creative / stylish

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

"Express your unique creative spirit."

This is one of the keys to happiness. * Lately I have been expressing my creative spirit with new ring designs inspired by nature. This one is inspired by the gently-flowing creek I hike beside on the weekends at Big Trees Forest. / I believe Taylor expresses herself creatively partly through the clothes she chooses to wear. Putting items from thrift stores together in such a unique way. I love it.

/ the weather was perfect this past weekend and that was a very nice birthday surprise [: so on sunday we decided to take advantage of it and go visit our tried and true abandoned house. we hadn't been back for over a year and it seemed like the perfect opportunity. everything was mostly as we had left it – there was something comforting about that. something very settling about the presence of something that hadn't changed in over a year when i know that i definitely have changed from year 20 to 21. this week we've had such warm temperature which makes me a little sad since i have so much studying to do. i would much rather be outside enjoying the sun! but spring will come soon and i'll get my chance.

*I found a book at the Goodwill store titled "Choosing Happiness" by Alexandra Stoddard. I just picked it up by chance and started flipping through because I saw highlighted quotes that I thought would be good for the heart garland I was making for Taylor. So I bought it. Later I found at the back of the book was a list of 54 keys to happiness. I liked them so much I decided to keep the book intact and to copy the key phrases in order to create 54 hearts - each one having one key to happiness - one a week for a year. Georgia B. suggested I do a series using the 54 Precious Keys to Happiness. I think that is a good idea. do you?

i walked / she sat

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

The weekend was like a beautiful day in April.

"The sun was warm but the wind was chill.

You know how it is with an April day.

When the sun is out and the wind is still,

You're one month on in the middle of May.

But if you so much as dare to speak,

a cloud come over the sunlit arch,

And wind comes off a frozen peak,

And you're two months back in the middle of March."

- Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time, 1926

rock / candy

L - Nikon / T - Canon & L - iphone

August Break 9

I did something different with our post tonight. Taylor sent me a photo of the candy feathers she bought at a souvenir shop at Niagara Falls and I 'photoshopped' it together with a photo I took at work of a bowl full of chocolate "rock" candy she bought me. These "rocks" really fooled people at work - good way to keep people from eating your candy. haha

(I think I may have confused some people - in my head it made sense. Just to clarify: the top photo is a real feather on rock pebbles. I wanted to contrast it with the photo on the bottom which is candy feathers and candy rocks. sorry for the confusion)

suburban / urban

L - Nikon / T - Canon

"If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive." ~Eleonora Duse

the simple beauty of nature can be found no matter where you live

posy / bouquet*

solo post - L, Nikon

"A delicate fabric of bird song 
Floats in the air, 
The smell of wet wild earth 
Is everywhere. 
Oh I must pass nothing by 
Without loving it much, 
The raindrop try with my lips, 
The grass with my touch; 
For how can I be sure 
I shall see again 
The world on the first of May 
Shining after the rain?" 
- Sara Teasdale, May Day

I woke up this morning with good intentions of being productive today... then I stepped outside... with camera in hand. You know the story.

Hope you enjoyed this first day of May.

*not your traditional bouquet of flowers but it works for me

relaxing / peaceful

solo post - L, Nikon

It was such a peaceful and relaxing weekend . I woke up Saturday morning and stepped outside and immediately thought, "I'm not sure there could be a more delightful day"... that thought stayed with me the entire weekend.

spring up

solo post - L, Nikon

"And Spring arose on the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere; And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast rose from the dreams of its wintry rest."
- Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Sensitive Plant

April is colorful and sweet smelling - yards and work places are filled with pinks, purples, and reds of azaleas, oranges and purples of pansies, sunny yellow tulips, lavender red buds, brilliant green grass, and the pure whites of dogwoods - all in full bloom against a bright blue sky... and a sweet scent fills the air. It sure makes one feel alive to be surrounded by such beauty. I have to say I've been enjoying it to the fullest all week - lunches outdoors, relatively non-stressful days and home in time to enjoy the golden hour every single day so far. I hope your week has been sweet as well.

infinite

solo post - L, Nikon / Canon

“I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.” - e.e. cummings

distinctive / distinct

solo post - L, Nikon

Taylor has been missing in action lately so I'm having to go it alone. Truthfully she said her computer has been acting up - making it difficult for her to send me photos, so I'll give her a break. Thank goodness I have a lot of photos to pull from. The bad thing is I'm not sure what to share. I told you a little bit about my Easter weekend. I went to Callaway Gardens and on the way there stopped at the Wild Animal Safari. If I had been a couple of days earlier I might have fooled you into thinking that I had indeed set out to travel the world. There were animals from all over the world and I was face to face with them - literally. If you're not prepared with a slobber towel you'll be sorry. You can see some of my 'up close and personal' shots on my flickr.

