Announcement

Friends,

I decided to switch to a self-hosted platform in order to customize some design changes (coming soon!) and to secure the site.  Unfortunately, this requires you to RE-SUBSCRIBE by selecting the option on the right sidebar of my blog.

If you are following me on WordPress.com, I don’t think my posts will continue to show up in your Reader.  😦  Would you please consider receiving posts by e-mail or subscribing to the RSS feed in a reader?

I don’t want to lose any of you! Please take a moment to resubscribe now.

Thank you so much!

Love,

Naomi

Photo-Heart Connection, journal love, and Weekly Photo Challenge

This is a catch-all post for three different fun projects: the Photo-Heart Connection, some journal photos that a group of friends and I are all posting and sharing, and the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge.  I hope it doesn’t get too long!

My choice for the Photo-Heart Connection for July was tough… on the return flight home from Chicago last week, I took many photos of clouds from my little window seat.  There were so many different types and colors all layered together and I thought it looked magical.  The one below looked sort of like a little tunnel from a stormy situation into brightness.  Then I got to my car and was exiting the parking lot and saw the one immediately below, with a lovely rim light giving special contrast to the separation of the grey clouds and the bright blue sky.  And I drove through those storm clouds and rain toward sunshine where I got to reunite with my sweet girl.

* * * * *

“Journal writing is a voyage to the interior.” ~ Christina Baldwin

Some friends are doing a party this week of pictures of our journals… we were chatting in our Facebook group about being obsessed with them.  I learned I’m not alone in admiring them, buying them, and then not wanting to sully them with my scribblings.  This could probably be a post in and of itself, but I already have next week’s posts scheduled so we’ll just include it here.  

There’s just a sense of promise, of beginning, of possibility with a brand new and beautifully covered book, don’t you think?

All these pretty covers and yet I began by using boring spiral notebooks…

 I have several travel journals where I pasted ticket stubs, brochures, cards, etc. and wrote about all the inspiration I was seeing around me.  I even found an old Lira note.

I’m sure you all have a journal or two, right? If you like, share how you use them (or not) and what they mean to you.

* * * * *

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is PURPLE.  Well, by the time you read this, I’ll probably be behind again, but here ya go…

My favorite color!

 

Whew! Have a lovely weekend, friends.  Come back on Monday for a post I’m excited to share with you about how a tiny shift in persecutive can change absolutely everything!

Photo Friday: Chicago – Paris on the prairie

How had I never been to Chicago before? There was definitely more to do than my three days there allowed for, but I got a great sense of the city and life in the burbs too.  Here are some shots of the beautiful United terminal at O’hare, our hotel and a sunset view from our room, and some architecture…  Selecting which pictures to showcase here was difficult.  In next week’s Photo Friday post, I’ll highlight two fun shops because I had to take pictures for you.

The docent of our architectural boat tour described Chicago as a “Paris on the Prairie” and a gateway to the West.  Learning more about the city’s history and development was fascinating.

Above: Grant Park

Above: Millennium Park

Above: The bean.  We went back at night and took a picture of our reflection.

Below: Sheffield Garden Walk and a new little friend.  We enjoyed some great conversations with the neighborhood residents.

 

 

Above: That’s Navy Pier in the background.

Inner Excavate-along: finding community

On to the last two chapters of Liz Lamoreux’s Inner Excavation: Exploring Your Self Through Photography, Poetry and Mixed Media.

Liz is leading a couple hundred of her friends through seven weeks of inner excavation on Flickr, on her blog, and through subscribed posts.

The first sentence Liz writes in chapter 6 (titled “I open my heart…”) is “You are not on your journey inward alone.” How refreshing and encouraging! She encourages us to look at how we open our heart to other people in our life and how we might want to invite some people to be part of our creative travels.  WELL…

This is perfect timing because I just had the pleasure of meeting one of you in person! The community that has formed here on Poetic Aperture has been a welcome surprise and it’s been heartwarming to find and connect with so many fellow creative souls through your comments and your own blogs.  I feel solid friendships with so many of you and definitely do not feel alone in anything anymore, knowing there is someone out there who understands the need for creative expression, or the difficulties of being a stay-at-home parent, or the obsession with capturing life through the lens.

Most rewarding is that I have been authentic and wholely myself during this entire blogging adventure and have been blessed with that resounding YES you feel when you find real connections.

