Category: Light
More Shadows from ChosenPerspectives
I have become obsessed this week with Shadow photos but did not think about all the different definitions of the word until this morning.
Here are some of the shots I took inside to show how cool a shadow can be sometimes, cast from the sun on different objects…
My bathroom wall at sunset
Then I went outside to look for interesting shadows. As those who live way up here in the Northwest know, we can go for days and days without shadows of any kind outside.
So I was lucky to come across these…
And then I waited for a long time for these…
It was getting to be late in the day and I remembered playing a shadow game with my grandsons when they were younger…out on the back lawn, so I headed out to see what my shadow looked like.
This is as close as I get to a “selfie”. Don’t I look tall and thin??
But then, as it darkened outside, I began thinking of all the other connotations for the word “shadow”.
I debate with some of my Psychotherapist colleagues who believe we all have this “shadow” part of us…a permanent dark side we can do nothing about. I don’t see it that way. I prefer to think of it as having unfinished work or areas of growth. We can bring “light” onto anything…sometimes simply by changing our perspective.
As I was pondering these various definitions, I remembered a photo I had taken recently, as a follow up to one of my very early posts. This particular story was very “dark”, so much so that I even warned my readers of its disturbing content. I wrote a lot about an incident as an essential part of my own healing. James and I witnessed a horrific car accident, resulting in the very graphic death of a toddler. Here is a photo of the scene just a few days after the collision.
And then on the one year anniversary, I went back to the location and took this shot.
But for this slightly ominous shadow, it’s like nothing bad has ever happened on this corner in Bellevue…like the sweet little girl named Sraddha Pancha Karla never existed.
I do like how the shadow sort of refuses to cover the spot where she died…
Read more about the accident here, but be forewarned…
Many Shadows for WPC 2/8/17
I LOVE this topic. I take a lot of photos of shadows. I think they can be so beautiful and thought provoking. Here are some of my favorites, all in one post!
no filters, no settings change, all shot at once, with and without flash
I love shadows I can’t identify (or remember…no idea what these were!)
I love to see things popping out from the shadows.
And then of course, there is the whole dedicated activity of AVOIDING the shadows!
SongLyricSunday 1/29/17 theme”Sun”
https://helenespinosa.wordpress.com/2017/01/28/song-lyric-sunday-theme-for-12917/
Oh Helen, I didn’t realize it but I have been waiting for the perfect Sunday to share one of my all-time favorite singers.
Maybe you have heard of her. Eva Cassidy.
Many of her songs have the “sun” in them, and it was hard to pick one, so here are three of my favorites.
She was the sun!
I’ve included her story at the bottom. If you can get through her beautiful songs, and her story without tears of both joy, and the other kind…well, as my cryptic friend Don says “then I just don’t know about you.”
I did not include lyrics or credit for the song writing because these are all three classics.
It will take some time to get through all of this but I believe it will be worth it. Enjoy her gift to us all.
Unfocused
Not sure how to do this. I may be horning in on a weekly challenge I wasn’t invited to but I found it so compelling to see the topic “unfocused”. I read it immediately following an ice cold photo session out on my deck in the pitch black.
When I woke up this morning, the full (or almost full) moon was setting in a position I had never seen before from my house. I know this doesn’t mean it hasn’t, just that I am a night person and am rarely awake to see a Moonset in the first place, especially in the dead of winter.
And I had never actually seen the moon in all these colors, more typical of what a sunset brings!
I came in the house thrilled with what I had witnessed but so disappointed that all my shots were “unfocused”.
And then, when I started my morning ritual of looking at my Reader, Lisa’s post on unfocused was the first one I saw.
So here are a few of my unfocused photos from this morning’s icy Moonset!
Not even sure what that building is in the foreground. Wish I had a real telephoto. This is just my old Canon Powershot. I’ve always wondered how photos are taken where the moon or sun looks outrageously huge! This moon looks like a giant fireball about to land in downtown Bellevue!
https://dailymusing57.com/2017/01/12/thursdays-special-unfocused/
WordlessWednesday 12-28-16
The Sweetest Christmas Role Reversal ever!
I had the most delightful Holiday experience the other night.
It was one of those frosty ones we’ve had recently. They are still slightly rare here in the Northwest. I got home late, parked my car, went inside and unloaded stuff and then realized no one had gotten the mail. So, I bundled back up and trudged (well, it felt like trudging) back outside in the freezing cold to collect bills and hopefully, some holiday cards, from the mailbox. When I turned around to come back in, I decided to stop for a moment and look up to enjoy the stars that are so visible on this kind of crisp, clear night. As I’d hoped, they were stunning. But, what caught my eye was something in the tops of the two giant old trees in front of the house. There were a bunch, maybe hundreds, of white sparkles flitting in and on and around those trees!!
