Goodbye autumn… Hello world…

As much of the U.S., including my area, is being pounded with freezing rain in a not-so-subtle reminder that winter is here, I thought it would be nice to say goodbye to autumn with this warm and inviting image from just a few weeks ago. Fall seems such a fleeting season; it’s nice to hold on to it a little longer.

For the many followers of this blog that have tuned in and hopefully enjoyed my notes, ramblings, and visual offerings for the past couple of years, I would like to say formally say “hello” with a new identifying header, which aligns with my recently launched freelance photography business (www.debscallyphotography.com). The love of photography has been with me all my life, and I’ve recently decided to embrace, rather than fear, the challenge of taking it to new levels as a professional. Aside from the new heading, this blog’s mission won’t change–I will continue to use this platform to engage the side of me that thirsts for pure passion and creativity. Those are the two driving forces for anyone who is artistic, so I look forward to continuing on this path while I begin to embrace others as well.

Again, many thanks to each of you, for following, commenting, and encouraging along the way. This community has greatly bolstered my confidence and enthusiasm, allowing me to keep following my dreams.

Stay warm, wherever you are…

Different perspectives…

 

Lately our family has been watching a great Nova-produced series called “The Universe.” It’s quite humbling, really, to consider what a microblip our Earth is, in the bigger scheme of the vast, seemingly infinite cosmos. And the more you learn about the origins of life and the great leaps forward astronomers and astrogeologists and many others are making in our understanding of our galaxy, the more humbling–and miraculous–our existence becomes. Deep stuff, really.A

Several weeks ago, I set out to look closer at the world beneath my own feet–the microcosms that exist in a delicate balance far beneath our everyday awareness. In contemplating those images today, it occurs to me perspective works both directions. Each of the beautiful, geometric peaks and valleys found on this common backyard leaf is actually a vast landscape for other life forms, albeit smaller then our own, but no less complex, no less worthy. Maybe it’s just me, but I like the idea that there is so much more to the world than what we see everyday. Photography offers a unique window into both the infinitely big, as well as the remarkably small. Either direction you look, there are new mysteries to unlock, and unique beauty to behold. Hope you enjoy…

Sky on fire…

 

Sometimes, as photographers, you just gotta indulge in a moment of passion. I say that because once in a while, there is nothing more succulent than pure, natural color. We humans are drawn to it like moths to a flame. Last night’s fleeting pre-dusk sky was a masterful stroke by Mother Nature, comprising every succulent color from indigo to gold in her palette. You could not help but step outside and, well, just stare… After a moment or two of silently drinking this scene in, I grabbed the first camera I saw and pointed it heavenward. For once, no post-processing was required. Nature, got this one exactly right. Hope you enjoy…

Solar power…

As we find ourselves on the cusp of winter’s edge, it’s nice to harken back just a few months and remember the powerful warmth of summer’s magnificent sun. This fiery image, taken while cruising along the southeastern tip of Mexico, was truly a beauty to behold. Feel free to conjure it up anytime the chill of the season upon us takes its toll! Hope you enjoy…

Star light, star bright…

  Tonight my daughter and I looked up and saw the brightest, most dazzling star in the sky. I stared at it for a few moments before I was galvanized into action. Coat, shoes, tripod: Check. Camera, card, settings: Check.  Test shot one, two, three…. and action. Every day offers a new photographic opportunity if you are ready and willing and able. I love discovering something new, or visualizing something ordinary in a new way. It’s like breathing, and I can’t imagine a day without that creative motivation. Tonight, just after twilight, that motivation was the star, Sirius–a truly magnificent beacon a mere 8.6 light years away… For all my readers and followers, may you find your creative light, as well. Hope you enjoy…

If a tree falls…

 

So regarding the age-old philosophical question: “If a tree falls and no one is there, does it make a sound?” Well, if you are in the nearby vicinity, the answer is “yes!” An ear-splitting crack, actually. Last night, we had the spookiest weather imaginable for Halloween night, with 20-30 mile wind gusts that shook the foundations of the homes and… apparently some longstanding oaks as well. It’s easy to see how this one could not withstand the buffeting of the wind, which went on for several hours on end. Nature sure had fun welcoming in November around here!

Being and Nothingness…

 

Some people might look at this image and think, “There’s nothing there.” Others might look at it and think, “The whole world is there.” Photography has infinite shades and nuances, which is part of the everlasting appeal of the art to me. I shot this image a few days ago, on one of those, forgive the trite phrase, “picture perfect” new autumn afternoons–when the world was bright and aglow with the crispness of early fall, and the sky was a sketchbook of possibilities. Coming home from a work meeting… my eyes couldn’t take themselves from the sky, where it seemed that every manner of cloud formation–cumulus, cirrus, stratus, nimbus–had come together in a magnificent display, each formation as fleeting as time itself. Yes, I suppose you could say this is only a picture of the sky. But to me, the whole world is there. Hope you enjoy…

Waiting…

Here is another, quieter view of one of the world’s busiest places, Grand Central Station, New York. If you look long enough, you also see the quiet, among the chaos. Hope you enjoy…

 

 

The Grand view….

 

Followers of this blog know I am often drawn to nature and its environs–often inspired by the singular unique beauty of a leaf, a sky, a horizon. But for me, photography offers a canvas as vast as I can experience it. On a recent trip to New York City, I was fortunate enough to carve away an hour of time from my busy work demands and just lose myself in the miasma that is the central district, near Grand Central station. What a visual treat. Since my free time was relatively short, I made my choices simple: One camera, one lens, one 50mm focal length, which freed me to think of nothing outside of framing and composition. The result was anything but constrained… I felt like a true artist, no mission except to dive in and sample the urban, human landscape that is New York City. These two images capture the essence of Grand Central Station–one of the truly great architectural spaces in the city. It’s mesmerizing in there… considering the thousands–probably millions–of human stories that have passed through its great halls, each person in a harried rush to get from place to place. I could have sat there for hours, but I enjoyed the brief time I had there, and now have this moment in time to revisit it. I hope you enjoy it, as well…

Now you see it…

 

This image represents one aspect of what keeps me challenged, and forever thirsty, in my passion for the photographic arts: capturing that “moment” as you are seeing it in real time, and forever encasing it in pixels and perhaps dots on paper in the same  way you originally experienced it. How many  photographs actually do this?  This beautiful morning scene drew me in a week or so ago, on one of the first full days of autumn. It was about 7:00 a.m., and the dew was so moist it was literally dripping off the leaves; the shafts of sunlight were radiating through the branches and the fog, creating an otherworldly effect in what is normally an unremarkable rural setting near our neighborhood. But the moment… the moment was pristine. I framed, clicked, reframed… but  even as I shot, I could tell, somehow, the beauty of the fog-laden air, the clean, refreshing aromas, might never be truly represented by my efforts. Even so, I continued shooting until the sun rose so high that the shafts disappeared and the morning’s magical essence faded away. I hope a bit of it remains in my photograph, and I hope you enjoy…