You can never be lonely....if you like the person you're alone with.

And only then can you really offer something to others.  I love going out taking photos by myself and noticing the solitude in nature and wildlife...and it's equally fun to see things in pairs! 

 

Some of the photos above are available in my Etsy shop. Hope you enjoyed! ;) Mary

Experimenting with abstract style photography

Abstract photography means different things to people, but to me it conjures images of everyday scenes and objects that are turned, by the photographer, into something not immediately recognizable. So, a field of grass becomes a wonderland of huge trees...or bubbles in glass of soda are a mesmerizing blur of circles. I do have some photos which seem to fit that bill, some of them are in my shop, but others I never saw as being very "successful" photos....but perhaps they are...just not the type I normally strive for...and that's ok!

Above:  Canadian geese heading south, during Sundown

Above: reflection of winter trees in the fading sun, seen in a pond

Above: tendrils and plants by the beach

Above: crystal clear water over smooth pebbles

Above: tidal flats cause patterns in the sand during low tide on a Cape Cod beach.

Above: the clear beach water trickles down through the flats at low tide.

Above: Autumn reflections in the river.

Above: watery ripples in Newport harbor right before Sunset.

Above: another watery reflection, of a rainbow colored sail, Block Island.

Above: closeup of sea kelp, Maine.

Above: some type of flower...seen in the Marie Selby Gardens, Sarasota.

Above: leaf on curly branch.

Above: the Margaret Todd sailboat, Bar Harbor, Maine.

ABove: glowing purple summer flower, side of the road, Cape Cod.

Above: dandelion fuzz.

Above: carbonation closeup in my bottle of soda.

So, that's my roundup of some abstract photos from my archives!  I suppose I do tend to see patterns in water ripples, stones, and certain flower patterns. I also like selectively focusing my lens to capture a scene in a more dreamy, blurry sort of way. I did this with some of the scenes I came across in Acadia National Park last summer, when the weather was rainy, misty and foggy and lent to that kind of dreamy landscape. One example of that weekend is the Margarett Todd sail boat above.

I'd love to learn more about this type of photography and how others see the abstract style. It's one of my focuses this year to learn more about the different styles of photography that I tend to shy away from. :)

Winter vs. Spring...

Winter berries...

Spring berries:

Winter fence:

Spring fence:

Winter ducks:

Spring ducks:

Winter bird:

Spring bird:

Winter branches:

Spring branches:

So, that's my entry for today...guess I am feeling a bit of the winter blues....I hope we get some nice weather early on this year, but either way I'll try to brave the cold and explore some photo opportunities. :) Enjoy the week!

What should I do with my new Hutch/ Cabinet?

I have procured this old pine Hutch, which I got at an estate sale...here is a photo of what it looked like before I took it home (the lady liked country dolls I guess).. My idea is that I can use it to store all my supplies, crafts, beads, mats, etc which are floating all over my guest bedroom.

I've been looking online for ideas on what to do with it- paint it? replace the knobs? put cork on the lower wall section and use it as an inspiration board?
Here are some cool ideas and photos I found for a similar idea. I'm pondering some options...

Here is a wonderful "after" picture of a very similar piece which I found on this awesome site, The Frosted Gardner. I love the distressed look and the natural wood they left peeking through the white paint.

And here is a glossier, more contemporary makeover of a similar piece located on Design Sponge:

I like the glass doors on the one above, I may have to take out the chicken wire and fabric on mine (or at least replace the fabric...it's a little dated.)

This one's smaller than mine but I like the cozy feeling:

Since my hutch has a larger "tabletop" area I would definitely put a small lamp on top of it. I like the homey feel of it over an officey bank lamp. Photo from L Kells Antiques lovely blog.

Here's a version (again, painted white) which is shown being used as a piece of storage furniture in a baby nursery.  I definitely think the paint makes this gigantic piece a little more room friendly. I know it's a beautiful wood, but it doesn't really match my style. Photo from TLC Home.

