Stretching my wings…

Sometimes you reach a point where you know it’s time to stretch a little. You know that feeling, when you sitting in one place too long, and the desire to move, reach out, and extend yourself comes over you? It’s a natural human reaction to confinement. I believe this is an apt metaphor for the artistic life, as well. I’ve been pretty comfortable lately–enjoying my own work, enjoying my blogging and the positive comments that occasionally come my way, and enjoying sharing my work and skills with friends, family, and work associates. But change is good, and challenges are good, and in these last few months, I realized I needed to step out of my nest, to push and extend myself a little more.

The photographs here represent three I submitted to a juried exhibit to be hung at our city library that was sponsored by our local photography club, of which I recently  became an active member. I have not tried to exhibit since my days at college, more than three decades ago, so this was an exciting prospect for me. The theme of the exhibition was simple “Books”–and being a lifelong reader, holder of a masters in literature, and owner of some “gazillion or so” books, I certainly felt the subject itself was not a stretch. The stretch was simply taking that first step, which I committed myself to do.

The image above was the one that I am happy to report, was selected by the judges to be included in the 25 final photographs for the exhibit. Those below are the additional two I submitted, so perhaps  my blog readers will have an opinion these as well.  I think the one selected was probably the more creative one, and therefore stood out from many of the others, so perhaps that was why it was selected. In any case, I am  thrilled to have had one chosen, and so proud to be among the 25 stellar prints that are currently hanging in the library’s exhibition hall. The entire process has done wonders for my sense of artistic development and my enjoyment of my craft.

So as spring is upon us, I hope the season breaths new life into whatever you enjoy doing, as well. Hope you enjoy…

 

The Camel’s back…

 

The desert is a fascinating place to me. Its timeless existence, its inpenetrable hardiness, its sheer rugged beauty provides such fodder for composition. Perhaps the fact that it’s just so different from what I see day to day that makes it seem like exotic territory, but still… you have to wonder when you really look closely: How does life survive in such a place? And yet, the succulent life sprouting up from these rocky crags proves life is ever-present. This view of the side of Camelback Mountain was shot at dawn’s early light, when the flickers and woodpeckers were stirring to life along with probably hundreds of other life forms I couldn’t see, but I certainly sensed. It was a pristine moment, alone,  in wonderment, in the chill of the February air. Hope you enjoy…

Behind the lens…

 

I don’t often (try never) feature myself in my photos, but I had a unique opportunity for a quick self-portrait this week during my stay in Phoenix. I’ll be posting some of my more ambitious shots in the days ahead, but just for fun, I thought I’d show you what’s behind the lens as well. I had a wonderful vantage of the gorgeous Phoenix sunset from my hotel patio, and was shooting from all angles, when I noticed my own image displayed right behind me.  A couple of adjustments, and voila: Portrait of the Photographer. More to come from the valley of the sun later this week…Enjoy!

Tender snowdrops…

Yesterday, we awoke to dazzling array of white–a rare treat in our corner of the world–even for mid-winter! Soft, beautiful white fluff, wafting down from the clouds, quietly covering all that was green below. With temperatures predicted to rise by mid-morning, I moved quickly toward the ever-inspiring landscape of my own backyard, armed with a dedicated macro (a lovely Christmas gift indeed!) to capture what I hoped would be some unique images.  This one above is one of my favorites from the morning, because while I shot many sequences of snow while looking down, I particularly like the aspect of looking up, seeing how the tiny variegated privet delicately balances the loft of snow on its leaves.

Within an hour or so, all the snowdrops became drips… as the sun shone and the greenery returned. I hope you enjoy these tiny frozen moments that remain.

Enjoy…

Visions of Christmas…

 

As the year draws to a close, I wanted to offer holiday greetings to you and yours, with wishes for peace and happiness in the year ahead. Thanks to all for stopping by, offering comments, and offering comments during the year. Cheers!

