Call & Response is a new version of a relatively new photo. Same crop, just re-colored. I wanted to emphasize those shapes and contrasts more by simplfying the color scheme. (The buds and blossoms are shades of blue into white, and the stems green.) Black and white did it, but was too chilly. So I went to sepia tones and intensified them a bit.

This one below, First Impressions, I've had sitting in it's folder for a couple months now. I like it, but doubt others will. Mostly, I enjoy that watercolor effect, but I also get a pleasant feeling of nostalgia. As if it were an illustration in an old book one is fond of. Of course, as often happens when I post a picture here, I'm seeing things about it that I could have done differently. But I'll leave it be.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

Foreshadowing, above, is a brand new edit of an old photo. Honestly, I'm not at all sure about it, nor about Accidental MRI, below:

But I simply got tired of trying to find or edit something I felt better about than these. I'll blame it on my old frenemy, the waxing gibbous moon phase. (I almost always go more than a bit wonky under this moon phase. Once the full moon arrives I then get better, or as much better as this crazy old lady ever gets.)

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

The Sorcerer's Apprentice, above, is an old photo, clearly heavily computer manipulated. It's a photo I've come back to before and tried to do something with, other than simply delete it. I even have some doubt about today's version. (Generally when it comes to working on pictures, I feel like the sorcerer's apprentice in that fairy tale; lots of power at my fingertips but not a whole of lot of skill with which to effectively use it.)

For comparison's sake, here's the crop from which I made "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," Allurement:

Am I being picky? But I could wish for better focus and that upper right hand corner is distracting. Also, I would have liked to have caught those stamens at a slightly better angle. Not a whole lot different, but enough to make them stand out above their own shadows a bit more clearly. Yet I liked this picture enough not only to keep it for two and a half years, but to color out some tiny distracting bits of green at one edge. Go figure. I can't.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

OK, I was complaining yesterday here about being stuck, about wanting a new "visual vocabulary." Well, the above photo, Leaping Lizards!" is a result of that frustration. I just sort of kept going when I hit a big bump, rather than reverting to the original as I usually do. Of course, just because it's sort of wild doesn't make it good. But maybe doing more of this will help loosen up my attachment to certain ways of seeing. I also think this quote I just came across this morning from Zadie Smith about writing, may apply as well: Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.

Sunny Side Up, below, is an old photo I just stumbled across. Though I found myself wanting to fool with its color or even crop it in tighter, I decided to leave it as is. I saw lots of these sorts of roses here this season and it's lovely to have a reminder of them. Even if it's much like many other pictures I've taken:

And here's a palate cleanser: Upstairs, Downstairs. As I've said here many times before, I really enjoy taking photos of the buildings and stairways on our retirement community grounds. This particular one pushes my visual vocabulary envelope a little bit:

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

Well, at least the three I'm hesitantly sharing today have the energy of being brand new photos behind them. I'd hoped, though, to get some straight forward "last roses of summer" photos, but that wasn't to be. For various reasons, none worked "as is." So they're all in that familiar style of mine -- cropped way back to rose centers that have then been heavily computer manipulated.

The first (above) is called Harvest.

The title of this one below is Falling Dreams:

And this last, below, is Caution to the Wind:

It was really nice to work on fresh photos even if I had hoped for other than rather familiar results. I'm not sure what this ongoing discontent is about. It just seems to be urging me to surprise myself with unfamiliar results, as if I need to increase my visual vocabulary. Which has not been happening so far. I'd like to believe it's due to the quirks of my low-end camera and the rather limited editing capacities of the several old programs I use to edit pictures. But though those limits are real, I have continued to find new ways of working with my camera's glitches, and using and combining my editing program functions. So I think the limits are in me at this point. Ah well, I've been through this same sort of discontent at various times over the years with writing poetry. So it would be logical to believe that these photo blahs, too, shall pass -- leaving something new in their wake.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****