Berry Happy New Year

December 31, 2008 By

berryexplosioms

This is part Two of this week’s SAPCC theme “2008″.

The first part touched lightly on loss and ominous changes in 2008 through another “behind the wheel” shot.  Surely, we all have our own stories about this aspect of 2008.  I did not want to end the year, however, on that image or text, although I do not want to ever forget the lessons learned.  I read recently that someone said the opposite of life is not death, but fear.  I believe this.

So, how did I fight the fear?  As it turns out, I fought with two no-risk investments that kept on growing despite the doom and gloom: creativity and children.  It is hard to be consumed with fear and anxiety when someone hugs your knees when they see you come through the door.  It is difficult to give in to darkness when your mission each day is to go out to your world and bring back something worth showing your friends.   And, what I came to find out…to show to myself, to steady my jittery gaze.

I came to realize that consolation is not a magic wand but someone taking the time to simply bearing witness.   I was heartened by special folks around me who unfailingly make me laugh (NkGee), or those who say wise things (niece Alice) or those whose feet grew into the ground as chaos spread (cousin Mary) and those newly found miracle people who create order out of chaos, second cousin or is it third, Mary K–you who love Ebay and special used teddy bears.  Blessed are you who have taken the time.

So, my final image for 2008 is this photograph of the often photographed patch of berries and reeds that I have visited so often in the past few months.  Black ice surrounded it on the morning I took this photograph so I could not get out of the car safely.  I wanted to imbue this spot with an energy that it has given me unfailingly, day after day.

A berry happy new year, new friends as well as old.  I am grateful for your attention and believe in your talents.  Our talents.

Allow me to hug your knees.

©Pat Coakley 2008

PHOTOGRAPHS CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION

Other SAPCC contributors:

Russ

Mt. Brooks

Conni

Renee

Chris

Smack

Filed Under: 2009, Aging, ANXIETY, change, Creativity, Deep Thoughts, fear, Life, Personal, Photography Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Entrance Ramp

December 31, 2008 By

route495-01

My town has easy access to a major interstate.  It was two large industrial parks on the either side of town that in non-recessionary times produces major truck traffic.

I used to complain about them.  Their size.  Their belching exhausts.  When I walked in one of the industrial parks, the noise of the trucks used to compete with my Ipod.

I don’t have any actual numbers but based on my walking and driving, I see fewer trucks, have quieter walks in the industrial park, and realized yesterday as I took this photo on Decemeber 30, 2008, I missed them.

I miss 18 wheelers thundering along the roads, along with other trappings of my life that seem insignificant to what other people are facing but upended me nonetheless.

This is part one of the weekly SAPCC challenge titled, “2008″.  Part Two comes later tonight after the storm ends.  Yes, another snow storm to herald the new year.

©Pat Coakley 2008

PHOTOGRAPHS CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION

Other Submissions:

Mt. Brooks

Chris

Renee

Conni

Russ

Smack

Filed Under: 2009, ANXIETY, Creativity, Economy, FINANCES, Life, Personal, Photography Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Calm on the Inside

December 30, 2008 By

interiorwind

When all hell is breaking loose outside, it’s always possible to focus on the interior.

40 mile an hour winds today and snow again tomorrow.

It’s not boring here in New England.

As opposed to Brad Pitt.

Who?

You heard me.  I listened to Charlie Rose interview him for what I believe was the full hour.  I wouldn’t know because I fell asleep after about five minutes.

Wowser.

I’m going to google Charlie and see whether his head hit his oak desk periodically slogging through the rest of the hour.

©Pat Coakley 2008

PHOTOGRAPHS CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION

Filed Under: Creativity, Humor, Life, Personal, Photography Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Single Leaf in Focus. Yea!

December 29, 2008 By

122908singleleaf_01

I went to a new spot today by a marsh.  I walked five minutes on a remote path.  It occurred to me that if I fell and couldn’t get up, I’d be in deep do do.  Is it time to buy one of those buttons, my cousin asked?

Besides needing to be in your home, close to some sort of transmitter, I believe for right now, the LIFE ALERT button is found through my lens.

I spent most of the time bemoaning the fact that I didn’t have a long enough lens to photograph the wheat colored tall reeds in the marsh.   Then, I went through a zoomin’ phase with the path, the underside of trees–oh, I was a zoomin’ fool.

But, at the end of Day Five of Countdown to 2009, I chose simplicity: a single leaf on the path after putting the camera down on the ground, as if I had fallen and was looking around for help.

No zoomin’, no magnification, no tricks; only a leaf in focus that just yesterday was covered with snow.

I’m having a mini-meltdown myself thinking of this approaching self-imposed deadline but without it I’d be wandering around a path that goes god knows where with no button to push or cell tower to signal my whereabouts.

Meantime, at last!  I have a photo in focus.  Yea!

