Scavenger Hunt Sunday: hot thing

Abstract

Something about this burst of blooms seemed to beckon for an "abstract" label.

And I love the vibrancy of this macro, it'd like an abstract sun.
And this? Well, aside from loving the assortment of lawn spikes, the globe has a fantastically abstract swirl.

Round

Isn't he just the cutest? A super sized fire truck tire made for an excellent toy in the station. Climb inside and wait for a little push and... you're rollin' now.

Fire

There is nothing, nothing like a flame broiled burger. And my mama is the Burger Queen, for real.

Seeing Faces in Strange Places

Me. I'm making a personal note to try this again with a globe that doesn't have water splotches all over it.

Star

I thought I'd go literal first - it's "literally a star," as Chi would likely say. Does it seem a little early to be setting up Christmas decorations? The stores don't wait until mid Autumn anymore.

And here's my star just before testing for her Green Belt in TaeKwonDo. She did fabulous and will get the new rank on Friday. {Mommy's proud!}

Scavenger Hunt Sunday: space & 'scapes

Totally skipped last week's hunt -- so many things going on and so little motivation to make it happen. For shame my morose mood.
Landscape

The Color Wheel: Complementary/Triadic Color (Exploring with a Camera prompt)
Kat's second installment of color talks about finding aesthetically pleasing combinations in our world. She shared the following three visuals:
I've been having a bit of fun enjoying the lush colors of the season and decided to share a few of my "natural" finds.
[caption id="attachment_2524" align="aligncenter" width="700" caption="complementary"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2523" align="aligncenter" width="700" caption="triadic"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2522" align="aligncenter" width="700" caption="triad variation"][/caption]
Black and White (Paper Heart Camera prompt)

An abandoned post office served as a great industrial backdrop for my little diva's boot shoot. Yes, she insisted on documenting her first "real choice" in shoe-wardrobe. And yes, she really would've rather had the pair with the two and a half inch heel and the furry folded cuff. And yes, those are those dreaded leggings that she so despises but that were required should she wear a skirt like the one she picked out.

Oh, and just to prove that she does, sometimes, simply return to the kid of 8y9m she is most often when the camera is not focused on her, here's baby girl simply being.
Food
I probably should've ventured into the restaurant to capture this display... but it was late and dark and I really didn't think the Maître d would've appreciated me intruding on dinner service just for a picture. I do sort of like the grainy quality of the image, though.
Blank Space
I admit that I have no idea what "blank space" is supposed to mean here... so I'm taking creative liberty.
I love the way my eyes rest in the dark spaces of the flower's seeds and how it is a solitary, lonely bloom surrounded by empty space.

And this one? Well, wouldn't you give him all the space he needs (before spraying him to oblivion with a long range poison, of course)?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday: Abstraction

Smile
I was thinking about using a series of photos of Ya smiling... I mean his uninhibited smile is infectious...

And then there is Chi's beautiful and ever-changing smile - with the odd combination of baby and adult teeth, gaps where tooth fairy has been awarded treasure, and her sometimes lip-gloss colored lips. It belays her personality at this moment in time.

But then I started editing the photos of the early stages of Irene passing through our area and I came across a series of the kids stomping in puddles. We'd been cooped up in the house waiting for the hurricane to ravage the area for hours. The kids were restless. And so, we found our coats and covered our heads from the rain and headed outside. The streets were empty - - of people, of most of the vehicles, of animals. It was eery. It was also ideal for kicking up water and stamping feet. We loved it.

I wish there were also a photo of my surprise when the gusty winds killed the umbrella and I was soaked instantly by the rain. That would surely make someone smile...

Stairs
I'll never, ever forget those dreadful stairs... in fact, I still have abnormal heart palpitations whenever I pass metal staircases. Stairs are just not something I want to be near.

My workplace is currently under renovations. Add to the efforts damage from the earthquake, and you have one massive mess to make presentable come school's opening on Tuesday. Yes, I said Tuesday We've got quite a few of these stairs of construction (destruction?) there right now... and none of them are conjuring thoughts of climbing a corporate ladder to greater success.

