Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #240 – The Road (most often) Taken

The photographic road we tend to travel most often is what John is asking us to share with you this week for the Lens-Artists Challenge. It’s a challenge that require some introspection on my part but I do know that my overall road runs mostly through nature, although within that milieu I consider myself to be eclectic. My motto? Perhaps this…

“Nature, especially wilderness, has a calming effect on the mind” – Percy Fernandez

or maybe this…

“Nature never goes out of style”– Unknown

My road is slow and quiet…with time to stop and look. There’s a reason people in a group or on wheels rarely see wildlife.

I love to take inroads to see the little things that perhaps might be missed and share them through a photo.

“Sometimes you can tell a large story with a tiny subject “– Eliot Porter

My road can be literal and I’ve been down this one many times for most of my life. I plan travel it as long as I’m able.

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

My road means wanting to see things no one else has seen or, if seen, have not really noticed as special. I want them to say, “Why didn’t I ever think to make a picture of that?”

“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.”― Marc Riboud

Sometimes my road even includes the city with all its distortions of nature and sees them as beautiful, yet I always yearn for the road back to and into nature to center me and bring me peace.

“Always seeing something, never seeing nothing, being photographer”
― Walter De Mulder

Wherever your road is and whatever it looks like, be prepared to taste the sweetness of life when the opportunity arises.

My overarching motto as a photographer is expressed perfectly in this quote I discovered while creating this post. It instantly smote my heart:

“When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.” ― Robert Frank

Thanks to all of you who take time to view my photos, to “like” my posts, and most of all, to take the time to tell me what you like about them, how they touch you . That is soul food in the finest sense. ❤

Perhaps Jo will forgive me for also linking this to her Monday Walk challenge as it is indeed a walk, albeit a virtual one, through the philosophy of my photography and blogging.

In the neighborhood? Please drop in.

Yesterday we woke to the promised winter storm: about 6″ of snow on the ground and still coming down thickly.  It snowed well into the late afternoon, a gloriously beautiful day!  By the time it stopped, it was probably close to 10″, making a walk to the nearby grocery store for buy-one-get-one pizza for National Pizza Day quite a bit of exercise.  More snow’s in the forecast for tomorrow and Sunday.  I may have to head over to the park in the morning!

Choosing the six-word title for today’s post was almost as difficult as choosing how to edit this shot.  Hopefully you’ll enjoy both and hopefully also have a wonder-filled weekend.  I know I will.

A drift

Merriam Webster has numerous definitions for “drift” but persevere and you’ll arrive at:

8 :  a grouping of similar flowers planted in an elongated mass.

On my photography walk last week, once I entered into the wooded part of the park, I was adrift in drifts of wildflowers, not all of which show up well in photos.  Of course, no person planted these elongated masses of flowers but nevertheless, there they are.  (As an aside, a photography walk for me is one where I deliberately set out with Nikon and lenses in addition to the ever-present iPhone and don’t even plan on getting any exercise other than the most rudimentary walking.  Call it soul food.)

At any rate, there were still wildflowers aplenty, which I featured on my blog Friday and Saturday.   Here then, is a drift of wildflowers and, I hasten to add, taken with said phone, not my Nikon, lest Sally whip me with a wet noodle.  🙂

May you be adrift in flowers today, whether literal or figurative!  Perhaps I should also include “virtual.”  And happy May Day, which is celebrated with flowers as well!

For Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge: Nature

Walk with me, part 1

On Tuesday, I promised I’d share the photos that went with that day’s “Saturday in the Park” post and yesterday I highlighted a shot of one of the hundreds of drop-bedecked spider webs for the Weekly Photo Challenge.

But, to quote Maria, let’s start at the very  beginning, after I leave the parking lot and walk down the first section of trail surrounded by forest.  Before I emerge into the prairie section, I pass a grass-covered path off to the left that seems to invite the walker onto another path…or perhaps into another dimension. It’s a beautiful place to walk but rather muddy after all the rain that helped show off the spider webs.

Yesterday’s spider web was just one of hundreds of webs on view thanks to the drops of water clinging to their lines.  Here’s a small section, highlighted by the sun behind them.

Even when I don’t meet any people, there’s always someone willing to make a comment or two, although not always willing to do so to my face!

Although there are drifts of daisies scattered throughout the prairie area, wild irises hide here and there.

We’ve made it almost through the prairie section, but there are still some things to see.  Next week, we’ll take a look at them.

 

Quite a twist

One of the great things about winter and spring is being able to see things in nature that are normally covered by growth.  Along with drops of water, I love the twists and twirls of vines that come into their own when other growth is gone.  I guess you could say they hang in there.  🙂

Photo not retouched, merely cropped and autographed.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Future…soon

I’d love to share a photo of me and my husband retired and traveling the world, but it’s a difficult shot, even with my Nikon, as it hasn’t yet happened. Instead, I’ll share this bit of future waiting to happen, while outside the rain-snow mix and wind continue, a spring day in NE Illinois.  🙂

Seven Day Nature Challenge Day 1…reflecting on nature

Sue at WordVisual has invited me to take part in the Seven Day Nature Challenge, seven days of nature photos and a further nomination each day.  Not sure there’s anyone I know left to nominate, but as nature’s what I photograph most of the time, I’m glad to hop in and participate.

This shot is from this fall on the river in the park where I regularly walk, watching the seasons change as I renew my soul. For today, I nominate Judy at New England Garden and Thread.  Judy not only enjoys nature, she cares for and creates nature in her garden.  Judy, you’re welcome to participate or not as you choose.

Wordless Wednesday…milkweed

Photo101 Rehab…Cloudy with a chance of photos

I walk for exercise three mornings a week, carrying my iPhone because photo ops happen all the time at the park.  I keep track of my walks on Map My Walk and was relieved to discover the “Pause workout” button, enabling me to stop for photos without having my pace impacted.  But every so often, I take a photo walk, carrying my Nikon with telephoto lens as well as my iPhone.  I don’t map those walks, as a distance that takes about 30 min. on an exercise day may take as long as an hour and a half on a photography day!

Last week, my photo walk day turned out to be cloudy with the threat of rain.  I packed a plastic bag in my fanny pack to cover  my camera if necessary.  I wasn’t sure if I should expect much in the way of animal life, but perhaps because it still seemed like night or because there were hardly any other people, it was an excellent day, as you’ll see from the following photos.  This is true soul food.

The small things