…we invite you to explore Layers. You can include images of buildings, landscapes, seascapes, clouds, etc.
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I am always fascinated to get a glimpse of what goes on in the hidden places. The mysteries of plant life navigating from seed to stem to flower. Or whatever its destiny may be.
The intricate dance of soil, water and nutrients essential for success…seems miraculous. Tender shoots of life making their way to the sun. Surviving despite obstacles…both nature and human caused.
A cross section of one hidden place was on display recently…when a recent rainstorm dislodged a support wall alongside a brook near the town park.
My first thought was to crop the image to highlight the layers of exposed roots and stones in the center. Then I realized…no, it is all part of a larger and equally complex layered landscape. In a scene that literally stopped me in my tracks during a late afternoon walk.
This brook also travels south and eventually empties into a tidal river that flows behind old brick buildings in the downtown area.
A site for more layers.
There I discovered plant life…layered in glorious fall colors…crawling up, down and across a brick and stone canvas.
Let’s see what happens when you pick up a small stone – the flatter the better – hold it just right between your thumb and first finger. Flick your hand back and then forward real quick – releasing it across the lake’s surface…
So it skips.
At 6 years old, you already play with rocks that you collect and line up in long rows on the deck railing at home. Separating them by size and shape. Carefully. Methodically. Counting them is also part of the fun.
But here it is different.
You and your family are at the lake.
You watch your daddy and see how he gets those stones to bounce across the water.
It is summer vacation after all.
No phones. No TV. No work. No school.
Hours upon hours to play.
Or maybe you’re only 3 years old. Your grampa is visiting to celebrate his 70th birthday and you want to try out your new doctor kit. He is your Patient of the Day.
First you listen to his heart. He is very quiet while you check it out.
Then he rolls up his sleeve so you can give him a shot. Because after all he might need one. Ooooh.
You can include images of buildings, people, objects, and/or elements from nature. Feel free to include shots of the same subject before you filled the frame and after you filled the frame.
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This past summer I had a butterfly experience.
In fact…a massive butterfly experience. As a photographer, I had never been this up close and personal with so many butterflies. As I was to find out, butterfly bushes are instrumental in attracting these beautiful – and elusive – quick-to-fly-away insects.
At first I was drawn to the bushes themselves.
But, after filling the frame, I got the scene I wanted.
A butterfly resting at (almost) center stage, highlighted against its signature flowers.
Filling the Frame
More recently, I found a patch of ferns in varying degrees of Autumn decay tucked behind a wire fence.
But on closer inspection…I uncovered an entirely different perspective.
A dance of textures and shades of green plus brown.
Inspired by Lens-Artists Challenge #65: Pick a Place
We’d like you to capture the spirit of a place that is vivid in your memory. What was it that drew you in and why did it capture YOUR heart?
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You have to go to Coronado!
Stop at the Del for dessert since it’s cheaper than getting a meal!
My friend Barbara was adamant. My husband and I were planning a week’s vacation in San Diego (this was 1996…before the internet…back when you talked to friends and read travel books to prepare for a trip). I had always wanted to explore southern California – specifically San Diego – and Barbara insisted we include a trip to nearby Coronado.
She grew up in California, so I figured her advice was solid.
We dutifully signed up for one of those trolley tours you can take when visiting a popular tourist destination. Coronado (often referred to as an island, but as we were informed many times – it’s a peninsula – NOT an island) is just across the bridge from San Diego. Lucky for us…it was a stop on the route.
When the trolley let us off on Coronado’s Orange Avenue….we fell in love with what we saw. Palm tree lined streets, friendly locals, an amazing ice cream shop, a restaurant advertising the world’s best margarita, thriving community theater…and the best part: the Beach. Sparkly sand like I’d never seen before. Or since.
Yes, we also drank tea and enjoyed a snack at the “Del” (aka: The Hotel Del Coronado…the iconic location of the classic film Some Like It Hot). Thank you Barbara.
We discovered that Coronado Beach goes on for what seems like forever. Dotted with people of all ages, shapes and sizes. Tourists and townspeople alike. Kids building sand castles. Teenagers tossing beachballs. Runners pounding footprints into the sand. Even a section for dogs and their humans to play.
It’s also a perfect beach for walking, even at high tide. An ideal spot for stretching out on a rented chair or towel. Reading. Writing. Listening to music. Staring at the horizon. Quenching one’s thirst. Unwinding.
We returned to my favorite place a half dozen times and found something new to do every visit.
My last visit was a solo trip in 2006 for a week’s R&R.
No need to rent a car. Walking or riding a bicycle was enough.
From a walk by the pier…to the shops…to the beach.
Several countrysides come to mind for this challenge…
In the fields next to what used to be a New Hampshire family farm – and is now a farming cooperative – was the sight of a recent sunflower festival…
I was driving past it a few weeks ago and just had to stop. It was a few days before the festival and nobody was there but me. A perfect photo opportunity! I had never seen so many sunflowers in one place at one time.
