Barnstorming!

On the way to yoga class, down a winding country road, there's an old barn that grabs my attention every time I pass it. Finally I got a few photos of the charming place, thanks to my chauffeur stopping the car in the middle of the road so that I could lean out the window and grab some shots.

It's a two-part barn, which is interesting in itself, set on a slope so that one building is higher than the other.

It's charming and bucolic in the way that barns are
to city folk like myself.

But what really fascinates me is the sag in the middle where the two structures adjoin each other.

I didn't manage to get a photo that really shows just how much they dip in the middle but I tried for so long that night finally fell upon the scene.

Well, not really, but orange you glad that I played with the picture?

Here's the other end of the barn as we drive past it, heading home.

One last glance down the field
 between the barns and the farm house.

Hands up all those who can spot the cat in the grass!

For a completely romanticized version of this bent barn, just hop over to my art blog, Ragzedge.  It's well worth the exercise, I promise you, if you are at all romantically inclined.

Sunshine came softly

Enjoying the morning sunshine much as is this delicate orchid in the window of  my in-laws' house on l'ile d'Orleans in Quebec. Am also getting acquainted with what my new tablet can do.

Special effects thanks to a combination of Instagram and Pixlr.

The Bus Stops Here

This is a cross-over post from my art blog because these days I'm blurring the lines between photos and art (not that photography is not an art form, just that I am not a photographer as such). And also because I spent a lot of time (about five hours) making this picture!

One thing I really enjoy doing is "sneaking" pictures from a bus window. In my little village in the maritimes, we don't have a bus service so I take full advantage of the bus rides I take when visiting Vancouver.

If you'd like to see another version of this picture, and learn a little bit more about how it was made, jump over to my art blog .

Can you tell I'm dreaming of getting a smart phone or tablet so I can snap quickie shots with them and zap them with cool apps?! Instant gratification instead of straining my eyes with hours of Photoshopping ( but no no--Mama don't take my Photoshop away!)  And how about Instagram? Is it the photographers' bane?  I long to be able to post Instagrams.  This is as close as I can get...5 hours worth of "instant"! Oy vey!

Chugging back into Action

Slowly getting myself back into gear with processing my photos and blogging.  Here's a result of some recent playtime.

The original photo of this little old bug-eyed beauty can be seen in the post below.  I toyed with it in Photoshop then added more effects with an editing software that I downloaded for a thirty-day trial, called Perfect Photo Suite 7 from onOne Software.

The tractor itself is for sale and sits at the bottom of our neighbour's driveway. I am quite in love with the beast
(tractor, not neighbour!)

Closed for Vacation

I'm locking up here for a  bit.

Gonna peel out for a little trip.

But I'll be back.

xo

Contemplation

Sometimes it's necessary to slow down the mind, the connections, the obligations, even the imagination, and just stand centered in the contemplation of being.

Still the thoughts.  Dwell with your true self in this moment.

Perhaps the vision, the feelings, the awareness will shift; focus soften; breath deepen...

or impressions may take on a sharper focus, a different tone; reveal a slightly altered point of view.

Possibly, one's whole perspective will be turned on its head and new possibilities emerge.

Whatever happens, it is all good,

 if one can be at peace in the moment.

*

(Photos taken at Dr.Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver BC last year)

*

Linking to Nature Footstep's "Abstract Photo"   theme; visit the online gallery to see other participants.

Oh, deer...

It seems we humans are not the only ones getting anxious 

for spring and summer to arrive...

the deer are getting ever bolder and wandering very close to our house, likely in anticipation of the vegetable garden they feel certain will be planted for them before too long.  Meanwhile they seem pretty happy to be munching on grass.

They're not the most co-operative models, but I managed to get a few pictures of them through our sitting room window, providing me with some fodder for Photoshop fun.

It's illegal to shoot the deer within the village limits and the herds seem to be getting bigger every year.  Until a few years ago, we never saw any deer at all in the village but now they've become a common sight.

Common or not, we still get excited when we spot some of the critters grazing or wandering through our yard, and we rush to the windows to watch them.  Sometimes I even have enough time to grab my camera before they've mosied on across the street.  And they are not ones to look both ways before crossing!

I'm going to add this picture to Bonnie's Pixel Dust Photo Art virtual gallery this weekend where the theme this time is "shadow and light."  I feel I've reduced this little creature to a mere shadow of her former self and have flooded the background with light.

Here's the original 

Meanwhile, snow is in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow, so I guess the deer will go back to nibbling branches.  Personally, I may gnaw off my arm in frustration over this neverending winter!

Avenging Angel or Art Aficionado?

There is a sculpture of an angel in Montreal on Sherbrooke Street that I am in love with.

I've previously posted pictures of him but this one gives a different view.  He stands upon a very high pedestal so I climbed some nearby stairs in front of a church to get a different angle on the angel.  With a bit of cropping, I think I made it look as if he's strolling into town, or possibly limping in...perhaps in the guise of an Avenging Angel (he looks a little trigger-happy to me!)...or maybe just on his way to see the latest exhibit at the Musée des Beaux Arts across the street.

***UPDATE: Finally discovered the name of the artist and sculpture:  The Eye, by David Altmejd

go here for more information.

Happy Easter!

That's some Easter Basket!

Italians do it with style!

(seen a few Easters ago in Stilo, Calabria)

Daring Exposé

C'est moi, captured with my laptop's webcam, altered online with

Pixlr-o-matic

Picmonkey

Perfect Effects 4 (free download)

to participate in Bonnie's photo art self-portrait challenge at Pixel Dust Photo Art

If you want to experiment with different effects for your photos, these sites are each a fun place to play.  They won't replace Photoshop for me, or the subtlety of adjusting layers of textures and blending modes, but they're a good outlet for some whooping and hollering with pixels.

