Friday, March 11, 2011

The Weekend in Pictures

This past weekend, while celebrating my cousin's wedding in Columbia, South Carolina, I enjoyed a deliciously solitary Saturday morning. I sat in the memory garden where my grandparents' ashes are buried, in a space between my uncle's house and the mobile home where my grandparents lived for the last decades of their lives. I updated my Facebook account (first things first, of course), listened to the wind chimes, and worked on a spread in my art journal:

Then, with only fifteen minutes to spare before I was due to have lunch with a dear friend whom I had not seen in 28 years, I grabbed my camera and made a mad dash around my uncle’s property, looking for interesting details, scenery, and “photo opportunities.” I have debated all week with myself about including the photos in my blog, since (as I’ve noted previously) I am a terribly amateur photographer without the sense to set the settings on a simple point-and-click digital camera. I am sure that with more experience and study, a better camera, and a knowledge of PhotoShop, these photographs could have been truly amazing. But in the interest of my theme for the year, Begin, I will start where I am now, and share what I came up with!

My first picture is intended to capture the kind of sadness of staying at my grandparents' house now that they are no longer alive. I took some pictures of the now-empty rooms inside the house, but I thought the dried-up plant on the front porch captured the spirit of what it was like to be back even better:

The statues in the memory garden were both beautiful and a little bit haunting:

There are no more willing models than my aunt and uncle's horses. They were lying on the ground relaxing when I started across the yard, and I was hoping to catch them at rest before they noticed me. No such luck, but I think I got an even better photo of this horse in the process of standing up:

Some more images of my "willing models":

My aunt and uncle had all sorts of interesting "country" details and photo opportunities on their property:

And one final photo, in the interest of living the creative life: Do YOU have a crocheted brick in YOUR home? Well, perhaps you should! This one acts as a door stop and displays my grandmother's initials:
A crafty classic!

I welcome your feedback on my shots, as well as any advice that has helped you take better photos. Though I am not quite prepared to make a thorough study of photography just yet, I am happy to learn from any tips I might pick up here and there.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

HI there, just found your blog today by noodling around the web, must have followed a comment you left on someone else's blog I guess. I cannot tell you for sure, how I found my way to your lovely blog. I loved your "Drawing Near" entry from 2011. I've been reading Art Blogs galore these past few weeks. Need to "Begin" my own, and I'm in the process of collecting some materials. I'm enjoying reading your blog -- and thinking back to my own self at that oh-so-vibrant age, late 30's. At 57, my girls (21 & 26) are not-quite-grown, not-quite-launched, and yet on their own, and out of my household. I'm contemplating creative opportunities, trying not to be too wrapped up in "Shoulds" and wanting to live more in the moment. Look forward to perusing your posts over the years, and maybe participating in a swap of some sort one of these days! All the best to you. Carole A.