S'mores

Summer time isn't complete without a HUGE BAG EACH of marshmallows, graham crackers and really yummy chocolate!

Toss in an adorable little  Funny Bunny grandson and the party is complete.

This photography blog is an opportunity for me to explore all things photographic and pen a few words. So today I am working, trying very hard to learn TEXTURES.

The Real McCoy

Adding Kim Klassen's Textures: Scratched Magic and Honey Bee

Note: should have worked harder to pull high lights up.

There is so much to learn and I am eager to do it. The hard part is deciding which texture to apply and in which order. 

If you are desiring to really learn how to do textures this is the place! Thank you Kim

And now to see if there are any marshmallows left over!

A Cup, a Saucer, and Two Tomatoes

 April found us excited to plant sunflowers, basil, thyme, rosemary, citronella, pumpkins and beautiful deep red geraniums. The coup de grace would be tomatoes...every day fresh tomatoes and basil. 

What could be finer in Carolina?  (sorry from Carolina)

But all the pampering, watering, vitamin-ing wasn't enough to combat armies of marauding ants, rabbits, sticky spiders and unrelenting heat.

Four plants, once healthy...output to date

two smallish, fully RED tomatoes.

Kat has kept us going strong in her Finding Your Eye course.

Today, we were to photograph one object.....50 times....50 times you have got to be kidding. I will get a cramp in my trigger finger shooting 50 photos!!!

Being obedient, I did shoot 50 photos. And all in honor of our 

 TWO PRECIOUS TOMATOES.

(We dined on them tonight....after the 50 shots!)

It was easy to narrow down the first round.

Finding One's North Star

is a process, it takes time, it takes purpose, it takes making choices, it perhaps means giving something up in order to gain something new.

 

(   Kat Sloma's Class Finding Your Eye  )

Kat has suggested for us is to try and understand what inspires us; what makes us click our camera; what catches our eye; what holds our attention; which photos do we return to. 

 It sounds easy, but it is not. For it requires quiet introspection, analysis, pondering and choosing.

For one reason or another I shoot thousands of images. The question posed: is there a running THEME of what I choose to photograph. What captures my full attention, whether I have the mechanical/camera abilities or not?

I have slowly whittled away at the proverbial "Elephant in the  Room." And although my thoughts may change like the shifting of the sands, for today this is my North Star.

My North Star consists of CONNECTION to all living things...people, animals, the fruits of the earth. Somewhere there must be a spark of LIFE...LIVING.

Another aspect of what I want to express is the element of STORYTELLING.

From the seeds of a sunflower, to a ripening berry, a bird's nest,  a meal beautifully served, 

boxes of discarded clothing, faces-faces-faces

from all over the earth;

each must hold a story, something I can record in prose or photo, a permanent memory.

Culling through my photographs, it has cemented

the profound desire to

CELEBRATE LIFE !!

The messy, the sad, the gleeful, the colorful, the new and the old, the unexpected.

It is a VISUAL JOURNAL

of those things, places and life I do not want to forget.

I am grateful for this opportunity to really think through what I take for granted, not just hauling my Big Mama  around. 

Now I can focus on my real intent. 

Thank you for sharing this journey with me.

All the Red Soldiers

I use to play with tin soldiers. A surprising revelation from a girly-girl. 

I loved the feel of the cold metal, the shiny uniforms

painted red and blue.

Line them up STRAIGHT, no slouching, no convex/concave lines.

This is perhaps my first memory of 

symmetry.

"...beauty resulting from structure.... objects divided into equal shape, size or length.... repetition of similar parts."

Oxford Dictionary

I haven't thought much about straight lines past those childhood years. (Well, unless cutting a child's bangs STRAIGHT counts.)

I actually like RANDOM. SPONTANEOUS. UNUSUAL.

Then I discovered a special website devoted to photography and writing. 

Kat's   Exploring with a Camera. 

Every few weeks Kat posts an informative article meant to enhance our photographic skills, see things in a new way, be open, spontaneous. 

And this is how I came to think about "things that are similar, equally divided, matching and repetitious."

(The equivalent of my tin soldiers.)

Reflections

Reflections mirror back what we can not always see. 

 Reflections give us a second opportunity to see what is and what isn't.

 Reflections show us the path to the Sun.

Why do people wear 20 pound cameras around their necks?

We were walking in 110 degree heat in New York, two days ago, my Big Mama camera chafing at my sweating neck. My shoulders aching from the weight of camera and bag? Steaming heat hitting the black camera, magnifying its intensity. Is it really worth all the effort I asked myself, mopping my brow.

Despite my moaning and groaning I knew the answer was "Yes."

Every time I take my camera out of its bag, I know there is something I want to try, to learn, to experience, to acknowledge, to honor or to just have fun being goofy.

There are moments I just want to get up close and see how spectacular the the tiny details in life can be.

I love ethnic food. There isn't much I haven't tried...well liver, spiders and snakes are definitely excluded. A photo reminds me of what I savored, how it looked and tasted, and can I possibly duplicate it at home.

 Have you ever seen a child whose face wasn't beautiful? The innocence, the openness, the curiosity, the sorrow, the fear, the joy, the surprise....a child's face can express it all. I want my lens to capture the emotions.

 We can't all live by the beach watching sunsets tag after sunrises. We can't all listen to the seagulls whine for tidbits, nor see the hermit crabs scatter in a sideways skitter. But when we are at the beach, most everyone, including me, pulls out a camera and hopes to capture the moment and take it and a seashell home for remembrance. 

Welcome to Sharon Furner Photography