the colors of spring

This collection of images is from a "photo walk" excursion three weeks ago, on a warm - but dreary - spring day in the Highlands neighborhood in northwest Denver. There's just a different kind of energy in this trendy, upscale, re-born old neighborhood, so I knew it would be rich with colorful imagery. It did not disappoint. Here, ordinary everyday details are presented with an artistic flair.

On the way back to my car I spied this little shop -  Garnet Gecko - and ended up spending over an hour there. I don't normally consider shopping a hobby, but I was intrigued enough to step inside this one boutique.

Even though the "Asian import" style is generally not my thing, I was drawn to this collection like a moth to a flame. It truly was a feast for the eyes - a bounty of beautifully hand-crafted textiles, jewelry, and assorted accessories. And I enjoyed a delightful visit with the proprietress, Sharon, chatting as though we were already old friends. It elevated an enjoyable excursion to a memorable experience.

Okay, so I did take home a lovely hand-dyed scarf and some silver earrings...that still doesn't make me a real "hobby shopper." I'll be back for more. Photos, that is. And there was this other scarf...

***

Linking up today with Walk and Click Wednesday: Making the Ordinary Special, and Beyond Beyond, where we got a refresher tutorial in making a colorful storyboard, and Texture Tuesday.

Both storyboards were textured with

Kim Klassen's kk_coolgrunge: Soft Light blend mode @60%

and kk_3101: Multiply blend mode @ 30 - 50%

Fonts: Eccentric Std and Cheboygan

xoxo

Cindy

intersecting ripples

I am linking up with Photo-Heart Connection, choosing one photo from last month that really connects with my heart, and think about why it does so. This is a rewarding challenge because it makes me really think/feel about what I capture with my camera, how I choose to edit it, and what exactly am I trying to communicate with each image. I think of it as what makes it a Photograph instead of just a snapshot.

I took this photo a week ago Sunday, while on a Walk and Click Wednesday excursion. I had my Lensbaby with the plastic optic lens...just playing with it and learning what it can do, strolling around nearby Crown Hill open space park, with its peaceful little lake and abundant waterfowl, shooting into and towards the setting sun. I think this was the only keeper from that afternoon.

I am drawn to this photo for a couple reasons: the almost magical effect of the rim light on the birds, branches, and even on the little bits of melting ice; the warm glow of the setting sun. I like the Lensbaby blur effect. That's a brief summary of the aesthetic appeal. 

The Photo-Heart Connection is in the subject: a family navigating life's challenges. It's as though I am watching a play about this family of birds, living day to day together, traversing the icy lake, sometimes walking/skidding on the thawing ice, sometimes swimming/gliding through the water. I noticed that the transition from ice to water was not always gracefully executed, but they manage to recover nicely...and stay afloat. If one slipped and panicked it was only shown in a brief flutter of wings...but then all was okay. The others seemed oblivious to the struggle, letting him recover on his own, apparently not wanting to interfere.

What caught my eye when I shot the photo were the two little wanderers, off doing their own thing, their watery ripples briefly intersecting with those of the group. They reminded me of my daughters, recently moved out and on their own.

Notice the ever widening pattern of intersecting ripples radiating from each bird: its own circle, initially independent, but gradually intersecting with that of its neighbors.

It reminds me of how our family is...sometimes we stay close together, sharing in the big and little moments of life, the joys and the sorrows. Sometimes we go off and do our own thing, needing a little space to discover who we are. Our ripples eventually intersect, connecting us in mind and heart...always there for one another.

Always.

xoxo

vintage blur

So who doesn't enjoy a challenge? Or two?

For weeks I've been promising Lissa Forbes that I would join her Walk and Click Wednesdays. Combine that with Kat Sloma's challenge to experiment with artistic blur, her latest assignment in her Come Exploring with a Camera...and an unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon, and you get the following golden opportunity:

A chance to wander around town (as opposed to biking through it) with camera in hand...nothing and nobody to answer to except for my muse. TBQH I would have been biking if I didn't have a cold.

I started at the Clear Creek History Park in Golden, where my curiosity payed off: I peeked inside the windows of a tiny cabin, put my camera right up against the glass and...I hit pay dirt! Shooting through a dirty window into a darkened room on a sunny afternoon got me just the effect I was after. I did play with the images in Lightroom, cropping, then lightening them up and playing just a tiny bit with contrast; but not too much; I didn't want to destroy the ghostly quality that I felt when I shot it. I did apply a sepia-toned Lightroom preset to all of the photos here.

***

These images reminded me of a group of photos I took early last summer at a ranch up in the mountains, where I had the luxury of spending several hours playing with my new Lensbaby, designed for in-camera creative blur effects. So I picked out a couple favorites, again applying minimal photo editing.

Now the site of a private 15,000 acre ranch, this land high in the Colorado rockies once produced lettuce and green onions, which were shipped by rail directly to Denver, circa early 20th century.

xoxo

Cindy