 

A warm fuzzy…

 

Sometimes photography can just be…. for fun. There, I’ve said it. Nothing deep, introspective, earth shattering or otherworldly. Sometimes, it’s just a moment in time, a brief emotion, a connection with something or someone. So tonight, as I post this, I am sharing with you–the kind, interested, and supportive followers that have joined my blog posts for the last year and a half and who have occasionally offered an encouraging word or two–a “warm, fuzzy.” This is our lop-ear bunny, a big sweet ball of softness, whose kind, gentle, soulful eyes just seemed to say “share me.” So here you are. Hope you enjoy…

Desert light…

 

Morning light. Twinkling, gleaming, sticking to everything it touches. Nothing escapes. Each morning, the desert soaks in the sunlight and absorbs its energy, consuming its life-giving force to stretch, renew, and go on. Hope you enjoy…

Boom!

Fireworks never fail to move me. Every year, as the celebration gets started I look wondrously up at the bursts of color and just when I feel I have seen it all before, a display comes along that literally makes me gasp, then break out in a smile. It’s fun to feel like a kid again, every fourth of July, even if it’s for just a few minutes. Hope you enjoy…

 

Starry, starry night…

I’ve been away for a while and partly because I was traveling, on vacation, and creating images instead of sitting inside and editing them (a balance which far too often gets skewed toward the latter instead of the former). So after a madcap week of catching up on 9-5 duties, I have a little time to leisurely look back and play with some of my latest efforts. We took a family vacation to the beach–to the pristine beaches at South Walton–and I spent the normal amount of time just drinking in the coastal landscape and taking fun memory shots of my family. It’s always a battery re-charging experience down there, to be sure.

But I also try each year to challenge myself to a fresh assignment. One year I captured lightening over the Gulf; another year we had a magnificent orange moon that was too good to be true. This year, we were there during the New Moon phase, so no orbs in the night sky, but instead, on a couple of clear nights, I attempted something I had only flirted with before: capturing the feeling of those millions of stars overhead, and the mysterious moody shore at night.

Equipped with my 17-55 mm and tripod, I set up and experimented for about 30 mins before I settled on exposures that were a range of 15-20 seconds. Any longer, and the sky became overexposed and create extra noise, plus the stars begin to trail ever so slightly. Any less, and those beautiful twinklers became pinpricks, too tiny to discern.

One of my best results is posted today. I really love the way the waves lushly roll over in the long exposure, with just enough light from Panama City, some 20 miles away, to offer a glow on the horizon. While nothing can truly compare to standing on the shore at night, drinking in the sound of the waves, the salty sea breeze, and the overpowering vastness of the cosmos above, I know this shot for me helps to bring it home in my memory, once again. Hope you enjoy…

Meet Uber Bunny (or, the rest of the story)…

So some of you may remember my little teaser post a week ago where I alluded to a second half of the story involving a certain bunny on “high alert.” So now, here is the rest of the story. I noticed my little bunny friend in my front yard the other morning and at the same time, I noted that there were two or three large crows gathering around. They piqued my attention, so I paused at my front door to observe. The crows were walking around, circling the bunny, who was eyeing them steadily, as you can see in this first shot.

 

Then, here is where it gets interesting. After eyeing the crow and the crow circling a couple of times, out of the BLUE, the bunny turns into “Avenger Bunny” and attacks (yes, I truly mean attacks) the large bird. As startled as I was, I managed to capture this action in this shot below. Over the course of the next two hours, the mama bunny repeated this defensive action multiple times–chasing the crows around the yard, and leaping at them to scare them away. See below!

 

The bunny launched out at the crows time and time again until eventually they tired and flew away… only to return three to four times that morning–each time receiving the same treatment from Avenger Bunny. I surmised (rightly so, I later saw) that they bunny was protecting a burrow nearby and we’ve since seen baby bunnies around the yard. I had just never witnessed such aggressive behavior in what is assumed to be such a mild-mannered creature (insert Monty Python joke ) So now that you get the full picture, I’ll leave you with a couple of other images from my little version of Wild Kingdom. They may not be award-winning, but are pretty interesting nonetheless. Hope you enjoy….

Chasing the crows…Go bunny!

The standoff…

Another frontal attack…

 

And finally… time to rest. WHEW. 

I have to say, it was a pretty entertaining morning. Stay tuned here for more episodes of Avenger Bunny  (haha)! Just goes to show, you never know what you’ll see if you just stop and pay attention. More later!