When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. – Lao Tzu
Show where you go to get your groove back is the challenge.
Mostly this is the place where I feel the air blow through me and clean out all that has crowded in.
It sets me right again with the world.
I head for the sea.
Feeling very happy…the following photo got 2nd Prize in our biennial Arts & Murals Festival which just took place in Katikati. First time I have ever gotten anywhere in this competition. And with one of my favourite shots. Thinking of framing it and keeping it.
In the peaceful order of reality
or
the serene disorder of reflection
a place for me exists
…
Here are the rules for the “Five Photos Five Stories” challenge: “Post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or a short paragraph and each day nominate another blogger for the challenge.
(Sporadic posting is alright if you’re unable to post each day.)
Once more we go…eeny, meeny, miny, moe…and pick another name out of cyberspace [which you should feel perfectly free to ignore!]…Sue.
Relevant links:
I recently decided to enter a couple of ‘biggish’ photography competitions here in New Zealand. Yesterday after a lot of back and forth trying to pick the images I wanted to enter, I finally registered and entered 11 images in the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year 2014 competition.
I know…reaching for the sky here. But one of the reasons I like this competition is that they are pretty strict on you submitting natural untouched images.
This was after a lot of help from friends narrowing it down. The thing with competitions like these are that they are so subjective depending on the judge/s.
I loved last year’s winners, however the year before I was left stunned at at least one of the choices. Not because it wasn’t a great photo, or that it didn’t perfectly fit the category, but because there were so many better entries.
I am curious.
For those of you who read this blog, and who enter a competition or two, what helps you to make your choice/s about what images you decide on ?
There are four categories in this competition. I went all out and entered the lot. I was allowed five entries in to three categories.
These are the images I picked in the end.
And then there was the category Photostory. For this you were allowed to tell a story in six images. Boy did that do my head in. Last year’s winner really nailed it. Not sure I have, but I gave it my best shot. This is my Photostory about ANZAC Day.
I am sure some of you will disagree with some of my choices. I would [as always] love to hear your opinion. Now it is time to get busy on the next lot of entries…due on the 13th of this month.
Oh…completely off base. I started a photography course online. I don’t know if you have heard of the MOOC List.
“MOOC List” is an aggregator (directory) of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) from different providers.
There are some big institutions offering free courses in a huge range. You don’t always get a certificate…some you do. But you learn from some of the best institutions in the world for free. I am doing a month long course that is offered through Open Universities Australia. Wish me luck.
When I arrived in New Zealand in 1993 one of the things I loved was that here in the Bay of Plenty its beauty was appreciated in a gentle low key way.
High rise ??? What are those ???
While I understand the need for progress and growth it saddens me to see towns such as Mount Maunganui becoming miniature Gold Coast replicas.
Frankly I have always HATED the Gold Coast in Queensland.
To some of you this may seem an incredible leap when you are viewing these images of Mount Maunganui.
I can imagine it still seems pretty low key compared with other places.
But for someone who has watched the changes occurring I am torn between the needs of the population and the needs of the land.
We need to make sure we keep the balance.
So there are still areas that are untouched by our human hands.
And left to grow as nature intended.
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For more interpretations of Growth visit the Daily Post
Dear Gilly at Lucid Gypsy was having a ‘not so lucid’ moment a while ago. You see she got challenged to “choose 7 of your own photos for HostelBookers 7 Super Shots.”
You have to pick one for each of the following categories:
Fine so far…but here is where her lucidity come in to question…Gilly picked me as one of the 5 bloggers to pass it on to. So now – ‘I am taking part in HostelBookers 7 Super Shots‘.
But being a stubborn female and always one to TRY to answer a challenge – well here goes.
I am wondering as I post this…will some of these pass the bar ?
Will some of these surprise you ??
I recently ticked something off a list I have had ever since I broke my back the first time. To make it to the top of Mt Maunganui again. It is not high (232 metres -761 ft), especially when you think I climbed Mt Kilimanjaro…but it seemed an impossible feat while I was making my recovery and could barely walk to the letterbox. So it was a goal I set myself. On the 14th of this month I took this photo from the top…and in everyway possible, both when I took it and now when I look at it it is an image that takes my breath away. It reminds me that all is possible.
I’m a lucky woman. Luckier than most. This photo reminds me of that. And because it does, it always makes me smile if not laugh out loud with joy…for this view is what greets me in the morning. When I get up and about early that is. And when it is not raining in this land I now call my home.
Sunrises don’t get much better than this now then do they ?
Number three was so easy. What do I dream about ? Many, many things…including Brad Pitt’s arse. Did you check out the link ? I just know you wanted to !!!! One dream never changes though. To one day see this from my back yard…to walk out my gate and sink in to the soft sand with my toes. To hear the waves lull me to sleep and wake me in the morning. So this is the one that makes me dream about what is still to come in my life.
Oh – I can’t wait for your reactions to this one !!! A photo that makes me think just had to be this one. You see it reminds me what life is all about. The colours and reflections that are our lives. Mine has had so many. From the burning reds of Australia, the baked browns of the Serengeti plains, the icy white of The Netherlands in mid winter, to the overwhelming greens of New Zealand. But nothing is ever concrete. A change in light, a slight breeze and the colours change and mix and become a kaleidescope of all that we have been and all that we are still to become.
After tomatoes there is one food that – well eating it takes me to that place. Seafood !!! Oh how I love seafood. It comes from growing up in Australia where the seafood just tastes better than anywhere else. You know the stories – the tales fishermen tell of the one that got away. Thing is – they rarely get away in Australia. And they are big and tasty and quite frankly…usually more satisfying than sex. And of all the seafood, well these guys are what makes my mouth water.
I love faces. They are – after animals – one of my favourite things to try to capture. Especially in moments when people are unguarded. When their stories play with you. Draw you in and make you want to know more. This is one of those faces. I was fascinated with this man from the moment I met him. His face told not just one but a myriad of stories…with my camera I tried to catch a moment that tells a story.
So here we are. One to go…the photo I am most proud of. In 1984 I went in search of the Mountain Gorillas of the Virunga National Park in Rwanda. We tramped for hours to find them. Other than the birth of my children…no other moment has come close to how I felt spending time with these guys. If you want to know more about that adventure click here and have a read. This photo has never lost its magic for me. It was taken with a Pentax K1000 film camera with a standard 50mm lens. Their expressions always hold my gaze whenever I look at this image. The little guy on top of his mother later played with my hair.
So – that’s me I guess.
Now for the five bloggers.
Well, seeing as I am a pirate and don’t play by the rules anymore I am simply going to throw this open to anyone who wants to take it up.
Nature often gives us beauty in the most unusual of places.
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Click on the photo to enlarge
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For more interpretations of this weeks theme visit: Weekly Photo Challenge:Unusual
I took these with the phone camera that is smarter than the phone operator.
Why do you want to call a phone a SmartPhone ?
Just to rub it in huh !!!
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My all time favourite indulgence for breakfast…eggs benedict !!
Tomatoes are my favourite food in the universe. Breaking one of these guys in my mouth, straight off the vine, sunshine warmed, is an indulgence I never tire of…
Photography has become an indulgence again in my life.
So here are a few shots I indulged in taking, and playing around with…
Jack (a.k.a.The Grumpy Cat) immortalised forever…with all her personalities !
Bay Dixie (a local dixie band)
It looks like it’s coming for you doesn’t it !!!
Early morning on my street.
the blurred slanted moments sometimes provide the most clarity
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I’m taking part in the January 2012 River of Stones.
For more Stones see My Small Stones
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