“Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.” Dali Lama

All Time Favorites: Angular

I know I’m not alone in feeling sad the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenges have come to an end.  I’m not the most prolific blogger these days but this recurring event has been both my favorite online group activity and source of inspiration when my creative well is dry.  Not only did the prompts push me to new exploration but reading the varied responses in real-time was another eye-opener, there are so many ways to interpret one small word or idea and this international community never failed to deliver fresh perspectives.

Since the final prompt is All Time Favorites I went to my stats to find out your Photo Challenge favorite and was surprised to see the #1 post in both views and comments featured a photo that I re-worked and posted a second time just a few weeks ago.  I guess it was a favorite of mine too and the opening quote is a perfect fit for today’s message.

Below is the original post from November 2014 for your repeat enjoyment:

“Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.” Dali Lama

“Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.”

Dali Lama

Libraries have always seemed like magical places to me and the freedom to walk aisles full of stories and information is a luxury I never take for granted. Through my childhood, school years and now as an adult materials I’ve borrowed have opened my eyes to new possibilities and points of view prompting even more questions and the reward of yet another trip to the library.

This exterior walkway around the Seattle Public Library is a popular place for photographers as well as a meeting space for Library patrons and pedestrians hoping to duck out of the rain on a spring afternoon and I’m posting it today as part of the Weekly Photo Challenge:  Angular.

Good-bye Weekly Photo Challenge, I promise I’ll keep my eyes open for new angles and situations.

Lisa9 Comments

My Year In Pictures: January Week 4

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Processed with VSCO with 5 preset

Wow, after 2 years and 730 daily photos I can finally say this project is finished!  I’ve enjoyed the practice of taking and posting one photo for every day of the year but now that it’s over I’ll admit to feeling a little overwhelmed by the pace of creating 30 new photos every single month.  Scaling back to a few per week seems a lot more realistic and I’m looking forward to a lighter schedule, posting when I want and jumping back into some of the challenges I’ve missed.

Instead of 7 images and 1 full week we’ve got a super-sized gallery of 11 to finish out the year and I like the stories that they tell.  We start with a street performer in Seattle, a sleepy Finn and a beautiful sunset.  Ryan and I sat together in the car on a clear, cold night unable to leave this view while the radio played an acoustic version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity.  My last 7 shots are an exploration of the soft blues and grays that make up so much of our Pacific Northwest winters.  For editing I reached back to some tried and true favorites so you see one shot processed with Oggl and the rest were finished with VSCO.  All images were shot with my iPhone 7+.

If you’d like to see the whole year again I’ll have a dedicated page posted soon to join my previous years recaps from the 1 Day 1 World Project and A Surprise Every Day with Hipstamatic.

Lisa15 Comments

My Year In Pictures: April Week 2

Looking through this set of photos I can’t see an obvious theme tying them together unless I decide to count general randomness as a unifying thread but any week that jumps from Lego mini-figures to trains to audio books to 80’s records must have contained some interesting moments and really that’s all that matters to me today.

Sunday afternoon Falcon landed on our deck for a quick hello and my Monday commute was made a little bit easier by listening to Jenny Lawson’s Furiously Happy, a funny book about horrible things.  Tuesday I stopped at this pretty little roadside park in a neighborhood of million dollar homes.  It’s wonderful to see a small parcel of land set aside for anyone who walks past to enjoy the view.

Wednesday Ryan joined me in Seattle after an appointment and I caught him in a quiet moment waiting for me in this cafe.  Thursday I couldn’t resist another shot of the Skagit Valley Tulip Fields and Friday afternoon I’ll admit I was jealous of the commuters who get to enjoy this waterfront view instead of a congested freeway.  Did you know Saturday April 16th was National Record Store Day?  I didn’t make it out to shop this year but promise each of these albums were purchased at a time when record stores were the only place to get music. 🙂

Coming soon I’ve got a great set of new photos almost ready to share here from our latest spring adventures and if you’d like to follow along in real-time don’t forget I post my daily photos on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If a once-a-week blog read is more your speed my weekly recaps will continue here along with caption notes containing editing information for each photo.