The zebras were one of my favorites. Did you know that a zebras stripes are as distinctive as fingerprints are in man? To me they are a bold and striking. / For a few hours on Sunday I tried desperately to get a decent photograph of the bluebirds moving in. I set up my tripod and waited patiently behind a tree. They came and went many times but I never did get a good photograph of them. I've also been trying to learn the different bird calls by using my iBird app. I think I can recognize the bluebird's song now. Each bird call has a distinct sound but when you hear close to a dozen different species singing in the backyard it's difficult to distinguish them. Towards the end of the day I decided to just lie in the hammock and listen. I heard one call that I had never noticed before and after searching my iBird app it seems it was a Eastern Meadowlark's song - yet I have never seen a Meadowlark. I would be thrilled to see one here.

By the way, the book on my hammock is a different sort of book than I expected. I have to say I was immediately drawn to the beauty of the cover and the illustrations inside. I read the brief description: "blessed with moments of beauty and the insight to recognize them as such, Sam Keen translates the marvels of the natural world to the language of heart and soul. He asks us to turn our eyes skyward and see what we discover." and this verse on the first page: "Arise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land." - Song of Solomon 2:10-12. It seemed a good purchase for my bookshelf. It's an interesting read but as it turns out Keen seems to discount God in his nature sightings - a surprise to me and frankly a disappointment. Oh well there's parts of it that I enjoy and it is pretty on my shelf.

the way i saw it / the way she saw it

photo by Leslye, Canon / concept by Taylor

"There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story." -Linda Hogan

Taylor was home this past weekend. One of the reasons she came home for was to have an interview with an art school here in Atlanta called "The Creative Circus". She learned alot about their 2 yr program in hopes of attending there after her graduation from UGA. It sounds like a wonderful place to further her education and she was so excited about it she'd like start right away. Of course I'm encouraging her to get her BA first and then attend.
As long as she was in Atlanta, of course she came home to see me. And of course we went on some photo adventures. She had a project that she was working on for photography class and her concept was to create 'rooms' in the openness of nature. I was lucky enough to get to assist her. The bedroom we built right in our backyard and boy did we get some curious onlookers. The desk photo above was taken down by the river. All of the others (she will have 6 or 8 film images in all) she is creating at different locations in Athens. It was a lot of work but we had fun working on this together. Taylor even tried out the bed in the ivy and said she could have definitely fallen asleep there - the 65º warm day was just right for a nap in the sun.



preliminary photos by Taylor - film camera

i feel like i'm creating my own little "reality" by doing these types of photos. yeah, they're neat when you look at them in person without a camera. but when i look through the viewfinder, the frame closing around my space, it's like i'm the only one who is able to experience what i'm seeing. it becomes a secret place and one that only i might live in- with whoever i choose, of course!

uplifting / daunting

L - Nikon / T - Nikon

When T sent me this photo late Sunday night I knew I had to put it together with my photo from my Sunday morning walk. Her's being a late night scary walk in the dark, with friends... mine being an cheerful walk in nature, alone. My walk had a one little obstacle, her walk was had several. I did not get lost, she did. / my best friend came into town this weekend from charleston and on her way back home to atlanta. it was great to have her back in town – i hadn't seen her since i moved into my house here. she's such a breath of fresh air in my life. however few and far between our interactions it's always nice to see her. since happenings in my little town were slow, we decided to make a twenty minute road trip with one of my other great friends to watkinsville, where washington farms and their famous corn maze are located. we got there around eleven and.. we did not make it out alone. by the time the field was closing at eleven, we were nowhere near the exit. none of us had ever been to a corn maze before and it was actually a lot of fun, however a little daunting! i would really like to go back and conquer it.. maybe when it's a little lighter outside!

treasure

solo post - L

Two days in a row - signs of happiness - the smiley face staring at me in the morning and now these xx's carved in a tree. I had a thought maybe there was treasure below, after all x marks the spot right? But I have a feeling they were put there by two people who adored - treasured - each other. Maybe even professing their love for each other at the very moment of engraving - it's a sweet thought anyway.
The shot seemed appropriate for Happy Love Thursday. Hope everyone finds a bit of love and happiness in their day today.

unexpected

words by L, photo by T

The other day T had told me about her first photo assignment and some of her ideas to carry them through. She had a series of 5 images to take. And because it's fun to act like a student again, I brainstormed my own ideas, but felt like my ideas were a pretty conventional and ordinary. I was so anxious to see what she would come up with. She showed me all of them except the one for "landscape" and I knew she was running out of time, even daylight. In my mind I was a little bit frustrated that she waited so late to complete them all. She told me she might go over to the abandoned house. My first thought was "no, that's not what the assignment is" but I kept my thoughts to myself.
here was her assignment:
make 5 color pictures using a digital camera from each of the following topics. you must shoot at least five images per topic, but turn in only one image per topic for critique. you will also have to turn in a digital contact sheet.
1. never again: make a photograph of something fleeting, something temporary. try to photograph an image that can never be photographed again. attention to light and time.
2. monochromatic color: make a photograph containing variations of only one color.
3. landscape: make a photograph that relays the emotional connection you do or do not feel with the environment
4. light and texture: use the ability of light to enhance a subject. make the ordinary extraordinary by allowing us to see something peculiar, obstructed, or intensified.
5. documentary: document a person, a moment, an event, or a place. pay attention to environment and detail. the information recorded should say something about the place, time, or emotional experience of the chosen subject.

When I pulled this image up late that night, I immediately smiled, clapped my hands in excitement, and said to myself, "oh Taylor!". I smiled to think, "why did I doubt her ability, even for a second". I expected her to do well, but it was unexpected just how. I have to say she amazes me – that's a mother talking. But apparently her teacher was astounded as well, and told the other students to take note of how T used light in all 5 of her assigned photos. I also doubt that the teacher expected such conceptual thought.

little deer / dear one

L - post / T - photos

I've been holding on to this image for bench monday. So since T is away without internet for a day or two I decided to post her photos myself. I love so many of the photos posted to the flickr group but I always forget about taking my own. I think there's something so mysterious about just seeing the a portion of someone. These little legs, a peek of an eye... These are part of the series of photos T took of my little niece. I did some processing to the one on the chair – gave it a softening effect that is rather fitting I think and posted it to the Bench Monday group. I love the coloring in this series - monotone with a pop of green.

what remains

solo post - L , click image to see it better

I caught the magnolias on the down swing – they really only stay at their most pristine for a day. Many of the blossoms had turned their creamy tan, which is really quite nice to me, some where various stages of opening – purple-bottomed stamen collecting in the petals. But most had lost the petals all together and what remained was the seed pod – still a thing of beauty in my eyes. The pod has a soft fuzzy lime green head with black curly "stigmas" I looked that up) and a bright purple "receptacle" ( I looked that up, too), all attached to the beautifully soft brown stem. Of course these go on to form fruit and become beautiful in the winter with their red berries. I just had to pull one off now and bring it indoors to scan.

happy earth day

solo post - L , Nikon

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." -John Muir, Preservationist, 1838-1914

My favorite time of day is at dusk when the light is changing and wildlife is rustling about. I enjoy sitting down by the creek and just letting the stress of the day fade away. Ours is a dry creek bed, but one day I would like to create some sort of water feature down there to give the impression of a real creek. However, I might never come in if I do that. I would build a fire down there and sit for hours with a cup of tea just enjoying the trickle of the water, and the bird song...
Did you get a chance to get outside today- to feel the sun on your face, maybe a breeze through your hair and to appreciate the beauty of nature around you?

drying / dried

solo post - L Nikon coolpix 990

Taylor took her camera back to school with her so I am back to using my old (1996) Nikon 990. It's a great camera - I won it back when it was one of the best digital cameras made. But I was getting rather fond of using the D40x and especially with the 200mm lens.
This weekend we had perfect spring weather - cool breezes and warm sun. I enjoyed the time outside working in the yard. I dug a hole to plant a butterfly bush, I raked old leaves away from the gardenia and hydrangea plants and pulled old dried stalks away from the flowers down by the creek, and best of all enjoyed reading in the hammock. But even when the weather is nice outside, inside chores have to be done too. I couldn't bear to break away from the sunlight so I stood in the kitchen window light, hand washing dishes instead of simply putting then in the dishwasher.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

intricate

solo post by L (photography without a camera)

"It is very easy to tell the difference between man-made and God-made objects. The more you magnify man-made objects, the cruder they look, but the more you magnify God-made objects, the more precise and intricate they appear." -Luther Sutherland

emerge / morph

L - Nikon D40x 200mm / T - phone pic
Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. I drove up to Athens to look at another house with my daughter. It was so warm I opened the sunroof! Before I left Atlanta I was outside with my dog and noticed the sproutings of spring. With temperatures like this for a few days I bet we will see more little surprises emerge. I remember one year in particular, on Feb 12th, (1990, the year my daughter was born) that the Bradford pear trees were in full bloom and the jonquils too. unusual. / our newest assignment in my 3D class is to create a "found object" sculpture piece with anthropomorphic or zoomorphic features. my teacher suggested a good dumpster to go to behind the foundry where there would be a lot of metal and wood scraps (without having o deal with food items). my roommate and i went over after breakfast and got to work dumpster- diving. the students doing metal work probably knew we were freshman assigned some crazy foundations class project and were laughing at us, but it was still fun. my finest find was this faucet. my roommate and i decided it kind of looked like a dog or a reindeer. what do you think it looks like - what can this faucet possibly morph into? i need to add more objects to make a full creature. help, i'm having trouble getting inspiration.

hanging on / coming soon

click image to see better detail
I thought it was interesting how theses leaves, barely hanging on, looked like cocoons. It's actually this time of year that some insects start forming their cocoons and stay in them all winter long. I guess we all sort of do that - cozying up for the winter. / a friend came over yesterday - he and I made these chocolate peppermint muffins. i'll share them with my best friend who is coming home from college tomorrow. i can't wait to see her. i've got to get some tea from teavana before she gets here.