Cee's Black & White Challenge: Small Things

SUMMARY: Also Wordless Wednesday

More Small Subjects

>>  Visit the Wordless Wednesday site; lots of blogs. <<
>>  Visit Cee's Photo Challenge blog; lots of blogs. <<

Rainy Day

SUMMARY: Wordless Wednesday (yeah so it's Thursday, what's your point?)

If you're dyin' for words, here:

(Such a challenge--if I had leaned to the right about 18", I could have gotten all the crap out of the view. However, I risked him moving when I simply very slowly leaned slightly backwards and lifted the camera off the desk (also which meant I stopped using the keyboard)--his ears immediately turned back to me, so I had to look away and make keyboard noises until his ears went forward again. Leaning slowly in the chair doesn't make much noise, but enough that dogs hear it. Clicking this one shot caused him to leap up and come over to check out what's going on. Now he's curled up in bed in the other room instead. Another dream of a perfect shot crushed. And you can see that even as I lifted the camera to my eye, his ears are already starting to point back towards me.)

>>  Visit the Wordless Wednesday site; lots of blogs. <<

Cee's Black & White Photo Challenge: Made By Humans

SUMMARY: Was in San Francisco last weekend--

>>  Visit Cee's B&W Photo Challenge for this topic; lots of blogs. <<

Purple purple purple

SUMMARY: Cee's photo challenge

Backfill: Oops, never posted when I first created this! So--posting it on May 14, 2019.

I bump around on the web, so have fallen across SO many photo challenges. Can't do them all. Can't even keep up with my own challenges to myself!

However, Cee's photo challenge currently is PURPLE. How could I resist?

 Remember my agility colors series?  Never did finish all the colors, but I did purple. (Revisit that by clicking on this image--)

But what an opportunity to provide a few more images of pretty pretty purply things!

I used Google's advanced search feature to search for any photos here at Taj MuttHall that are purple--how cool is that? Click here to see.  [Although I'm intrigued that most of the purples in the link from the photo aren't actually included in this search!? And many other purple shots are missing. Hmmm. But, still, pretty nifty.]

Wordpress Photo Challenge: Mirror

SUMMARY: Do photographers dream of android cameras?

Stepping into a photographer's dreamscape. Surely it would resemble this?

This was a tough one to choose; I like so many of my reflection photos, both older and recent.  This, from Monterey's Cannery Row, I've worked on recently.  It is in fact a simple double window reflection but I love its surreality. I've been playing with the lighting and dreaminess.  Debating adding a large hawk on the wing in the bright but empty sky. Hmmm.  Good opportunity for me to practice my layering and combining skills.

Blogging friend Change Is Hard often does the weekly Friday photo challenges provided by WordPress, which sometimes inspires me to participate, too, rather than simply admiring hers even though that's fun, too.

>>  See what others have contributed for "Mirror" <<

Can't resist my dragons!

Wordpress Photo Challenge: Frame

SUMMARY: A fun bending-reality diversion with Tika and a jump

Blogging friend Change Is Hard likes to do the weekly Friday photo challenges provided by WordPress; She posted  this "frame" photo. I don't use WordPress (I'm in Blogger and like it), but I do enjoy seeing how different people interpret different challenges. Lots of beautiful photos. And sometimes I participate.

Here's mine, from an old photo; Tika always stretched the Possible.

I haven't looked at all of the Frame postings, but browsed some. I particularly like:

• Getting The Most Out of What is Around You In Your Photos  (nice photos and photo tip)
• Forest Garden: "Sunday Dinner" (nature close-up at its finest, but arachnophobes need not go here)
• Herman van Bon Photography:  "In the Eye of the Beholder" (a surprising and lovely image from South Africa)

>>  See what others have contributed for "Frame" <<

Curves (WordPress Photo Challenge)

SUMMARY: Just a photo, just a cloud

I hardly ever do this. But there's a Wordpress Photo Challenge regularly, and a blogging friend participates regularly, and I love seeing her photos.

Just happened to have taken one this weekend that meets the Curve challenge.

Stopped at a garden-supply yard on our way back from Monterey, and my sister pointed out this delightful cloud front across the sky. So, of course, me see, me photo.

Here's the challenge, with photos that others have posted.

Half And Half, a photo challenge.

SUMMARY: Yep, photography.

I don't usually do these, but I've been waiting for a chance to use this photo. I love the contrast between the two architectural styles (at Madonna Inn, if you're curious).

Here's the friend's post that alerted me to it with her interpretation, and here's the source of the challenge.

The End of the World

SUMMARY: And I feel fine about this photo challenge.

