there, but a friend did. She informed me that the Hippie was not that happy. We just could not get over how green that relish was! I did not enhance that green in processing at all - this is really how bright it was. I didn't notice her getting any sillier as the night went on, so all must have been good with the very green relish!


And, well you know me, I just had to photograph the dog. She put it down on the table and said are you really gonna photograph that? Silly question . . .

If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done. ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein

 
So go be silly today!

Shapes Again - One of my Favorite Things to Look At

Circle after Circle after Circle

Contemplation often makes life miserable.  We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live.  ~ Chamfort

Tonight is a bit of a revisit.  The photo tonight was taken a few years back.  And, at the moment one that I didn't really look at more than once.  As I was trying to decide which photo to share, I kept coming back to this one.  Something about the shapes that draws me in.  I mean, okay there are circles - that's fine and dandy.  But within and without those circles, there is much going on.  The lighting and the shadows.  Lots of interesting shapes to see.  Not sure if you would have any idea what this item is.  Not sure if you need to know.  Or is just fun to see the individual pieces and enjoy the shapes that they create?

The Best Medicine

Easy as 1-2-3

Reclaiming the belly laugh can cure a world of woes.  ~ Jamie Sams

My son has this friend in our neighborhood.  He's an interesting kid.  Two years younger and the same height as my son, with probably a good 50 pounds over my son.  He's pretty quiet.  Will speak to you when you speak to him and seems to get our rather strange sense of humor - or at least doesn't act like he wants to run from the house screaming.  He is, however, deathly afraid of bees.  You can probably hear him screaming bloody murder whenever a bee comes anywhere near them when they go swimming in the pool.  And, do you want to know what my favorite thing about this boy is?  He has the absolute best belly laugh.  My hubby and I will be in a completely different room and you can hear him laughing.  And, honestly, neither one of us can keep a straight face.  It's impossible.  We both bust out laughing whenever we hear that laugh of his.  It really is the best medicine!

Give Me Your Thoughts on This One Please

10 Upside Down

Sorry I missed you all last night.  I should have mentioned in my last posting that I was not going to make it Monday night.  We had tickets to go see one of my favorite bands - Linkin Park.  It turned out to be a really late night.  As soon as we got home, my head hit that pillow and I was out until the sun was well in the sky this morning.  It was a great concert and a fun evening. 

Did you miss me and my quote for the night?  I've got a great one for you tonight.  It's all about perspective . . . or is it about opportunity . . . or, well you tell me what does this quote say to you?

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.  ~ Richard Bach

Please Don't Hate Me, But . . .

Spray Part 2

. . . I'm sharing one more water photo.  I just couldn't resist.  Even though I told you all last night that I was ending the water series.  Really, I wasn't lying, I just could not get this idea out of my head all day long.  I kept thinking about the image that I shared last night - Spray.  I kept imagining doing a little bit of extra work on it - mostly in the area of cropping.  And so, tonight I present to you, Spray Part 2.  Hope you don't mind.  And now my mind can go back to all it's usual silly little thoughts and put to rest presenting this image a little differently.

The sincere friends of this world are as ship lights in the stormiest of nights. ~ Giotto di Bondone

A good friend gently pointed out to me that I did not include a quote last night.  So, tonight I will give you two (thanks Lynn for always giving me such encouragement!).

Most people see what they want to, or at least what they expect to.  ~ Martha Grimes

Tonight, I leave you with these two thoughts.  May we all be sincere friends.  And may we learn to see the world in new and wonderful ways.

Thanks to each of you for all of your support and interest in visiting my sight here.  I have really had an enjoyable time sharing my images and my thoughts with you.  But, even more, love to hear your thoughts on those things that I have shared.

10,000 Ways

Luxurious

I have not failed.  I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.  ~ Thomas Edison

I am starting a new series of images tonight. This is a project that has been on my mind for about 2 years now.  And these coming images are just the beginning.  I've wanted to play around with this subject for awhile and finally a couple weekends ago, my husband and I did just that.  My son had a friend over for the evening - and I'm pretty sure he thought we were a little nuts with my tripod setup and shooting for, well, a bit of time.  And basically we were shooting the same thing over and over again.  With differing results.  And, yes we did change things up, but to a pair of kids, I'm sure they thought we were just repeating ourselves over and over and over and over . . . well, you get the idea.  I had a lot of fun working on these.  I am pleased with the initial results, and am ready to try some new tweaks on this idea now that I've had some practice and some time to look at the images and see some new direction. 

And, no I'm not going to tell you what it is, at least not yet.  Don't worry, it becomes much more obvious in the very next image - so be sure to check out tomorrow's image.  In the meantime, is it just me, or does this image make you hungry for some chocolate?

Texture and a Movie Share

Texture

Haven't shown any of my favorites types of shots for awhile - plain and simple and down to it's core - texture.  Where would we be without texture?  I don't know about you, but I can just feel the possible splinters waiting to happen if I rubbed my fingers over that wood.

On a different note, my quote for tonight is going to come from a favorite movie or two.  And no, it's not Harry Potter or Star Wars. This one may surprise you.  A few summers ago, my son and I saw the movie Nanny McPhee in the theaters as a part of their discounted summer movie program.  He had absolutely no interest in seeing the movie -mostly because she's pretty creepy looking.  I fell in love with story.  So much, that we rented it to watch at home for all of us to see.  If you haven't seen it - rent it now!  It's great.  We just watched the second one tonight.  And enjoyed it as much as the first one.  (And, it was super fun to see all the actors that made appearances in the second one - several from Harry Potter, and one from Star Wars.)  Great story, good lesson to be learned, magic and lots of animals.  How can you go wrong?  So, here's the quote from the movie:

When you need me but do not want me, than I must stay.  When you want me but no longer need me, than I have to go.  ~Nanny McPhee

Two for the Price of One

Rainbow Lights

Row of Lights

Well, well, well it must be two for Tuesday.  I remember a radio station when I was a teenager always played Two for Tuesdays.  That meant back to back songs by the same band all day long.  It was always fun to see what they would play.