Finally, here's a photo of something I'd like to do also, covering the wall portion with cork tiles for my various papers and postcards and to do lists:

If anyone has any ideas or advice I'd love to know....I also now need a desk to go along with this! I'm thinking something large like a small dining table and without any storage since I already have that covered. Then I'll have plenty of room for my computer, papers...and feet. :)

Valentine's Day Printable Mini- Cards!

I created these for you to be able to print on 8x10 paper (there are 4 pages) - so you will get 16 mini-cards and prints in all! It's only $5 for the file and you can print yourself or have it printed at any local photo printer. Print as many copies as you like!
Purchase here.

2010's Ten Most Interesting (according to flickr)..and Happy Birthday to me!

I will never understand (nor do they want me to) Flickr's "interestingness" calculations....I know it has to do with views, comments and such, but I also read somewhere it mattered who was commenting....I mean, isn't that odd? Like, are some comments more interesting than others? Anyway, for whatever reason these are my 10 "most interesting" on flickr for the year ending 2010...and my thoughts.

Ok, Phoebe is really cute and sometimes funny looking, but this was my first "Explored" image and must have also captured others' hearts. I loved that her whiskers were backlit and she looks a little crazy and intense, because she's normally a big fluffy mushball.

 

This was a digital texture I made using manual focus and combination of actions to produce the pale honey color. I like playing around with textures and use them myself, so I thought, I'll just create some and have them on hand.

Phoebe wormed her way into the limelight again with this funny holiday photo I took of her on my bed. I was untangling the lights and laid them down for a while in frustration, then found Phoebes snuggled up practically inside them. She got upset when I took them off her...hehe.

This is a real owl (I know he kind of looks like a stuffed animal, or a toy!) but he's a real Eastern Screech owl I was able to get really close up to during an owl show on Cape Cod in the early fall. I added the sparkly texture for the background because it was white and boring. I love the determined look on his face and the motion of the fluttery wings. I kind of wanted to take him home....

 

This is an older photo taken with an oooold camera that was grainy and a little dark, so I brightened it up by making the out of focus areas into little heart bokeh points of light. My fave part is the full moon which I turned into a heart also...Ok, I went a bit over the top, but flickrers liked it, and Shutter Sisters featured it on their blog. :)

This one above continues to get love on Flickr...when I took it, I was disappointed that the chairs were not real wood (they're plastic adirondacks- the horror!) so I tried to make them look real but I thought I failed at it. I just could not get them to look less plasticky. Maybe I'll be able to catch the same type of scene again with real chairs next year...

So this one I really love. Love the location, the colors, the light flare...:) And I was unsure I could really do anything with this photo at first because the day was fading away and the light was somewhat too bright because the tracks were flat and the sun was shining right where I was going to shoot the picture..and after this day I  began to experiment more with shooting towards the sun and liking the end result more and more.

This one, above was a re-edit. The original sky was too light and the sand was lacking detail. I went back and burned in some of the sand and sky, and selectively colored more of the cyan color in the sky until I had the result I wanted. I wanted a colorful, summery feel but not too warm that I lost the beautiful blues.

Another one of my faves, above, from a large county fair on Cape Cod last summer. It was super hot that day- like in the 90's or something- and I remember they were selling deep fried oreos (I took pictures of the entire frying process)...and I thought "Who would want to eat those today!!?" Due to the sweltering heat, the ferris wheel was the only thing I really wanted to do- at least I could get a nice breeze up there. Later this day I also had my photo taken holding a Barn Owl at the raptor show....the highlight of my day...:)

And finally, this dreamy scene from Florida....the beaches here (off Sarasota) are like powder and the sand sort of squeaks under your feet...much different than our rocky beaches up North. This roped piling I thought was like a little gateway to my very own private beach....since the beaches here aren't crowded, like they are in New England, where your towel is touching some other guy's and you get to listen to other people's radios and conversations. Nope, not here. Just the sound of the sea and seagulls, the way it should be. :)