I accompanied my hubby to Chicago on a business trip and got to meet Eydie for a long lunch and some art store shopping.  I must admit that before meeting, even though I felt sure we would get along well, I was nervous.  Our afternoon far surpassed any expectations I had and by the time we hugged goodbye I was soaked in feel-good encouragement and support for my artistic journey and so much more.

Eydie and I talked about why we are holding back, waiting for just the right conditions before we move forward, whether it be starting an Etsy shop for her AMAZING jewelry creations or trying to do more with my photography on cards or in print.  I think each of us needed to hear from someone who believes strongly that we have talent and something original to express and that we should move forward.

We also talked about reaching out to artists we admire, how the community of bloggers and artists that we follow is small… and that it’s not too lofty that we couldn’t participate.  Eydie kept saying, “What am I waiting for?” and I got goosebumps each time, excited for her and for myself.  We listened to each other talk about how hard it is to let go in raising our girls, about various classes we have taken, about blogging, about energy healing, about our creative endeavors, and so much more.  We didn’t want to say goodbye and ended up in a bookstore poring over magazines with mixed-media art, altered clothing, and gorgeous photography.

Finding kindred spirits, and I have found so many in the classes I’ve taken over the past couple of years, is such an affirmation.  Meeting one in person makes me feel very brave and confident… like I reached inward and took a huge leap instead of sitting back on the sidelines as usual.

Chapter 7 of Inner Excavation is about creating something (like artwork or a journal) with the photos and poetry we have written over the past few weeks.  Right now, I don’t feel the need to do this, but I know that I will be taking what I have learned from Liz and the other contributors and incorporating it into future canvases and projects.  I am writing more now (poetry even!) and even if it’s just a phrase that comes to me, a word to add to my word list, or a quick thought, I’m recording it in my journal.  Overall, I feel good with what has come forth from within.  I know it is a life-long journey to know oneself and I have more tools now with which to explore.

In case you missed the other Inner Excavation posts, here you go:

• I begin
• I seek
• I gather and I see me
• I look closer

Update: Linking up with the July 2012 edition of the Post of the Month Club.

Picture Black and White: Storytelling

Let’s finish this black and white exhibition, shall we? The power of black and white is perhaps most evident in documentary photography.  The important part of this type of work is telling an entire story in a single shot. Theme six for Picture Black & White was storytelling.  I have again included some of the lovely compliments my classmates left for me on my photos.

Shoot a Documentary: Documenting a moment in a single shot is one thing, telling the whole story is another. The trademark of the most widely recognized documentary shots is using a wide angle lens and including a lot of what’s going on around your subject.

I come back to this image from Italy last summer again and again. I don’t know them, but I feel as if I do!

• So cute!
• This looks like it should be in a travel brochure! Wonderful!
• What a great capture! Love your processing!
• Great capture of a great moment!
• I just love their expression.  So happy it’s contagious.
• I like the soft B&W! They look so happy and you captured that.
• Great slice of life moment!
• So fun! I love the reflections in their sunglasses.
• This shows the great time this couple is having – and you were right there enjoying it too.

 

A Detailed Study: Storytelling truly lives in the details.  Find a way to capture a shot that might communicate something you may have never thought of.

My daughter giving her doll “a bath.”

In Context: Including the big picture in your image can help you tell a larger story than you could tell by zooming in on your subject. Be sure to include the context that you feel makes your shot today so that we know exactly how you want us to feel today when we “see” your story.

When in doubt, pull out the Italy photos. We came upon this street performance in Rome, and I have many photos of the musicians and singers but only this one of the entire scene.

Expression: Today, your job is to capture someone or something as they express themselves.

“I am so not amused.”

• classic.  great perspective.
• Great expression! Nice light and angle.
• Fun!
• Oh yeah, the expressions a cat can give… 🙂
• oh this kitty is not happy  🙂
• Priceless!
• This is the best! Love how huge his feet look in this shot! No, he doesn’t look pleased, that’s for sure!
• love this – cats certainly do give us some great expressions!

See previous Picture Black & White posts: graphic elements and light, texture, messages, and nature.

A little poetry

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

~ Derek Walcott

Since beginning Inner Excavation and NOW YOU, I have been thinking about what version of myself I project into the world around me.  I think it’s different dependent on where I am or who I’m with.  Who is my true self? Do I even take the time to know her?

Sweet Darkness

When your eyes are tired
the world is tired also.

When your vision has gone
no part of the world can find you.

Time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes
to recognize its own.

There you can be sure
you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your womb
tonight.

The night will give you a horizon
further than you can see.