Instantly, in my mind, I was transported to a steaming hot summer night when I was just 7 years old. I was visiting my Aunt back in Prospect Heights, Illinois. I had a huge jar in my hands for collecting FIREFLIES!! They flitted and danced all around me, exactly like these were doing at the tops of my here and now trees.
I know I’m not crazy (at least most of the time) so I knew they couldn’t possibly be fireflies but what in the world were these pirouetting lights? Having just seen the movie Arrival, my mind raced with alien visitor possibilities. Or maybe it was some strange insect migration I’d never heard of. I even wondered about a flock of thousands of those mini drones, invading the sky above my house.
I ran inside and got James and he came out to see what I was so riled up about. He was also immediately blown away and we stood there wondering and guessing out loud.
Then, we both broke down into delighted giggles! What in the world??? What was this?? We were both so tickled!
I ran back in the house to get Michael (and my camera). I knew he’d never believe me if I tried describing it so even though he was already snuggled in bed with Netflix, I pulled the Mom Card and handed him his Robe. I was hoping the “swarm” would not take off before we could get back outside. He grumbled but came anyway.
Then the sweetest thing happened. Michael apologized…almost before we could even get outside. I guess my enthusiasm and wonder were pretty BIG.) He said, “Mom, I really don’t want to burst your bubble…but these are just someone’s Christmas laser lights.” I had no idea what he meant.
Sure enough, we traced the path of lights back toward probably our neighbors, the Jones’s, yard. James, ever the scientist, got it right away, when Michael explained how they worked. But, I stayed in denial for quite a while, a disappointed seven-year-old, bargaining for this to be a never-before-seen phenomenon.
“Are you sure?” I kept asking. “How could that be? Just look up there!”
Well, Michael was right, my bubble had popped but it didn’t really burst. It was still such an amazing display to see, all those pin points of light dancing in the tops of those HUGE ancient trees I love so much! I’ve lived here for over 40 years. I raised Michael in this house. Those trees were giant when we moved in and have acted as symbolic sentinels all these years. And now, he is raising his two sons here with those trees on guard.
Michael’s reaction to my childlike glee and then disappointment was so sweet and protective (thus the Role Reversal) but the best part came the next day. He went out and bought laser lights for all around the inside and outside of the house. That next night, he said “Mom, they’re baaack. Go look out your bedroom window.” And sure enough, a new Swarm had appeared, green and red this time, all over the two younger, but still large fir trees in the back of the house.
Delightful! Thanks, my sweet Son.
PS So sorry I don’t have visual aids as usual. Apparently laser lights are hard to photograph AND my site does not support video unless I “upgrade”. Otherwise I would embarrass myself for your entertainment by posting the completely black video of those lights, but with me squealing (and denying) in the background.
Song Lyric Sunday 12-18-16
https://helenespinosa.wordpress.com/2016/12/17/song-lyric-sunday-theme-for-121816/#respond
So the theme for Song Lyric Sunday (this week) is to post a song that makes you feel better.
My first choice is this delightful anthem from Cris Williamson. I always feel better after playing this LOUD and singing along with this wonderful choir of women!! I feel so connected! I dare you not to smile at the very end!!
Chris’s voice is so clear and powerful. I LOVE her joyous, sometimes poignant and always and “heartful” singing!
I have used Williamson’s music often in my work. And one time, I had the extreme pleasure of being at a Bonnie Raitt concert (she’s my favorite), when Bonnie invited local treasure, Cris Williamson, up on stage to sing Angel from Montgomery with her!! WOW!!
Song of the Soul
Song of the Soul
(Cris Williamson)
Love of my life I am crying
I am not dying, I am dancing
Dancing along in the madness
There is no sadness
Only the song of the soul
cho: And we'll sing this song
Why don't you sing along
Then we can sing for a long, long time
Why don't you sing this song
Then we can sing along
Then we can sing for a long, long time
What do you do for a living
Are you forgiving, giving shelter
Follow your heart, love will find you
Truth will unbind you
Seek out a song of the soul
Come to your life like a warrior
Nothing will bore yer, you can be happy
Let in the light, it will heal you
And you can feel you
Sing out a song of the soul
Love of my life I am crying
I am not dying, I am dancing
Dancing along in the madness
There is no sadness
Only the song of the soul
Lyrics from http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Song_of_the_Soul.htm
Wordless (more like Speechless) Wednesday 12-14-16
Hit play before you scroll down….
all with my point and shoot Canon….
Relax by ChosenPerspectives for WPC
Two slideshows to facilitate the theme…hope they work for you…..
Here are my contributions….
WAIT! I just took a bathroom break while writing this post and look what I found!
But if I really want to relax, it has to be in the presence of one of the following…
To me Sunsets are Holy…to the degree that it feels sinful to not freeze in my tracks to witness and appreciate the statement being made by that which is unfathomably bigger than me…