There’s Bubblegum Stuck to My Sky

I’m all over the place. So, it’s Thursday and thus time for From Equinox to Solstice: Photographing the Fall (we’re getting closer – only one more Thursday after this until the Winter Solstice!). However, I keep switching the time at which I am taking my pictures. And I did again today. See, I took one in the morning as I said I was going to do. But then the sky looked so interesting at 6PM that I decided I just had to do another. So, I’m sorry. But when you see the sky you might forgive me? Let’s move on.

Last week:

This week:

See? Isn’t it amazing? Not like I haven’t seen a sky like this before, I just feel like I haven’t seen one in a long time. I mean, look through the collection on Flickr and see for yourself; throughout the season, there has not been one warm-coloured sky! But here we are. It’s beautiful. Also, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen this kind of sky in the winter. It seems like a summer thing, eh? It seems like I took the top half of a picture from September and plunked it on top of the bottom half of today’s photo. But trust me, I didn’t! I really don’t know Photoshop that well.

So! That’s the sky/sun. Now… plant life. Man, this section of the experiment is getting very boring. Nothing is happening. It’s always frosty and barren. I wonder if Stargirl ever had this problem? Like if, for a few weeks, her spatulas were just staying in the same place? Okay, so clearly that didn’t happen, considering the sun changes more than plant life, but I just wish I could have some support in this extremely dry endeavour. Hmmm… a like, a comment or a follow might help?

RJ

It’s a Seasonal Thing

I found a long and skinny piece of yellow paper today. I thought it looked like a skyline. So I helped it become one. This is called, “City of All Seasons”:

I call this “City of All Seasons” because I can’t tell what the weather is in the drawing. Is the city on a lake or snow? I don’t know, do you? Summer or winter? Tell me what you see.

RJ

Memory All Alone in the Sunlight

I’m feeling a little depressed about the cold. So I am going to reminisce about the warmth. Here are some pictures I took at the Santa Monica Pier this summer; please join me on my journey and soak up the sun as I am doing now. There’s really no moral to these pictures, I’m just exceptionally cold. This collection is called, “You Don’t Need A Reason to Be Warm.” Also, the descriptions are really simple; I feel like a kid when I’m at the pier so I think I write like one too. Even more also, these pictures are once again taken with my iPhone, and I’m quite pleased with them. This could put a whole new spin on travel photography… Okay, sorry, let’s begin:

We arrive. This is really prime real estate. If the tide just stays where it is, I am okay to move here:

We look for a place to park. We sadly realize there is almost more parking lot than ocean.

We walk to the end of the pier and look back. It is beautiful:

We are still at the end of the pier but now we look forward. It is even more beautiful:

We ride all the rides. They are fun.

We walk down to the beach and prepare to respect the rules:

We walk along the beach and take cliché pictures of our footprints in the wet sand:

We must leave. We look up at this sign and only hope we really can return to the Surf, Sand, Sun and Fun someday:

Well, now I just feel sad that I’m not at the beach. At least I have my hot water bottle. How long till spring?

RJ

So Many Words for So Few Leaves

New theory. I know the days get shorter in the fall, but do the weeks get shorter too? I mean, do we skip a few days somewhere in there? I’m positive it was Thursday like, yesterday. Well, I’ll accept it. Anyway, Thursday = From Equinox to Solstice: Photographing the Fall!

So, last week’s picture (as always, check out the album on Flickr, it’s getting bigger…):

And this week’s picture:

Alright, let’s start comparing! I think the big thing is the sun today (well, it’s pretty big every day, but you get it), so I’m going to begin there. Last week it was a lot brighter, wasn’t it? You can really see it flickering through the background trees in that picture, even reflecting off the house, but this week I think it dipped behind the hedge before 6. Funny how the scene seems lighter though. Not brighter, but lighter. Because there are less shadows, I guess. Weird, when the sun’s out there are more shadows, so some things are a lot darker, but when the sun is gone there are no shadows, so it seems lighter. An interesting metaphor. Anyway, it’s looking more wintery! Every week I say that, but then when I get to the next Thursday and look back on the previous picture, it looks like summer. Perspectives change when presents become pasts.