©Pat Coakley 2008

PHOTOGRAPHS CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION

Filed Under: 2009, Aging, ANXIETY, Creativity, fear, Life, Personal, Photography Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Twilight Stop

December 28, 2008 By

122809-02

I had to push myself out the door today, day four of Countdown to 2009.  (See HERE)  I didn’t feel like contemplating the reeds without the colors of sunset.  Hell, I didn’t feel like contemplating the reeds or anything else.

So, I delivered “the” talk to myself and went out the door and decided to take photos of them with another lens.   After doing that with results I’ll post on a future day, I looked around and at myself.  I was wearing an outfit that my mother would have shot me down like an elk if I’d worn in the house never mind outside.  I laughed.  Ok, one more photo stop and I’ll go straight home and stop nowhere.  No getting out of the car.

My camera was already set with the lens I usually use for stoplights at intersections.  So, off I went to my favorite set of lights.  Yes, I have a favorite stoplight just like I have my favorite pajamas.

So, off I went to twilight at the intersection on Rt. 140.

I am usually behind someone and have to stop which is critical for these shots.  I had the right lens all prepped on manual with the correct settings and just went from light to light and around again.  This was from the last sequence of shots before I headed home.

You know that feeling when you think you’ve got something nice?

It’s not always borne out once home and images can be fully inspected, particularly with these type of shots.

But, I have to say, I like this one and the best part is no one was in danger in its capture!  And, no horns were honking at me, either.

Although if I’d gotten out to show them my outfit–pajama bottoms were visible below the 30 year old coat with no buttons left– I might have gotten a few beep beeps.

I’ve got to widen my contemplation in Countdown to 2009 from how to lead a meaningful life to how to dress properly if in an accident.

©Pat Coakley 2008

PHOTOGRAPHS CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION

Filed Under: 2009, Aging, ANXIETY, Creativity, Humor, Life, Personal, Photography Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Morning

December 28, 2008 By

qaimg_0030-01

Seriously.  It’s Day Three of Countdown to 2009.  (Read HERE for details)

I woke up this morning and said, “What day is it?”  Holidays screw me up.  It’s Sunday.  I have till Thursday, at 12:01 AM to get me future carcass into gear.

I think things are moving somewhere.  Yesterday, I made 15 new cards from stock I ordered before Christmas.  One of my favorites is this one.  5X7 card, warm white, deckled edges stock, with nothing written inside.  The photo is printed on satin (is there such a thing as a matte gloss) paper and is 3.5X4.5.

These  are way past bloom.  By months, not days.  It’s winter.  They are like me except their lighting is better and they don’t have to figure out what to do with their life.

©Pat Coakley 2008

PHOTOGRAPHS CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION

Filed Under: 2009, Aging, Creativity, Flora and Fauna, Flowers, Life, nature, Personal, Photography, REEDS Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Rainy Day

December 27, 2008 By

122708wbw

Today, I put my camera literally down in the thick of the Queen Anne stems and pointed it up.

Trying to figure out one’s life in a week requires some new approaches, too.

©Pat Coakley 2008

PHOTOGRAPHS CANNOT BE WRITTEN WITHOUT PERMISSION

Filed Under: 2009, Aging, ANXIETY, Creativity, Flora and Fauna, Flowers, Life, Personal, Photography Tagged With: , , , , ,

Starter Lens

December 27, 2008 By

122708-06txx

You are going to have to trust me on this one.  My reeds are in there along with the holly berries and a snow drift.

I took out the “starter lens” that came with my old analog Canon Rebel.  It’s a 28-80mm.   If you read a review of this lens you would prepare yourself for a lifetime of horrible photos.  It’s cheap.  It’s soft.  It’s what they put on the camera when I bought it.  Gee, thanks.  I never used it.

So, in the spirit of this series , “Countdown to 2009″, to go to the muse: the reeds by the pond, or as I’ve found out just recently, to the Queen Anne’s Lace “reeds” by the pond– thank you, Amy!– every day for a week,  to figure out my damn future by January 1, 2009,  I went today in a light rain.

I decided to try something new and took my old, neglected, hardly ever used, shunned really, “starter lens” of years and years ago.  I had slipped the other icy morning on some black ice right near the Queen Anne’s Lace and the berry bush on the pond’s edge.   Although I saved myself in time, I began thinking what a photo might have looked like if I had snapped the shutter as I was tumbling to most certain broken something or other.

Here it is.

I don’t take photos in focus whether the lens cost $50 or $2000!

©Pat Coakley 2008

PHOTOGRAPHS CANNOT BE USED WITOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION

Filed Under: 2009, Creativity, Humor, Life, Photography Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Countdown to 2009

December 26, 2008 By

122608-01blog

The week between Christmas and the New Year shall be marked by the reeds that surround the pond near my house.

