Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Photo-A-Day: February

"Serendipity: a word coined by Horace Walpole, from the Persian fairytale 
The Three Princes of Serendip, in which the heroes possess this gift"--Dictionary.com

2012 is Leap Year--with an extra day this month for yet one more picture in my on going Photo-a-Day project. And I'm loving it. This month I not only met my goal for number of pictures again, but I've found myself visualizing "frames" in my head even when camera is not in hand. I think that's a good thing for both an amateur photographer (like me) and a writer.

And speaking of the photographer/writer connection, I also love serendipitous moments (serendipity, n.: "the ability to make fortunate discoveries by accident, such as finding interesting items of information or unexpected proof of one's theories, while looking for something else."), as happened when I picked up Marshall Cook's How to Write with the Skill of a Master and Genius of a Child for writing inspiration and found this:

"My photographer friend Shiela Reaves," Cook writes, "says that having a camera around your neck gives you access to living on a more intense level."

Amen to that.

And, "The most important piece of equipment for the photographer, Shiela says, isn't the fancy camera. It's the head and the heart of the photographer." Also important? Natural curiosity.

Cook's point in all of this? "(The same is true) For the writer, too."

Additional tips Cook takes from photographer friend Shiela:

Change your point of view.
See your world from a different angle.
See patterns.
Play with light and shadow.
Pay attention.

These concepts are all things this photo-a-day challenge is helping me to do. Maybe you'll be prompted to try something similar? Who knows? Serendipity might be waiting for you, too!

Here's my February gallery. Hope you enjoy. And please feel free to drop in and let me know which one/ones spoke the most to you.

7 comments:

  1. Your photos are wonderful - so colorful, and interesting, and creative! I particularly like the one with the mittens. :)

    Happy weekend!

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  2. Thanks for sharing your pictures. Love the green moss one. It reminds me of the promise of Spring -- which is coming soon!

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  3. Wow, it's hard to choose, but I'll have to go with the trees & sky. Beautiful!

    ~Debbie

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  4. These are really nice photos!
    I lean toward the one that looks like a still life with little crabapples (are those real?)

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  5. I loved this Feb Gallery. I too will have to go with the trees and the sky pic :)

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  6. Thanks, all, for your votes :-)

    Karen L.--We like our string of mittens, too. They hang from the kitchen window that overlooks the side yard and sledding hill. I think it's time to take them down, though. Hoping winter is over for this year :-)

    Karen S--the moss was particularly bright that day, maybe because the sky was so gray. It grows on a stone wall out back that borders our patio...

    Debbie and Rachna--the trees-and-sky photos are some of my favorites, too. The one with the blue background came from a hike hubby and I took that was sponsored by the city park system. During the hike, the park's naturalist gave lots of historical background to the area, which doubled the fun since I love local history!

    And Margie, good eye! But no, those aren't real crabapples. It's a closeup picture of a dried-berry ring at the base of a candle we have in the living room. Thanks for commenting!

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  7. I like the first photo, the colorful zigzags. But my favorite is easily the old barn/building at the end of the gallery. It reminds me of everything I want in my next house: age, charm, land, views, "homey-ness".

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