The Dress

Fabric: we wear it, sleep on it, decorate with it. Today's challenge was to make a photo of an interesting cloth design or texture.

I was in my closet earlier this evening trying to find something with an interesting pattern to it. Since most of what I wear is black, it proved to be quite challenging. At the back of my closet, I noticed a white garment bag. As I took it out of the closet and unzipped it, I realized what was in there: The Dress.....Being curious to see if it still fits after 12 years of marriage, I tried it on. I got it 3/4 of the way done up but couldn't get it up all the way (without forcing the zipper). I took it off an hung it up on the back of my door and unbuttoned the train so that it trailed onto the floor. I loved the way it pooled onto the floor and decided to take a few shots and use it as today's photo.

Mags.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Today's theme was to make a photo of something growing in my garden or a neighbour's garden. I found this Rose of Sharon bush growing on the side of my neighbour's house and was intrigued by it's unusual stamen.

Rose of Sharon is a deciduous flowering shrub that has white, red, lavender or light blue blooms. These bushes, which prefer full sun, can grow 8' - 10' tall and 4' -6' wide. Although naturally a multi-stemmed bush, through pruning it can be trained to simply have one trunk; thus some people refer to it as a Rose of Sharon "tree". The main selling features of this gorgeous bush include it's attractive flowers and it's late blooming period (generally in August) thus giving the garden late summer colour when many other shrubs and flowers are way past their prime. They are also drought-resistant and can hold their own in the heat. This is definitely a plant I'm going to look into purchasing as an addition to my garden next year.

Mags.

The Masks We Wear.....

Beauty is all around us. Today's challenge was to make a photo of some naturally occurring beauty in my area.

It would seem that the natural choice would be to photograph something outside like a plant or flower. I chose to photograph this souvenir of a Tribal Indian Mask that I brought back from Costa Rica. These masks are made from woods such as balsa, cedar and other fine woods that can be easily carved. The paints used to decorate the piece come from roots, leaves, fruits, barks and even sea shells. 

Inspired on a Buruca tribe tradition, these masks represent the historical clash between the Spanish and burucas during the Conquest. This is celebrated during the last days of the year, with a party called "devils games". The participants dress with dry leaves, animal hides, and other fabrics called "munchi".

Mags.

Turquoise Jewel

July 31, 2010

On our final night in Costa Rica, I had the opportunity to shoot a photo of the pool at night. I loved the way the lights shine in the pool making the pool water seem jewel-like and magical in the dark.

Mags.

Dreamy

Today's challenge was to compose an image that has a soft and dreamy look.

I ventured out into the backyard between raindrops early this evening to capture a shot of a blush white Verbena. I loved this one as it seemed to be "deformed" with a few fuchia petals. I edited the photo simply by blurring the edges.

Mags.