You must learn one thing:
the world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn

anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.

~ David Whyte

Don’t you just love that last bit?

Happy Monday, friends! Make it a good one.

Picture Black and White: Nature

It’s time to catch up with Picture Black & White and theme five (of six): nature. It did seem counter-intuitive to be focusing on nature when there is so much vibrant color to be found, but we found the beauty, the detail, and the texture of what is in nature to be so beautiful in black and white.  I have particularly loved the community-building in the class and want to remember some of the lovely compliments people have given me about some of my images, so I’ve included a few here.

The Sky is the Limit: We often wait for sunset to shoot the skies above for the glorious colors, but when you’ve got a monochromatic mind all you have to look for is depth, texture and light.

Storm clouds about to cover up the blue sky and sunlight.

• That is just stunning.
• Very dramatic!
• Beautiful! I love when the light hits the clouds like that. Great image!
• Love the contrast in the clouds!
• i LOVE this in b&w!!
• Fabulous storm clouds!!
• Spectacular! Love all the tones in this!
• So many layers! Great contrasts.
• wow. what depth!
• sensational!! love all the layers and how the sun lights that one puff of cloud ~ awesome : )
• wow that is one fierce sky!

• Love the branches in the foreground.  Pretty!
• Love the feel of this!!  magnificent ~ love how you framed this! : )
• Wonderful contrast! Love the little berries!
• Very cool shot
• I really like how the light sky divides the frame… just beautiful!

Grounded: Perhaps it’s the unexpected angle, the curious perspective or the feeling that it evokes. Use the ground as your muse. Explore, discover, connect with the earth under your feet today and see what happens!

Enjoying this lovely little droplet in post-processing.

• poetry!
• oooh! Stunning!!! That focus is amazing!!!
• wow, fantastic light and focus!
• oh wow soooo beautiful!! :-))
• the droplet is perfect!
• Gorgeous…just love that little drop!!
• That water droplet is like a hidden gem. Great capture.
• Absolutely amazing. Love what looks like an entanglement between grass and the clover.
• Beautiful b&w, love your focus and of course the water drop
• beautiful! love the angle here with the droplet of water….
• This is gorgeous! Frameworthy for sure!

Clover in my backyard

• I love seeing the little hairs on the clover. Nice!
• Love the focus and light!
• Beautiful light and detail!
• love the light :-)) and how it brings out all the charming details :-))
• this is so pretty!
• love your photo! the light is amazing.
• Such fabulous focus, lovely tones!!
• I never knew clover had the fine little hairs on the leaves. Great detail!

Lens on Landscape:  Take a look at the landscape around you and look for magnificence, splendor, glory. Consider shape and texture balance and of course lights and darks. Get lost in your landscape today.

It was fun converting this to B&W since my reason for taking it originally was the fall foliage. I used an HDR-like filter to bring out the contrast.

• I like the way you’ve captured the dense foliage… I’ve tried this and it’s harder than it looks… great job.
• lovely details and composition. great bw capture :-))
• looks like a path to somewhere lovely
• i love how the road keeps it all in control. just wonderful.

Getting Intimate: When the tiniest and seemingly insignificant things appear larger than life in our images, we are drawn in and even enchanted.  There is a magic and mystery that lies beneath what is usually obvious to the eye.  Revealing something poetic of the inner workings of nature can be so creatively satisfying.

• Great macro! I love the wispiness.
• Such beautfiul wisps!! Great capture!
• so delicate and lovely!
• like fireworks! beautiful … : )
• Ahhh – delightful!
• Love all the wispy parts!!

The Growth Process: How can you frame the growth process in nature in a way that somehow distills what can seem intangible? Black and white shots that we find in nature today can help us to focus more on the gesture than anything else so watch for a twist, a turn, a bend, a bow or anything that shows that process.

Gerber daisy before it unfolds its petals

• oh such great stuff.  love all the interesting details in here :-))
• Awesome! I love this. The light and lines are great.
• stunning macro!!
• amazing … such wonderment all about us! great photo! : )
• This is wonderful! Love the little droplets of water on it and all the beautiful tones.

• Gorgeous, love the light
• OMG – the detail on this is fantastic!!!
• amazing light and texture – love it!
• great and awesome light shining on these buds :-)) pretty cool all the details
• So delicate
• Love the hairy little things.! Beautiful light.
• this pretty much took my breath away … amazing. : )

See previous Picture Black & White posts: graphic elements and light, texture, and messages.

