If you look at the latest Wordless Wednesdays on this blog you’ll understand why this is a reward.
You can see other interpretations of ‘reward’ at the original challenge. Or stop by here, here, here and here.
And don’t miss this one. It’s the kind of place I’d use as a reward myself.
What’s a reward for you? Have you treated yourself lately?
It’s time.
Some of you have heard about the rule of thirds; the placement within a composed photo of the point of interest near the intersection of lines drawn dissecting the entire image into thirds. It’s one way of adding interest to a photo. Katie the sheltie-girl and I went out to see what we could find that was fun and interesting. And though I took plenty of photos of her sitting dutifully in her lower right corner, the photo I like best out of all of them was this, a hurriedly composed shot, with only one chance to get it before he moved out of sight.
Going for a walk
It was the man’s orange hat that caught my eye just as I was putting Katie back in the car. I rushed her back out into the parking lot and grabbed the shot. This is not a classic rule of thirds image as the rest of the image surrounding the subject is not empty. If I’d had more time I’d have raised the camera a bit and had less snow, (you know, about a third of the photograph) in the foreground. But I only had one split second, and I like the result.
If you go to the original challenge post you’ll see an absolutely beautiful redbud leaf and the description of doing the rule of thirds while also focusing on creating a bokeh, that interesting and beautifully blurred background. I messed around at home trying for something similar. This is as close as I got before the afternoon sun sank and my kitchen reverted to uninspiring.
Orange afternoon light.
This also is not classic. The background isn’t blurry enough and the subject is certainly taking up more than a third of the foreground. I’ll be trying this technique again. But still. I like the color and the warmth and the light.
The fun about these photo challenges is that they make me think a little bit about how to answer creatively before I run out to find the actual image. I like the adventure of finding new photos, trying new things, and the challenge both gets me out of the house with the camera (and sometimes the dog) and makes me see the world around me in a slightly different way. Today while driving I was looking for something that divided into thirds. This morning at the grocery store I was looking for something interesting for a an indoor bokeh.
Without the photo challenge I’d probably have spent the afternoon doing laundry, and how fun is that? For more fun rule of thirds images go here, here, here and here.
And this one too.
Katie’s kind of miffed that she’s not the star of this post. But she’ll get her turn.
She always does.
Never ignore a princess.
If you go to the original post you’ll see inspirational photo which is gorgeous…and looks just like shots we took of a similar fort in Maine this past summer. Friday I had lots of ideas about things to photograph that show symmetry. I had plans for heading out on Monday, a holiday from work, to see what I could see. But it’s 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15C) right now and it’s going to get colder the rest of this long weekend and the wind is blowing making it even worse. So it’s very possible I won’t be going anywhere. I figured this would be yet another photo challenge that I missed because I just can’t get out of the house with my camera.
Then I looked out my kitchen window, watching the wind whip snow across the back yard. And I saw it.
Alien?
I have no idea what sort of animal would make tracks like this. It looks like a giant turtle pulled itself up to the bird feeder and then back out to the woods. But it’s certainly not turtle weather at the moment. Here’s a closer image. What do you think made these?
Two aliens
Maybe it was Winnie the Pooh’s mysterious Heffalump, but whatever it was I like the symmetry.
The wind has now covered up the tracks; I was lucky to notice it when I did. If you’d like to see some other images of symmetry, try here, here, here and here. Or go to the original post and look at all that have been submitted so far. The challenge lasts for a week, so check there again later and you’ll see even more!
What’s symmetric in your life? I hope it’s a warmer image than mine. I, for one, am thoroughly done with all the winter snow and wind. I’d like to photograph a symmetric field of corn or the symmetry of a dahlia blossom. I might still go and try to find some colorful symmetry. We’ll see.
How about you? Can you find a bit of symmetry somewhere around you?
Katie here. Guess what? Mama saw all the dogs on Facebook dressed up in Valentine garb and she got all wistful. Cause she knows better than to dress me up in any hat or glasses or dress or anything. I won’t stand for it! No siree. Unless maybe she has a crown. I’d consider that I suppose – if it’s real gold. With jewels.
Anyway…
I am somewhat of a camera hog. I know when my mama gets the camera out that I should look real pretty and turn my head just so and smile. That usually gets me a treat. But last night when my mama brought out this heart boa I was kinda scared at first. Then she put it on my pillow and said ‘touch!’ and I did and I got a treat! And we did that for a little bit until I was touching it on my own, and sniffing it and pushing my face into it and mama said she thought I was ready for my closeup.
Whatever that means.
Glamor girl
So what do you think? I’m a cover girl in front of the fire on Valentines Day! I wasn’t afraid of the boa at all! And as soon as I heard that camera click I was up and sitting in front of my mama for my treat. Because I know the most important part about this modeling business.
No glamor shots without pay.
Don’t you know.
Where’s my treat mama?
It’s February 1st, a snow storm is upon us and everyone is huddled inside to wait it out.
Right?
Weekend fun
In the depth of winter fishermen remain passionate about their sport.
Go see other interpretations of dept at the original WordPress post.
Or go see a few, here, here, and here. And of course one more here.
Stay warm out there!
Brrrrrrrrrrrr….
Afternoon light.
Katie here. You all know how my mama works too much and is tired all the time and ignores me right? When she should be focused on me all the time, as due a princess of my standing. Right. So anyway, my mama and I haven’t done anything fun in a long time – I think maybe ten thousand dog years. Well Friday night after work she told me that we were going to go on a big adventure and I was so excited I jumped on her and kissed her face and ran to the door and then she said “Not TONIGHT silly girl!” and I got all sad and depressed and stuff.