I have realized over the months that I’ve been photographing them that they have become a daily source of contemplation. I shall post some of their moods over the next week and as I do, I am going to be assessing everything I truly know about life that they have come to represent. They are unruly. They are fragile. They are fierce. I have to figure out what to do with this one and only life by January 1, 2009. No pressure.

I see my future in them somewhere and whatever art I have. Maybe it’s that one that looks like a lasso that’s floating over the thicket. Or, the ones that are in focus, or, the many that are not. They represent whatever art I have because I am drawn (as we know) to images that blur as much as they define. This week, leading up to New Year’s Eve and the next SAPCC theme of “2008″, I shall post a series about these reeds and contemplate my future from my bunker.

I’d say “Join me! I serve snacks!!”" but it is holiday week and everyone is a bit disoriented and larded down with cream sauces and a variety of liquid “sauce” and off their game and/or doing so many other things. So, I’m going to contemplate the hell out of these reeds and if anyone stops by–take your coat off, help yourself to the soda or beer and Cheez-Its or whatever, but no talking! When I contemplate my goals for the future, I can’t talk. Nothing.

Well, maybe just a few words will be alright.

©Pat Coakley 2008

PHOTOGRAPHS CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION

Filed Under: Art, Creativity, Humor, Life, nature, Personal, Photography, REEDS Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

‘Twas the Night Before Xmas, Reindeer People

December 24, 2008 By

122208best

‘Twas the night before Christmas and “negative space” is the theme of SAPCC.  Last week was “sin”.  I think we may have a group of theme givers who are determined to ruin that holiday spirit.

But, fear not.  If you are a fine artist, you know this term does not mean anything bad or ominous for “negative” space is everything in a painting that is not the subject of the painting.   Ah, these fine artists are also very fine wordsmiths with that bi-polar spin.

Last year, I had actually exhibited a photo collage I titled “Negative Space” which can be viewed HERE and is guaranteed to solar plexus any Christmas spirit right out of you so it is not required viewing.  I’m not even going to look at it. (The spin I used was literal, a spin on the “space” word and clearly NOT the fine art truthiness)

And, this week, I also had initially thought to define it more literally in choosing a particularly run down one story home that is falling in on itself, totally crumbling, and, yet, all the while a Naughahyde arm chair sits out in front of it as if someone has just gone to the kitchen to get a beer.

Then,  I took a photograph of Christmas lights strung or “thrown” over a home and its hedges and thought I might use its dazzling colors and surrounding “blackness” to illustrate the joys of “negative space” on the day before Christmas.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you’ll recognize it as another in the “Behind the Wheel” series.  Click HERE to view and this one is required viewing because it illustrates clearly the importance of  “negative space”: the lights are the subject, the “blackness” everything else.

But, I have chosen this photograph taken later in this week, late in the day following a major snow storm, to illustrate the theme.  In addition to the familiar subject of this ‘Behind the Wheel” series: the road and the effect of motion seen in the trees on either side of the road,  it is now clear that it is often the sky,  technically speaking “the negative space”, visible between the trees that make these photographs interesting.

if you look at some of my others, listed here:

One

Two

You’ll see that  the sky is as important to the the photograph as the subject: motion.

So, from this perspective “negative” does not carry with it a “minus” sign.  In fact, a + sign is necessary to qualify negative space in general.  Art and Life with a capital “L” are dependent upon it.

On this Christmas Eve 2008, wherever we are–freezin’ our backsides in the northeastern United States or sweatin’ them off in Australia and St. Croix, I wish you all, my new friends who have brought me so many little gifts of encouragement and laughter, every day through this, the beginning of my fourth season of blogging, I thank you like a five year old for the magic.

So onward we go then!  Onward, reindeer!  Dasher.  Dancer.  Donner and Blixen.  And, you there, reindeer people, up and onward:  Bonnie. Razz. Sanity. Amber. Tysdaddy. Tipota. Pomeroy. Ross, Mt. Brooks, Russ, Sweetiegirlz, Conni, nkgee, niece Alice. Cousin Mary. Sannekurz. HJ. Epicurienne. Turkish. Palpinao. Chris. Smack. S.Le. Nava and new friends, Ulla and Cheryl and to all those who lurk and do not speak, I hear you in the numbers.  Maybe in ’09 we’ll hear your name?  I hope so.

And, to all sweet people, (as well as to me, but I can’t call myself sweet, can I? Oh, hell, yes I can!),  I wish us a positive use of our negative spaces .

And,  of course, deer people–to all, a very creative good night.

©Pat Coakley 2008

PHOTOGRAPHS CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION

Other SAPCC contributors:

Mt. Brooks

Russ

Conni

Renee

Chris

Smack

Filed Under: Art, DRIVING PHOTOS, nature Tagged With: , , , ,
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