(and are less costly and invasive than a facelift)

(PS. I chickened out and took this post down last night, but Christine of Mystic Meandering caught me out and encouraged me with kind words, so I'm sucking it up and sticking my face back on top of my Décolleté.)

Gravely Speaking

One day last week it was actually sunny and I was tempted to take my camera out of mothballs and take a few pot shots at village life.  Or death, as it were...

The Baptist cemetery on Main Street has graves dating to the early 1800s, many sadly falling to ruin.
The wrought iron fence was just managing to keep its head above the dirty snowline.

The rounded tops of the gravestones resemble

cookie-cutter shaped people.

There's an intriguing gap in the fence. 

I was standing on my tip-toes to get this photo, the snow pile being almost taller than me,

and the cemetery being on a higher level than the street.

Here's the gravestone that's visible through the gap ,

marking the passing of William Francis,

infant son of William and Mary Terylor in 1838.

Many believe that loved ones will all be reunited after death.

There are people who can talk to the dead

and bring messages back of hope and healing for those left behind. 

There are people who are able to see ghosts that are still walking this plane.

But only bones and those memories and sentiments that we bring with us

when we visit the graveyard linger there;

the spirits have moved on.

*

(Thanks to the Vintage Moth for family image)

On Valentine's Day

You've gotta have

heart

and gratitude for the miracle of love,

in whatever form it may be given

 accepting the gift of love as a pearl beyond price.

(but chocolate is always a good substitute, so indulge!)

*

(The original photo from which these images are derived is of a ceramic displayed in a window on Granville Island, Vancouver.  There is no indication of who the ceramicist is. 
My apologies for "stealing" his or her heart.)

Blizzard Warning in Effect

We interrupt our regular programming tonight as there is a

Blizzard Warning in Effect!

This is what it says on Environment Canada's website tonight for our region:

Warnings

Heavy snowfall, strong winds and blowing snow will give blizzard conditions overnight and on Saturday.

This is a warning that blizzard conditions with near-zero visibilities are expected in these regions. Monitor weather conditions..listen for updated statements.

This system will give heavy snow, very strong northeast winds gusting up to 80 km/h, and blowing snow to regions along the Fundy coast. Blizzard conditions are forecast to begin near midnight in the west and spread east by Saturday morning where they will continue most of the day. Total snowfall amounts of up to 40 centimetres are expected in these regions by Saturday evening.

Nothing for it but to batten down the hatches and wait for it to blow in and blow itself out.  Fingers crossed that the electricity will hold!  I posted these snowy scenes to get us acclimatized for the big white-out.

Hopefully see you on the other side of the storm!

Casanova and Minimalism

Continuing on with my investigation of the curious case of the Carmel Casanova as discussed in the two previous posts, this contraption of hooks and wires flung over the wall to climb up, over, and out would appear to be the main means of escape, or of entry, into the Casanova cube.

Definitely an innovative adaptation of the more traditional tied-together sheets used for impromptu escapes.

 And here's another piece of curious hardware...Casanova's dog tag!  Curious and curiouser.

Bonnie of Pixel Dust Photo Art is hosting an exhibit of "minimalist" pictures in her virtual gallery this weekend that might pique your curiosity.  I think the rusted dog tag qualifies, but if I want to get really hardcore with minimalism, I think I could do no better--or worse--than with this other strange feature found on the Carmel Casanova's wall...

Original on left

Altered right

(don't ask me how!)

Possibly a peep hole?

We will never know.

Toying with the Carmel Casanova thing

As a follow-up to the previous posting on this blog, I've started toying with Casanova's hardware.

I like the textures, shapes, colours and abstract quality of the close-up of Casanova's mysterious apparatus.

There's an unexpected soft quality to an otherwise hard piece of equipment.

But with a little bit of manipulation, we can boost the excitement

(of the contrasts and hues).

And if we plug the whole thing into

the Pxlr-o-matic machine,

 we make the whole thing just POP!

More to come...

Casanova's Hardware

I came across this odd structure standing beside a reno site in a swanky N.Vancouver suburb last summer.  Fascinated by the chain and hooks covered in bright paint and burrowing rust, I took a whole series of photos but haven't known quite what to do with them or how to broach the subject on this blog.

Who is/was the Carmel Casanova and what was he doing hanging out in N.Van?

What sort of nefarious activities were these devious devices intended for?

And how/when could I address this topic here?

Well, enter Bonnie of Pixel Dust Photo Art who suggested the theme of HARDWARE for this weekend's virtual art gallery of transformed photos that she hosts on her blog.

Just the excuse I needed to pull out the chains and hooks and screws and bolts that I'd been keeping hidden away in my bag of photographic tricks.

I will leave it up to your own vivid imaginations 

to figure out what uses

 that Carmel Casanova might have intended for this thingamabob.

My own intention for it was to have a bit of fun with layers of textures and effects in Photoshop.

It was a rather dizzying undertaking...

  and I soon felt the need to brew a pot of Japanese tea to revive my spirits. 

In a future post or two, I will dish out some more of these kinky quirky implements but meanwhile, should you wish to see some other fine examples of altered hardware pix, take a little stroll over to Bonnie's fine art gallery 
and hardware store;
it's never closed.

Bowled Over

A New Year awaits us like an empty bowl

waiting to be filled.

It is up to us to choose the ingredients,

be they bright and revelatory

or quietly contemplative.

Whatever your choices,

 may they bring a little taste of magic into your life.