Just being

I never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun. – Katharine Hepburn

This past week's lesson was to capture "sight".  It is pretty evident that every picture taken is capturing something the photographer sees.  Sight is inherent in photography.  In fact, that IS my favorite part of photography.  Especially being an amateur photographer.   Just looking around you there is always something to see and something to capture in a picture.  The quote above fits for my quest of "sight".

I love to just sit back people watch or watch the scenery.  It's double the fun when you can do both at the same time.  What better place than a busy city to accomplish both things.  We ventured to see our daughter in Chicago and saw so many things that I could have filled up my SD card.  I didn't though, I just wanted to watch our kids reconnect and simply just "be" a family for a couple of days.  That's what we've all been missing the most, just being together, talking and sharing time.

I think sight was my favorite sense to capture.  Now I'll move on to learning about basics of exposure in photography.  The more "technical" stuff!

Thanks for stopping by - Enjoy your moments of "just being".  See you soon!

Now...just a bunch of what I saw while just being with our family!

I was taking a picture of my husband
and oldest daughter, and this nice
guy walked up to photo bomb.  We just
invited him instead!

A latte - Wormhole style

Look up - what's that face
peering out of the building?

The Wormhole - with the city
street reflecting on it.

Me!

The view my daughter sees every morning!

View to the right - before
Chicago really wakes up.

View to the left, another
photography session going on!

I could have sworn those Christmas decorations
were not there the day before!   Do they decorate
at night for Macy's?

Still warm enough to transport via bike.

Best breakfast - veggie style - State and Lake 

The reason for the trip - hugs and just being
with her!

The grass along the road on the way home -
I just couldn't get a better picture than this!

Just being...that's all you can do when you're
the passenger...gives you lots of time to
remember all the fun you've had!  

Thanks be to taste

Give us this day our daily taste.  Restore to us soups that spoons will not sink in and sauces which are never the same twice.  Raise up among us stews with more gravy than we have bread to blot it with.  Give us pasta with a hundred fillings – Robert Farrar Capon

 Hi - welcome back to my adventure in learning about intent in photography.  This week's mission was to capture "taste."  Taste was more fun to capture than the previous senses.  Taking pictures is always enjoyable to me, on top of that I was able to enjoy the taste in them too.  I guess I could say that I can cook, been doing so most of my life.  I really enjoy baking more, but have put that hobby aside to discover photography instead!  There are less calories in pictures!

Never fear...I don't go hungry!  I'm really lucky...my husband is a great cook/chef.  He doesn't admit it nor want to claim it as his destiny, but he can follow a recipe and everything turns out full of taste!  He's a master at grilling too.

So...I had plenty of opportunities this week to capture some tasty objects.  We always give thanks that our bowls/plates are full and we aren't going hungry.  Sometimes we eat a lot at a big meal, other times just a snack here and there during the football game.  Lots of meals to be thankful for that's for sure!  The quote above reminded me of a sign that hung in our kitchen as I was growing up.  Always be thankful for everything.  That I am!!

Thank you for stopping by!  Enjoy the tasteful moments in your life.  Next week's sense to capture - sight...

This week's photo attempts ~

Ready, set, snacks for
the Packer game - (Leinie's Hoppin Helles!)

Cheese, crackers and apples

OCD moment...gotta make the cheese last through
every bite...

Marinated pork and mango kabobs, yummmm....

These are so good, you can't eat just one bite!

The sauce adds to the flavor - always enjoyable

Forks just can't scoop up all the sauce...

Minestrone soup - (Olive Garden Copycat recipe)

Yep - delicious as always! (Two bowls full to be exact!)

Thank you for everything!

Thank you for the tastes of the week!

Time to get dancing and burn off some calories...
or a run will do!  Now where are those running shoes???

Sounds of nature

The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach. – Henry Beston

And here I thought last week's assignment of capturing photos of touch was hard.  I knew sound would be hard to capture on film too.  All week I attempted to think of ways to capture silence.  I tried early morning sunrises and late night sunsets since they are always silent to me.  Flowers just blooming are pretty, but silent. I even captured a walking stick on the front door who was silent.  But...would you know in those pictures that I was trying to capture silence?  Maybe if I was creative with the titles?  Probably not though...

Then yesterday, it was WINDY.  Where we live, we're pretty used to the wind.  We affectionately call our back yard the tundra because wind is so frequent.  When the winds are windy enough for me to notice them, it is really windy out.  Not windy like the run on sentences I just wrote, just windy.  Wind blowing through the weeds, leaves and trees is noisy.  Noise = sound....mission accomplished right?

I agree with the quote above...think about the relaxing sound of a soft rain, the mysterious sound of wind through the trees in the woods, and the peaceful sound of the ocean waves.  No wonder they have CD's you can buy with all three.  Those elemental sounds ground a person with nature.

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy the sounds of nature!  Next week's photo assignment...taste.

Red morning silence

A walking stick is very quiet - Copper is quiet
and patiently waiting to come out side.

Aren't walking sticks weird?

Wind whipping the flag in the air.

Yes, marigolds are true silent bloomers throughout
the season!

The blurry leaves are the wind blowing through them!

A different view of the tree
blowing in the wind.

Even close to the ground the leaves
were blowing.

Weeds were even bending in the wind.

The wind moving around all the different
colored clouds across the blue sky.

Sun starting to set.

Red silence at sunset.

Tizzy silently bored with
this week's assignment...she
had to rest her head on the counter!

 

A touch of creative anxiety

Anxiety is part of creativity, the need to get something out, the need to be rid of something or to get in touch with something within. – David Duchovny

This week's challenge - capture "touch" in my photos.  I thought last week's "smell" was difficult.  I'm starting to get some anxiety about my plan of choosing to capture senses in photos as a way to learn more about my camera.  But...that's the plan, so find a way.  When in doubt, "Google it" to find out the meaning of the word as a starting point.  That's my secret game plan when I'm not positive where to start.

Definition of touch:
Verb:  Come so close or come in contact with an object.
Noun:  An act of touching someone or something; or a small amount of something.

Well, the definition helps a little I guess.  So what did I find in my photos for the week?  Remember I'm just trying out different settings and different distances to see if I can notice a difference in how the camera works best.  I tried a bit of using the landscape setting.  I tried out a few pictures of using natural light and the no flash setting.  The no flash setting proved to be the most interesting as it changes the amount of light and the speed of the shutter.  I'm positive there are more technical ways to explain it.  I just noticed it requires a more steady hand to hold the camera as the pictures are blurry if there isn't enough light in the room to take the pictures.

What about you?  When you're anxious, do you get creative?  Do you whine about what needs to get out?  Do you search for a way to relax and take things in to get a better perspective?  Or do you just dump your thoughts and get in touch with what really matters most to you, and find a way to move forward?

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy the moments of anxious creativity in your life.  Next week's challenge - hearing.  Oh boy!

A touch of color to the sky

Touch of "ready to pounce"

If only the chair wasn't in
the way, they'd be "touching"

No flash setting and a large moving target = blurriness

Close up - touch of natural window light

Moved to the other side w/ the camera, with the light
behind it-
I think this is too bright.

Chewie touching his bedding and make a new
place to sleep.

All these pictures are making Copper 'anxious'!

No flash

With flash

Close breeze to the face - guess she doesn't like it!

Fond memories of a person's hugs I adored!
There's nothing more precious than human touch!