Blog
Landscapes of snow 2
Sunny day sunrise.
And mixed snow and sun all day… 
Snow on the car window…
Another sunny day sunrise.
I Love Words, a poem by Craig
I Love Words
I love words but when I need them most
They dance away like playful ghosts
They sit at the edge of my awareness
With an outward show of how they care less
And when I stop trying to find them
They return to me and let me bind them.
And in the end they get stuck to a page
Forever recalling a sunset or sage
To be set in a pattern of order and form
Restricts their freedom and chaos deforms
Like plucking the wings off a beautiful fairy
Or laughing to tears at something real scary.
In the end it changes the nature of a thing
To conform and recast the very stuff of being
Words disassociate, now mated for life
In ways each a husband, each a wife
To bring alive ideas, memories and sights
Into bittersweet, arcane and wondrous light.
Allegories, perjuries, poems and songs
Vistas and sisters and outright “come alongs”
The contents of a heart, one’s gut or head
The date of death, the prayers being said
The stale life without respite or flight
The endless possibilities late in the night
To all of these and oh so much more
We bind up our words over and over
Trying to find the right combination
And steal a piece of original creation.
But sometimes its best to leave them be
To let them just dance away so free.
-Craig Engen-
Landscapes and macros
Not much different here in terms of technique yet. But the mix of sun and cloud created such beautiful effects out my window that they actually moved me out of my writer’s chair, a hard thing to do these days! This is my fave despite the power cable.
The sunlight on the rain-washed oranges was lovely.
Lest you think I can grow roses, these are the neighbor’s trailing roses.
I don’t know how to get the leaves in the background to blur so I just cropped the photo! When I had a regular SLR camera in high school, we had these tubes you could attach to the lens and they really made the macros work. I wish I had that now. They were just plastic tubes, low tech.
Landscapes
What can I say? I love landscapes. I’m not quite as thrilled at how they come across in my photos. What’s hard to capture in all its glory is the third distance level, the misty mountain. I’m most pleased with the first one. I think the framing really worked. I did crop it a tad to bring the mountain in closer. But that’s all. I’ve sworn off white balance for the most part.
Here’s the same one from a lower angle. You can’t see the mountain, but I like the arrangement of houses.
This was my favorite view of the day because of the long vista and the layered fore-, mid- and background. But it is also the one where the misty mountain feel most failed in the photo. I cropped and cropped trying to bring it out. But I think it was a case of “you had to be there.”
Another long shot for you and then someone’s fabulous garden.
So… these people have a lot of tulips. There’s also a row up by the house, which didn’t come out in the photo. Here’s what’s so great to me about the tulips. They are a sign of patience, foresight and laying the groundwork for a bright future. Then reaping what one sows.
Shots from the yard
I didn’t have anything in my camera for you today so I went outside and filled up the card.
I didn’t expect to get anything out of these macros but when I looked at them on my computer, I was so happy!
Even the weeds are lookin’ good today.
Liking the greenery, too.
Sunlight 2
Look what the setting sun did to the neighbor’s trees a couple days ago!
Sunlight
The easiest way to look at the sun is to look at its reflection in life.
Garden extravaganza and pondering composition
Our daily walk takes me by people’s fabulous gardens. I stand on the street near their flowers with my camera, clicking away! One lady came out of her house and looked startled, but then it’s like… well I guess it’s okay. I’m not on their property and I’m just “taking” a picture… so it’s not really theft, is it? I don’t take any pictures that reveal location. But it is a little bizarre, I guess.
Okay, I don’t think the rule of thirds applies to macros. More landscapes and maybe portraits? Well… here is one where I tried it:
Maybe it didn’t do much for me because there’s nothing but green blur on the right. I noticed my earlier picture, which was a big hit, did use the Ro3:
Of course, the Bird of Paradise flower lends itself to the Ro3.
Here’s another one where I tried it. I do like the composition. Maybe Ro3 can be used on macros!
I definitely think the Ro3 improved what would have looked like a mass of flowers if I’d centered the camera right on the bush. I’m feeling a little encouraged about all of this!
I cropped this next one into shape. It’s okay, but doesn’t thrill me.
With this next one, it’s not Ro3, but I think it’s nice how the rose buds march up the plane of the photo:
I’d like to thank my friend, Laurie, for pushing me to get my photos posted. I missed my post yesterday. I really appreciate having friends in the blogosphere who care! It feels great. Thank you, Laurie!
And now I’m dashing off for a meeting. The writing life is a bit hectic at the moment. In a good way, but still! Have a good one, blog friends.
Nicci Carrera 