Archive for the 'Photo Essays' Category

Tiger Tiger Burning Bright

August 21, 2008 | Photo Essays

A line from one of my favorite poems - anyone know which one? - besides Veronica Mitchell who is super awesome and the best read person I know and would know the answer and could probably even recite the entire poem in her sleep.

Seanshine and I are on a little get away.  Wanna guess where we are?  Another clue tomorrow.

Thoughtful

August 8, 2008 | Photo Essays

Here’s a photo I took of Sean recently that I fussed with in PhotoShop this week while I wasn’t doing the other things I was supposed to be doing.

Here’s the original photo.

Dragonfly

August 7, 2008 | Photo Essays

Summer Fun

August 5, 2008 | Photo Essays

Hummingbird

August 4, 2008 | Photo Essays

Sometimes you get really lucky and you don’t know it until later.

After canoeing in Arkasas this past weekend, we stopped off at Gigi and Poopah’s farm where I sat out on their Southern Living style front porch in a white rocking chair with my camera waiting for something fabulous to wander by for me to photograph.  The first few minutes I was there I snapped this picture of a hummingbird. I thought, wow, that wasn’t so hard.  I never was able to do it again.

I also photographed a number of dragonflies, several minature horses, some wildflowers, children in need of a bath, some scroungy hound dogs and a cat, all or some of which I may post later this week.  

My brain seems to still be on vacation, so Antique Mommy will most likely be a photo blog this week while I recover and work on some other projects.

Gone Fishin’

July 4, 2008 | Photo Essays

I haven’t been able to blog the last day or two because I’ve been very very busy. I am fish sitting.  And it’s a lot of responsiblity.

First off, I have to feed it two microscopic dots of food, once in the morning and then again at night. And then I have to check on the fish 286 times a day to make sure it’s, um, not dead.  Not that there’s any real chance that the fish would meet its demise under my care, no, not at all.  But I did ask the owners where exactly they got the fish. Just because I was curious and not for any other reason other than curiosity. Just curious. That’s all…

Rainblue is a sweet little fish. Everytime I peer in on her/him/it, she flutters her little fins. It’s like she’s waving at me.  I think one time she even smiled at me.  We’ve bonded, Rainblue and I.

And yes, there is just one fish but you know me, I can’t just take a picture of a fish,  I always have to get all artsy fartsy with the camera.

Anyway - I hope y’all are having a safe and fun 4th o’ July, eating stuff not on your diet and enjoying the fireworks!

 

Hidden Stories

June 2, 2008 | Photo Essays

Here’s the same detail from yesterday’s photo, but set on the horizontal –  where it begins to make more sense.  As a detail, I like it better oriented vertically. I also think it would be more striking in black and white. 

 

Here is the original photo.

 

 I was surprised by the suggestion in comments that the detail had an O’Keefe quality to it because what I saw was not se*ual in nature at all, but spiritual.  I saw praying hands that seemed to be embraced by the reflection of something almost invisible, yet clearly in the likeness of the petitioner –something felt, but not quite seen.

And that is the nature of art and the eye of the beholder.

Little stories are hidden in the details of nearly every photograph — stories that are often missed because we tend to take in the image not in detail, but in whole.  As well, there are little stories in the details of your life, hidden within the larger context of your life.  If you will just look. 

I challenge you to take some time this week to look for the stories hiding in the details of your photos and your life.

 

Another Antique Mommy Artsy Fartsy Photo

Photo Essays

Here’s a detail from a photo I took recently.  Tomorrow I’ll post the complete photo.

Glenna’s Pink Calla Lily

May 21, 2008 | Photo Essays

This pink calla lily belongs to Sean’s surrograte and local grandma and my sister/mother/mentor/friend — Glenna.  She knows how to grow beautiful things like flowers and friendships.

I moved the pot it was in to the edge of her swimming pool to get the blue background and then contorted myself like a pretzel to get the shot. And then I fussed with the lighting on the edges in Photoshop.

I am reminded of the verse in Matthew 6 where Jesus says of lilies of the field, that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed such as these.

Reflections

May 15, 2008 | Photo Essays

 Sean likes to pick flowers for me.  Not the stem, just the flower.  The other day, while I was out, he picked a marigold from my garden and put it in this little vase to surprise me with upon my return.  Much like the multiple reflections in this photo, when he showed it to me, it made me happy to see how happy it made him to make me happy.

The Day It Rained Hair

April 22, 2008 | Photo Essays

This is a photo of our lawn sprinklers running in the afternoon sun. From inside the house, it looked like it was raining diamonds, so I grabbed my new fancy schmancy camera and ran outside and snapped a few pictures.  The tricky part was running in for a shot and then running away from the sprinklers as they headed for me and my camera.  And not tripping.

