31 October 2016
Lens:
Taken in Camera+ and edited in Snapseed and Pixlr
Forest Light Photomontage #2; Copyright © 2016 Sally W. Donatello All Rights Reserved
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Pens:
Storytelling grows from oral, visual and written traditions. Most of us are better at oral storytelling, which is how our families pass down rituals and secrets and much that needs to survive the ancestral tree of lives lived.
Most of my life has been centered around written language. I’ve been an advocate of words, and how they combine and recombine to express my own inner compass. While I’ve been a practitioner of photography for more than fifty years, it’s only in the last twenty that it has gained as much momentum in my days as the words on a page (post-it notes or digital screen or any writing surface available).
Language is the source of our ability to save and retrieve and share our stories. Each method breathes symbolic life into the syntax/rhetoric/linguistic monologue dance in our heads. Now life’s journey is inspired by photography and words as a means to vocalize my interpretation, and guide my curiosity, passion and vision of the world.
As the days spin into the next I am driven to re-imagine and re-create my universe. I am a sort of hermit by inclination, and still I crave banter and discussion. I also am by nature a questioner, it’s a trait that I own and salute.
Last week I planned a photo shoot at a local park where my presence has been remiss. It is part of the local White Clay Creek State Park system, and has ambience and charm, winding trails that move up and down with ease of rigor. I was quietly ebullient to return to this forest haven. Mostly, I sought the light.
Even as a walk is vital to my daily nourishment, it offers much more than the physical jaunt. From previous experience at this park I knew the autumnal patterns that appeared from mid-day through mid-afternoon. It’s such a densely treed landscape that the piercing mid-day sun–sweeping through at various vantage points– would be perfectly in tune with my imagination and memory. Branches, leaves, tree trunks, and other characteristics of the vegetation would be outlined or ablaze or subtly touched by luminous sun rays at harvest time. I was not disappointed.
In this park, which is tended by seriously dedicated park conservators, I am transported back and forth through time as lush greens and muted colors are now mixed with autumnal variations. While I am present in its splendor and the minimalism of seasonal change, this serenely tranquil place also can be reached through thoughts about nature—nature being the quintessential master of my universe.
So with that re-visit I asked myself: How much of the past is in the present? A question that I can never truly answer, a question that requires more and more questioning. Still, each walk in nature’s sanctuary always brings me to a place where I am nowhere and everywhere. Curiouser and curiouser.
The photomontage reflects my idea of what I wanted to see and what I actually did. It showed the broad spectrum of autumn’s light that temporarily tattoos itself onto tree trucks. While light was dancing up and down the tree’s tall body, thoughts of spring (as reflected in the tree’s embellishments) already entered my imagination.
Tip of the Week:
I thought that it was time to reintroduce one notable photography competition. The Sixth Annual Mobile Photography Awards is accepting entries until 04 December. Even if you are not inclined to enter, it’s worth viewing winners’ work. Here’s a description from their website: “The Mobile Photography Awards were founded in 2011 to recognize and celebrate the talent and imagery of the mobile photo & art communities. Alongside our annual competition (October-December), we produce themed exhibits with international open calls throughout the year.” Click here to peruse their site.
From the Mobile Photography Awards website about the 2015 winner: “When we look for a Grand Prize Winner we gravitate toward an artist with a strong sense of their own photographic strengths, someone who expresses those strengths with clarity and conviction. Jian Wang has an eye for pattern and a talent for placing humanity in context with the designs he finds everywhere, all around us. From architecture to landscapes to street photography, the vision is consistent, the same photographer with the same internal aesthetic. Working with his iPhone 6Plus, Jian raises the mobile photography bar for technical excellence, compositional skills, and storytelling. Really exciting work.” Daniel Berman, Founder MPA.
“The China Red,” by Jian Wang
View other entries for this week’s challenge:
https://ohmsweetohm.me/2016/10/31/
https://piecesofstarlight.wordpress.com/2016/10/31/which-witch-sally-ds-mobile-editing-challenge/
https://amaltaas.wordpress.com/2016/11/01/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge-trees/
https://chasinglifeandfindingdreams.wordpress.com/2016/11/03/7988/
https://zimmerbitch.wordpress.com/2016/11/05/sally-ds-mobile-photography-challenge/
Note:
As always I welcome comments about this post or any part of my blog. My photographs for the mobile photography challenge are taken with an iPhone 6.
****If you would like to buy a print of any of my photographs or have any questions, please view the Contact Information found on the masthead. Thank you.
If you’d like to join this Mobile Photography Challenge, please click here for details and history of the challenge. If you have any questions, please contact me. Below is a reminder of the monthly schedule with themes for upcoming challenges:
1st Monday: Nature.
2nd Monday: Macro.
3rd Monday: Black and White.
4th Monday Challenger’s Choice (Pick One: Abstraction, Animals, Architecture, Food Photography, Night Photography, Objects, Panorama, Portraiture, Photomontage, Still Life, Street Photography, and Travel).
5th Monday: Editing and Processing with Various Apps Using Themes from the Fourth Week.
Lens and Pens by Sally 
Magic!!
I appreciate your comment.
Very nice light play!
Maria, thank you.
I love the dappled light on the trunk. It perfectly conveys the place and mood to me. And thanks too for the tip on the competition. 🙂 Have a wonderful week.
Patti, thanks, and have a lovely autumn day and week.
Perhaps because it’s halloween week but I found this week’s shot a bit spooky/eerie. Interesting!
Tina, all in the eye of the interpreter. I appreciate your comment. Thanks.
Another lovely montage. I think it’s very interesting how the white foliage mixes with the sunlit trunk.
Otto, I’m happy that you saw that embellishment. It was a nod to the changing seasons, especially spring and its renewal. I appreciate your comment.
Beautiful light and elements of mystery. 🙂
Thank you so much. Enjoy your week.
Such an interesting image. When I was going through native bush a couple of weeks ago what really struck me was how the light came through and just showed up a small area. All I wanted to do is just take photos showing that, but it was so hard to capture what I was really seeing.
Raewyn, that often happens when we observe, and discover or know that the shot would not equal the reality. Thanks so much for your comment.
A fascinating image, Sally. The effect does create layers in a time-shift sort of way.
Wish, I appreciate your response to my image. Thanks so much.
I like that slash of monochromatic light in your image, Sally. It struck me as a nod to the past, even before I read your text. Well done.
Ω
Allan, thanks so much.