Tuesday Photo Challenge – Circle

Coming full cycle

Welcome to Week 91 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge.  After the wonderful response to last week’s theme of Recycle, I thought it might be difficult to come up with another challenge that might interest you…

Then it struck me that I might be on a roll, as cycle’s word origin comes from the Greek word that also means wheel; and the shape of a wheel is a Circle!  So it was pretty easy to find this week’s theme.  In the true nature of this challenge, I fully expect you to take the word circle in any of its various meanings; Merriam-Webster showed 9 different definitions for just the noun [there are 4 more for the transitive and intransitive verb].

Have some fun with this, as you circle the Sun with your circle of friends!  I’m very much looking forward to seeing what might come forth from your minds!

Here are some circles, not all perfect…

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Soft Circles among Leaves

As the light played across the leaves, while shooting at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, I felt inspired to play around a bit and generate something a bit more abstract.  Slightly out of focus at f/4, I shot a series of 3 images that I later processed with Photomatix Pro.  While this is not your standard HDR image, I used the processing to extend the range a bit and create a softer palette of colors.

The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write a post with an image for this week’s topic
  • Please tag your post with fpj-photo-challenge (if you’re not sure about how tags work, please check out this WordPress article about tagging posts)
  • Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)
  • Have fun creating something new (or sharing something old)!!

I’m looking forward to your recycled and recycling thoughts and creative output!

Temporary passage

Passsages of time

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has the theme of Temporary.  As I extemporize about this topic, there is at least one more post that I want to share with you.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, All is temporary, the nature of our existence underscores the very concept of our time being short.  During this time, we get the opportunity to make the most of our lives in how we interact with people and how we appreciate the people that we’re lucky enough to meet.

Today’s photo highlights the very temporary nature of our existence, as I created it on the night that a very dear aunt of mine passed away.  As I went through shooting this image, I felt that there was a transition taking place, of which I learned the following morning, as she lived in the Netherlands.  Connections can be very strong, such that they cause vibrations across an ocean…

Transitions are something that we all will encounter..

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Transitions

This image was created using a long exposure, while rotating the camera and adding some zoom blur through lens rotation.  It still speaks to me today.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Heavy Glow in a Leaf Bokeh

Bokeh play out of focus

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has the theme of Glow.  Definitely a natural fit for quite a bit of my photography, as I enjoy backlit images…

Today, my good friend and amazing photographer George and I went for a stroll in Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge in Harvard, Massachusetts.  As many of you might know, this area is one that I come back to frequently, as there is always some source of inspiration for my photography.  Of course, today was no exception!

Despite it being October 22, the weather was just perfect with a warm 72F (22C) temperature; you won’t hear me complain about this weather other than that it feels odd to have weather this warm this far into October.  As a result of the weather, trees have been slow to change their colors, which has allowed me to capture a mixture of color.

There were lots of great shots that I’ll share with you; for today, I share this little artistic number…

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Heavy Glow

Heavy glow within the leaves that float in the remainder of flooded landscape.

Have a wonderful day!

The Ancient Elements – Air

Breezy air currents

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has the wonderful theme of Elemental; I’ll be sure to cover all the Ancient Elements of Fire, Water, Earth and Air during this week, as each has presented ample opportunities to me photographically.

Today’s image is another one from my Kryptomorphaics series, which takes an abstract twist to uncover that what lies hidden just beneath the surface of our perception.  It captures the impact of the movement of the Elemental of Air through leaves of a tree in its Autumn livery…

 

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Autumn Winds

This particular image is part of a series that I captured during a visit to the wonderful Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts.  A beautiful Autumn day presented lots of opportunity for the creation of images both abstract and representational.  A slight bit of camera movement during this shot created the additional sense of flow in this shot.

Hope you enjoy!

The Ancient Elements – Water

Relaxed, yet with purpose

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has the wonderful theme of Elemental; I’ll be sure to cover all the Ancient Elements of Fire, Water, Earth and Air during this week, as each has presented ample opportunities to me photographically.

