Tag: orange

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #770 – HAUNTING IMAGES?

haunting

As a photographer of many years, I have my favorite images that I have taken. I have even recorded some of them with a camera.

This one constantly haunts me. It was taken on a “mission” trip to India. I went there to work as a photographer in several orphanages. After three or four days of sitting at a luxurious hotel in Southeastern India, I grew impatient with not ever getting to one of these supposed orphanages.

I confronted and complained to the sponsor I had traveled with and was told that there were no orphanages, it was all a scam, a facade, a ghost of a way for someone to line their pockets.

I was taken to my knees by the realization that I had been lied to, that it was all smoke and mirrors. I felt like such a part of the whole scheme. Feeling dirty and ashamed, I grabbed my little Leica and left the compound of luxury. Something we were warned not to do.

Right as I stepped out of the locked walls this Indian women was there in the beauty of her orange Sari sweeping the street against a huge blue metal building.

I remember thinking why is she here sweeping a road? As I asked myself that question, she turned and glared over her shoulder and I heard her asking “and what are you doing here?”

So what am I doing here?     monos en theos…†…jim

IMAGES OF SMALL THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #696 – OKAY, I’M READY FOR SPRING.

121205BigBend4796 copy copy

We had a foggy drive to do a job yesterday. Then, while we didn’t have the West Texas wind for our two outside shoots, it was only 40 and brought a chill to my old Texas bones. I basked in the warm of the memory of this lovely Monarch taken in Big Bend last summer. Bring on the heat.

en theos ††† jim

IMAGES OF SMALL THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #674 – BEAUTY FROM THE EAST>

14-01-30 Grace_1557-Recovered

“Sunrise doesn’t last all morning, a cloudburst doesn’t last all day, seems my love is up and has left you with no warning. It’s not always going to be this grey. All things must pass, all things must pass away.” George Harrison

I was greeted with this view from my yard yesterday morning. Such visual candy.

Enjoy the day, and this too shall pass….en theos †††jim

IMAGES OF SMALL – THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #650 – ONE DAY IT’S SUNNY…

14-1-1dogwalk_1392

The smallest thing around has been my lack of inspiration and the production of producing images.

I did this image at the end of New Years day, but for the most part have been feeling the effects of a slump in vision & inspiration. Some of it weather produced ( I don’t like getting out in the cold) and the other just a feeling, of for lack of a better word, hibernation.

Been looking a lot at other photographers work and while searching for inspiration, I have to admit to more of a feeling of envy.

Working at finding myself once again. Been searching for that a long time. Just when I feel I have found it, it fades like the setting sun.

“Slump? I ain’t in no slump… I just ain’t hitting”.   Yogi Berra

IMAGES OF SMALL THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #625 – SOUTHWESTERN FALL

13-09-26 hatch_6356 copy

 

In the Southwest Desert, we may not have many trees for our fall colors. But we have chile peppers. This colorful risita found at a street vendor in Hatch NM.

Put some color in your life ††† en theos ††† jimwork

Untitled-1john10:10

IMAGES OF SMALL THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #607 – IT’S A NEW DAWN, A NEW DAY AND… †

13-10-24 windmil sun_0346 copy

Got my lazy self out of bed for the sunrise yesterday. Dogs, rabbits, deer, camera and Nina Simone playing in my ears and I’m feeling good.

“Feeling Good”

Birds flyin’ high, you know how I feel

Sun in the sky, you know how I feel
Breeze driftin’ on by, you know how I feel
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me.
Yeah, it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me, ooooooooh…
And I’m feelin’ good.Fish in the sea, you know how I feel
River runnin’ free, you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree, you know how I feel
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me,
And I’m feelin’ good

Dragonfly out in the sun, you know what I mean, don’t you know,
Butterflies all havin’ fun, you know what I mean.
Sleep in peace when day is done: that’s what I mean,
And this old world is a new world and a bold world for me…

Stars when you shine, you know how I feel
Scent of the pine, you know how I feel
Yeah, freedom is mine, and I know how I feel..
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me
And I’m feelin’… good.

