June:: In the Picture, PHC and Recap

This picture sums up June for me.  Its one of the self portraits I took this month for Christy's {In the Picture} and its also my pick for Kat's Photo-Heart Connection.  The sun flare over my shoulder, the blue sky, the trees - crazy beautiful.  All are glorious.  This photo speaks to me of all things for which to be grateful. 

I don't keep a grateful journal.  Many people do.  I don't bother to write down the amazing things that come my way each day, or the things that make me stumble but hold valuable messages and lessons.  I've found what works best for me is to acknowledge the things as they happen.  Sometimes, I also run a mental list at night before I go to sleep.  Its a nice way to drift off into dreamland with thanks on my lips.

June was good for me.  It was filled with firsts, wonderful opportunity and yes... also things that caught me off guard and made me stumble.   

Thank you June. 

Photo Heart Connection::May

The end of May has come and it is time to look back through the month of photos and find the one that speaks to me.  Its time for Kat's Photo Heart Connection over at Kat Eye Studio.  This is such a good exercise.  Its not about the best photo I took for the month, its about finding the one that reflects a photo-heart connection. 
Hot tea in a pretty cup.  Yes, this is the one.  I love tea.  Its fascinating to me - how the leaf from one kind of plant can be changed so many ways - white, green, oolong, and black.  So many ways of making one thing different - drying, steaming, wok frying, crushing, oxidizing.  The world of tea parallels photography in a way.  We take one thing - a camera and we can create so many different things from it.  Both stimulate our senses, both are nurturing, and both quench a thirst - one for our body and one for our soul. 
Happy PHC everyone.  If you are interested, this is where I get my TEA.

 

Photo Heart Connection - March

Mukilteo Beach

This photo is taken with Ilford Super 400 film and my old Nikon 401.  I've been playing around with film this year.  I wanted to better my eye and be more cognizant of framing my photos and really paying attention to what I'm doing.  Film does that for me.  I have 24 frames and each one needs to be thoughtfully taken.  Out of habit, I take a photo and immediately look at the back of the camera to see my shot.  However, there is no feedback with film - no way to make adjustments.  Its all guesswork for me.  I have to wait until the entire roll is taken and then developed.    I always "go for it" - I get the entire roll printed 4x6.  I want to see them all - good or bad. 
I can't tell you how I feel when I open the photo envelope after picking up the prints.  The anticipation of seeing how I did.  The excitement of looking through them as I sit in the car.  Then I think about them on the way home.  I lay them out on the dining room table when I get home.  I pick my favorites, I put the worse ones in a pile to the side.  Each one is special - each one holds meaning for me.  Maybe its a little nostalgia, or maybe its the way that film in its grainy goodness just makes photos a little different for me.
This photo is my photo-heart connection pick this month.  It was a cool day, not windy and not really sunny either.  I was perfect in its own way.  This photo speaks to me like a whisper of days gone by.  When I was a kid and we would spend endless hours like this at the beach.  No agenda - just fun.  Our imaginations would run wild with mermaids, sandcastles and whatever else we could dream up.  I watched these kids for a while before taking this photo.  Any one of them, was just like I had been. 

And today is Pay It Forward Monday - where you give a shout out and a *clap*clap* to someone for the great things they are doing.  Last week I gave a shout out to Justine who came up with this great idea.  This week - a shout out to Kat of Kat Eye Studio.  She runs this photo-heart connection and inspires us all with her photo love blog, e-courses, post card exchanges and all the other amazing things that she brings to us from her studio.  Next Monday and all the rest, I urge you to climb on board with Pay It Forward Monday and spread some love out there in blog land.
  

The Photo-Heart Connection: February

This is one of my favorite photos I took in February.  It is taken in Suffolk England in the back garden at my friend's home in Homersfield.  It was early morning, crisp and cool.  The sun rose up over the fields and brought the most beautiful light.  To me, this photo speaks of promise.  There is promise that these pods will drop their seeds, the seeds will grow, and flowers will bloom again.  There is promise that the new will come with spring.  There is promise in the sunlight of a bright and beautiful day that is just beginning.  The little webs glisten with promise of building for the future.  So much promise in one capture.  It speaks to my heart - this is why I chose it for the photo-heart connection.