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!

Old smell, new smell

When you start using senses you’ve neglected, your reward is to see the world with completely fresh eyes. – Barbara Sher

Just me, back again at a random time.  My camera assignment this past week was to capture "smell" in my photos.  I would think since smell is all around us, that should be an easy task.  Well...it turns out that it wasn't so easy for me.  I guess I've taken my sense of smell for granted!

I wonder if smell is just more of a personal thing?  Say I'm in a crowd at the fair and I take a picture of the cotton candy booth and show it to you.  Would you first think of the smell of the cotton candy or the color or the taste you remember?  What about if I shared a picture of rain, would you think of the smell in the air or the appearance of the wet rain drops?   What if I took a picture of old carpet and you've never experienced the removal of it, would you think of the smell or the appearance of it first?

Oh well, here's what I've come up with this week.  I'm assuming that if you've had prior experience with removal and replacement of carpeting you'd relate these pictures to smell in a way...

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your moments of fresh air!  Next "sense" to capture in photos...touch.

Several tenants later...time for this
yucky carpet to go!

Carpet not only holds dirt, it holds years
and years of smells.

Ewe...more than one layer to capture
the smell...

Oh my, no wonder the room smelled!

There are really pretty floors underneath. 

The cold air return harbored some
dust catching odors too!

Ah...new carpet, nice enough to lay on!

Worth the effort, worth the fresh
smell!

Five senses - A new journey in learning photography - On Smell

Observe, record, tabulate, communicate.  Use your five senses…Learn to see, learn to hear, learn to feel, learn to smell, and know that by practice alone you can become expert. – William Osler

Yesterday marked my 300th blog post.  I started out with great discipline, waking up every morning with a burning desire to blog about something random and to discover how my camera worked.  My dog Copper and I set out on an adventure that eventually wore out my little camera.  Tons of horrible pictures and a few I still enjoy looking back at.  We were on a roll.

Then life threw a curve ball or two and I had a hard time finding time and topics to blog about.  It was no longer the stage that I love...the process of learning how to do something.  That's exactly when I should try to look at differently.  I'm not an expert yet, so that means there's more to learn, I just need to change it up a bit.

I have a different camera now.  It is a Canon Rebel XSi.  It remains a bit intimidating.  Unfortunately, I still use it too often as a point and click camera.  Geez...my cellphone does that!  I've got to figure out how to use it as intended.  I've read the book, but that still doesn't tell me how to change up my approach to learning it.  Since I'm a little strapped for cash, a paid lesson isn't my next step.  Enter in a google search.

I found a cool website with free lessons. That'll be my next step for learning.  Are you up for watching this discovery unfold?  Thanks for stopping by to support me on this next phase in learning.  

Lesson 1 - Find a topic you enjoy photographing.  Hmmm...how about the quote above as a starting point? Yep, that'll work, I'll use it for a theme to learn more about my camera.

Capturing all of my five senses on film.  Can my pictures communicate the five senses??

Smell...are you ready Copper?  Of course, his little nose is always ready!

Steely eyed looks

If you can't take a steely-eyed look at what you're good at -- and what you're not good at -- then you're in for trouble before you begin. - Nancy Koehn Harvard Bus Schl Professor

I often wonder how many times in life does a person really take a look at who they are, what they are doing, what they wish they were doing and dream it was different?  Maybe it is our nature to long for change no matter how happy we really are?  Maybe we always want it to be just a bit better?  We wouldn't continue growing if we didn't, right?

What do you do to take a "steely-eyed" look at what you're good at?  Do you just know you're talented and you're doing exactly the right thing at the right time in life?

What if you realize you're not there yet, what do you do?  Do you step back, look at the situation differently?  Do you throw your hat into a different position, send off a resume and remind yourself you're never really stuck anywhere?  Do you say, "Nah...this isn't for me and move on?"  Or...do you fight just a little harder and change your approach and see the possibilities?  Do you sit back and let things unravel and wait patiently, because you do think with time it'll get better?

Having gone through many changes in the last few years, I've taken many hard looks at myself.  My favorite moments of discovery come when I grab the camera and take random pictures.  I can see things differently because I'm not stuck with my one view.

I love visual things, so I'm always on the look out to see something differently.  As I've said from the get-go, I'm an amateur at photography.   That means I'm taking a "steely-eyed" look at myself every time I take a round of pictures.  I love the fact the camera takes what I'm looking at with my eyes and shows me there is a different perspective.  What I saw is often times much different than what the camera caught digitally.

There are days I'm in trouble before I begin, maybe because I had no goal or I was simply not focusing due to too many distractions.  Sometimes I hit the mark.  I, more times than not, have to remind myself, it's all about being willing to just take a risk and get busy discovering new things.

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your steely-eyed moments of discovery!

Turn flash off before taking a picture through
the window!

Birds of a feather,
flock together.

A single, focused moment.

Sometimes the view to
new opportunities is blocked.

Look up from the bottom

Keep trying....there's more than one view

Flip-off someone if you feel like it (don't let them
see you though...you don't want to be too mean)

Take a steely eyed look

Reflect....(watch out for
photo bombs!)

Just don't lay around too long...you might
just get lazy!

Toads

Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head; and this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything. – William Shakespeare

Confession, my motive here was to find a quote about toads.  The quote above is as close as I could get.  I guess that's okay as I do have a mission to learn something new each day!  I wonder what William Shakespeare meant by "wears yet a precious jewel in his head"?

I don't know about you, but toads aren't incredibly precious looking.  They are more on the "ugly" side if you ask me.  After researching a bit, it turns out that it's all about a mythical stone/gem (i.e., precious) produced by a toad that is an antidote to poison.  Hmmm...

Back on track...I've been curious as to what the stuff I found on our front door step is.  Thus the search for a quote about toads.  Are these the precious jewels left behind by toads?  I don't know, that's my best guess. So what's the good in sharing this random sampling?

Let's summarize, I'm sure that the ugly little toad, or toads, ate plenty of bugs that haunt us in the yard.  They used their tongues to catch them and then left behind some treasures as stones so I could find something incredibly useless to blog about today!

See...something good in everything!  Happy Sunday - thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy finding something random to think about!  I think I'll find a broom and a dustpan and remove these little treasures!

Adversity...finding a little corner on a door step
to leave these treasures when there is a whole yard!

Ewe....this can't be from one toad?

If this were an antidote, I don't think
I'd try it....how about you?