Today's photo challenge: A leaf

I had to go with house plants. Winter is still very much a factor here.

Today's photo challenge: Bright colors

I bought this piece of stained glass years ago and have had problems figuring out where to place it. I've tried hanging in in front of all kinds of windows. I told Bill & John of my dilemma and voila they had it hung on the front faster than I could have turned around three times. I love it there. When I'm doing dishes I can see it through the window. I can also see it from the window in my dining area. It's perfect and when the sun sets it just lights up. One of my boxes of yarn was a second choice.

Today's photo challenge: An unusual fruit or vegetable

Shanna has been my co-conspirator when creating/staging some of these photos. Once again she came through for me. I had planned to go to the grocery store and take photos of something odd while there. Well I got my groceries but forgot the photo. I remembered as I was driving home so started talking to Shanna. After some brainstorming we settled on the strangeness of fake fruit. Hrmm. I don't have fake fruit. But she did. A stuffed apple and a jewel toned puzzle apple. So...

Today's photo challenge: Scissors

 My monster sized work scissors

Today's photo challenge: An abstract close up of something familiar

 I think the family construction business (https://www.monolithic.org/) has rubbed off on me.  Growing up around so much concrete work has made me super aware of it.  I've always liked the texture on the concrete barriers around the plantings at the library. 

Today's photo challenge: Something metal

 

Today's photo challenge: Something that makes you happy

I thought about taking a photo of Shanna, but she's someone I love and makes me happy not something.

I took several photos today. The view from my office, the art wall in my office, but this one is my favorite even though it isn't very artistic. The hutch is from my mother's mother. This grandmother brought it back to the mainland from Hawaii. Many of the shells were collected by my mother and/or sisters. The box on top of the hutch was painted by the same grandmother and the horse was painted by Aunt Anna. My sister gave me the Dala horse salt and pepper shakers as a nod to our Scandinavian heritage. And the art piece is hand painted on banana leaves that my mother fell in love with when we were in Hawaii visiting. All of these things remind me of my heritage, my family and the love of beauty and the study of the natural world that is part of all of us. Even the plants evoke memories of my mother and her green thumb. We lived in a very green world for most of our lives. She cultivated a huge garden and lots of houseplants while I was growing up. I was obsessed with the box and the horse when I was a young girl. Eventually I will pass these pieces back into the family collective. But right now they are treasures I love.

This little box sits in front of my computer at work. It contains small items, mostly from the natural world and reminds me of all of my ramblings.  Small rocks I've picked up, a pine cone from a redwood, a shell from the beach, and a silver ohm charm to remind me to breath and be mindful.  It is something that I love that helps me remember who I really am when I am at work.  

Today's photo challenge: Boiling water

 I really didn't feel well today so I pulled out a photo from my Yellowstone collection, and went back to bed.

Today's photo challenge: A coin

 I had the first coin in my jewelry box.  Shanna had just received steel & zinc pennies as a Christmas present from Melinda this year.  

Today's photo challenge: Anything that starts with the letter 'A'

I love amethyst. I purchased this amethyst aka "the baby" at a rock shop in Helper UT.  For more on that adventure see my Blue Raven blogpost: https://blueravenbirders.com/2018/04/18/family-to-grand-junction/   For the rock shop see: https://utahstreasure.com/   

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Today's photo challenge: Something in black and white

We had fresh snow so I took a little walk under the cover of the building eaves and tried to find something dark enough to give good contrast.

Today's photo challenge: Old wood

Part of a redwood slab I've had since 1980 and my dad had it before that. It's lovely and I know he had planned to do something with it and never did. I've had a variety of plans for it but really only use it as a simple piece of art all by itself.

Today's photo challenge: Something from a thrift shop

 I love this glicee limited edition print on canvas that I found at a thrift store. I'm not being artistic but it is something I love.  I had it framed and hung it in my living room. Then I tried to find out more about it.  Apparently the artist Michael Coleman is online and amazing. I LOVE his other work.  Check it out here: https://www.colemanart.com/.

In the Bitterroots by Michael Coleman

Today's photo challenge: Reflections

This will have to do, the others I was trying using the reflective windows in my office just didn't turn out how I wanted.

Today's photo challenge: A face in an inanimate object

Here's another one from my nostalgia file. My parents went to Alaska back in the 60s. They brought me home this totem pole. I loved it so much I kept track of it all of these years.

Arlene: Jenny Might be bone--unless your folks were willing to spend $$$$$ on tourist stuff. Even back then carved ivory didn't come cheap. I don't know how you'd tell bone vs ivory visually, I don't know enough about either. I'm really not the person to ask, sorry. I'm mostly puzzled as to why a SE AK representation would have been carved in a media primarily associated with NW AK and without a lot of trade goods running between, historically. But then the tourist market doesn't always distinguish. Do you have any clue where in AK your parents went?

Today's photo challenge: Something hidden

Today's challenge was "something hidden" This Raven found garbage hidden in the dumpster. Taken in Ashton ID.

Today's photo challenge: Hair

 My favorite additional hair.

Today's photo challenge: An item of clothing

My mother wore these boots when she was young and on the stage playing Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun. Several of us wore these books first as dress-up and later as adults.

The boots are sitting on an antique washstand that mom refinished with the antique pitcher and bowl from my own great great aunt Jenny.

Today's photo challenge: Something as a frame from a video

I struggled with this at first.  Thank heavens for friends or I would have been trying to gather up all of the models I have to act out a scene from a movie.  

Here are some thoughts from my Facebook page:

Ingela: "A picture implying movement?" 

Bruce: "My photo Prof at ISU had an assignment every semester he called "The Critical Moment." (He borrowed the phrase from a professional famous for such moments.) The idea was a photo that couldn't have been taken a moment before or after. One thought, anyway." 

Me: I am always trying to capture the bird as he's about to take off, or the horse and rider about to go around a barrel. That pre-action action shot is so rewarding. 

In the end I pulled out a photo I took a couple of weeks ago at the Camas Wildlife Refuge using my big camera.  We see swans in the process of taking off. I like how goofy looking their feet are.

 

Today's photo challenge: An egg

The photo challenge was An Egg.  Here's a part of my egg collection...  I couldn't figure out which one I liked best, and didn't want to spend any more time setting this shot up.  Too busy.

I try not to talk about my collections. It can lead to presents which can quickly escalate things. For instance my stuffed bear collection is completely out of control and now only comes out at Christmas. I started collecting rock eggs many years ago because I would go to rock shows and love the rocks, but really couldn't afford good samples so I'd buy a lovely rock egg for a couple of bucks. One egg led to another... and now it only comes out in the spring except for a couple of the larger pieces like that blue Celestine egg. When mom found out about my collection she gave me that beautiful hand painted yellow egg, it's ceramic and I think her mother painted it, it's only visible in the bottom photo.

Along with the big Celestine egg, you can see the solid copper (seriously the metal copper) one underneath it, and a picture jasper on the right and still further right a small one painted by my grandmother Maureen (unfired).

In this shot starting from the right is a gray and white Howlite egg, then a white quartz, a black and white marble, a hidden orange painted by my grandmother Maureen, a carved/painted rock  and another painted one.  These last two painted/carved are Africa inspired and came from Zoo/Wildlife park gift shops.  You can see that I don't own a lot of stands. Instead I use rings and bracelets to prevent the rocks from jumping off the mantle.

This photo has the edge of a painted African inspired rock a somewhat clear cherry quartz (I love the cloudy inclusions), a straight up white quartz, a maroon agate and the painted egg that may or may not have been painted by grandmother Maureen. 

On my Facebook we (my cousin and I) had a great conversation about who may have painted the egg. 

LaRae: "Great Aunt Anna Kelling is the one that made and painted and fired the egg and the stand. I have some matching ones that Emily (Memo) gave me as well. Anna made and shared a lot and was magnificently talented!!" 

I wrote: "Once upon a time Maureen (my grandmother) lived with Anna in California and took up painting ceramics, which is why I'm confused about this one. I think Anna signed hers. I have other of her pieces. I'm glad to know that you have some matching pieces. I think the time they lived together was one of great productivity for both of them. Many of Maureen's later pieces were unfired because she no longer lived with Anna and her resources." 

LaRae "I did visit her a few times in California when I also lived there & I got to see her amazing workshop. ... I just looked on the bottom of my dolls and the egg stands and they all say AK but there was no place to sign on the eggs so none of my eggs have her initials. I’m glad to know that Aunt Maureen was also painting with her!❤️❤️❤️" 

 She then posted the eggs from her collection. And while they aren't duplicates the style is similar. So now I'm not certain whether my Grandmother or my Great Aunt painted it. Either way, it's beautiful, a part of my family and now part of my egg collection.

I may not have spent much time taking photos, but I did take a bit of time writing this post.  Oh and this isn't the whole collection.

Today's photo challenge: A person holding an item of food

The challenge did not state that I needed a whole person.  This is my fabulous lunch of soup and cheese.

Today's photo challenge: A wild animal

I worked from dark to dark so missed out on finding a live wild animal/bird for today's challenge.  

However there was this amazing light coming through the window in the huge stairwell on the first floor of the library.  I was on my way to a meeting and was stunned by it and after all it is a representation of a wild animal.  A colleague painted this back in 2019.  I don't know why the powers that be have left it up.  This tiger was vibrant and realistic when first painted, now he's black and white and in this light he's sepia toned.

This is a look at/through one of the windows of the library from inside the library. You can see the concrete patio through the lower windows.

Today's photo challenge: Something with wings

 I could have pulled any number of bird photos from my Flickr account.  But I wanted something that was a challenge for me.  Oh, and for the most part I'm using my iPhone as the camera for these challenges.   

The model Pegasus in this photo is one of many toys that I have in my life.  I buy them when I fall in love with one, and use them as statuary in my bookcases, desk, life.  I thought this one by Safari ltd was particularly well done.  The pile of rocks he is playing with are from a beach in Alaska.  That whole beach was comprised of these rocks in gray/black mostly oval but of varying sizes.

Today's photo challenge: Knife

 This time I tried to stage one.  I also thought my knife magnet was interesting but didn't like the water spots on the knives. Yes I don't own a dishwasher, and yes I let my dishes air dry, after all I do live in a desert where water evaporates super quickly.  I am hoping that these daily challenges will teach me more about how to stage shots and to look at the little details.  So much of what I photograph is in movement: birds, rodeos, wildlife.  It's a different skill set to see all of the little pieces that go into a staged shot.  AND learning to notice those small things will help me better with my action shooting.  

Today’s card challenge: Texture

 I bought this deck of cards in order to get me to take more photos and more diverse photos. The goal is one photo per day, but we'll see.  I am posting the challenge in the morning and then my photo at the end of the day on my Facebook account.  Some of my friends are also putting their photos up there too.  

You can buy it from Amazon here

Here on the blog I'll be putting more than one photo. Sometimes it is very hard to choose which one is the best. So this is day one and the challenge is Texture.  I wandered around the library and found this  pile of packing material: