Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth

I love trees, even misshapen ones. Trees adapt to whatever comes their way, just the way people do to survive and thrive. And they have relationships too! For this week’s photo challenge topic of “growth“, here are some trees who are living interesting lives.

Opposites Attract

It’s a Burl!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Temporary

I recently drove by a school with a historic preservation sign out front. What photographer can resist an ivy-covered brick building in the fall (or something that you know is going to change)? I had a few minutes so I pulled in and snapped a few shots. Unfortunately I only had my zoom lens with me.

Vine-Covered School

Red Leaves

I shot the bright red leaves, and the vines trailing over windows and the front steps, but it felt like it deserved so much more. I was determined to come back with my normal lens to get different shots.

But I only have time for these photo trips on weekends. The weather turned during the week; a mild fall suddenly became winter.

I went back a week later and the beauty was gone. The red leaves had all dropped. The weather was gray and the place looked dreary. I tried to jazz it up by taking a picture beneath a nearby colorful banner.

Old School

It is the nature of photography that conditions are never the same, though the place may be. The light is different and small changes have occurred: someone could have left a glove or trash. In this case, the bright red leaves had turned brown and littered the ground.

Photography is a moment-to-moment depiction of the world, and every moment is different, like snowflakes. What we capture is a temporary moment and nothing more.

 

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Photo Challenge: Glow

I love going out early during the “golden hour.” It is really the only time I get during the week to take photographs, especially this time of year when it is dark when I get out of work. Here are a few images I have taken that are defined by the glow of the morning sun.

Grasses in morning sun

Spider webs in morning sun

Morning glow on hummingbird feeder

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Repurpose

Ideas for repurposing often spring out of economic necessity, and thus they often begin with something that is usually thrown away or can be acquired free. If it is a good idea, it can become trendy and shabby-chic. Pallet furniture is an example.

First there was pallet furniture, then Christmas season brought pallet trees!

Partial Pallet Tree

Last year I went to the Megacities exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The art for this exhibit was mostly made out of what some would consider “trash.” The art in the rotunda was made from plastic dishes!

Megacities Exhibit — Plastic Dishes Repurposed

For more examples of repurposed, click here!

 

 

 

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Ambience

There is more than one way to create ambience, any sense will do: sight, sound, or smell. And if you can use them all…even better!

Candles are the easiest and most common way to create ambience. In our modern society, candlelight is quaint and harkens back to a simpler time. That’s why many restaurants use candles on their tables. I use candles in every room at home to create a feeling of comfort and coziness, and of course to indulge in my chosen “smells.” I bought this candle at a thrift store for $1.99 and chose a  “Christmas Thyme” Yankee Candle votive to put in it.

On the Kitchen Stove

Another thrift store bargain is this cd of French singers. I purchased it for $.50. I love old time Paris so this creates ambience for me too.

Thrift Store Find: Cd of French Singers

In my living room I continue the Paris theme with storage boxes and a picture of my grandfather in front of the Arc de Triomphe; he was stationed in Paris in WWI.

I Love Paris

SIGH…Can I stay home from work today??

 

 

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Relax

My cat likes to relax by going on Facebook.

Have a fun and relaxing day. Check out other ways to relax here.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Local

Anyone who has been following this blog for some time knows that taking pictures is one of my life’s joys, but the parameters of my small-town survival-heavy life do not allow me many trips to new or exotic locations. I am not retired; I do not have the funds or the time to travel to faraway places. But I do see a lot of beauty in my local surroundings and I try to use my photography to help others see the same.

In my other blog, I talk about my project to document the beauty of all the small towns that surround me, but here I will just show you some of the beauty I have seen within 2 miles of where I live.

Green Door

Swan Family

Forever Missed

A Couple of Ducks

Sassafras Leaves

Picnic Table with Morning fog

 

 

 

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Weekly Photo Challenge: H2O

I have recently returned from a road trip to TN. Looking at the pictures from my trip, I guess you could say water did figure prominently.

The Sinks in the Great Smokey Mountains

We went to the top of the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid to get a view of the Mississippi in Memphis.

Mississippi in Memphis

And the river through Nashville was especially beautiful at night!

Nashville at night

 

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Nostalgia

On a recent trip to Nashville, I made sure I stopped at Antique Archeology, owned by the American Pickers. Although things were for sale, I felt like it was more of a tourist destination than a store. There were many “souvenirs” for sale: t-shirts, key chains, stickers, etc. But seeing this was exciting and nostalgic for me: the shirt and guitar of Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick!

For Sale: Rock and Roll Memorabilia

How many times did I watch his dramatic moves, admire his quirky clothing and try to catch the guitar picks he would toss into the audience during their shows!

Rock and rolls shows were a big part of my younger years. Visit my other blog to read about some of the bands I followed in my 20s…what a great time for music in Boston!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Frame

Whenever we observe the world, we are framing what we see. Sometimes the frame is made up of our mood, our personality, or our memories: whatever makes up our “frame of reference” or what we choose to focus on. And now I am done with the philosophical part of my post. 🙂

In a more concrete way, in the act of taking a photo, we frame the photo, deciding what is important and how to present it. And sometimes there is a physical frame as in the following photos:

Cow in its Pen

 

Undeveloped Lot Through a Fence

 

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