Be Still 52 - Week 50

Dandelion Wishes

Find a fluffy dandelion

Think about a wish

Take a deep and cleansing breath

Blow the seeds away

Watch your wishes float aloft

Seeds in the sky

Be Still 52 exercise for week 50 was
"messy." 
Dandelion seeds can create quite the mess.

Be Still - Weeks 39, 40, & 41

Although my days have gotten a little busier, I have managed to sneak in a little time for photography. I especially didn't want to get behind in the Be Still exercises. Finding time to put together a post has been another matter. Finally the opportunity came, a rainy afternoon.

Week 39

The exercise included 

glass, light, airy, and shades of white

I have a small collection of glass jars and bottles that I choose three from. Then, I added a few buttons tumbling out of the jar and a piece of lace in the background. Very simple, but that was the look I wanted.

Week 40

Our exercise was to make something that we could use in the next week's exercise. I looked through my Pinterest boards wanting something springy. Since my time is limited I was also looking for something easy and fast. I decided to create a couple of simple little paper birds, gathered my supplies, and began to create.

Week 41

This week's assignment was to photograph what we made three different ways. 

First, I brought in some blossoms from my flowering plum tree. They are such pretty, delicate blossoms.

I embellished a small nest with blossoms and stuck a couple of limbs in a bottle.

Next, I covered three books with scrapbook paper, added one of my grandmother's doilies for the background, and picked a bunch of daffodils "for you."

And, lastly, just for fun I took these little sweeties outside. They are not very stable on those paperclip feet, so the breeze kept blowing them over. It became a race between me and the wind.

I finally got one I was fairly happy with.

Then we just wandered around the yard together

checking out the spring colors.

I loved the "make something" exercise and because I love these little birds, it was easy to photography them.  I definitely needed the time outside enjoying the fresh air and the beauty of spring.

A quick update on my mom. She is now in a rehabilitation center. I'm not sure she'll regain much use of her right leg and arm. There is a little movement, but not much. Her speech has improved each day and we are so grateful for that. Things can still change, nerves can heal and that's what we're praying for. I want to thank each of you for you thoughts and prayers. You're each very special to me!

Be Still 52 - Week 38

Why would a person who loves nature have trouble with an exercise to photograph something organic? Because, I want my organic to be mushrooms, lichen, bark, or seedpods and I want them outside in their natural setting. But, since Be Still is about still life photography I gave it a try.

I gathered a few things; a little metal pan, a wooden vase, dried seedpods, natural potpourri, cheesecloth, and burlap. I used weathered boards for the base and black fabric for the background.

I worked for three hours and took 93 pictures! Yet, what I find fascinating was that I enjoyed those three hours. I was calm. I was still. I played. I just didn't get the results I wanted. I felt like I was fighting the light, which surprised me because I was using light from a north window and it was an overcast morning.  I had quite a bit of difficulty with the sidelight shining on the pan and leaving blown out areas. I managed to solve that by tilting the pan, putting up a piece of foam core to block some of the light, and using sheer fabric over the window.

This weeks photo for Be Still will be somewhere near the bottom of the list of favorite images I took for this class. I think you can tell that my heart just wasn't in it. If I made a list of things learned, this would be near the top. You just have to get the light right. It's all about the light!

Be Still 52 - Week 35

Breakfast, the first meal of the day. A meal I'm not very thrilled about, that is unless there's a doughnut involved!! Then, I think it's the best meal of the day, especially when the doughnut is heart-shaped, strawberry flavored, and covered with sprinkles. 

So now you know my "guilty pleasure!"  A pleasure I try very had not to partake of on a regular basis. A doughnut for breakfast only happens if it's a special day OR I need something for a Be Still 52 exercise. This week's exercise is breakfast. It also fits perfectly with a flickr group I belong to, Prompt Addicts. This week's prompt is heart-shaped. Definitely those two things combined are a great reason to have a doughnut for breakfast!!

A little trivia about doughnuts. . .

"According to anthropologist Paul R. Mullins, the first cookbook mentioning doughnuts was an 1803 English volume which included doughnuts in an appendix of American recipes." (thank you wikipedia for the information between the quote marks!)

My apologies if you haven't had breakfast and now you're craving a doughnut!!

Have a sweet day!

Be Still - Weeks 32 & 33

Still life photography requires numerous decisions.

What props will I use?

How much, how little?

Composition?

Backdrops?

Backdrops were the focus of this Be Still exercise. 

I decided to use a top down shot with different surfaces.

I gathered a few items that I thought complimented each other

and then added a piece of crochet and a piece of sheer fabric.

 First, I arranged them on two pieces of dark floor tile.

Then switched to a piece of floral scrapbook paper.

On the third one I went with a light square of floor tile.

In the last one I used a piece of burlap.

I think I'm leaning toward the first one.

I like the way it brings out the warmth of the seedpods.

Last week's assignment was to use citrus, white space, and staggering heights.

I thought on this long and hard.

I know I've said it before, but I'm not a pretty, soft type of photographer.

I like warmth.

I'm also sentimental.

I finally came up with props I was excited about,

my son's lunchbox and thermos, probably from kindergarten.

The perk of this shoot,

I got to eat the peanut butter and jelly sandwich

and the mandarin orange.

I had more fun and relaxed with this exercise.

Why?  Because it is me!

Be Still 52 and 30 Days of Gratitude - Day 5

Grateful for the fruits of the season.

"Live in each season as it passes;

breathe the air, drink the drink,

taste the fruit,

and resign yourself to the influence of the earth

~Henry David Thoreau."

The assignment for Be Still 52 this week was to include a pear and a bowl. Simple things, yes, but doing this is not simple for me. I bought three pears and collected a few bowls. After several attempts of composing a nice image, I frustratingly plopped the pear I was working with in the clear bowl. Voila, that was the combination for me. Simple items, simple composition.

Inspired By Paintings

Inspiration can come from many sources including still life paintings. Our assignment this week for Be Still 52 was to create a still life photo that was inspired by a painting. I looked at many paintings before I decided to do the two below. As I've worked on the assignments for this class, I've tried to used nature whenever possible.

I wanted to use my large swan feather so I used a dark cutting board for the background. I've been enjoying the richness of darker tones in my photography lately.

I went with a lighter background, osnaburg fabric, for this second one.

If you'd like to see the paintings that sparked my creativity you can use the links below.

top photo

bottom photo

Four Things

When my daughter was very small she loved to watch Sesame Street. One of the phrases that has never left my mind, nor my daughters, was in a short cartoon where a little girl is instructed by her mother to purchase a loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butter from the grocery store. The little girl repeats it over and over again as she merrily skips toward the store. It has become one of our "family" phrases that we still use now and then. I thought of that phrase this week as I gathered the things needed for the Be Still 52 prompt. Then like the little girl, I almost forgot one!

We had a list of four things we were to include in our image...a loaf of bread, textile, twine, and scissors. After that, we could add anything else we wanted. The scissors and the twine were the easiest of the four. I bought a loaf of bread from the grocery store and used a jar of my homemade cherry jam. I remembered the textile item at the last minute and found a cloth tag to tie on the jar.

This has been one of the hardest prompts so far. I thought about this for a solid week, before I came up with any ideas. Finally, last night as I was looking through some of my cookbooks searching for good soup recipes, I saw a picture with a loaf of  bread and a jar of jelly. That was my starting point and the rest just fell into place.  Inspiration can come from anywhere at any time!  

This challenge was hard and I almost gave up and decided to skip it.  I think L. Frank Baum had it right in his book The Patchwork Girl of Oz, when Dorothy tells Ojo...

"Never give up. No one knows what's going to happen next."