22/365 Frozen

"Frozen in Time"

Those in other parts of the world definitely had an advantage when it came to finding something frozen to photograph today.   Last Tuesday we had snow on the ground; today it is sixty-five degrees and there is nothing frozen outside.

Yesterday I discovered this snowman in our guest bath.  I missed him when I packed away the Christmas decorations a few weeks ago.  He represents a bit of Christmas frozen in time.

21/365 Equal

"Equality for All"

Today we celebrate the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the inauguration of Barack Obama to a second term as president of the United States.  Nearly forty years after King's great speech, it is sad that we are still striving for the same things for people in this country - equality and respect for ALL people.

It is certainly fitting that today's prompt was "equal."  I wanted to take a picture that had some meaning, not simply an image of two things that are equal.  I had no idea what that might be.  

Weber and I both had early doctor's appointments this morning.  I carried my camera along the way thinking that I might see something while I was out and about that would satisfy the day's prompt.  The only thing that I saw was the equal sign magnet that we have on the back of our car as a sign of our support for the right of same-sex couples to have all of the rights AND RESPONSIBILITIES as are provided to heterosexual married couples.  It is a symbol of the Human Rights Campaign.  Though the magnet has significant meaning, it is not particularly photogenic, if you know what I mean.  That did start a train of thought though.

As it got later and later in the day, I figured that I needed to go ahead and do something.  My day was plagued with a lack of creativity.  I finally decided that I would just take a picture of our wedding bands against a stark white background.  People could read into it whatever they wanted.  As I was getting ready to set up the shot, I had this feeling that I was selling out.  Yes, there should be equality in a marriage and two wedding bands might show that, but that is not the whole story that I wanted to tell.

Then came the spark.  I remembered the colorful bokeh Christmas lights that I shot way back in December.  I printed the image and used it as a backdrop for the rings because of its rainbow colors.  I was fairly happy with the result.

When it came time to post the image on the CY365 forum, I was a little reluctant.  Though everyone is very kind in their comments to one another, the issue of gay marriage is one that can be quite divisive.  I didn't want to be the one to introduce that into that venue.  I asked Weber what he thought.  Being that he is the one who ordered our sticker from the Human Rights Campaign, he told me to go ahead and post it.  I told myself that anyone who recognized the deeper implications probably would appreciate it and the others would just see it as pretty colors.

As of right now, I have received two comments on today's image.  

"Nice colors and composition." and "TES!"

I guess my instincts about the group were pretty good.

20/365 Playing

"Rock Music"

"Playing" as a prompt offers endless possibilities.  However, this afternoon when I had the time to take pictures, all of my usual subjects were sound to sleep on the couch.  Neither Weber, the dogs or the cat were interested in any kind of playing.  If the prompt had been sleeping,  I would have been in business!

I'm not sure how or why it got started, but there seems to be a "thing" on the CY365 site for photographing the Lego mini figures.  I suspect it began because it is an inexpensive way to practice various photography techniques without having to deal with a moving subject.

I got my first figure last weekend.  Until today, he had just been sitting on the shelf in my office.  In an attempt to photograph to the day's prompt, I decided that I would play with him. Thanks to having our yard dug up yesterday so that the gas line could be replaced, there is a huge pile of rocks out front.  What better backdrop for a rocking out DJ than a big pile of rocks.

As I was sitting on the ground taking these pictures, our next door neighbor was out in her yard with her boyfriend.  I don't know what they were doing or saying, but I suspect their conversation was probably something along the lines of, "Things must be really boring over there if the most exciting way she can find to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon is to photograph rocks!"

19/365 Bright

"Brightly Colored Socks"

I'm not sure that I had the right take on bright; I suspect that it was intended to have more to do with light than with color.  Oh well . . . Things don't get much brighter than these socks.  I hand-dyed the yarn and then knit the socks.  They are some of my favorites!

18/365 Doorway

"1900's Texas Ranch House"

I struggled with what to do today.  I do have a fascination with doors and windows.  I particularly love the colorful ones found on many of the buildings in New Mexico.  That is the image I had in my head and I could think of nothing close that was even comparable.

I then remembered a picture I had taken when we were in Assisi back in 2009.  It too is full of color.

I spent the day thinking about where to go and what to photograph.  I finally decided that the Farmers Branch Historical Park surely must have at least one building with an interesting door.  As soon as Weber got home from school, we went to see what we could find.  I've never explored the historical park.  We only had about an hour so today's exploration revolved solely around doors.

There were several pictures that I was relatively happy with.  Below is the "runner-up."

I find it rather interesting that I started the day wanting an image of a colorful doorway and ended up with a very stark black and white picture.  I guess I am an all or nothing kind of girl.

17/365 A Favorite Toy

"Teddy"

This well-loved bear was given to my mother when she was born in 1938.  As a child, the first thing that I would do when we visited my grandparents, which was usually only every year or two, was go find "Teddy."  He was always in the same chair, in the same corner, in the same room.  He was a constant companion while I was visiting Delaware.

He now lives with me.  He sits in his chair, which was my mother-in-law's, in the corner of our guest room.  Somewhere along the way, he was dressed in baby clothes.  I believe this was to help protect his arms and legs that are only now tenuously attached by a single string.

My girls never got to play with him much so they don't have the same memories and attachment that I do.  But now that Teddy is out in public and accepting visitors, maybe some day another generation of grandchildren will run to find him when they come to visit.

I am thankful for today's prompt because I don't think that I have any other pictures of Teddy.  Well, with one exception . . .my grandparent's home was featured in an issue of Colonial Homes magazine.  At that point, Teddy was still residing in Delaware and made his way into the magazine shoot.  Anyway, Im glad to have been prompted to take a picture myself.

16/365 Jumbled

"The Last of the Birthday Flowers"

On a photography blog today I saw the following paraphrase of a quote, possibly by Berenice Abbott:

I never take the photograph I intended; they are either better or worse.

This sums up today's picture taking perfectly.  I had planned to spend the day at the knit shop today since I am fast approaching going back to school and my opportunity to do this will be virtually non-existent..  Since today's photo prompt was "jumbled" I figured I could certainly find a jumbled up knitting project at some point during my day.  I had checked the battery in my camera and packed it securely in my purse.  I am trying to become comfortable and carrying it with me more.  As I turned around to pick up my knit bag, I saw the flowers that Weber gave me for my birthday.  They are almost three weeks old.  Though several of them are still bright with life, others have lost petals and blossoms.  These fallen jumble of pieces surrounded the vase still sitting on the curio cabinet in the dining room.  For some reason, this image caught my attention.  I don't know whether it was the colors, the contrast between the flowers still on their stems and those laying on the cabinet or what.  Whatever it was, I was fascinated.  Not having much time before I was supposed to leave, I unpacked my camera and started taking pictures.  I played with the angles and the settings.  I had just enough time to pop my memory card in the computer and look at a few images before I left.  I was fairly sure that I had gotten something that would satisfy the day's prompt.  I didn't take my camera with me.

I thought about these pictures all day.

When I got home, the first thing that I did (after feeding the starving dog) was scroll through them all.  This one just jumped out at me.  I love everything about it.

This was not the photograph I intended to take today.  Happily, it is much better than I expected.