Thursday

2012.05.31 Being actively receptive

Kim Klassen Zuzu texture VividLight ]

Part of it has to do with the discipline of being actively receptive.
At the core of this receptivity is a process that might be called soft eyes.
It is a physical sensation.
You are not looking for something.  You are open, receptive.
At some point you are in front of something that you cannot ignore.
~ Henry Wessel

Linked to:

Monday

2012.05.28 The well-ordered life

But a well-ordered life isn't stiff and consumed by schedules, but is full of joy,
free to give 100 percent in every situation.  An ordered life is flexible yet focused,
available to meet the demands of the moment but still aimed toward a clear goal.
Having an ordered life takes effort and isn't always comfortable,
but it creates the security of knowing that the important things
are being preserved and emphasized daily.

When God Writes Your Life Story, page 176
by Eric and Leslie Ludy


Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.
~ Dorothea Lange

Friday

2012.05.25 An Anne update

She started work last Monday, May 21
and has a long weekend already because of Memorial Day.

She and some co-workers went on a camping road trip
and have been to . . .

Crater Lake National Park . . .

the Pacific Ocean . . .

and the redwoods . . .

Love you, kiddo!

Wednesday

2012.05.23 Public Library . . .

anticipation, the thrill of what may be discovered,
hours of enjoyment inside . . . 
and later, more hours of reading indulgence.


Nothing happens when you sit at home.
I always make it a point to carry a camera with me at all times...
I just shoot at what interests me at that moment.
~ Elliott Erwitt

Exactly!
~ Me

Now linked to:  Share the Joy at Meri's Musings

Monday

2012.05.21 Go on, see what's inside . . .

. . . open the door, begin the journey to elsewhere . . .

Not that it's difficult to photograph mundane things,
but it's difficult to see them as significant.
The hard thing to do of course is to find a way to photograph a mundane subject
or mundane event in a way that makes it exciting.
~ Brooks Jensen

Friday

2012.05.18 Hydrangea


"Light glorifies everything.
It transforms and ennobles the most commonplace and ordinary subjects.
The object is nothing; light is everything"
~ Leonard Misonne

Linked to:

Thursday

2012.05.17 Missing you . . .


Remember lunches like this?

It would be errand day, just you and me,
and we'd treat ourselves (me?) to pizza
and reading and note-taking and doodling.
Miss you.

Even though you haven't lived at home for a while,
college was only 45 minutes away,
so we could have some face time every couple of weeks.
Miss you.

We would wander the streets and visit your favorite vintage stores.
(Now, my favorites, too.)
Stop for coffee at an outdoor cafe, people-watch for a while.
You introduced me to the fair trade store (earrings!).
I could take photos and you never minded the waiting,
but encouraged me and pointed things out that I would be interested in . . .

Miss you.

Easy conversations about what was going on in our daily lives.
Today, I'm doing laundry, bookkeeping, working at the mission this evening.
I'm wearing a pair of jeans you helped me pick out at Goodwill.
Also the fish earrings you bought for me.
You are somewhere in Utah, heading for your job in Oregon.
Miss you.

Wednesday

2012.05.16 And still more decay . . .

I should find a more positive word for the metamorphosis of things . . . other than "decay".
I'll work on that.

Peonies . . .

"What you have caught on film is captured forever ...
it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything."
~ Aaron Siskind

Sunday

2012.05.13 One day at a time

For those of you using the Streams in the Desert  [by L B Cowman] devotional,
today's entry is awful, wonderful, piercing, hopeful.

Almost the last of my recent peony photos . . .

And, for Nancy of A Rural Journal, here is the full Sarah Bernhardt peony . . .

Linked to:

Thursday

2012.05.10 In my garden . . .

. . . peonies are in full bloom.
Here is one photo of just part of a flower, but processed with two very different treatments.

The first photo uses Pixel Dust's Everything is Illuminated texture . . .

This second one is the same photo with a Dark Charcoal Sketch effect . . .

Very different results.

Linked to:

2012.05.10 Looking deeper . . .

. . . and, surprise!  (see second photo)
This shock of seeing what was hidden to my eyes
(while looking at the camera screen)
never ceases to amaze and delight me . . .
. . . looking deep into an English iris . . .


Linked to:

Tuesday

2012.05.08 Fungi, flower, ferns, and a frog

Relaxing in the small front garden last Sunday with . . .

I love how the water outlines the lily pads . . .

Saturday

2012.05.05 Today, she walked . . .

out of college life . . .

Lee, Vince, Melanie, and I helped her celebrate . . .

Next week?
Heading west.

Friday

2012.05.04 Drawn to decay

I'm not sure why.

Maybe . . .
I love the contrast between what was and what is . . .
the abstract appearance . . .
the unstoppability of time . . .

These four photos are from one long wall of a building.
The first two have processing using Topaz Labs,
the third one has a PSE filter,
and the last one uses Coffee Shop's Ice Pop action.

Linked to:  Photo Art Friday at Pixel Dust
Bonnie's challenge this week was to illustrate the title of a favorite book.
Luckily, she always includes the option to link up any piece of photo art.
I could not figure out a photo to illustrate a (favorite) book title,
so, I took the second option :)
If you can think of a book title which these photos illustrate,
please leave the title in a comment!  Thanks!

Tuesday

2012.05.01 A sense of wonder

Everyday, my grandson, Ian (age 5), draws a picture
and writes a sentence or two about it . . .