illuminate [iˈlo͞oməˌnāt]
light up, clarify, explain
The first snowfall of the season illuminated by the glow from a single streetlight.
The last tomato.
One tiny ladybug.
A three bear summer.
The rest of the year will fly by as it always does but I will enjoy each moment and slow its passage.
delicate [ˈdelikət]
easily broken or damaged, fragile
I’ve long had a love affair with words. And when images can speak a single word they’ve done their job.
Few things can be as delicate and fragile as a snowflake, but life is, from beginning to end.
We plan for a time that isn’t right now, never considering that our time is right now. This moment, not one that may happen years from now.
Change one thing today and always tell the ones close to you how much you love them.
If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.Eleonora Duse
This week one of my blog followers lost a man very dear to her heart. As is often the case when I sat down this morning to write, one image seemed to fit. I know that she appreciated every day that she had and that is the message that keeps repeating itself. Louder each time so as not to be overlooked.
Live in the moment. Appreciate what you have right now. Don’t leave words unspoken and never wait for a better time to be happy.
equinox, is winter upon us?
There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
The autumn equinox is upon us; the days will become shorter, and soon, if not already, the snow will begin to fall.
Today there will be equal hours of day and night and rituals abound for marking that sense of balance.
One of my favorite stories comes from Greek mythology and Persephone who was abducted from her mother, harvest Goddess Demeter, and taken to the underworld to become the wife of Hades. She eventually got her back only to lose her to Hades for three months of every year. During this time Demeter would refuse to grow plants resulting in “winter”.
I don’t share Demeter’s sense of loss when winter comes calling. For me it’s a time of stark, clean landscapes and crystalline structures.
Enjoy every moment, not just the ones that are perfect…that’s what is important.
that make all the difference.
The stronger a man is, the more gentle he can afford to be.
Elbert Hubbard
We look at images for many different reasons but what compels you to go back to a single image over and over again?
On this day with temperatures in the single digits, I wasn’t outside alone photographing my tiny, intimate landscapes. A first for me, I had a willing participant and the captured image that I loved the most from that morning wasn’t one of the tiny frost covered bubbles, a single snowflake, or an elegant forest of hoar-frost.
I keep going back to this one because it speaks to me of quiet strength and confidence. This is a man who is far more comfortable dead-lifting in a gym, teaching self-defense moves, or performing choreographed fight movements; a kung fu style of moving meditation.
Yet he was a willing participant in my morning single digit temperature photo shoot. That willingness showed me a strength that I had to turn my camera towards. It was one of those moments in photography where you think you’ll be shooting one thing but something else happens.
I think photographers tend to be solitary by nature but having someone to share the beauty of the frozen landscape with, in the moment and not just by a later shared image, was a new experience for me.
First tip of the new year…stay fluid and look for moments. Your image of the day isn’t always going to be the one that you planned!
I have a feeling that this year is going to be very interesting.
it's (almost always) about the water... 