Aside:  What kind of nut job runs into sprinklers with a new camera?

Unfortunatley, what I captured here looks less like raining diamonds and more like raining hair. Not nearly as romantic of a notion as raining diamonds.  No one is going to write a poem about the day it rained hair.

The randomly chosen winner is Karen at Simply Amusing.  The prize?  A big ole bar of Ghiradelli chocolate (because what kind of prize would it be without chocolate?) and the book  “Flipping Brilliant: A Penguins’s Guide to a Happy Life” by John Chester and Patrick Regan.  On the back of the book, it reads,”Life is an adventure.  Live Accordingly.”  I love that.

Beautifully photographed and chock full of sweet and tender wisdom, I especially loved this entry on the value of learning to be still. 

“…Surely no animal can match their ability to achieve perfect stillness in the face of conditions that are the antithesis of calm. When it comes to nesting and brooding, this ability to be still means nothing less than survival of the species.”

Being still. Something I need to learn.  Along with not running into sprinklers with a camera.  Maybe I should get a penguin.

Thanks y’all for playing along and spicing up a Monday.  

Edited to add:  I have no connection to the writers or publishers of Flipping Brilliant. I saw it yesterday at Border’s and it caught my eye.  That’s all.  But now I like it so much that I’ve got to go buy myself one before I send Karen’s off to her.  Will need to get another chocolate bar as well.

What The Heck Is It?

April 20, 2008 | Photo Essays

It’s time again for another “What The Heck Is It?” photo contest!  Leave your guess in comments and I’ll either choose one at random or the one that most amuses me for some sort of little prize-ish thing.  Offer good while supplies last or until Monday night, 9pm CST.

Above: What the heck is it?  This is a detail from a photo I took. Can’t even blame this one on Sean. When you see the actual photo you will be whelmed.  At most.  You will wonder why I bothered getting a decent camera.

In other news, we had a baseball game on Saturday morning at 8am when Sean is in prime hopping form as you can see in the photo below. Don’t even try to outhop this boy because you will not be able to do it.  If there were an Olympic event in hopping, we would already have a sponsor and product endorsement deals.

Above:  Not actually playing baseball or even dancing like Justin Timberlake, but hopping. Backwards. Good gravy I love that quirky little weirdo.

Not actually dancing.

But dribbling.  For the record, he picked out his own clothes.

* * * * *

 

So then this was my weekend.

Friday evening:  Almost inadvertently stole reading glasses at Wal-Mart.  I borrowed a pair to read the back of the Zyrtec box when I was in the pharmacy area.  And then I put them on top of my head with the gigantic yellow tag and all, and continued shopping so that I could read other ingredient lists, planning to buy them at check out all the while.  I got through the checkout and halfway out the store when I thought I felt something funny on my head, like a bug.  So I swatted at it and off came tumbling the stolen contraband. I was mortified.  So I did the right thing.  I stuck them in the gum rack and left the store.  If I’m going to get cuffed and hauled off to jail, I want it to be for something that would read more sexy in the police beat than reading glasses.

Saturday: Baseball game at 8am.  Then… hmmm, I’m sure somthing happened, but honestly the next thing I remember is that we went to church on Sunday morning, then we went out to lunch and I ate a hambuger which is giving me tremendous heartburn at the moment, otherwise I probably wouldn’t remember that either. 

And now it’s Sunday night.

Either we had a really boring weekend or Oldtimer’s is setting in.

Blue Iris

April 18, 2008 | Photo Essays

I noticed this blue iris growing along side my driveway when I came home the other day.  Spring had arrived while I was out.

I think irises are so beautiful and even sensual.  Its delicate veiny and translucent petals appear almost to be shaped by the swirl and movement of water.  It seems to me that it might be more at home in a tropical sea rather than along side my concrete driveway.

I hope spring has sprung wherever you are.  Have a loverly weekend y’all.

 

The Fishing Trip

April 14, 2008 | Photo Essays, Silliness

Sean:  Ho dee doh dee doh! I’m going fishing!

Sean:  Oh crud. Dogs. No one said there would be dogs.

Jerold, the dumbest dog on the earth and No Name, the second dumbest dog on the earth:

“Duh, hey… whatcha got in that lunch box? Snausages?”

Sean: Aaaaaah!

Dogs: Snausages? Duh hey come back!

Sean: Oh crud, they’re gaining on me!

Dogs:  SNAUSAGES!!

Sean: Aaaaaaah!