Hope you’re feeling good! ††† en theos ††† jimwork

IMAGES OF SMALL THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #585 – Fall shows itself slowly and then quickly fades to brown in west texas.

13-09-19 gourdspaint_0735 copy

Growing up in West Tx, fall has always seemed such a blink. Here then gone before you even take notice. One of the advantages of growing older seems to be the pause that now comes with autumn. The colors are so warm, so pleasing. It is like God is giving us an appetizer of color to prepare us for the browning and gray coming of winter. Such a warming reflection from yellows and oranges.  Memories of past are triggered and last just a bit longer. It seems the one season of time that all slows down in a life that moves past too fast.

“Autumn. It’s crispness, it’s anticipation, it’s melancholia, it’s cool breezes replacing summer’s heat. It’s long days in the field, a harvest festival when work’s done, a cheering crowd in a football stadium, chrysanthemums punctuating a somber landscape. It’s Halloween highjinx, pumpkins grinning toothy smiles, the crack of pecan pressed against pecan. It’s the first curls of woodsmoke, fresh blisters from pushing a rake. It’s crisp and fresh and mellow and snug, solemn and melancholy. And it’s very, very welcome.”
― Good Housekeeping Magazine

Pause to enjoy both the warmth of a color and the remembrance of a warm reflection. ††† en theos ††† jimwork

IMAGES OF SMALL THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #575 Toadstool from the toad’s view!

13-09-19 toadstool_0683 13-09-19 toadstool_0692

13-09-19 toadstool_0711 copy

Oh how the rain has fallen in the desert. We had almost an inch and a half today and the temp is in the fifties. There is enough of a chill in the morning to force me into my winter robe. Not that I am complaining.

With the moisture has come all kinds of different makings of God’s divine design. I had photographed this toadstool from when it first broke ground. I did it wet, I did it dry. I prayed for a little toad to come sit under or on it, but that never happened. I was walking away in my soaked clothes from laying flat on my belly when I heard a whisper tell me that the real beauty is underneath. So I gently lifted it from the ground and took it in my little studio for a look. Sure enough, the underside was of a grand design and conception with a hint of orange to it.

I laid it directly over a small portable flash to shine through the cap and just had a field day of capturing the symmetry, design and color. What a great 65th birthday gift from the Maker.

If it doesn’t look good from above, look underneath! ††† en theos ††† jimwork

IMAGES OF SMALL THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #559 – The passion butterfly or Gulf Fritillary

13-09-02 butterfly_8968 copy 13-09-02 butterfly_8965_v113-09-02 butterfly_8973_v1

At first I thought that it was appropriate and even a little fetching that this gorgeous specimen should be called a “passion butterfly”. But after thinking about it, either all butterflies could have this moniker, or it is a misuse of the word passion.  Unless I am missing something, this a the common error we all make, that of confusing beauty with passion.

Passion (from the Latin verb patī meaning to suffer) is a term applied to a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion is an intense emotion compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something.

The sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death

The term is also often applied to a lively or eager interest in or admiration for a proposal, cause, or activity or love – to a feeling of unusual excitement, enthusiasm or compelling emotion, a positive affinity or love, towards a subject. It is particularly used in the context of romance or sexual desire though it generally implies a deeper or more encompassing emotion than that implied by the term lust.

All that being said, I was indeed passionate about trying to record this good looking butterfly. I was passionate in my quest and was rewarded with the last image of these which shows it just taking flight after taking of nectar from our lantana.
Find  passion with your heart, not in your eyes. ††† en theos ††† jimwork

IMAGES OF SMALL THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #557 – Timewise it only took this light only 8 minutes to travel 93 millon miles

13-09-02 *sunset_0232

We went for a walk with our dogs in the cool of yesterday’s evening and were just frozen for a small moment in the beauty we so often walk right past. To think that the light that now refracted through our atmosphere to frame this mesquite tree and reflect into my heart, just eight minutes ago was 93,000,000 miles away. Now that is a moment to ponder.

” When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator.”  –  Mahatma Gandhi

May time deliver you a gift today ††† en theos ††† jimwork