Such an amazing view.
New Hampshire farm field
In early September, during a visit to the small town of Shelburne, Vermont – the countryside was on display next to the grounds of the Shelburne Museum.
Shelburne, Vermont
I also visited Vermont in mid June. Where a bit farther down the road, a community garden was just beginning to showcase what was to come.
Inspired by Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #63: Magical
Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? Anyone who has loved has been touched by magic. It is such a simple and such an extraordinary part of the lives we live.
Nora Roberts
During two visits to Vermont’s Shelburne Museum this summer, I kept gravitating back to this pond. One of many beautiful spots on the 45 acre campus. I’d walk by and then double back as the light shifted throughout the day. I took photo after photo, each shot just a bit different from the one before.
At one point, as if out of nowhere, a family of ducks glided across…and then…disappeared.
Magical.
A few years ago I felt the pull to another favorite place…the ocean’s edge…late afternoon. In November when the beach was nearly deserted. The sun sinking.
I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time.
Inspired by Lens-Artists Challenge #62: Silhouettes
After a recent long walk up and down the shoreline at the beach, I noticed a row of seagulls perched on the roof of a shelter near the parking lot.
I assumed they were taking a rest from a long day of swooping down on unsuspecting tourists and their dropped chunks of sandwiches, fried dough and chips. Always on the lookout. Always hungry.
They didn’t seem to mind being photographed.
A couple of years ago, another beach goer on the lookout…who didn’t know he was being photographed.
Inspired by Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Precious Pets
…We have a dog. Her name is Kaki. She is a beagle…
Kaki
That was the grand announcement in my diary for January 1, 1965 for the first (and last) dog to appear during my childhood. Three scrawled blue ink sentences interspersed between waxing my new white bike, describing my parents’ Open House and watching The Addams Family and Gomer Pyle that night on television.
Kaki’s arrival actually happened on Christmas Eve 1964. I imagine she was supposed to be a Christmas present for me and my 3 younger siblings…
…We have a surprise for you all!
The front door opened and a small dog broke loose from my father’s grip. She started running – taking off down the hall through the kitchen and into the dining room. From there she ran straight into the 4 of us waiting in the living room. Where a fully decorated Christmas tree was standing in the corner. All hell broke loose.
We all chased her. She ran faster. Repeating the circular path around the main floor of the house. Kitchen-Dining Room-Living Room. My parents yelled. The next thing I remember, our new dog ran into the tree and grabbed ornaments in her mouth. Glass ornaments. The tree may have tipped over. I was petrified. She’s swallowed glass. She might die!
My remembering gets murky after that. I think my father finally caught her and checked her mouth. Gave her bread to eat, which was supposed to stick to the shards from the ornament. Perhaps the actual drama was shorter lived, but it was scary for all of us – Kaki (named for her brown colored ears) was probably the most scared.
It was my mother’s well meaning idea to give us a dog. I think it completed her dream of the ideal family unit: mother, father, 4 kids and a dog. In her dream we would all help take care of it. Without complaint. The dog would, of course, behave perfectly. There would be no peeing on the floor. No chewing on furniture. Eating the pompoms off the tablecloth. Throwing up on the rug.
Unfortunately for Kaki, she behaved about as perfectly as the imperfect children in this less than ideal household. She was a sweet dog, though. I enjoyed walking her around the block. Searching the neighborhood (repeatedly) for her when she escaped out the front door…not so much. I wonder now if my parents ever brought her to obedience school.
Several years later (4 or 5?) my parents gave her away to a single guy (I think he was a veteran) who wanted a dog. I don’t remember why or when or how.
When I had a family of my own – including a daughter and a son – the subject of getting a dog came up a few times. My husband and I decided we had enough to do with jobs, a house, kids and activities. I saw first hand as a child…dogs are a lot of work and take a lot of time. And sometimes it doesn’t go according to plan.
When you grow up, you can have your own dog!…was our standard answer.
And they did.
My daughter and her husband adopted a rescue dog in 2014. Lutra is a well loved (and well trained!) member of the family. She loves squeaky chew toys, cheese and helping out with crumbs below the chair belonging to the newest human member of the family. She does not like squirrels or cats and lets them know it too.
My 3 year old grandson considers Lutra to be his dog.
Lutra
My son finally got a dog of his own this past February. He and his girlfriend also adopted a rescue dog. It had been found lost on a highway in Arkansas with no chip or ID. They discovered him on an adoption site online and he arrived via a freight truck at a rest area nearby. We went with them to pick up their new pet.
They were understandably a bit nervous – after all they lived in a small 4th floor walkup apartment in Boston. A high strung barking dog would be a challenge. The agreement included a 2 week trial period, but as it turned out…they had nothing to worry about. It was a perfect match. We could see it that cold day in the parking lot as they met for the first time….
one letter UP ~ diary 2.0 