On our way to Madison we wanted to see if the swans had returned to a little creek off 131.
Last year, I spotted large white birds in a swampy area near the road, we pulled over and i took a dozen or more photos. It was easier to count the cygnets when enlarging the photo than with my regular eyesight—binoculars were in my truck—in Texas—not in Wisconsin.
We were not disappointed.
A mated pair herded five fully fledged cygnets in a largish pond but much farther away. Two other swans wandered around further away—guessing they were the previous year’s young.
and next to the road was this protesting red-winged blackbird
these little birds run along the beach, stopping to peck away at something in the sand. They don’t seem to pay any attention to humans or dogs or cars or other birds—they just run hither and yon, stopping occasionally to poke their bills into the sand, sometimes running into the water, and retreating from waves barely more than a small ripple.
I”m sure there’s a life lesson somewhere in this but for now I just enjoy capturing their images.
This weeks photo assignment was Levitation. Photoshop manipulations is just not something I am good at and I’m not sure I really want to spend that much time in front of a computer screen. However, I wanted to give it a try.
An exhibit of Calder’s work in Houston with all of his wonderful mobiles suggested this possibility.
This is Hercules and the Lion. I did some photoshop work on it make it look like was floating but the other students in the group did floating slices of lemons and people and flowers and….all beyond my skill level.
a visit to see the Calder-Pciasso exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston was delightful. The mobiles of Calder and some of Picasso’s metal work were exhibited elegantly. It was one of those events difficult to descxribe in words; however, I took some photos and this was the best of the group. Calder’s Hercules and the Lion. I did some photoshop work to create the colored background to simulate the floating requirement. While not as detailed as someo f the others in the group, it was definitely outside of my skill level. My thanks to Calder and to the Museum for providing such a great exhibt.
Each year I think about what I want to accomplish. What groups do I find valuable and interesting? What things do I want to do? What unfinished projects are staring me accusingly in the face? What friendships do I want to cultivate? And what do I need to let go?
Last year was full of health challenges—far too many. I am trying hard to excuse myself for not getting done what I had hoped for. That is a hard task for someone who is goal-oriented.
But this year I am planning on doing—whether it is just reading, or classes via internet or physical travel to places new or familiar. I plan to have fun and adventure.
My word of the year is ADVENTURE
While last year was one of health challenges, the year ahead will be one of exploring, traveling, and adventure . i plan to have fun no matter the avenue–reading, classes, new friends and hobbies, and travel to both familiar and new places. My word of the year is Adventure.
For those of us who like to think we are artists of some sort, we —or at least I will admit…..look for patterns and colors.
Saturday’s walk in the Big Thicket yielded two studies in a monochromatic color scheme or neutrals. Contrast and value; size and variety—all play a role.
in the parking lot
And then there was this one–more dramatic in value changes
Every Sunday morning a prompt for the 52 week Photo Challenge appears in my mailbox. Some of the challenges involve fancy photo or photo processing techniques—and I am more of a no-crop multiple photos of the same thing from many angles and choosing what I think is the best one.
This week’s prompt was they lyrics sung by Sting “Walk with Me”. It is introspective and thoughtful—and while I’ve seen a few photos referencing the fields of gold, I focused on the shoes.
My husband loves shoes.
He has an army of shoes; a squadron, a fleet.
In the past, I had just two pairs of shoes—one for casual wear and one for work. Probably this reflects my school years in which I got a new pair each August for school and then a pair for gym class.
Now I have a few more pairs, hiking boots, sandals, sneakers, water shoes, church shoes, ‘work’ shoes but still not nearly the number as my husband has.
When I read through the lyrics and then watched the video, I thought of all the miles my husband has walked—with me and for me.
When we moved some decades ago into our current home we did not realize the presence of the train switching yard just five blocks away. The cars bumping against each other sounded like explosions at first—and still do on occasion but we have grown accustomed to hearing the start of the railroad day at 5 AM. Too often traffic is stopped with a train over the main road to downtown–and always it seems when I am hurrying to church—and then the late night whistle that might be appreciated if it were a tune of some sort or many decibels softer.
