"an elegant tapestry of quotations, musings, aphorisms, and autobiographical reflections" (James Atlas)



Saturday, August 23, 2014

Photo challenge: Blue


Actually, I'm quite glad not to have to look at that baby head any more! This week's challenge is BLUE, and here's a little BLUE wren that hangs around my garden. At the moment, Mr. Blue and his wife are looking for a good nesting spot. Every now and then they perch in the shrubs and peek through the window. I guess they see Pretzel the cat and think it might not be safe. Little do they know that Mr. P. only dreams of birds these days, doesn't chase them.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Photo word challenge: HEAD



Interesting choice of topic! Well, here's for something unusual - one of Ron Mueck's amazing sculptures. This was the head of a whole newborn sculpture. It was huge, and very lifelike. I found them fascinating but somewhat confronting. He takes everyday people and re-creates them in meticulous detail, but in unreal proportions.
My favourite sculpture was that of two old ladies. I love the expressions on their faces. I can just hear them: "Will you look at that guy! His pants are falling down, and his whities are showing!"

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Photo challenge - Lights







































I'm a little ahead of myself - possibly to make up for the weeks when I didn't submit anything. But the topic inspired me; I love lights and using light in photography. So I was thinking of the bokeh effect, which I hadn't achieved yet but will make a goal for the future. In the meantime, I used an online post-editing program to achieve a bokeh effect. Bokeh, acording to Wikipedia, is a hazing or blurring effect achieved by a short depth-of-field, (hope I got that right). It presents as blobs of light, and can be achieved with aperture or manual manipulation or filters. I also loved the lights produced by these Christmas stars I saw at a Christkindel Market in Dresden. Every now and then I need a German Christmas and like to visit the Christmas markets. Seeing the picture evokes sounds of carols, and smells of Gluehwein, gingerbread, and roasting chestnuts.