Category Archives: blogging

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Weekly Photo Challenge: The World Through Your Eyes

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This week’s photo challenge was a tough one for me.  The “assignment” was to show “a visual interpretation of one’s vision. A story, captured in a frame.”  This seems to me to be something close to photojournalism.  I think black and white.  I think action, or a reference to action.  I look through my portfolio, and most of what I have is nature portraiture and still life.  The world through my eyes would seem posed, maybe even inert.  Hmmm.  This IS a challenge.  In order to capture a story, I would have to show more of a scene, not just a subject.  The backdrop, the context.  That would probably mean I have to be more ready with my camera, “quicker on the draw”, so to speak.  I will keep that in mind.  Tomorrow, I go to my daughter’s Bridal Shower, and I intend to bring my camera.  Maybe I can practice this assignment in that setting.  For now, I will give you my best approximation at photojournalism, taken last October on our adventure to “Metaphorical Maine” (which actually turned out to be Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio).  Here ’tis:

My vision

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Curves

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Curves…

How many internet “news” headlines associate that word with female celebrities on the red carpet?  SOOOooo not my style of subject.

The curve ball?  The cosmic 2 by 4 upside the head?  Ah, yes.  That experience is one with which I am familiar.  I appreciate a good twist of fate/destiny/plot/philosophy.  I’ve been reading a 1917 copy of Best Russian Short Stories compiled by Thomas Seltzer.  Intense!  Revolutionary!  Profound!  I recommend The Shades, A Phantasy by Korolenko:  Socrates investigating the justice of religion, and for lighter fare, How a Muzhik Fed Two Officials by Saltykov: like Mark Twain satire, only Russian.

Visually, curves are naturally graceful.  Is there anything in nature that is completely straight?  I’ve thought about that several times, and the closest thing I can come up with is a pine needle.  Any other ideas out there?

So, here are some curves from my photo files:

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Fleeting

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I must be sharing some head space with Cheri at Word Press.  I’ve been thinking about ephemerals as I photographed the woodland wildflowers a few weeks ago.  An entire hillside was covered in trout lily, and I was excited at the prospect of seeing them all bloom at once.  I went back two weeks later to discover that I’d missed it. 

Fleeting.  Short life cycles.  Tomorrow is the 35th anniversary of the first time I kissed my husband.  He died at the age of 47.  “It’s not the years in your life, but the life in your years that counts.”  That quote is attributed to Abraham Lincoln, and my sister-in-law read it at Jim’s memorial.  Living, sentient beings change over time, rapidly or slowly doesn’t matter.  We are all impermanent.  Is that an aberration?  Or is that just the way it is?  Rage or accept as you will, the wheel turns, the cycle moves.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: The Sign Says

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“And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls”
And whispered in the sounds of silence” – Simon & Garfunkel

This is absolutely the first thing that came to mind when I read the prompt for this photo challenge, and the first image that I thought of is this shot that I took last Friday at the trail head to the section of the Ice Age Trail we hiked that day.

signsGraffiti….is it art or is it disrespect?  I suppose that depends on what it is and where.  How about on an ancient Egyptian wall?  Yeah, that made the news this week.  Is that a prophecy of destruction?  There are many examples of that abroad on our planet.  How about prophecies of hope and healing?  They seem harder to come by.  Here’s one I found this morning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TqFaiVNuy1k

Signs point the way; they are not the Way, nor are they the goal.  It isn’t wise to get attached to the sign and miss the reality.  It might be a good challenge to toss out your favorite signposts periodically to see if you can still find the Way….

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Weekly Photo Challenge: In the Background

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“Back of the bread is the flour, and back of the flour is the mill, and back of the mill is the sun and the rain and the Father’s will.”  So goes a table grace that I learned to sing at Girl Scout camp.  Back of the photos that I post here is little ol’ me, with camera in hand, and often my companion on adventures, Steve.  The challenge for this week is to Take a picture of yourself or someone else as a shadow, a reflection, or a lesser part of a scene, making the background, or — as in the example above — the foreground, the center of attention.  Let’s see what I have in my treasure chest…

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Oh, and here’s another one…

antique shopKind of a goofy shot…had no idea my stomach had crept into the photo, and hadn’t really thought much about the composition.  I was standing in the middle of an antique/rummage shop, trying to take in all the bizarreness around me, not sure where to look.  I am an observer, and often passive.  I am actually doing a lot of soul-searching these days, trying to be more intentional about what I do with my life.  I have a habit of looking around, appreciating everything and not engaging with much energy in any particular thing.  It’s kind of a surrender-based position.  Not that it’s bad; it can be useful at times.  It can also be very frustrating for Steve who wants to know more about what I really want.  I have a tendency to fade into the background: social conditioning? lack of self-confidence? fear of commitment/rejection/judgment? Not that I want to promote my ego, but I do want to attend to values with some assertion.  If I don’t stick up for what I think is important, then my days will be incredibly dull and my life energy not very well spent.  As I get into my senior years, I want to avoid slipping into the routine of enduring and not enjoying my time here.  How do I practice that daily?  That’s what I’m hoping to figure out.