Clouds

After the rain and winds of Saturday's battle with Irene, the skies looked amazing. Deep blue color interspersed with fluffy white and dismal grey clouds to create a magically beautiful sky painting.

Warning
I know some people are a bit squeamish when it comes to bugs, but around here bug hunts and captures (photographic, of course) are commonplace. As always, as long as they are outside of my home or my car and not on my person, I'm cool with living in harmony. The next few pictures are of our insect neighbors. I've been privy to a lot of portraits with our weird weather of late. You've been warned.
Macro

This friendly Mantis lives at the prison-turned-art-collective. He was wandering up the wooden doors that blocked an industrial trash container. I wasn't bug hunting when I happened upon him. In fact, it was Chi who noticed him. She refused to pose for a portrait in the location I had scouted because Mantis and a moth (that was certainly his intended dinner) were present. Mantis didn't like us being there to interrupt him, so he initially froze before deciding that if he walked really slow, he could move away. He pointed his longest toe on each gracefully long leg (arm?) as he moved.


Abstract

Found this little dragon without the hunt! He was waiting for me in front of the garage as the kids and I left for work and school early this morning. I loved the abstract pattern created by the clear and brown styling of the film of his wings. And it was awesome that he sat patiently waiting for me to capture his portrait exactly as I wanted. That's one fly dragon.

Still Life Standout: Couldn't Resist A Bite

One of these days, I'll get to eat a fresh strawberry. One of these days I'll get to photograph my luscious, untouched strawberries creatively.

It's not today.

{Mortal Muses prompt: negative space}

{Sweet} Play and Buggin Visits

The end of the summer met with play dates - planned rendezvous with friends.

It was warm enough when we did Jack's portraits for us to return to the house for a fun afternoon of water play. Sprinkler, mini pool, and buckets entertained the boys for some time. There was water everywhere.[caption id="attachment_1281" align="aligncenter" width="395" caption="Edited using Kim Klassen's masked (photo above) and extreme grunge (photo below)"][/caption]
And then he showed up... I suppose he wanted a Popsicle. Maybe he was just curious about the flurry of activity outside. Either way, he was uninvited.

LEM: "Bokeh" (a butterfly in macro)

Isn't symmetry enthralling? And, you've got to love the rainbow created by a flowering garden!

{Sweet} Eat

I thought he was a praying mantis... apparently, though, he is a preying mantis and his prey of choice was the moth I initially hoped to photograph.  No wonder the poor moth was so very still.






I'm missing my babies like crazy right now.  This week is the first time I've ever left them for longer than a few hours.  I'm on day two and a half and I think I'm feeling torn between loving where I'm at and wanting to be home.  A hug, a kiss, a "Mommy's the monster" would feel pretty good at this moment.  It's quite the conundrum - - I need to be at this conference, in this space, with these people.  I was meant to be here.  And yet, my heart aches from being apart from the two major channels that make my blood flow. 






I've already begun to feel a change in myself from the work I've done, the experiences I've had at the Furious Flower Poetry Center's workshop (James Madison University).  I'll share my story and the poetry I've been inspired to write soon... but right now, I need to call my pair.

Six Word Fridays: Kind (and Macro, too)

Mother Nature you've not been kind
in nurturing your beloved terrestrial family
Your attitude is unforgivingly vengeful now
And in your wake is destruction
Countless have been your violent screams
Punctuated by a stomping of feet
as your great gown sweeps excitedly
(rustling up winds in fervored dance)
You've spat at us; juvenile retaliation
twisted winds like curls of hair
shaken us from comfort, broken dreams
Yet in your tantrum - - raging fits - -
have inspired our compassion for others

This kind of parenting is not...

kind

***

I've mentioned that, of late, my 60mm Macro lens has pretty much been my go to for daily use.  When I first took it out the box (after scrimping and saving and waiting on Uncle Sam's return), I was amazed to see that its macro capability was not its only value.  I really thought the lens was exclusive to close up photography.  As it turns out, it's pretty good at portraits.