The beauty of you: self-portraiture

you are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
and whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

~ Max Ehrman

This week I began a new class… on self-portraiture.  Aaarhgh.  Coindidentally, Chapter 5 of Inner Excavation (“I look closer”) is also about self-portraits and “a personal journey of discovering new ways to see yourself.”

The new class, NOW YOU, is 6 weeks of lessons with Kristin Zecchinelli and Meredith Winn (Shutter Sisters and all around awesome women and photographers).  Each week we will be exploring a different way of seeing ourselves through our viewfinders.  Their “ultimate hope is that you gather tools along the way that will have you loving YOU right NOW.”

I highly recommend reading this post by Liz about how powerful the gift of letting yourself deeply see yourself can be.  She says, “This is the practice of finding and using creative self-care every day so that when the hard stuff stacks up, you can lean into those tools and feel supported.”  How we think of our bodies is powerful stuff… check out this post from Sunni Chapman on Roots of She.

I am curves and contours, 

soft curls and sunspots.

I am a head tilt and a smile

with that one side dimple.

I am freckles and creases, 

proof of youthful summers spent outside.

 

I am curious, musical, creative,

a lover of words.

I am a seeker of a quiet corner.

I want to be known, nurtured, and loved.

OK so the poetry aspect in Inner Excavation is getting easier, thank goodness! That one only took a few minutes. 🙂

Self-portraiture, at least on day 1, feels selfish and full of self-judgement.  I am far from the self-aware point that Kristin and Meredith (and Liz) describe to be self-care: “a form of therapy, an artistic expression, a long deep look at what makes us who we are.”  The promise of all these things is keeping me going.  I also guess that some day I will want to remember the smoothness of my hands without wrinkles or the brown of my hair without the grey.  I want to appreciate and love my body for what it is now.

I deleted so many pictures in this mirror session except for this one; a face of frustration and doubt.

Lessons learned:

• Quiet your inner critic as much as you can.  When you look at the photos, let go of how you feel about them and try not to make any judgements about yourself.  (I know…)
• Crop out any distractions in the photos, like a red cup on the table behind you, so that the eye is drawn to you and the background disappears.
• Try other fun ways to capture yourself besides looking directly at yourself… perhaps your shadow or reflection, part of your face, your hands, or your closed eyes.
• Keep in mind that while you may not like how you look today, you may be glad to have these pictures 10 years from now.  It may be a privilege to look back at your younger self.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Movement

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is MOVEMENT.

I knew there would be a future need for these photos of the San Antonio Riverwalk when I took them 7 months ago! Ripples and reflections on water speak implied movement to me.

What comes to mind for you?

Past challenges: Create, Close, Today.

An announcement and a photo-heart connection: beauty is God’s handwriting

I am celebrating a private accomplishment today.  As Tracey Clark said on her blog recently, “it’s time we celebrate who we are, where we’ve been and where we are going and all the awesomely brave things we do along the way.” I can hardly believe that my little blog started a year and a half ago hit 100 followers last week. Talk about taking a risk to put myself out there! That people would like to see my photography and read my thoughts baffles me still.  But I am giddily jumping for joy and mentally doing cartwheels in celebration of this accomplishment. I am proud that I began, even though I wasn’t sure where it was going.  I am proud of sharing my photography, dreams, and motherhood struggles.  I am proud that I thought enough of myself to put myself out there… and I am rewarded with so many new friends… YOU!

Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t, it’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.  ~Barack Obama

It’s time for the June Photo-Heart Connection! When I looked through the photos I took in June, this one stood out for me.  I snapped it for a Picture Black and White class prompt, but desaturating this of color sort of ruined it for me. 

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The heart and soul connection here for me is that I did not ever notice that this “weed” was so colorful until I visited it with my iPhone macro lens.  In looking at the photo on my computer, I was taken aback at it’s texture, rich color, and delicacy.  Quite a revelation… photography does that for me.  I didn’t see the beauty right before me until I had my lens there to translate it for me.  This happens so often that you’d think I’d be used to it by now, but I still pause in wonder every time.

I am currently participating in Liz Lamoreux’s Inner Excavate-along, and part of one of our prompts recently was to capture the world around us with our cameras, seeking patterns and nuances in how we see things every day.  I was immediately drawn to the words “you already know” in her prompt.  There is so much intuition within me when I’m holding my camera. 

Haven’t done it before? You can learn more about how to find your Photo-Heart Connection here.

See my May photo-heart connection post here.