Plant life. Very few leaves hanging on now. It’s okay, little stragglers, let go. It’s okay to let go now. Most of the fallen leaves really were taken away this week, I hope to be set free in the forest (have you seen that episode of The Middle where Brick sets the leaves free? It’s truly inspiring. Watch it now. Well, after you finish reading the post!). The garden is looking colder and colder and I want to lay a quilt over it. Also, a stake fell over so I’m feeling even sadder. I’ll prop that up again. In other news, the chairs around the fire pit have been put away for the season, so I guess I have two options now: toasting marshmallows standing up or putting them in the microwave. Votes?

And now, BONUS PICTURE! So, I promised last week that I would find a picture of my tree when it, and I, was younger. Well… pictures are around until you need them, I suppose. Like everything. I couldn’t seem to find the photo I was looking for, but I did find a different one. Now, it’s really not good quality because I had to take a picture of a picture, since it was in a scrapbook, but I hope you’ll be able to make out the leaves:

So, I don’t think this shows the tree at its brightest. I really don’t. In my memory, the tree is fiery, there is no green. But here, this tree from an October 20-odd years ago looks… kind of the same as it does now, especially in Week 3. Which means… has my memory distorted the tree? The further I got from this picture, the brighter it became, perhaps? Strange. Very strange. Photographs are a really good way of testing the accuracy of your memory, and seeing what spin it puts on facts. But I really am skeptical that this tree was never brighter, like a lot brighter. I’m going to keep looking for that photo.

Now you can go watch The Middle, and come back next Thursday for another picture of this scene, or even come back tomorrow for another post! And like, follow, and comment if you’re feeling very generous!

RJ

When Days Were Longer And Leaves Were Greener

Some photos from a photo walk that happened a while ago. Missing the days where we could wear t-shirts and shorts outside. The collection, called Just What’s In My Path Tonight:

How do you feel about photos that are super unplanned, like these? Ones that are just randomly taken along a walk. Very normal. Positive or negative feedback?

RJ

Cloudy With A Chance Of Winter

And it’s Thursday again! So, let’s pick up where we left off with my Stargirl experiment, with the photo collection I call, From Equinox to Solstice: Photographing the Fall.

The picture from last week:

And the picture from this week:

So, the main differences I see: first, the fallen leaves. Look at them! They’re everywhere! This is going to be so pretty come November. Next, the sky is a lot greyer than it was last week; I think that’s just the weather though, not the sun doing anything solsticey. And finally, the garden, of course! We prepared it for winter! A major difference for sure, and though it looks nice and clean I will definitely miss fresh vegetables. Summer is officially over:(

What differences did you see? Let me know by leaving a comment, and check back next week for a new picture!

In cloudy skies,

RJ

Just Do What You Want (And Of Course, Photograph It)

Hi there:)

A photo I took, called “Shadows on the Wall:”

I took this picture last summer in the middle of the night behind a government building, with my family. It was awesome because we’re a super PG group of people, and we were just loving how our shadows looked on the fence – we were doing slow motion stage combat, shadow puppets, the classics. Too fun. Then suddenly this light shot out at us; it was a security guard with a really bright flashlight. He ran over, yelling, “Hey! What are you guys doing back there?” And we’re like… “Um… shadow puppets?” He just started to laugh, either because he thought it was obvious we were lying or because he thought we were exceptionally pathetic compared to the hooligans that usually hang out behind government buildings. Anyway, totally okay with it.

So, a general photography tip: embrace your PG-ness, and don’t hide it in your pictures. You don’t have to do anything crazy or performance-art-ish or illegal (though that can be awesome too – I’ll post about pictures in illegal places in the future, I promise) and you don’t have to give up on a subject just because someone else has done something weirder with it in the past. Just do what you want and take a picture of it.

RJ