Dancing with the Morning's Sky

There are a few trees along my trail walk that I look for each morning. I would miss them if they were not there. This is one of them. There is a movement in her branches that danced so beautifully with this morning's sky.

Seeing and Being Seen

Crouched down low, maybe even lying down, I don't recall, I snapped some pictures of icy drops on blades of grass. Over and over I stopped, crouched, then moved slowly into the bush to get the shot.

I notice a lot on these walks but rarely do I notice people who are watching me as I carry on. Today I was startled to get back up off the ground and see an older gentleman obviously coming my way to talk to me. We chatted for awhile about travels and photography. Well, he talked about travels and came up with a few places that would be "my cup of tea" to go to and take pictures. This man was very interesting and friendly.

It became clear to me that he was friendly with everyone who crossed his path as a dog bounded up to him to play...and play they did as its owner slowly caught up. This big black dog assumed that I would enjoy to play with him as well (as seems to be more and more the case with me and dogs...I don't really understand this) and dropped his ball between my feet and looked up at me. I knew this look. I indulged him just once.

Back to where this man thought I should travel...

He went through a list and crossed off a few destinations in his mind that would not be so suitable for me and narrowed things down to his ultimate choice for me...Switzerland. I could take pictures of mountains and ride the train practically straight up to get to the tops of these mountains and take more pictures once there. How I enjoyed his ideas, especially considering what he saw me taking pictures of that brought him to his conclusions about who I was and what would be my cup of tea.

This morning's walk taught me something about my own assumptions of others and how they might not be accurate. And it taught me that it really didn't matter that this kind gentleman assumed I would take this kind of picture or that. His assumptions did not alienate me (or himself) or take anything away from me. What mattered was that he was friendly and wanted to connect with me and found ways to do so. Do my assumptions alienate or get me curious enough to connect?

(Don't forget to enter to win a photo block by sharing your Christmas traditions with me on my
Christmas Give-Away post.)

Frost and Fog

It is a frosty and foggy morning. The edges and surfaces sparkle with icy crystals but you cannot see this unless you are close; the fog is thick.

I love the feeling of fog. I feel as though I am tucked beneath a thick down-filled duvet on a chilly morning.

Stuck

This blue beauty has been stuck in a rut for a good long while! She has stayed in one spot so long, the moss has grown all around her. I love how the hay and wheat stick to the dust and dirt that stick to the truck that sticks in the mud.

Raindrops

I headed out on the trail this morning. The rain had stopped but was still clinging to the undersides of many branches. I was moved by one leaf's cradling of the drops of rain before they could fall to the ground, unnoticed. The raindrops, they mattered.

Daisies

Even with petals missing and snowy caps, these daisies seem happy. The bubbly bokeh plays in the background, echoing the daisies' delight.

These images remind me of words I once penned...beauty is not in the absence of loss but in the presence of light. It is so.

Weeds to Seeds

Undisguised

Paint's disguise is almost gone. The layers are peeling. Weathered and worn, we see what remains. She has stood the test of time. She remains...here, now...in memories of the past...and inspiration for the future.

Time's Threshold

I wonder if I crossed over the threshold, would I be able to sense what came before? Would I see remnants of the past that would give me clues into history? I could cross over and stay for a time, imagining, pondering and then I could leave out the back way, my life enriched, perhaps changed.

Window into a Window

We spent the day out at the farm today. It was the most beautiful day. The weather was, again, exceptional for this time of year. The wonderful couple who hosted us was gracious and generous with interesting stories and delicious food. Everything about the day was good.

I was able to look through the window of my camera lens and through the window into country life...and I liked what I saw. What a gift today has been!

Ribbons

Sometimes my procrastination pays off. I'm not usually very quick to clean out my gardens in fall. There are usually a lot of photo opportunities that come with the decaying plants. Not wanting to miss out on this, I delay this task for as long as I can. This year it was delayed even longer than my normal because we've had exceptional weather and also because my back went out.  With improvement in my back, today was the day to get to the gardens.

Before I even got to the bagging of all the debris, I had to retrieve my camera. There would be another picture. Look at this tomato plant! The orange folds are like ribbons. It amazes me how beautiful debris can be.

Today's Pic

It is a beautiful autumn day. The sun is shining. The leaves that remain on the trees are gorgeous with rich colours and textures...those on the ground even more so.

I have been challenging myself to post a picture a day in a Facebook Album called Today's Pic Fall 2011 for the autumn months. All, without exception, have been taken outside...until today. I thought I would do something different. The light was beautiful in my living room and shining just so on my daughter's piano. Using only my macro lens, I began to take some shots. This is one of them.

What have you taken pictures of recently? Do you find yourself taking a lot of the same sort of thing? How can you shake things up and come up with something unique and interesting?

Words Without Pictures

We'd like to do exceptional things, not ordinary things.
We'd like to be noticed, not overlooked.
As a Christian, I'd like to do great things for God, not menial tasks.

What about being exceptional in the ordinary? With the mundane, run of the mill drudgery that can be our days, what if we decided, what if I decided, the ordinary was where it counted most to be exceptional?

As I was reading some Oswald Chambers this morning, this really stood out to me and spoke into my life. What a rush life is when exceptional things happen, when my work gets accepted to art shows and people across the world show interest in my photography. But when this isn't happening, and it is most of the time, how do I perceive my life? What kind of effort and enthusiasm do I invest in the regular tasks of today?

I've often spoken about seeing the beauty in the ordinary. There is great beauty in the ordinary, beauty I see and then capture with a camera and share with others. But what about in the ordinary, boring, monotonous stuff that is in a regular day, day in and day out, over and over again? Is there beauty in this? Am I seeing the beauty in the gift of a regular day, the very breath I have, the gift of the ordinary? And what if I can just accept that not all moments are going to appear beautiful? What if I chose still to give my all to those moments, to be exceptional in the unexceptional? I wonder.

Sugar Dusting

This morning I woke up to see sugar dust sparkling on the grasses and flowers and leaves. It was such a pretty sight. I got my macro lens and headed on out. As is often the case, the lighting made the shots. The brilliant sunshine as a back light was just what was needed to make the outer edges of the frost covered leaves or grasses sparkle even more.

Cherished

Cradled in the leaves, held so carefully and gently, the petals continue to give to the end of their days. So beautiful, so tender, so cherished. This makes me want to be better, to be more gentle and tender with those around me, to do what I can to show them they are loved.

Bent

She is bent. She has been for awhile now...just a little, just enough to add intrigue and interest. She is a leader. As she points, the others look and follow her through the fiery grasses. She knows the way; she's been here before.

Autumn's Dance

The prairie winds are blowing through the fields today, clearing the way for winter I imagine. Each season has its own charm to be sure. Autumn dances between summertime temperatures and winter's chill but the colours of autumn are hers alone.

In this image, colour is not what speaks about the season. Rather the wind, the dry grasses and wheat along with the few bullrushes reveal summer's leave and winter's coming.

Me? I'm going to stay in autumn for now. Winter will have her day.

Quiet Passage

How is it that something so jagged and rough can also be calming and soothing? When I look at this image, I am surprised to have an immediate sense of peacefulness as the peeling bark draws me in and gently nudges me forward. It feels to me like this is a quiet passage into winter.

Pumpkin

Same pumpkin.  Different moods. Which do you prefer?

Keys and Pedals

Sometimes the expected works well with photography. Here, the piano keys are the subject. It works well. You can almost get a sense of the music with the movement in the image. Though not played, they play.

Other times, the unexpected can work equally as well. The pedals of the piano are not often the subject of the picture. This image is quieter, not unlike the workers behind the scenes in an organization or office or church group. Though integral to the music, to the whole, the pedals lie quietly in the shadows of the keys.

Light Play

No more belly photography posts for me...for now. Movin' on up to the grapevine that hugs the front of our house...

I really enjoy playing with bokeh. Here the yellow and white background just seems so celebratory and fun. Light play is some of the best play there is.

More Belly Photography

Belly Photography

When I say belly photography, I am not referring to the photography of someone's belly, especially not my own. Rather, I am referring to getting your own self down, belly to the ground, to get the shot that will not be gotten any other way. It is a whole new way of seeing, a fresh perspective that offers opportunity for some interesting photography.

Try it. Grab your camera (if you have a macro or zoom lens, use it) and go outside on your balcony or patio or deck or patch of grass, and lie down, belly to the ground.  Start looking through your viewfinder and see what you see. Interesting, no?

Bokeh

Many have fallen but some still remain. I love how the bokeh seems to remember the shape of the leaves that were and pays tribute to them in the background, accentuating their absence and with it, autumn's presence.

It is getting colder now and soon these leaves will also blow away, making way for winter.

The Space Between

Looking at the cityscape, I saw a space between land and clouds where the corporate offices sat, but also between urban and urban. In between my residential neighborhood, where I stood to get this shot,  and the downtown highrises was this rural patch of land, a farmer's field.

I like looking for these types of exceptions to the landscape. What is unique? What makes this interesting? How does this present in the viewfinder? All of these questions that run through my mind help me with composition.

True Colours

Today feels like autumn, as I guess it should, seeing as it has been autumn for weeks now. Here in the prairies we've been blessed with above normal temperatures for the summer and well into these first weeks of fall. Only now are we beginning to feel the chill in the air. I thought it would all seem so sudden, once autumn really showed her true colours, but it doesn't feel sudden at all. It just feels normal, like it is simply time to get on with the season we are in.

Happy Autumn.

Scarlet's Spread

Winter is coming and she grows tired. No longer able to reach high, she spreads across the rough boards with a sigh. The snow would blanket her soon and she'd find her rest.

Last Dance