Photography | Change Is Hard

April 25, 2013
by dawnkinster 15 Comments

Color me red

When Karma challenged us to find photos of a color we are drawn to I was stumped. I love all color. Sure a lot of my clothes are blue and green. And gray and brown. And black. But I don’t think I have a favorite color; I’ve always struggled with that question.

To compound the problem I like to go out and find new photos for Karma’s photo hunts. And my world here in Michigan is pretty much brown. Which is better than white. But still.

Brown cornfield with brown oak tree.

Yep, the world here is brown. And beige.

Katie’s park is drab right now.

And so I thought I’d do the piece about green. I like green well enough. There are so many shades of green, and it’s a color that brings such hope for those of us in the north after long winters. I wasn’t quite satisfied with that decision, but was starting to look around for some new green photos when I saw this:

Welcome home.

I saw it out of the corner of my eye as I was on my way to a bright green soccer field I had seen Friday night. And suddenly I knew. The color that attracts me most as we inch our way out of a long, cold, and endless winter… is red. Bright red. The color of spunk, of confidence, of joy.

So I switched gears and began to notice the red all around. It’s everywhere, little bits of warmth, of the promise of summer. Some of it is tucked away…

Hidden behind the pond.

…some of it is in your face bold.

A local family farm.

Some red I found at our local nursery….

Promise of summer.

…and some I found last weekend on a trip over to Lake Michigan.

South Haven lighthouse.

Joyful red is everywhere. I just had to spend a little bit of time to notice.

Made you smile!

Wordless Wednesday. Don’t know why, just like this photo.

April 24, 2013 by dawnkinster 8 Comments

April 20, 2013
by dawnkinster 21 Comments

The colors of our world

Karma has challenged us once again. This time she wonders what colors we are drawn to. I love all color so it’s going to be hard to choose. Plus I like to find new photos for Karma’s challenges…and currently the world in Michigan is pretty much grey and brown.

Hmmm…wonder what I’ll end up doing. It’s not due till the 28th so there’s lots of time! There is time for you to share the colors of your world too!

Say….what colors do you see in the clouds floating overhead today?

Sunshine arrives. Finally.

Maybe there really is some color out there besides gray and brown.

April 10, 2013
by dawnkinster 11 Comments

Wordless Wednesday – bird love

Wordless Wednesday-First day of spring.

March 20, 2013 by dawnkinster 21 Comments

March 17, 2013
by dawnkinster 22 Comments

Restless barn addition

I was restless today. I needed to be out there doing something. Alone. Do you ever long for an adventure just for yourself? The sky was blue but it was cold as mid March is want to be in Michigan. I took the camera and left with no destination in mind.

I ended up, as I usually do, in farm country. I didn’t find a lot that inspired me enough to want to get out of the warm car. But I found two barns for my collection.

It’s huge.

These are not my family’s barns. I really do need to do that…photograph the house and barns where my mom grew up. But these two caught my eye among the many barns I saw today.

It’s bright.

My adventure was not so exciting. But it was mine.

And that’s what counts.

Old

March 12, 2013
by dawnkinster 12 Comments

So tired

Have you ever been so tired that you can’t even make it to bed? So tired your legs and feet ache, your hands tingle and your head seems to be in a fog?

That tired?

That’s where I am right now. A long day at work followed by a long rehearsal has me sitting here wondering how I can get myself out of the chair and off to bed. How to make myself go to sleep.

But my mind is running circles around my physical self. Lots to do at work. Should probably work late tomorrow night. But have lots of music to practice too. And the dog needs to work on heeling before class on Saturday; she can’t do that by herself. I need to order dahlias for next summer. I was supposed to do that in January. Should find the order form. We have no groceries in the house. What will we have for dinner tomorrow? I think I was supposed to call my college roommate last night. Or tonight. Can’t remember for sure. I promised some people at work that I’d develop a self employed training unit by the end of March. What’s today’s date? Good I have time. Our next concert is the end of May. How many weeks does that give me to practice? I really want to run another race…but I haven’t run in two (or more…how long HAS it been) years. I should try to run one day after work this week, see how it goes. Wonder where my running clothes are. Haven’t seen my running watch in a long time either. Guess I don’t really need a watch, it’s not like I’m running fast. The guestroom needs organizing. Probably could find my running stuff if I did that. And I need to look for that photo of my brother and his friend as kids, I promised to send it to them. It might even be in the guest room closet. Should get organized.

Yep. Should get organized.

Or go to bed.

Tired.

March 10, 2013
by dawnkinster 12 Comments

Waiting for spring

Weather people say it will reach 50 (10 C) today. So what if it might rain a little too…we’re still excited.

It’s been a long winter and I am not alone in waiting impatiently for spring.

Stoically waiting for spring.

Lately it seems even inanimate objects are waiting….waiting…

Lonely slide

…waiting for the first soft spring breeze tinged with warmth.

But there is hope. Yesterday on the way to doggie school I spotted a red winged blackbird preening in the top of a tree. I haven’t heard them yet but I am sure I will today when Katie and I go to the park to play.

Missing the children

In fact last weekend while Katie and I were scuttling around avoiding the bitter wind I’m almost sure I heard a sandhill crane’s cry. And earlier in the week I’m almost positive I saw two of them standing on the ice in a marshy area as I was driving to work. I just caught them out of the corner of my eye but I’m sure those were cranes and not geese. Almost sure.

Right now our morning backyard still has snow. (Click on photo to ‘see the light.’)