Photo Challenge: Grid
“This week, make a grid the centerpiece of your photo.”
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Photo Challenge: Today was a Good Day
Friday, April 24, Hydra, Greece
The Star Clipper anchored off the coast of Hydra, an island of green rugged hills, barren and wild. The top of the cliffs looked like wonderful places to walk, and I knew then my day would include hike on one of the seaside paths. The crew prepared the tenders for our last view of the ship in full sail. A sailing ship is a work of art–the design, the grace, the elegance as the clipper floats majestically on the sea. The sails fluttered, and the sun lite up the white sails against the blue sky. The crew stood on the bowsprit, while camera buffs in the tender snapped away to keep the memory of the dramatic scene.
I had found a group of friends while on the clipper, and together we stepped down the clattering steps of the gangplank for the ride in the tender to the island. A small bay of the Argosaronic Gulf surrounds Hydra, shaped like an amphitheater.
Donkeys and their escorts lined the wharf area, and from that moment, a donkey obsession possessed me. I took photographs and videos of any donkey that clip-clopped by. I couldn’t help myself . . . where else in the world are donkeys the only means of transport? Laws forbid motorized vehicles on Hydra, making the island a quiet and peaceful place. Continuous steps took us down the alleys and more steps led us back up again. We wandered the narrow cobblestone streets looking in the shop windows.
We turned the corner around to the other side of town and walked to a lovely little café with expansive views of the bay and our Star Clipper outlined against the blue hazy mountains. As I sat down at the table, I felt like I had become part of a painting. Was this real? Was this a dream? It seems so now. We sipped our drinks as we shared stories and wondered at the visual splendor before us.
I explored the trail that went through the hamlets along the coast. Well-laid gray stones provided the path, and yellow daisies in their finest display gathered on either side of the walkway. I could not believe the beauty of this island, as I came across whitewashed villages, with traditional architectural elements, such as doors in stone walls with vines toppling over wooden arches. Donkeys grazed on grassy knolls and roosters crowed. I came to a pointed arched bridge, and then turned around to walk back along the seaside trail.
My day spent with friends on Hydra was a good day.
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Photo Challenge: The Unsettling Nature of Weapons
When I view guns, the visions that come to me are the imagined stories embedded in the metal. An object shaped into a weapon extinguishes life’s light and holds the memory of someone’s loss–a son, daughter, mother, father, brother, sister. We don’t know the history of these guns, but we do know that misery accompanied their journey.
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Photo Challenge: Those who Rest Beneath our Feet
The Crystal Ship
Before you slip into unconsciousness
I’d like to have another kiss
Another flashing chance at bliss
Another kiss, another kiss
The days are bright and filled with pain
Enclose me in your gentle rain
The time you ran was too insane
We’ll meet again, we’ll meet again
Oh tell me where your freedom lies
The streets are fields that never die
Deliver me from reasons why
You’d rather cry, I’d rather fly
The crystal ship is being filled
A thousand girls, a thousand thrills
A million ways to spend your time
When we get back, I’ll drop a line
– The Doors, 1967
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Weekly Photo Challenge is My Inspiration
Before I began posting on the Weekly Challenge, my photographs remained in their digital library, gathering electronic dust. The photo challenge, with the encouragement and suggestions of another photographer, inspire me to go back and take a second look at photos that never made it on a blog page. The challenge also provides an opportunity to view other photographer’s interpretation of the theme, which help to form new artistic approaches to taking pictures. The challenge presents the incentive to look for a photographic opportunity to fit the theme.
Once in a blue moon, I take a photograph of the blue moon, July 31, 2015.
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Close-Up, Spider with Soccer Ball?: Weekly Photo Challenge
After taking some time to photograph hosta leaves, this little spider popped out from behind a stem. I couldn’t figure out why the spider appeared carrying a soccer ball until I did some research. Turns out she is a Nursery Web Spider, appropriately named, who carries her egg case wherever she goes. I had to admire her facility moving through the leaves with no trouble. I imagined myself trying to carry an object half my size over hill and dale. Eventually mommy spider builds a nursery tent for her egg sac when hatching time arrives and guards it protectively.
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Half and Half, G Forces: Weekly Photo Challenge
Gauges and Gears
Gaze and Gap
Grain and Ground
Gradient and Grid
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Graffiti as Symbol: Weekly Photo Challenge
In this photograph, the irony of the admonishment stands juxtaposed to the resistance message. Another irony, that except for on the sign, I didn’t see any other graffiti in the area. Did the perpetrators of the writing intend to make a humorous statement? So, what is going on here?
Sometimes the first reaction to graffiti is revulsion at the idea of defacing property, and certainly that is a concern. My point is not an advocacy for vandalism and the eyesores that graffiti sometimes creates. But a thoughtful analysis has to consider many more complex issues. Writings on the wall have stood as symbols of resistance to control of government and big corporations, challenging prevailing views. Graffiti allows voice to those who feel they have no voice or no mechanism to express their opinions. We could argue if we have to put up a sign, perhaps that is the first sign that there is a lack of general consensus from the community on the issue. How would a sign even serve as a deterrent? Maybe the sign inadvertently says, “bring it on!”
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Slammed Shut: Weekly Photo Challenge, Door
The hollow sound of the prison door slams against the frame, the lock imprisoning the body and soul. Whatever brought the prisoners to their cells, whether because of crime, mental illness, protest or mistake does not matter. The door stands between the reality that once a person could breathe fresh air and walk along any path. The authorities strip away freedom, and all that remains is isolation and despair.
Psalmboxkey's Blog 
Written
on 09/19/2015