Lisa20 Comments

Telling Stories Through Black and White Photography: Waiting For Food and Fun

Every week Paula of Lost in Translation hosts a fun Black & White Sunday challenge and this week she’s welcomed guest host Allan Hamilton to share his expertise on the subject of narrative black and white photography.  Allan’s guest post is full of great tips for creating engaging images that provoke thought without the distraction of color and I encourage everyone who’s interested in black and white photography to spend a few minutes reading both his post and Paula’s response.

Our challenge is to share photos of people that tell a story and while these two pictures are from different days in Seattle they each capture moments of waiting.  I know what happened before, during and after the photo of Ryan and my niece Ava waiting for lunch but the empty table and chessboard in Westlake Park could have dozens of interpretations.  I wish I knew who started the game and who eventually sat down to finish it on a hot summer day in the middle of the city.

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Lisa33 Comments

A Surprise Every Day: Shaking Up June With Hipstamatic (week 3)

Hello everyone!  I’m back from a whirlwind week of end of the school year activities, annual appointments, a work trip to New York City and preparations for Father’s Day so the dads in my life can take some time off to relax and be reminded of how special they are to me. 🙂

Sunday night John surprised me with a belated birthday dinner outside under the party lights and some pretty lanterns since my actual birthday was spent at Ryan’s school enjoying the spring middle school band and orchestra concert.  Monday was so nice Ryan and I walked down to the beach before cooking dinner and we saw this bbq waiting for someone’s evening next to the volley ball net.  Tuesday was my day to take care of all the annual Dr visits, mammogram included, and Wednesday started very early with a 3:45 am shuttle pick up for the first flight out to NYC.

I spent a wonderful three days in the city meeting my counterparts for the first time in the one year we’ve worked together since we are all based in our home markets and my hotel room had a turntable and bin of records in case I felt like a little late night music.  Thursday’s photo is my first view of the NYC subway and Friday is what happened when I was trapped in my seat for the entire 6.5 hour flight home.  I have a terrible time sitting still that long but the two gentlemen between me and the aisle decided to sleep so I resorted to taking pictures out the window.  Saturday passed in a daze since I was up almost 24 hours straight working then flying home on the late plane but Ryan and I still managed to walk through town and finish our Father’s Day shopping.  This last photo is from one of the murals our downtown association commissioned to reflect the marine heritage of this small town.

Each photo was taken with my iPhone 6 using Hipstamatic’s “shake to randomize” function then posted without any additional editing. If you like a particular combination and want to try it at home just click on the image to see the lens and filter used.  For variety I continue to add new lenses and filters so if you want to try Hipstamatic but are unsure how to start let me know and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.

Lisa17 Comments

Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge: Street Photography (A Quiet Memorial Day)

iPhone Friday 5-29-15

 

Most of our downtown businesses were closed Monday in honor of Memorial Day leaving anyone looking for afternoon entertainment with the choice of coffee at Starbucks, some tasty Gelato or the matinee showing of Tomorrowland in a 91-year-old theater.  We went to the movies. 🙂

Posted as part of Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge:  Street Photography.

Lisa32 Comments

A Surprise Every Day: Shaking Up May With Hipstamatic (week 4)

One of my favorite parts of this daily project/weekly recap series is an “aha” moment when I realize there was a trend to my week that I hadn’t noticed in the middle of the rush to finish each day.  A little distance is a great tool for gaining perspective and I’m really starting to look forward to these Sunday writing sessions and the reflection that is required to see my week as a whole instead of a mad dash through the daily to-do lists and appointments.