Today’s element of Water has presented itself in many ways to me over the years; keeping with yesterday’s post of the element of Fire, I’m presenting another abstract image…

 

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Calm Motion

This image flowed forth from my studying this particular patch of rather rapid stream for a time, as I was intrigued by the interplay of water, plants and air getting pulled into a small vertex.  This study resulted in my playing just a bit with my lens’ zoom during this image that captured a bit of motion by extending the shutter time.

Hope you enjoy!

The Ancient Elements – Fire

Fires of creation

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has the wonderful theme of Elemental, which immediately made me think of an image that I shot a number of years ago.

This photo not only attempted to capture fire, but also the forces of creation that lie within that fire. This image is titled Pyroplasm 3x.

Pyroplasm 3x

Additionally, this image was my first foray into photographing with a twist, literally, as it was my first attempt at using zoom blur. Mastering this technique allowed me to unlock otherwise hidden forms in a series that I titled Kryptomorphaics.

Hope you enjoy!

 

Letting Go

Transitions between astral planes

In our lives, we have ups and downs, wins and losses, and even periods of relative stability that we might call smooth sailing.  As we get older, we learn to take most of the ups and downs in stride, as we know that, regardless of what is happening, most likely it shall pass.

There are still occurrences that really affect us deeply, though, such as the passing of a loved one.  After a period of time, the pain lessens, but the memory will remain.  For this week’s loss of Darwin, the pain is still all too real and palpable, so I thought I’d share this image with you…

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Transitions

This image has very special meaning to me, as captured it nearly six years ago during a group night shoot; as I created this photograph, I sensed a change in the space-time fabric, which I could not identify.  In the morning, I found out that a beloved aunt of mine had passed during that night, after a long battle with cancer.

This image is for you, aunt Marlies, and also for you, Darwin.

Warped Wednesday – pt. 11

Green is a way of life!

I can tell you that the new job (the reason for my trip to Israel) is still more than a plateful of work, as I’m slowly getting my arms around more and more aspects of it.  Given that there are also a couple of moving targets in this, I can tell you that I have my hands full and am putting in a bit of extra effort at this time 🙂  It feels somewhat like the proverb “Be careful what you ask for, as you might get it”; of course, this could end up not being a proverb at all…

As a result, I’m taking a bit of a shortcut on this Warped Wednesday and am tying it back to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge of It IS Easy Being Green!

 

This cavalcade of green is also brought to you by the concept of Spring!

Have a wonderful day!

Warped Wednesday – pt. 10

A dreamy view across the river…

While I’m still in Israel for a couple of days and missing a beauty of a snow storm that is battering New England, I thought there might be time for a quick Warped Wednesday before we get to Thursday haiku (yes, I’ve been writing them for over a year now and some are pretty decent).  As I was poking around through some of my more abstract work, my eye caught one shot from December 2016 that could use a bit of a treatment.

This image was taken during a walk through Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, which I always enjoy.  The swollen Nashua river provided a rich source for adjusted reflections…

Monet on the Nashua

The contrast between the branch rising above the river amidst the reflections of trees on the opposite shore caught my eye enough to capture this image.  What I did with it in post processing is to add a bit of surreal, dreamy quality to it in PhotoShop Express on the iPad; this lends it a bit more ability to draw in the eye and allow it to keep this loosely focused ephemeral grasp on the mind.

Hope you like this treatment and have a dreamy day!

Warped Wednesday – pt. 9

The mind’s eye

As I’m in the middle of travel when this entry posts (should have landed in Tel Aviv a couple of hours ago, although my body might not know what time it is yet 🙂 ), here is a quick post along the Wednesday theme.

I have grouped the image along with some of my more abstract photography, even though in a pure sense it is representational.  When examined closely, the leaves are well defined and there’s a sense of composition that gives the viewer of a serene, early Autumn moment on a crips day.

Now focus your eyes toward the bright light coming through the leaves and the flare that is visible and let your view become a little diffuse…

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Autumn Clarity

Do you perceive something different that is more abstract than representational?  Do your emotions take you in a different direction?

I’m curious to hear how this image connects with your mind’s eye…

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