Scavenger Hunt Sunday - Take One

First time linking to Scavenger Hunt Sunday,  hosted by Ashley Sisk at Ramblings and Photos

which I discovered through the blogs of others I follow...

I love scavenger hunts so I know I am going to love taking part in this!!

1. Yellow 

I came upon this massive field of sunflowers during a road trip in rural Ontario. 

I tried but I couldn't capture the entire field in one photo!

 2. Something that made/makes me smile

My daughter with my niece. 

They are so in love with each other.

It makes me smile so much!

 3. Ancient or Antique

My Grandmother's doll in an antique chair that I bought at an auction just for her!

4. Splash

The fountain in my garden pond.

 (I was thrilled to discover that my 30 year old cross screen filter works on my digital camera!)

5. In the Sun

Parliamentary Web
I was attempting to shoot the Parliament buildings in Ottawa Canada through the surrounding fence.

The sun reflecting on the spider's web was a snapendipitous surprise! 

An Apology

After posting this, I checked to make sure I had followed the guidelines.

In typical Janet fashion, I didn't read them all first 

and apparently haven't followed all the rules...

These are all archived photos...

 Although, in all honesty, finding pictures in my archives

is very much a scavenger hunt!

Seriously, I promise to follow the rules next time!

Happy Sunday!

I hope everyone is enjoying the same lovely sunshine as we are today!

about photography and art

When I began this journey into digital photography, like many others I am sure, 

I came to the internet for information. 

I don't know how I made my decision from the myriad blogs, courses and sites 

for my initiation into this world  

but I am so glad that I chose the supportive and creative community at 52 Photos Project.  

From Bella's cozy welcome and ongoing support, to her resource sharing 

not to mention the wonderful people I 'met' there... 

It is there that I discovered Kim Klassen's Cafe and Vivienne McMaster's awesome e-courses 

and other groups and bloggers. 

I didn't have a blog at the time and was really just learning how to use my camera...

I now know enough about Photoshop to realize that I will never know everything about it and to be able to maneuver through more than I can use right now!

I am happily fumbling my way through creating and using a blog and flickr groups

I have met some incredibly talented and supportive people . . .

I would like to say thanks to two of those people now . . .here...

Angie 

and 

Nancy 

Both visited my first AND second attempts at blogging. 

Not just once but regularly. 

Nancy gave me great feedback on my first attempts at textures. 

Angie was my first (and only!) follower. Can't tell you how exciting THAT was!

Their encouragement and comments fed my soul at a time when I wondered 

why I was even doing this...

there are SO MANY incredibly talented people out there!! 

Incredibly talented ARTISTS!

and yet, here were two people whose work I admired tremendously 

actually looking at and commenting on my little blog

...and saying good things about my photos!! 

Truly they kept me going and, as I continue, I carry their generosity of spirit with me... 

When I visited their sites I was blown away by the talent of these two women 

...and the time commitment that they put into their craft, their blogs and encouraging others!!

ANGIE

On one occasion that I visited Angie's blog, Seeing Through The Lens.

I fell in love with these amazing photos with black backgrounds that she was taking with her scanner!! Incredibly beautiful art! 

I don't have a scanner but I was learning all about backgrounds! 

I decided to try to create a similar effect in Photoshop.

It doesn't hold a candle to Angie's work but I was pretty happy with it!!

NANCY

I also happened upon a fabulous shot and texture on Nancy's blog, A Rural Journal

and Nancy was offering the fabulous texture for free! 

I applied it to one of my similar shots to emulate her artistic photo 

(which was easy because she gave a step by step explanation!)

Spring Fever Texture by Nancy Claeys at A Rural Journal

Again...I need to learn much more to create something as beautiful as Nancy had but I was thrilled!!

I can't even begin to thank either of them, or the countless others who have welcomed and helped me through my initial trepidatious steps into the world of digital photography..

As I stretch my boundaries to include a little more regularity of contributions 'out there' I am exploring and adding new groups to follow and participate in.

One site that I have recently joined, Pixel Dust Photo Art, hosts a Photo Art Friday 

I am linking to it for the first time today to show off my new found Photo Art skills 

and to give credit where credit is due...to my inspirational friends and instructors! 

Thank you Angie, Bella, Kim, Nancy and Vivienne 

for teaching, inspiring, motivating and supporting me!! 

{begin at the beginning} - 52 Photos yr2/wk1

Bella’s Prompt: What are you beginning right now?

I am beginning (again!) to break through the fog...

I am beginning to find the pieces of my lost, shattered and abandoned creative self

I am embarking on an adventurous journey to find it through photography and other inspired activities

The weather couldn't have better mirrored my mood that day 

on my trip home from my parent's place after my father's passing.

My father worked in a creative occupation and loved his work

He was a creative man who encouraged creativity in his children

As a child he taught me how to take pictures. 

As an adult he framed and hung my photographs in their home.

On the way home I stepped out of the car to take these photos for him...

I felt embraced by the serenity of the scene in front of me

Every direction I turned the world was awash with the colours of the mist

I was at peace

and in that moment I knew that I have to pursue this

  Losing my father was a reminder to me that life is too short not to spend it doing what you love.

With encouragement from my wonderful partner in crime and in life, 

who had the patience to gather up and hold safe the pieces of my self 

as I strew them around over the past few years,

I recently left my job.