Despite all this annoyance, the announcement of Big Boy coming through Beaumont and staying overnight was met with a great deal of interest and enthusiasm.
The railroad mowed the marshy area for its visitors—and people parked along the road and walked through the mud to gape at this huge train engine.
I asked a boy standing by to serve as a model/comparison in size for me—and a few others ducked under the caution tape to take a photo.
It is hard to properly photograph the immensity of this huge engine. Here is a fuel truck next to it.
Most of us were standing behind the caution tape in the marsh—until the guy with the orange safety vest took pity on us and moved the tape up so we could stand on sand instead of mud.
Rain was threatening but it did not stop a steady stream of on-lookers.
And just because I like the imagery of mechanical things.
Big Boy made a circular route through several states returning to its home in Cheyenne Wyoming. Taking time to wade through mud and chance a drenching was definitely rewarding—just the delight of something fun for all of those who came–instead of the daily grind of unpleasant news reports. This event was sensational—but in the best way.
This week’s assignment was ‘chair’. Given all the images appearing featuring a certain older gentleman from the Northeast wearing mittens and seated in a chair, I suppose the topic was inevitable.
I like to think about the topic during the week and consider various options. I thought about what makes a seating area a ‘chair’ versus a bench or a stool or a couch. And then there is the ‘chair’ of a department or committee.
In the end I found this chair sitting on a neighbor’s front porch. In this area chairs are put next to the front door to allow a setting place for bags of groceries or a purse while opening the front door.
many people tend to have chairs on their front porch. This provides a resting spot for bags of groceries or a purse to allow opening of the locked door. Some porches have a set of chairs on them for evening contemplation and sometimes for morning coffee although coffee is usually consumed on the back porch.
Several years ago–I would guess it was with the cell phones that could take fairly nice photos, there was a fad of posting a photo of your meal–particularly if you were at a restaurant or if the meal was special.
The past week’s assignment of flat lay means placing the camera directly overhead to take a photo of an assortment of objects–frequently food or maybe collections of things.
I had missed the previous week’s assignment of ‘long exposure’—I tried several option but got some lovely blank images and a blurry moon photo—gave it a try but not successful.
Flat lay usually requires good direct natural light for the best results; however, we have had intermittent rain and fog and overall dreariness to match the frustration of the COVID vaccine situation.
I did manage to get this image.
For those of you who have read a few books, you may recognize the reference—-and no, it doesn’t spell out anything at all–it was a group of figures I thought were fun and fairly easy to reproduce.
Maybe a few of you will figure out the reference; I had long been fascinated with this idea and now I had an escuse to try it out.
Living in an old house on the Texas Gulf Coast where houses are not designed for cold weather and freezing temperatures……let’s just say the house is charming but challenging at times. I had noticed a black spot appearing on the hallway ceiling over the front door. We speculated replacing the front pillars some years ago–they were rotting with some plastic ones had altered the roof just enough to permit water to run in; then we also thought perhaps the shower pan was no longer functional and discovered a place where the grout had fallen out on the side of the walk-in shower.
Husband crawled up there on our ladder and after some poking and sawing away of the drywall we had put up instead of the plaster in repairing the shower pan leakage incident, found a hole in a pipe—a pipe that ran underneath an electric wire. That repair necessitated turning off the power and the water to the house while a patch was attempted.
I repaired to the shop where I started quilting a surprise for my oldest son—well, maybe not a surprise if he reads this; and after rethreading the Gammill twice and taking out some bad stitches, I called to inquire about the status of the repair.
I will spare you the images of the hole in the front hallway ceiling but instead end with this photo taken of the Anahuac Wildlife Refuge and direct you to my gallery featuring more photos of the afternoon. Coots were in great abundance and I took dozens of photos but they do not pose as nicely as do the marsh reeds and other vegetation.
Sylvia Weir Art 