But then, I still really love how well it surprises me whenever I set out on "safari."  Take this image, for example:





I'd no idea that the bee I was following (who was so intent on gathering his pollen that he ignored my close trailing), was carrying a passenger on his wing.  I doubt he knew he was giving flights.  He was oblivious to his surroundings as he alighted each bloom, stuck out his tongue (?), and then flitted to another bloom.  I must've looked pretty weird to the other parents waiting in the car pick up line for their kids to be released.  There I was completely out of my car, camera pointing to wild flowers while I crouched low to the grass in complete concentration (and Ya ran back and forth nearest the exterior of the library keeping himself entertained while repeating, "Mommy, it's hot. So hot!"). 

Perhaps at this point I need to invest in a bumper sticker that embraces the "Weirdo Will Shoot Anything" behaviors I've adopted so readily?

Not so... fresh

Strawberries were on sale today, so while picking up a rotisserie chicken for dinner, I grabbed a two pound container of the juicy, sweet delights.  They looked divine.  As I drove the short distance home, I mentioned to Chi that putting a few strawberries on a plate of sugar would make a beautiful still life.  She chuckled and said, "Yeah, as long as I get to eat it and the sugar afterward."  I agreed.

Then I got sidetracked on the computer when I got home.  I checked e-mail, wrote my Educational Specialist entrance essay, and prepared a blog post.  My kids called for the chicken (they didn't want the rice side, just the fowl).  I delayed.  And they ate.  Ate all but one of my precious strawberries, leaving the tufts of leaves and a tiny bit of fruit from each to mock me. 

"Sorry, Mom."

Hunting Photos

Long exposure

Apparently, my exposure was a bit too long to completely freeze this little guy sharply.  Maybe next time I'll shutter-click faster.

Shapes




The shape of success is a diamond... it's affixed to an oval... and it sits atop the heads of our graduates.  I've got graduation on my mind.  This year, Class of 2011, included my "kids" from the years I had four 9th grade and one 10th grade class followed by one 9th and four 10th.  Basically, this meant that many of them had a double dose of me. When you have them as newbies, they tend to sever their attachments in their upperclass years.  And yet this class, these students, were especially special.   I've never had so many hugs and gotten so many smiles - little thank yous that encourage me to keep going, keep teaching, keep pushing my students to present their very best.  Bravo, my kids, well done! And now, make me even prouder.

Green

I went on a bug and plant safari mission this morning alongside the busy four lane road near my parents' home.  Mom and my kids walked ahead of me in search of elusive wild berries she'd seen on a dog walk some days prior.  And as I was concentrating solely on the greenery growing free a few feet from the sidewalk, the distance between my favorite trio and I quickly expanded.  I crouched close to the ground with my Macro lens ready to aim and fire off a dozen shots at the first interesting thing my eyes caught sight of. There was little danger of mortal injury or heartache (though bug bites and poisonous plants might cause a little discomfort), and yet my pulse raced and I had to react quick to even the slightest varients in the landscape to get my target. 


Anyway, this plant didn't require quick reflexes or skill.  I just happened to be looking for something with intrigue, and there it was.


Nearby, and all smiles, was this half inch jumper. He didn't find me a threat and stayed atop his leaf the entire time I composed and clicked around him.

Fruit
I guess I should've followed my gut and ventured to the farmer's market in search of fruit... then I'd have gotten a great shot of watermelon, apples, or strawberries.  I see the vibrant colors in my head.


Maybe next week.

Childhood Memory


Remember those gloves with the fingers cut out?  So cool, so hype, so rad.  I suppose they're back.  Chi separated her two tone winter gloves and is rocking a style of the too hype Eighties. And she looks good doing it.  Now, if I look at photos of me in similar style, I wonder how I ever thought I was fly. Biker shorts, tube socks, high tops, fluffed backward bangs, and color-blocked shirts (of the late 80s and early 90s) - it was totally in when I was Chi's age.  Fashion sure does run a circular path!