And tonight, I included a little bonus material.  The first shot, as well as the one last night, has a little special effects going on.  A few weeks ago, I attended a Christmas lights display and upon entrance, they gave every attendee these glasses to wear.  They looked like 3D glasses, but they were not.  Instead, they let you see all the light displays as a prism.  Pretty cool (just don't try to walk around in the dark with them on - it's a little tricky!)  And well, you know me, I couldn't just enjoy the show the traditional way.  I placed the lens from the glasses in front of my camera lens and had an amazing time photographing those lights.  I just may have to add those glasses to my camera bag for future night shooting.

I wanted you to be able to see the image with and without the glasses.  And so, tonight I have included a shot of the same image with and without.  Hope you have enjoyed seeing the different images.

How 'Bout Some Crazy Lights?

Carousel of Many Colors

And, now for something a little bit different.  This is a carousel as it spins.  I figured it might be a little mean of me to post this one and ask you to guess at what you thought it was.  It was quite an experience seeing lights in this manner.  And I do have to admit, I really got a kick out of photographing them this way and seeing exactly how the camera would capture the image.

Go as far as you can see; when you get there you'll be able to see farther.  ~ Thomas Carlyle

A Warm Glow and Good Life



Warm Glow

So I woke up this morning about 4:00 with the song Good Life by One Republic running through my head.  I have to tell you that is a really good way to wake up.  It's such an uplifting and inspiring song.  I'm not sure how anyone could listen to it and not start tapping their toe and feeling as if they can accomplish anything!  I may have to set that as my wake up song for tomorrow morning.  I did, however, immediately put that CD in my car stereo and we listened to it as I was taking my son to school.  I wasn't listening to it as I started typing, and just had to put it on right now.

Okay, so we've talked about some of the things that really inspire me - books, reading and quotes are a big part of my life and always have been.  I honestly cannot understand people who say that they don't like to read.  There is so much you can do in the pages of a book.  So many experiences and adventures you can have - many of which you most likely never, ever would.  I am the world's slowest reader - really I am.  But that is because I love to savor every single word I am reading.  It is usually the last thing I do every night before my head hits the pillow.

But that is not the only thing that truly inspires me.  There are many to choose from.  I am inspired by just about everything I see around me.  I am inspired by people that live life fully.  And, I am inspired by music.  I'm honestly not sure which one I am more passionate about - music or photography.  They run pretty darn close to each other.  And that really is saying something.

So, on to the good part of the post (right?) the quote of the day:

You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.  ~Henry Ford

You know, I used to be a little concerned that I would end up repeating a quote.  And then I thought, well that should be okay, because if you are like me, you get something different out of a quote every time you hear it. But, if I should, however, repeat myself . . . I hope that you will just smile and realize that that is just me - sometimes I get excited about things that I really enjoy and tend to repeat myself in the process.

Glow

Glow

Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age.  Nothing does - except wrinkles.  It's true, some wines improve with age.  but only if the grapes were good in the first place. ~ Abigail Van Buren

Drumming Again, Just A Little Bit Different This Time

Drumming From The Top

Anything you’re good at contributes to happiness. ~ Bertrand Russell

Drummer Boy

Drummer Boy

Looking at all these holiday images, I cannot help but really start to get excited for the holidays to come.  This year I have many holiday projects planned and if I'm not careful, I am going to run out of time to get them done. 

And part of those projects is to shoot more holiday images.  I hope you are enjoying them so far.

It takes many blades to make the lawn

Just Tiny Blades of Grass

At the same time that the storm came in - the one that created my rusty tree, we were right in the middle of getting our winter grass put down. We had no idea if we were going to get any to actually grow or if it just washed away in the rain and hail.
A little over a week or so and there it was. And, it was the most brilliant shade of green. Just had to share.

And now for something really different

Glowing Blue

Again, taken at the planetarium. I'm not sure, but I like this one too. I know it's very different. I think it's the experimentalness (is that even a word?) of it. I'm not saying this is something I would want to blow up to poster size, frame and hang in my living room. But, there is something about it that is a little fun.
The picture from last night was taken with a very quick shutter speed and actually came out pretty dark. I had to do some work on it in Photoshop. Once I saw that the image was on the darker side on my camera, I quickly made some adjustments and took a few photos with a longer shutter speed. As some of you know, a longer shutter speed in a low light situation and a very dark room (not to mention the subject being a younger person) is a very tricky thing to get. So, perfection it is not. But fun nonetheless. And after all, it's about the journey isn't it?

You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try. ~ Dolly Parton

And so on the end of this long holiday weekend, I am pleasantly surprised that it is an early an evening as it is for me. This means I should be able to get some reading in - Return of the Jedi here I come!

Self Portraits - 1

Something I really hate to do & hate to share even more, but I do kinda enjoy this shot and the one that I will post tomorrow. I had to Self Portraits for more than one photo class - my least favorite assigment. Anway, these pictures are a little older but I wanted to share them anyway.

It was a cold dark night . . .

The night was a very strange color one evening - it was almost orange. It was really overcast and really cold. I wanted to get some pictures of the full moon that night. But wouldn't you know it, as soon as I got my tripod all set up, the clouds rolled in and covered the moon for the rest of the night. UGH! So, I turned my camera around and shot some trees in the backyard. I decided to turn this one black and white to get a little more of the tree detail to come out.

Bowl Full of Ornaments