Karma posts monthly photo challenges, which I read about on Dawn's blog. August's challenge from Karma is to post a photograph of the end of the earth. You can read her short post to see what she meant by it.

She's allowed archived photos for this month.

I've included not just those that look like there is nothing beyond, but also anything that adds a more literal feeling of the earth coming to an end.

I tried to pare down the quantity, but couldn't help myself. Here you go.

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Hiking in the Santa Teresa Hills, looking north over San Jose--and the world ends just beyond it, burning into oblivion. (In reality, fog settles over the San Francisco Bay at sunset.) 

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Anywhere in the coastal range, looking to the west, there is nothing beyond but the eternal fogbank off California's coast. There be dragons. Here be tiny deer contemplating her mortality.

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On another day, looking out towards the Pacific--but, nope, nothing there but endless clouds.

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On a stormy day, the friendly field behind my home becomes an apocolyptic scene.

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From atop Black Mountain, the ocean fog creeps in to consume the very ground on which we stand.

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There used to be a valley with 1.8 million inhabitants at the base of Communications Hill. Today--gone, and a lone survivor climbs from the abyss.

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A dark evening as the coastal fog bank consumes the very mountains and races towards the fleeing crowds.

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From a high trail in Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve looking northwest, you can see the end of the world.

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The world has fallen away below us.
(Fog at the Grand Canyon--the world ends here and we float in a sea of nothing.)

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Oh, we've been here before--a month ago, and the world *still* ends here, out over the Pacific.

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The end of the world at the end of the world.
(Cold war relics atop Milagra Ridge, south of San Francisco, on a foggy day.)

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Out in the Sierras, obviously nothing could possibly exist beyond the far frozen peaks.

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Back in Santa Teresa hills, you can clearly see that the world ends to the northeast beyond the castle on the mountain. (Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton.)

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Climbing Four Mile Trail up the side of Yosemite's cliffs to Glacier Point, the world falls away below you, sometimes thousands of feet straight down.

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The world ends at the end of the world.
(From Montebello Ridge looking out at the sunset.)

"A Day" - Life in Our World on May 15

SUMMARY: A global photography project that you, too, can participate in.

If you don't already know about the A Day project, let me encourage you to join. I first read about it in an editorial in Popular Photography.

What is the A Day photo project?

One day.
Millions of perspectives.
Add yours.
http://www.aday.org/

If you hadn't noticed, I -- like so many other bloggers -- love taking photos of what's going on around me and what my days are like. This project seems custom-made for us.

On May 15, you take photos of your life, your activities, and the world around you, showing what's important to you, what your life is like, and your surroundings. Then you  post up to 10 of those photos in certain previously defined categories on their web site. These become a lasting database that can be used for research and mutual understanding.

Best to sign up now and read up on the process so you're ready for May 15. (Note--unfortunately, like many new web sites, theirs is buggy--once your profile is filled in, there doesn't seem to be a way to change it; everyone's profile seems to say that they're from sweden even though it displays the correct flag nationality; link to reset your password doesn't actually go to where you can reset your password. Things like that.)

I've already been thinking about what I might want to shoot. I'm sure that dogs will be in at least one of my photos, heh. And probably computers.

Why participate?

They say:

Your participation is vital to this innovative and global undertaking.

Photography is a wonderful tool of communication. Pictures transcend the barriers of language, age, gender and culture. If we are to improve understanding between people, it is important that we share the way we live and who we are.

We hope that you take this unique opportunity to tell stories of daily life. Together we will create a priceless collection of images from around the world, promoting understanding and enhancing research and education.

We are literally creating history on May 15, leaving a powerful message for the future.

And so--

On Tuesday:

Photograph what is close to you.
Share it with the world!

http://www.aday.org/about/questions-and-answers

See you --and your life-- on the 15th!

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P.S.-- categories!

What are the A Day categories?

They don't seem to have a nice complete text list, so I'm making one for myself here (from this page). Here are the main categories, subcategories, and keywords or descriptions for the subcategories:

• Home : Photos related to where and how you or others live.
  • Room : Sleeping, Cooking, Hygiene, Living, Studying, Working, Relaxing, Storing
  • Food : Buying, Cooking, Storing, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack, Shortage
  • My wall : "what do you chose to put on your wall? This is a great document of your personal taste"
  • My view :
  • Treasure : Show us your most loved item in your home! We believe that what we love and what we hate, says a lot about us as persons. But it also tells about our times and local cultures. When this archive becomes an historic reference it will be exciting to see how the value of these objects has changed with time. Maybe todays treasure is tomorrows junk?
  • Junk : Opposite of treasure: Show us the one [in your home that] you dislike most.
  • Housing and Surroundings: House, Shelter, Garden, Road, Street, Neighborhood, Village, City, Countryside
• Work : Photos related to where and how you or others work.
  • Tools :Industry, Agriculture, Office, Study, Retail, Mechanics, Artistic, Service, Healthcare, Transport, Aquatic, Construction
  • Teams : Industry team, Agriculture team, Office team, Study team, Retail team, Mechanics team, Artistic team, Service team, Healthcare team, Transport team, Aquatic team, Construction team
  • Commute : Train, Car, Tram, Subway, Bus, Bike, Motorbike, Walk, Airplane, Horse
  • My job : "an opportunity to show how you look at what you do for a living"
  • Power : How do you visualize its sense of power over you or over society? What is for you the purpose of work? Work is often our lifeline, and it is seldom photographed on a larger scale. Not easy to picture, but we never said it would be…
  • Purpose: Like power-- What is for you the purpose of work?
  • Unemployment : Job seeking, Exclusion
• Connections : Photos related to everything that connects us to each other like community, technology, family, energy, faith, cultures, politics and lifestyle.
  
  • Generations : Immediate family, Extended family, Younger, Older, Birth, Death
  • Community : Friends, Sports, Arts, Social group, Politics, Religion, Online, Educational, Geographical
  • Technology : To connect, To move, To innovate, To improve, To destroy
  • Leisure : Sports, Arts, Outdoors, Music, Relaxing, Games, Dance, Decorating, Travel, Other hobbies
  • Identity : Ethic, Faith, Political, Gender, Causes, Geographical, Trends, Lifestyle
  • Society :
  • Energy : Wind, Water, Sun, Nuclear, Coal, Oil, Gas, Alternative
  • Conflict : War, Protest, Forces, Consequences
  • Care : How can you express the sense of care for others or for larger goals and aspirations?
  • Fear : What do you fear in what surrounds you, now and for the future?
  • Elements and nature : Climate change, Natural disaster, Weather, Waters, Forest, Desert, Mountains, Plains, Urban nature

Cute Local Dogs

SUMMARY: County photo contest.

Santa Clara County supervisor Mike Wasserman runs a photo contest every couple of months. Last one was pets; here's the description:

My winter photo contest is all about pets: big, small, cute, homely, furry, feathered, scaled – we want to see them! Send me your favorite funny or cute image of your pet (preferably enjoying him or herself in our beautiful County!) Once again, I will frame and proudly display three winning 8x10 photos in my office. Get moving, get creative, and send me photos that show why Santa Clara County is a great place for pets too!

I entered a photo that didn't win, but the winners are nice and are all three of dogs.

The three winners are here and you can click through to the Flickr stream to see all 20 entries including mine of Tika and Boost at Santa Teresa park, which I think is a nice photo but not really "funny or cute", although I thought a photo including "our beautiful county" would be a shoo-in. :-)

Christmas Redux

SUMMARY: December Photo Challenge.

Every month, Karma issues a photo challenge. I sometimes pursue it because it gives me a different perspective from which to shoot (thinking outside the brain, as it were). Dawn, who has posted her own results, kindly pointed out that my quick snapshots from the last couple of days's posts have pretty much covered the December challenge. Really, I meant to get around to the challenge any moment now, but--well--I'll take Happy Coincidence (I'm not going to call it "cheating"). So I'm repeating my apropos photos here, with a couple of extras:

lights
I wanted to try the nifty technique for photographing lights described in this post of 10 Creative Tips For Capturing Memorable Holiday Photos.

ornament
I try to take a photo of the family Christmas tree every year; I have always loved the variety of ornaments that my family prefers (over, say, carefully matched colored globes). Here are some others from previous years.

card
Not only is my niece reading a card, but my mom's traditional display of cards floats on the stair railing behind her.

frost
The morning after Christmas, it was a little chilly for San Jose--Boost didn't notice the frost covering the lawn, but I sure did.

treat
In order: A bouche de noel purchased by one sister; frosted sugar cookies that I made this year because I've missed having the ones my mom used to make when we were kids; fondant candy made by another sister, which is another holiday tradition.

family
Nineteen of us gathered Christmas afternoon for too much food and the exchange of gifts.

Bonus: show me the winter holiday of your choice
In case the preceding photos aren't enough:

Rainbows on the Ground

SUMMARY: August photo challenge: Rainbow of summer colors.

I've been watching Dawn King's photos in the assorted photo challenges she's done, have enjoyed the results, and this month I liked the theme and decided to give it a try in my own back yard. Dawn's photos are awesome and have more variety, but mine were done at the very last minute before the deadline. Here's the original challenge.

And forthwith, here's my backyard rainbow: