monochrome ► thrumyeyes

Friends and Seasonal Change

Photographer — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 04:59:49 +0000

Whether you believe in Climate Change or not (personally I have no doubt of its reality), it is pretty clear to anyone paying attention that recent weather patterns are definitely NOT par for the course. The seasons of late seem much less well-defined. I grew up in New England, which has always had the reputation of unstable weather, but at least we could tell what season we were in. These days it is winter one day and summer the next.

Because of this, and my own distemper of late, I am much less in touch with nature than I usually am, which reflects in my willingness to take PHOTOS of it. I have not been compelled to go on regular outings with my camera, as usually happens at this time of year. But that does not mean I have not taken ANY pictures. Here is a fairly random collection of recent photos I HAVE taken to welcome the seeming coming of summer.

Avian friends …

Floral friends …

Hanging with friends …

The post Friends and Seasonal Change first appeared on thrumyeyes.

#Resistance

Photographer — Wed, 10 May 2017 02:13:29 +0000

In this greed driven age, just about EVERYTHING is done with the first question being “What’s in it for me?” This attitude has led to most of the conflict in the world. It has gotten so bad that we even think we own concepts and ideas … “use MY idea without my permission and I will own your soul”. To avoid any less than pleasant interactions with those driven by such thinking, I now make a point of using my own photos on my various blogs. This is not an issue, since I have a few thousand photos to pick from, a number that continuously grows. While I was looking for an image to use on a new post I just wrote (the specific photo over there ⇒), I ended up searching through the “archives”. Not only was I reminded how many pics I have that have yet to be shared (expect a bunch of “new” old photos), I realized that, at least occasionally, I actually have some skill with the camera.

The below image I re-found spoke to me of the power of persistence, even when all seems too bleak to continue. It made me think of the current political atmosphere in the world, one driven by the greed and selfishness I mentioned above; one that I fully oppose on ALL levels. I have little power to change things, but that does not mean I will simply roll over and let others decide my fate. I will stand tall and continue to strive, even if surrounded by trained zombies … kind of like this photo. As I said, I can’t do much to change things, but I support those who CAN. I guess this pic is a shout out to such folk … hence the title of this post.

Read the associated post (if you are curious).

The post #Resistance first appeared on thrumyeyes.

A Winter's Tale

Photographer — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 03:47:32 +0000

Like many feeling folk, I find myself strongly effected by the weather. Not just individual weather patterns … but by the overall seasons as well. Winter inevitably draws out the shadows within, and I slip into ‘hide from the world’ (and maybe myself too) mode. It is a lessening of motivation, combined with too much reflection of all that I perceive might be wrong with my life. Generally it does not truly slow me down all that much. This year I was already in a pretty dark place before the season even began creeping in. Questionable personal choices of late, combined with circumstances beyond my control (including humanity’s seeming determination to destroy itself), had me embracing my hermetic lifestyle to the point that I cut myself off completely from the world. This included avoiding even electronic social contact. Thus my collection of blogs have grown eerily silent for many a week now.

Ironically, considering the effect winter has on me, from a photographic perspective I find it one of the more beautiful seasons. I love to capture images right after a fresh snow fall. I storm or blizzard is artistic bliss. Even in the dark spiritual place I was sitting in did not overshadow the beauty to be found. There were several opportunities to pull the camera out, of which I readily took advantage. I was even using the creative energy that such activity releases to try to climb out of the darkness … starting with posting to this blog. Writing for my other blogs was still too much to ask for … that was way too much energy. I managed to get one post out, and just when I was preparing THIS post, my computer went and died on me. This proved to be the breaking straw, and I quickly withdrew back into my cave, any idea of rejoining the world too much to bear again. The following were a determined effort to experiment with monochrome photography.

I can only tolerate sitting in the shadows so long, though, so recently have been pushing myself to reemerge. First I dealt with the technical issues that were a good excuse not to do anything. Now that spring seems to be having the same though (finally), I FINALLY have the urge to actually start creating … and posting … again. I still want to share some of the pics I took during the winter (they are worth sharing). That is why I am posting some winter images just when spring seems to have finally arrived (at least in my part of the world). The following were a determined effort to play with monochrome photography.

The post A Winter's Tale first appeared on thrumyeyes.