Posted in Contributing Writer, Inspiration, Photography, Publication Updates, tagged art, collage, Contributing Writer, Creativity Portal, Inspiration, paper cuts, Photography, reflection on December 29, 2011| 2 Comments »
I’m pleased to share that I have a new article posted at Creativity Portal.com. Called “Beneath the Sun, Moon and Stars: Exploring New Worlds …,” it is the main feature on the home page this week. It’s a brief piece about having fun trying something new. I hope you have a chance to stop by and take a look. Have a good day, folks! 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, colors, Inspiration, nature, Photography, photos, pictures, reflection, sunlight on December 1, 2011| 3 Comments »
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged frog, great blue heron, Inspiration, nature, perspective, Photography, photos, pictures, reflection, squirrel, travel, wildlife on October 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »
As Steve and I walked through a wooded area this past Sunday, something rustled the dried leaves at my feet. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. A pale shape. Small. I followed. Soon I found myself kneeling in the mud inching closer to this little fellow, whose photo I took for a friend who loves frogs.
That same day, at an adjacent park, we walked around a pond and through the neighboring woods. In the middle of a bustling town the park was well-visited by local families. So, the animals were quite used to people. We walked through flocks of geese. Mallards looked up at us wondering if we had a treat. A chorus of gray squirrels chided Steve for not bringing them nuts. He promised to do so next time. But up high in a tree, more reluctant to be seen, sat a black squirrel.
Around grassy knolls we continued to walk. Then up a hill, past a little fort. Tucked here and there, in open spaces and sometimes beneath the largest trees, sat families. Some picnicked. I saw one man teaching his young daughter how to draw. Her little boy threw rocks into the pond and up high into the trees. I wonder if he noticed the beauty that lay at his feet?
The park was not large. And, truth be told, there were not that many trees, especially around the pond. Yet somehow, because it stood so still upon a dead branch, a great blue heron remained mostly obscured. Even as Steve and I stood there and stared at its quiet beauty, other people walked past us and muttered, “I wonder what they see?”
Posted in Branches, Guest Contributor, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged horizontal symmetry, landscape, nature, perception, Photography, photos, pictures, reflection, vertical symmetry, water on July 5, 2011| 2 Comments »
Recently Steve shared pictures from a trip abroad. Dreamy images of a Canadian landscape with narrow strips of land separating sky and water. Beautiful images to be sure, but what made them truly fascinating was Steve’s perspective as he shared them. He suggested in terms of their display the images should be rotated 90 degrees thus highlighting what he had been trying to capture — the reflection of the landscape in (often) still waters creating perfect symmetry, i.e. use the vertical line, not the horizontal, to heighten the viewer’s experience of the reflection. See what you think. 😉
I must admit, as I viewed some of these images at their new orientation, I began to “see” complex and rich structures that had nothing to do with their actual subject matter (trees, water, sky). I especially thought of the green man in the woods figure with this one.
What do you see?
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged colors, digital alteration, Photography, photos, pictures, reflection, refraction, sunlight, water on July 2, 2011| 1 Comment »
So one day sunlight came through a window and shone through a glass of water that I had left on a table. A scientist friend of mine explained that what I captured were caustics and that the ripples in the water were acting like lenses refracting the light around. I think I understand most of that. Mostly I appreciated the simple beauty of the lines on the paper and the opportunity to play around with the images later on the computer.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged Miami, Photography, reflection, sunlight, visual art on February 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Books I Love, Inspiration, tagged books, Botany for the Artist, color, design, imagery, Inspiration, reflection, The Great Life Photographers, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating on November 18, 2010| 1 Comment »
Did you know that snails have teeth? I didn’t until I started reading The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey. The book recounts the author’s interaction, while bedridden, with a relocated woodland snail. The language is quiet, beautiful and colorful. “While the snail slept I explored the terrarium from my bed … the variety of mosses was so satisfying … Their hues ranged from bright grass greens to deep dark greens and from sharp lemon greens to light blue greens.”
As someone who spends a great deal of time snapping photos of plants, it was very helpful stumbling upon Sarah Simblet’s Botany for the Artist. A beautiful book in and of itself, its contents reminded me to look more closely at the things I photograph and to better understand the different parts that make up a whole. I found this blog post that actually shows the behind-the-scenes creation of the book in the artist’s studio.
And finally …
A gift from a friend, and what a source of inspiration. I’ve been carrying it in my backpack so that whenever I am on the bus or needing a moment’s respite at work, out it comes.
Any other book recommendations you’d like to share?
Posted in Inspiration, tagged architecture, Photography, reflection, ripples, water on September 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »
In an earlier post, I asked what is this image.
Here’s another related image.
So, what’s happening here? Those of you who guessed anything to do with light and water were right on the money. What you see in these images is pure reflection. As I was walking along Boston Harbor the other day, I looked into the water and saw this:
This building was being reflected in the harbor waters.
As it was reflected in the water, it’s regular lines were distorted by surface ripples.
Luckily, I had my camera set to black and white. And then at the end, I switched back to color.
Posted in Guest Contributor, Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged color, ducks, flowers, fog, light, nature, Photography, reflection, spider webs, trees on August 1, 2010| 1 Comment »
Pink is not my favorite color, but this July pink flowers kept catching my attention, as did blooms in white,
and in gold.
I love photographing trees reflected in water. But sometimes I was so focused on shooting such images, that I nearly missed the ducks for the trees, like these little fellows sitting silently in the bottom of my frame.
Spiders — yes, spiders! — continued to woo me with their wondrous webs. As imperfect as they are, I cannot help but share these images of spider webs I saw one July night in Maine. Layers upon layers of fog-covered webs illuminated by night lights.
Guest contributors added visual and culinary spice to our lives by sharing recipes and photographs. Links below will take you to recent posts. Expect many more tasty selections in the coming months.
Tell Me About the Petunia Wall
And what does August hold? Hmmm.
* New submissions to writing and photography contests, magazines and other Call for Artists.
* Putting better business practices into place around my creative life, from fun stuff like new business cards to better systems for cataloging and tracking images and articles.
* Following up on recent opportunities to tell other peoples’ amazing life stories.
* Pulling together all my camera gear and giving everything a good cleaning!
* Writing. Writing. Writing.
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged Photography, reflection, refraction, water on May 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »
A few years ago, I embarked on a cloud chasing expedition and encouraged others to do the same. Clouds still beckon my eyes, but so do the waters in which the clouds and so much more are reflected. Of late, it has been that feature of water — reflection and refraction — that has fascinated me and drawn me to race to nearby rivers and streams on sunny days. Click the images above to view some recent photos taken around Boston.
Words + Images 