But I remembered.
And Saturday morning when my mama said she had to run some errands I jumped all around and cried and wiggled my cute butt and as she was going out the door I yipped at her and made sad puppy eyes and she finally said “Really? You want to go on errands? Well OK.” And I got to GO with my mama! I was so happy! This was the adventure I’d been dreaming of!
Or not.
We went and mailed a box, and then we went to the car wash (I’d never been through a car wash before and I was sort of scared, but I didn’t let her know because I was afraid she wouldn’t take me on rides again if I acted like a scared baby) and then we went to the bank, but I was in my crate in the back so I didn’t even get a biscuit, and then finally we went to the store and I got to go inside and we bought two bags of my Blue Buffalo food! That was fun! But she seemed to be in a hurry and I didn’t get to walk around the store much, it was in, get the food, and then I’m back in my crate in the car! Geeze. Pretty cheesy adventure mama!
But guess what? That wasn’t really the adventure at all! That was just stuff mama had to do to get ready to go on the real adventure! She started packing the car when we got home and pretty soon we were off!
We went up north! And we got to visit every single rest stop along the way. I made sure to whine just as we were approaching a rest stop, so she’d stop and I’d get to get out and walk around and read all the pee-mail left by other dogs. It’s so much fun. That would have been enough of an adventure all by itself, but it wasn’t the best part!
A tiny bit of sun came out!
The best part was we went to Hartwick Pines, the state park we camped in last summer. We got to walk on some of the trails that the mosquitoes ran us out of last summer! No mosquitoes this weekend, no siree! I even got to see some cross county skiers! I’d never seen them before. They thought I was cute. Well of course.
What are these people DOING?
We walked quite a ways on the trails, but then the sun started to go down and we were both hungry so we went to our hotel! A hotel! I’ve never been to one before! I was so excited! Except for the stairs. The lady put us on the second floor and, as most of you know, I don’t do stairs. Being a princess and all. So mama huffed and puffed and carried me and all my paraphernalia up the stairs. I think she packed more for me than she did for her! She brought a sheet to put over the bedspread, but I mostly slept on the other bed. Or the floor. I like my space, don’t you know.
I’ll take this bed mama, you sleep over there.
She brought my water dish and my food dish and a pillow and my supper and my breakfast. I think she only packed clean underwear and some socks for herself. I guess that’s because she’s not a princess.
I made her get lots of steps and stairs in each day as I asked to go out several times once we were in our room. Most notably at 4:30 in the morning. And again at 6 a.m. It was really cold out, so once I got out there I wasn’t sure exactly why we were there, which caused me to have to sniff everything in the giant parking lot just to make sure it was safe before I anointed it. A princess has to be careful you know.
When we left the hotel in the morning, a couple of hours earlier than my mama planned because I was impatient and tired of hanging around, it was zero degrees outside (that’s -17.7 C) and the snow crunched a lot. Mama wanted to go back to the park and walk on some more trails. It was going to be a sunny day and she was hoping for blue skies to go with the perfect white snow. But it was so cold.
Morning light.
We walked a little bit and of course my feet were cold, so I held up my paw and asked to be picked up. My mama picked me up and hugged me and we stood still in the deep woods. We were the only ones there and there wasn’t another sound at all. It was totally silent. So wonderful. My mama got a bit weepy then. She said it was just because it was so beautiful and so quiet and she doesn’t have a lot of quiet in her life, and she didn’t want to leave the woods. I thought maybe she was weepy thinking about carrying me back to the car, so I asked to get down and I pranced all the way back. Some of the time we were running and laughing. People would have thought we were crazy, but there was no one there so it didn’t matter. Besides, they would have been right.
Mama wanted to keep driving north, but she knew we had to come back home. We couldn’t wait for it to get warmer, and we weren’t sure it would anyway, so we headed back to the freeway. As soon as we were on the road I fell asleep. At least mama says I did. I think I was just resting my eyes. Shelties never let their guard down you know. Anyway, I woke up as soon as we were near a rest stop, so I got to stop and explore it, but it was the only one I made her stop at.
Just as I thought, no pee-mail for me.
I can be good when I want to be.
And now we’re home and I’m going to go take a serious nap. This was just the best adventure I’ve had with my mama since we went camping! She says she’s already got a camp site reserved on the shores of Lake Michigan for next summer. She takes me to the best places!
My mama. Adventure planner extraordinaire!
I think I’ll keep her.
Where are we going next mama?
On a dreary gray winter day in lower Michigan one thing that makes me happy, and yes serene, is a walk in the woods with my girl.
How long do I have to stand here Mama?
For this assignment I originally considered a vast ocean or Great Lake beach, the wide open spaces of middle Michigan farm country, cross country skiing in the deep woods, even the ancient porch swing on the family farm. But when it comes down to it what makes me serenely happy right now, right here at home, was spending time with my Katie-girl in the silent, snowy woods.
You can see other interpretations of serenity at the original post. Or if you’re short on time and not feeling all that serene, here, here and here are a few of my favorites. And make sure you look at this one too. Oh…and don’t miss this one.
OK I’ll stop, even though it’s hard. What does serenity mean to you? Share a little of it with us; we can all use as much serenity as we can find.
Don’t you think?
Change Is Hard 