Light, Shade and Color

What we can see with our eyes is so beautiful!

I know some people never see how beautiful!  

If only they knew what they were missing.

How it fills up your heart and soul.

Since taking up photography some years ago,  I see more than I ever did!  

Walking or driving by familiar places and noticing something that I 

never happened to see before is like receiving a gift from a long time friend.

Looking and seeing objects in a new way.

I have found that I am aware of three things when

I am looking around with my photographic eye. 

 I want to share them with you.

Light -  Seek the Light

Light is the first thing we see when we open our eyes.

Look further!

 

Look how it shines upon, over, around and through objects. 

 Light is Life..every living thing..and even a rock, loves Light.  

Shade - Embrace the Shade

Shade is caused by something getting in the way of the Light.

Creating a shadow or reflection which has its own beauty.

 Shade makes objects mysterious.

Reflections and shadows create a new canvas for our eyes to view.

Color -  Live Color

Nothing captures my attention more than Color!

Color is a feast for my eyes.

Every color created in making art was first seen in Nature.

After the Light, our eyes see color.  

Color is alive.

Take a moment every day to Seek Light, Embrace Shade and Live Color!

You will be glad you did.

Grabbing some moments!

For the last three years I have chosen a word each year to be a point of inspiration to use for taking photos and just living my life.  Moments is my word for 2016.  Moments are tiny bits of time to savor and remember. This quotation by the late Pat Conroy sums up my feelings about moments.

"Why do they not teach you 

that Time is a finger snap and an eye blink,

And that you should not allow a moment to pass you by 

without taking joyous, ecstatic, note of it,

Not wasting a single moment.     

Moments can be a single piece of time or as much as a few hours.  Spending time with family and friends has moments that I record with photos for remembering later.  Photos of happiness.    I find my favorite moments usually happen when I am alone, walking, wandering, meandering,  just being with myself.  Not having to talk to anyway, not having to think about anything in particular.  Just being me.  

Nature is my balm and my medicine.  I can be out of sorts or stressed or just too tired to function as I want.  But the minute I walk around the yard, sit in the grass or even on the porch wrapped up in blanket on the rocking chair because it is freezing cold, I can feel all these bad feelings let go..or I let them go.   I give myself a gift each day by walking the dog along the road here or on a path through the woods nearby.  Sometimes, I run away from home to a park or a place where there are trails in the deep forest, or maybe to the mountains or the beach. Driving a couple of hours just to be away from the thing that gets me unsettled.    A little further away but I know when I need to go.  The silence of the forest gives my brain a rest. The ocean helps me breathe deeply.   Just me with me.

Being still and silent; walking with nothing on my mind except where I am.

And usually the camera is along because something of nature will always jump in path to give me a piece of its joy and happiness.  Make me smile!   Here are some bits of nature that found me in the last few weeks.   My mental health helpers.

Taking note of each moment of my life!

Oh March! A journey of renewal

 

I wandered through March
Seeing her old friends return.

           

 Traveling along,
 seeking Spring
 greeting each of those
whose path I crossed.

March's friends are bright and bold and beautiful!

                                           I could hear her friend's 

whispering among themselves 

words of joy at seeing each other 

after the long winter of waiting.

They are wanderers like me

 at the beginning of their new journey.

Goodbye, March! 

I must be going to see April!

 Thank you for sharing your friends!

A world without color

                     Looking at the world without its many colors,  is it any less beautiful?

                                                  Everything is still the same!

                               Does the sunflower lose its beauty when it is not yellow?

Look beyond the blue of the sky,

is it not still wonderful to see the clouds blowing by!

What is white is the still the same

just not seen in the setting of rich green grass and leaves.

 Look beyond what is consider the "normal".

Look close and see what something is made of.

See what the world is without being dressed up 

in its finery.

It is still the most beautiful place!

Right Here Now

      

 I came across this poem this week.  It spoke to my heart about

 my time spent in the Forest or wherever there are trees. 

   "Here" is my favorite place to be. 

    Lost

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you

Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,

And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,

Must ask permission to know it and be known.

The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,

I have made this place around you.

If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.

No two branches are the same to Wren.

If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,

You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows

Where you are. You must let it find you.   

----David Wagoner

The best moments are always Here!

Listen to the trees!

Seeing differently

     The camera is a joy for me.  

Taking clear, sharp photos of beautiful scenery,

lovely flowers and the wonderful things I find in the natural world.

Sometimes, my eyes get all dreamy and the subjects of my photos 

tell me that I need to be creative and different.

I have learned to appreciate that a blurry photo does not have to be deleted.

If I keep looking and seeing, the photo becomes a work of art.

A recent walk in the forest, eyes open to seeing, found these moments.

  Leaves moving in the wind

  The blaze on the tree along the path

 The trees reflecting in the creek

Grass under water

Seeing the colors, shapes and textures of Nature.

But what about when the colors are gone?

Do the photos appeal and seem like art 

when there is no color,

just a feeling of light and dark?

For me, the answer is yes!

I like challenging myself to come up with ways of seeing differently.

Capturing moments of life without rules and restrictions.

What did you see differently today?