Picture Black and White: Texture

After the first two themes (Graphic Elements and Light), we moved on to Texture, and it’s no accident that texture follows light because to capture texture in your images you need to use the light for almost everything you are doing.  If you play with angle and perspective, you can bring something unique and maybe even surprising to your images.

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Smooth Things Over: Let’s take a good look at all of the objects with a smooth surface today. Observe how the light plays on (or reflects off of) your subject. Explore ways to accentuate the smooth, whatever it means to you.

  • Wow. Gorgeous light and textures!!
  • Makes me just want to pick one of them off and eat it!
  • Beautiful, Naomi! Such wonderful focus.  Love the contrast!
  • So much detail.  All the little hairs the smooth skin of the tomatoes.  This is a wonderful image.
  • I LOVE this! Great contrast and textures!

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Rough and Tumble: For this prompt, consider the many synonyms for the word rough; uneven, bumpy, irregular, and course.  In black and white photography, intense texture can be the key to creating an interesting image. Seek out all of the magic and mystery that uber-textures can provide.

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The Texture of Textiles: From fleece to knit, denim to fur, textiles offer all kinds of visual interest.  Today, seek out the tangible textures of textiles!

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Cracked Open: Cracks in any surface can offer so much visual interest to your photography.  Once you find what you want to shoot, pay careful attention to how well—in black and white images—the variation in darks and lights that the crack produces.

There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” ~ Leonard Cohen

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Watered Down: When it comes to interesting and often unexpected textures, nothing beats rain slicked streets and reflective puddles.Today, study liquid—rain, water, tea, anything—and see what kinds of textures you can capture. Like with so much of photography, observation is key.

My favorite kind of shot – macro raindrops on flowers and leaves

  • Absolutely stunning.  The reflections in the water drops and the way it brings out the texture of the leaf is just wonderful.
  • Fabulous!
  • Beautiful!
  • Very dynamic!
  • Gorgeous!
  • Fabulous!
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Time keeps on changing

One of you dear friends told me about this awesome (and free) e-course, Changing Time, about managing our relationship to time.   It consists of an “ongoing flow of innovative tools, techniques and ideas to create a new relationship with time,” moving away from the “defaults” of anxiety/stress/worry/complaints about time that are so pervasive in our society.  “You can finally move past the limiting views of time that have held you back from fully embracing the wild beautiful truth: time is not a defined line; it is instead a vibrant, completely moldable, layered, multi-faceted work of art that is in your artistic hands to create and design, each and every day.”

Who knew?! The Day 1 Time Expansion Moment asked:

1. When you think about time, what is the first thing that comes to mind? 
 
2. What is your deepest wish, regarding time? 
 
3. What is your biggest challenge, regarding time? 
 
4. If you suddenly never had to worry about time, how might your life be different?

I’m  thinking about these questions today.  How would YOU answer them?

My answers: 1. Either a clock or my constant companion to-do list.  2. That I would stop racing against it.  3. I have trouble stopping and just being, letting time tick past me but not accomplishing anything tangible.  There are so many things I want to do, friends I want to see, etc.  4. I would not need to search for a clock/watch every 3 minutes.  I’d be more leisurely about just about everything.  I would feel comfortable just knowing that however I fill my day would be meaningful.

This is a problem of my current situation as a SAHM.  If I had more time for myself, I don’t think I’d feel this way about time.  Some days, I’m wanting time to move faster so I can put my daughter to bed and have some time for myself.  When she was an infant and took her little (damn you, Mommy.  I refuse to sleep longer!) 30-minute naps, I’d race around the house like a madwoman trying to send e-mails, put in some laundry, use the bathroom, take a shower, and get the mail before she woke again.  I think that’s when the craziness began of me trying to escape her… and time itself.

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A glimpse of truth

Driving home before thunderstorm; iPhone

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Photo Friday: textured flower images

“I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.” 

William Shakespeare, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream

“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.” 
― Iris Murdoch

“Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair…” 
― Susan Polis Schutz

“In joy or sadness flowers are our constant friends.” 
― Kakuzō OkakuraThe Book Of Tea

“I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.” 
― Edna St. Vincent Millay “Afternoon on a Hill”

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Weekly Photo Challenge and Photo-Heart Connection

Today I am reaching out to some new communities of like-minded photography bloggers by participating in Kat Eye Studio‘s monthly Photo-Heart Connection series and WordPress’ weekly photo challenge.

The idea behind Kat’s Photo-Heart Connection series is to help deepen the connection between your photos and your heart.  Review your photos from the previous month and post the one that best connects to your heart.  Then link up with others and develop relationships with photographers also searching for that connection.

The photo I selected from May is one that I almost didn’t take.  I was with my daughter walking past a little pond on our way to a story hour at a park.  We were a little late so when I noticed these lily pads, I didn’t stop to point out their beauty or take a picture.  Then I came to my senses, backtracked, and we spent a couple minutes looking at them and all the different colored flowers.  It was the best part of my day.

“Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.” ~Khalil Gibran

The WordPress weekly photo challenge theme is TODAY.

“It’s about TODAY. This day. The day you’re reading and reacting to this post. No rules or guidance on what to post other than the photo must be taken today!”

Well ok then! I read the prompt, took the photos, and scheduled this post… for a few days later!

This lovely cafe is such a great spot for a breakfast date or sitting alone with a cup of coffee and a book.  Won’t you join me?

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My birthday through my daughter’s eyes

“To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world.” ~ Anonymous

“When all your desires are distilled
You will cast just two votes
To love more
And be happy.” ~ Hafiz

My daughter was overflowing with vibrant energy about life in general, but specifically about my birthday.  Since May 1, she has wanted to count down the number of days until the end of the month.  I cannot think what I could even liken it to…

M O M M Y to her is absolutely everything.  To celebrate Mommy for a day — well, “yes,” she practically vibrates, “let’s definitely do that!”

I got sand cakes, plastic cupcakes, serenades of all sorts of songs, a million soft embraces and sweet kisses, and endless smiles.  And that was by 8am!

My “official” interview of her:

How old am I going to be? Eleven twelve

How do you know? Daddy told me and then I member, k?

What should we do to celebrate? We’re going to get out our cupcakes for your birthday

Are you going to sing Happy Birthday to me? How about we sing Happy Birthday to everyone in the family?

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Do you get personalized Notes From the Universe? It’s free and fun! Here’s what mine said for my birthday.  I felt SO GOOD reading it!

A few years back, not so long ago, heaven and earth erupted into a major celebration with the news of your impending adventure into this very time and space. You see, someone like Naomi Wittlin doesn’t come along all that often. In fact, there’s never been a single one like you, nor is there ever ANY possibility that another will come again. You’re an Angel among us. Someone, whose eyes see what no others will EVER see, whose ears hear what no others will EVER hear, and whose perspective and feelings will NEVER, ever be duplicated. Without YOU, the Universe, and ALL THAT IS, would be sadly less than it is. 

Quite simply: 

You’re the kind of person, Naomi,
Who’s hard to forget,
A one-in-a-million
To the people you’ve met.
Your friends are as varied
As the places you go,
And they all want to tell you
In case you don’t know:
That you make a big difference
In the lives that you touch,
By taking so little
And giving so much!

Naomi, you are so AWESOME! For your birthday, friends and angels from every corner of the Universe, including buddies you didn’t know you had, will be with you to wish you the HAPPIEST of days and an exciting new year in time and space. You won’t be alone! 

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