Dogs:  Duh, hey, wait up! I’m hungry! 

Sean: Aaaaaaah!

Sean:  Aaaaah!

* * * * *

I would have stopped to comfort him and run off Dumb and Dumber, also known as Jerold and No Name – but I was too busy playing with my new camera that takes three pictures per second! And laughing.  I supposed this could count against me come mother’s day.

Fabulous Photo Contest

March 18, 2008 | Photo Essays

Photo Temporarily Unavailable

I had to take my photos down because they were causing problems with the site. When those issues are resolved, I’ll try to put some of the photos back up.

 

Is this not a fabulous photo? I wish I had taken it.

It was taken by my friend, Olivia.  I interviewed her recently and here’s what she had to say:

AM:  How old are you Olivia?

Olivia:  I am ten.  I was still nine when I took the picture.

AM:  This is really an amazing picture that you took of your sister.  Did you realize that when you were capturing the image?

Olivia:  Thank you! No, I didn’t realize it would be so great.

AM:  Did you plan this photograph or was it one of those happy accidents that all artists enjoy every once in a while?

Olivia:  It was sort of both.  I planned out what she would be holding and where she would sit, but everything else just kind of fell into place, like the light shined on her face the right way, and the wind was perfect for the picure. That was a happy accident!

AM:  What are your favorite things to photograph?

Olivia:  Hmmm…. Anything!  If I see something funny or if I just want to remember the moment, I take a picture of it. I carry my camera everywhere!

AM: Carry your camera everywhere! That’s great advice.  Thank you Olivia for sharing your beautiful photograph with my readers!

* * * *

So then dear readers, what shall we name Olivia’s fabulous photo?

Leave your suggestion in comments through noon tomorrow (3/19) and we’ll pick the one that we think best captures the essence of the image.

I’ll send the winner a copy of Joel Sartore’s new book Photographing Your Family — And All The Kids And Friends And Animals Who Wander Through Too.  

Sartore, a National Geographic photographer for more than 14 years, has put together a wonderful book on how ordinary people can take extraordinary photos.  Even if you are not into photography, it is just a beautiful book to browse through.  What I loved about this book is that it is more about how to capture images and moments rather than how to operate a camera.  In fact, I liked the book so much that after I reviewed it, I asked the good people at National Geographic to send me one for you too and they graciously obliged.

So then, put your thinking caps on and let’s name that fabulous photo!

Let It Snow! At Least Enough To Build A Snowman

March 4, 2008 | Photo Essays

Texas is a land of extremes. 

Saturday, I wore shorts and sunscreen. 

 Last night, two days later, we got our annual snowfall.

Just after dark, big fat wet fluffy flakes began falling from the heavens.  We went to bed dreaming of making snowmen and snow angels in the morning.

If Sean wants to make a snowman I’ll have to send him up on the roof as that is where most of the snow has accumulated.

 

Everything is bigger in Texas, but not the snowmen.

* * * * *

The last time we had a decent snow around here was on Valentines day, 2004. Sean was three months old.

This morning this boy and his father managed to cobble together enough snow to make a snowball. They lured me outside clad only in my hot pink chenille robe to see this snowball with the request that I take a picture of it.  I am so gullible.  And then they chased me around the yard and threw it at me. 

Never trust a boy with a snowball.

Whut The Heck Izit Photo Contest

February 23, 2008 | Photo Essays

Sean likes to take pictures with my camera and sometimes he comes back with some pretty interesting stuff. And sometimes I have no idea what he has photographed. So I’m hosting my first ever “Whut The Heck Izit” photo contest.  

I have never given away anything on my blog before, but I had dinner with Chilihead Friday night and after a Sangria Swirl, she made it sound like fun. But then everything sounds like a lot more fun after a Sangria Swirl.

So then, Sean will randomly select a name from the list of guessers and will personally send the winner a fabulous prize.  No not really. It won’t be fabulous. It won’t be a $500 gift card to Lowes or a Wi-fi (whatever that is) but it will be a prize-ish prize-like sort of prize.  I have no idea when the “contest” is over because I don’t really like rules.

With no further ado, Whut The Heck Izit??

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Waiting

February 5, 2008 | Photo Essays

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What Is Your Life?

February 3, 2008 | Faith, Photo Essays

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ~ James 4:14

A Yellow Wood

November 14, 2007 | Photo Essays

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I started college at 30.  I had my first and only child in my mid-40s - unconventional by anyone’s standards.  My life’s journey has been a bumpy, beautiful, enchanting trek on a road less traveled.  And it has made all the difference.

How would you describe your life’s journey?