 Not only because it did not satisfy my creative soul 

but because the politics and paperwork sucked every ounce of energy out of me 

leaving me no time to create in my personal life . . .

in fact it left me no personal life at all!

I am committed to getting back to my creative self.

Perhaps, as this project progresses, the story will unfold . . 

{the golden hour} - 52 Photos yr1/wk52

I joined Bella's 52 Photos Project in its 30th week and tried to catch up with limited success before losing my Dad and falling off the creative wagon for a while . . . so I was thrilled this week to see that she is carrying on with her brilliant challenges, prompts and assignments for another 52 weeks!

Starting fresh and early with the prompt for week 52:  

to capture and share one photo taken during the golden hour.

Driving home from grocery shopping one day I simply had to pull over into the nearest parking lot to capture this moonrise at golden hour

I planned for weeks to be standing on this patio atop Airport Mesa in Sedona AZ for this shot!

I had heard that both sunrise and sunset were gorgeous from this spot and I was not disappointed!

Given my previously revealed attachment to rearview mirror photos -

here is one that actually captured what I was aiming for . . .

the beautiful colours of the golden hour

Much as I love these photos from my archives, going through this process has made me realize 

that the previous post - let there be light - provides a more unique capture of the golden hour.
How snapendipidous that this photo op presented itself during the perfect 52 Photos Project week!

I will definitely be posting this to 52 Photos Project for this prompt!
More Golden Hour photos can be found here on Flickr

So excited about the coming year with everyone!

So appreciative of Bella's efforts to keep us in our creative headspace!

Thanks Bella!!

let there be light

I loved the photo assignment "When Daylight Fades" over at 52 Photos Project, 

where Bella asked us to take a few shots as the daylight was fading. 

I became reacquainted and fell madly in love with 'light hunting' during Vivienne McMaster's Rule Free Photography e-course class (and I hope to take her "Light Hunters" course next time it is offered!)

So, you can imagine how thrilled I was 

to catch this lovely reflection on my wall as the daylight faded last evening.

I applied Viv's three second rule here! 

I knew that if I didn't get it quickly it would be gone! 

In doing so, the first shot captured the round shaped reflection of the red vase. 

There was a bonus reflection of the alium in the glass over the turquoise matte on the frame beside it!

 I spent the next three seconds removing the stuff around the vase to get a less cluttered shot. 

The colour and shape of the reflection had already changed and shortly after this shot it was 

completely gone! 

More light hunting shots via the 'let there be light' tab above or at Flickr.

Enjoy!!

see no evil

Inspired by a prompt by Vivienne McMaster, this is really just another form of accidental artistry!
The simple instruction to shoot without looking through the viewfinder was both liberating and astonishing. Who knew that laying your camera on a rock or in the grass or shooting up towards the sky could produce such fun shots! The results were sometimes magical . . . as if I were a secret observer of a land of fairies.

Some of these photos also lend themselves beautifully to some of the wonderful textures available from Nancy Claeys at "A Rural Journal" and at "Kim Klassen's Cafe". Check out the 'see no evil' tab or click here to see more that can be done without your viewfinder.

Jennifer Texture by Nancy Claeys at A Rural Journal . See her other awesome textures there. 

an accidental artist

I AM, without a doubt,  an "accidental artist" as depicted in this comic strip by artist Aaron Johnson.

Special thanks to Aaron Johnson for providing permission to use his comic strip on my blog!

I am sure you are familiar with W.T. Duck.
If you are a photographer and you don't know this comic strip, you need to check it out here.
Now!
Because you will find your 'self' there for sure!

I think we all take photos that are not what we had intended.
What Mr. Johnson calls 'spray and pray' works quite well for me in guaranteeing ONE good shot out of hundreds!
So well, that I think I am going to have to order his spray and pray T-shirt!.

Most people delete those 'accidental' photos.
I suppose out of fear of being found out to be not such a good photographer...
...not me. I save everything! (it is a sickness!)

...and I am an accidental artist.

Even the great American photographer and writer, Diane Arbus shared "I never have taken a picture I've intended. They're always better or worse."

So... even though we get some duds, other shots turn out better than we expect.


That's okay!

We all know that one man's garbage is another man's treasure...same goes with photos.
If it isn't what we intended there is often a case to 'repurpose' the shot.
Post processing is not a bad word!
...and sometimes, even without the pee pee word, a 'failed' photo can be a lovely piece of art!

Accidental art is still art!

To check out more accidental art please click here.

snapendipity defined

snap·en·dip·i·ty  n.

pl.  snap·en·dip·i·ties   adj. snap·en·dip·i·tous

1. a talent for, or good luck in, having a camera handy when making unexpected and fortunate discoveries while searching for other things.
2. the fact or occurrence of such camera ready discoveries.
3. an instance of making such a discovery with camera in hand.

This blog is all about celebrating those moments...

You know the ones. 

Moments when you are going about your day 

and you have the good fortune to you see

light dancing in the shadows or

colour peeking out from under ... there!

AND you have your camera with you!!!

Those are snapendipitous moments and they are what this blog is all about!

I have been inspired to create this blog

through my participation in an e-course

by Vivienne McMaster
Rule Free Photography

It was a fabulous, freeing and affordable course!
(Check out all of Vivienne's e-courses!)

Images posted here will be the happy product of:

*worry free photography
*breaking all those photographic rules about focus and composition and light and, and...
*venturing outside my comfort zone to snap! subjects I’ve never braved and in ways I’ve never considered