It wasn’t until I started to organize these seven photos that I realized each image represents a gathering place.  Some locations were quieter than others but each one exists as a spot for people or creatures to come together and I last week passed through them all.  Sunday started with breakfast at Seattle’s Biscuit Bitch and the chance to meet Julia, a local blogger and co writer of the very fun South By Northwest.  Julia and Amelia have been best friends since sixth grade and together they write a lovely blog filled with fashion, home decor tips and tasty food.  My kind of ladies. 🙂   Monday is another shot from this peaceful display of succulents in the middle of a crowded shopping mall and Tuesday’s photo shows the end of a march and beginnings of a rally in the middle of Seattle encouraging the state to increase funding for teachers and lower class sizes.  School Districts through the state are holding a series of rolling single day strikes and protest marches to promote awareness and this one in Seattle filled the city with red shirt wearing teachers, students and their families.

Wednesday night was Ryan’s last track meet of the season and it’s a tradition for the entire team to stop at Dick’s Hamburgers before the bus brings them back to school.  Dick’s is a Seattle institution and they opened their first Seattle restaurant in 1954 with the goal of serving fresh, high quality food at low prices with instant service. They’ve kept the business small with only 5 locations in Seattle but when the family decided to open one new restaurant outside of the metro area they put the location up for an online vote.  After 115,000 votes the city of Edmonds won and their sixth location opened in 2011.  Not only does Dick’s believe in high quality food and low prices they also invest in their employees and community with the highest wages in the industry and 100% employer paid health care for all employees, even part-time workers.  Dick’s has awarded more than $1.2 million in employee education scholarships and has given more than $500,000 to local charities that work with the homeless through a customer funded donation program.

Thursday’s photo is a look down one of the aisles of our library, a quieter kind of gathering place and Friday is a shot showing the return of our wild strawberries!  It’s going to be a race for the first ripe berry between us, the squirrels or birds…  I’ve written a few posts about the fact that we try to buy the majority of our food from local growers and ranchers and Country Farms is my regular stop for fresh produce.  I’m here every Saturday after Double DD Meats to finish our weekly shopping with fresh fruits and vegetables direct from Washington growers.

Each photo was taken with my iPhone 6 using Hipstamatic’s “shake to randomize” function then posted without any additional editing. If you like a particular combination and want to try it at home just click on the image to see the lens and filter used.  For variety I continue to add new lenses and filters so if you want to try Hipstamatic but are unsure how to start let me know and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.

Lisa32 Comments

A Surprise Every Day: Shaking Up May With Hipstamatic (week 2)

Today’s recap is a quick one while I wait for Ryan to finish his math so we can start our Mother’s Day walk to the beach.  It was another beautiful spring week here in the Pacific Northwest filled with plenty sun and very little rain.  We are all a little concerned about a dry summer but it’s hard to complain during days like these.  Temperatures in the 70’s, no bugs or humidity and pretty sunsets late in the evening.  My kind of weather!

Sunday afternoon was my chance to do some yard work while Ryan and Finn played fetch with a beach stick.  Ryan has a stash of driftwood sticks from our walks that are too stinky to keep inside so they live by the back door ready for dog play, light saber practice or even coyote safe walks.   I always like the window displays at the Apple Store and Monday I wasn’t the only one taking photos of these pretty, pink watches.  Tuesday found me in a quiet corner of a parking garage next to this lonely balloon and Wednesday Finn and I walked past this rusty old can in the woods.

Thursday is a peek behind the shipping container/workshop from last week’s photos.  Now I know where campaign signs go after the elections… Friday night was so warm we brought dinner outside and lit candles by each plate.  Saturday found us at Seattle Center enjoying a generous gift from my Aunt and Uncle.  They treated us to Robin Hood at the Seattle Children’s Theater followed by dinner on Lake Union and a day spent in the wonderful company of my aunt Dale, uncle Dick, cousin Sara and her husband, Alex.  A beautiful way to end the week!

Each photo was taken with my iPhone 6 using Hipstamatic’s “shake to randomize” function then posted without any additional editing. If you like a particular combination and want to try it at home just click on the image to see the lens and filter used.  For variety I continue to add new lenses and filters so if you want to try Hipstamatic but are unsure how to start let me know and I’ll do my best to answer your questions!

Lisa14 Comments