Cameras and Things

Well, it’s been quite some time since I’ve written anything on WordPress. And I’ve missed it. A lot. But I have been busy, and I wanted to fill you all in on what I’ve been doing. I have taken up photography. I think I may have mentioned it before, but I now have a website that is up and running.

I have a blog on my new website, so I will probably be taking this one down in the months to come. I could not anticipate how busy trying to get this up and running would keep me. But it has occupied me more than I could have imagined which is why I’ve been absent for so long.

But I wanted to invite everyone to come have a look at my website, comments welcome. I can’t begin to describe either, the joy it brings me to have come this far. I love photography and can’t imagine my life without it. I only wish I had discovered how much joy it brings me sooner in life.

So come on over to www.vvgphoto.com and see what I’ve been up to.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrast

“If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with.”
― L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Oz of the Alhambra

This is the weekly photo challenge for WordPress.  If you are interested to find out more, click here.

Perspective

 

18.  It’s just a number, but without perspective it doesn’t mean much.  18 seconds with bare feet on hot pavement could seem like an eternity, while 18 seconds for an embrace would seem to end in the blink of an eye.  18 years?  When your child is born seems like forever.  But let me assure you, it is not.  Time isn’t consistent at all.  It speeds up and slows down of it’s own accord, and most likely in the least favorable direction.  When things are tough, time drags and we wonder will it ever end.  When life is full of all the good it can give, time seems to go by at the speed of light.  Time is indeed, a fickle friend.

 

Today my firstborn child is graduating from high school.  He will be going off to college in the fall to find his own life, and I find myself ecstatic and devastated at the same time.

The last 18 years have held both the joys and sorrows of the business of growing up.  We hold our children’s accomplishments and defeats close to our hearts, and it shapes us; we invest emotionally in this person that is so like us, yet so different.  And we reach a point in the latter teen years where we find ourselves saying, “I will miss you so much, but you HAVE to go.”  And we find ourselves yet again in new territory, figuring out how to be a parent to a young adult.

18 years is not that long in retrospect.  There are so many lessons to be taught and so many things to learn, and I find myself constantly wondering, did I do it good enough?  Did I miss something majorly important?  Will he want to come back home to visit?  I had the privilege of spending 18 years with him; 18 Christmases, 18 birthdays and countless vacations and I’ve treasured every single one of them–the good and the bad.  And looking back, I’m forced to revise my idea that 18 years is a long time.  In the span of a lifetime, it is minuscule.

Bugaboo has given me sheer joy and gray hair alike.  He has tested my patience, and broken it on occasion.  He has made me laugh and cry, and everything in-between.  He is polite, kind and enthusiastic.  He is a joy, and I am proud to be his mom.  Congratulations baby, I love you!

 

Beneath the Surface…

This gallery contains 18 photos.

Originally posted on TheRomanticTraveler:
Every year we travel to Roatan for a week of SCUBA diving at CoCoView Diving Resort.  Rustic and simple, you couldn’t ask for a better dive setup.  The dive boat captains are on top of your…

Windows are the Eyes…

Originally posted on TheRomanticTraveler:

I’ve been going through photos from last fall, specifically of our trip to Paris.  I had forgotten that I have a small habit (o.k. big habit) of taking pictures through windows to the outside.  Some people like doors.  My mother is one of these.  I also take pictures of cool doors when I go places just for her.  But windows from the inside are what mesmerize me.  And there were some grand ones in Paris and especially in Versailles.

I don’t know what others think of windows, but for me they are the soul of the house.  A glimpse in to another life, a way to watch the life outside.  A two dimensional portal that is beautiful, wonderful and often hides mysteries beyond.  I’m drawn to what goes on outside and inside those glass dimensions.  I found myself wondering what Marie Antoinette thought as she no doubt looked upon the…

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The 388-Year-Old Bonsai that Survived Hiroshima

allthingsboys:

Pretty Amazing!

Originally posted on TwistedSifter:

Photograph by rcbryson on Flikr

 

On display at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the United States National Arboretum is this remarkable Japanese White Pine (Pinus parviflora ‘Miyajima’) bonsai sometimes known as Hiroshima Survivor. According to the tree’s display placard, it has been in training since 1625 making it 388-years-old. Oh and it survived the atomic blast in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

 

Photograph by Sage Ross on Wikimedia Commons

 

In 1976 as part of Japan’s Bicentennial gift to the American people, bonsai master Masaru Yamaki donated one of his most prized bonsai. The Yamaki family operated a commercial bonsai nursery in Hiroshima for several generations (the nursery is now a private bonsai collection). According to the National Bonsai Foundation:

On the morning of August 6, 1945, all the Yamaki family members were inside their home. The bomb exploded about three kilometers (less…

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20 Historic Black and White Photos Colorized

Originally posted on TwistedSifter:

 

One of the greatest facets of reddit are the thriving subreddits, niche communities of people who share a passion for a specific topic. One of the Sifter’s personal favourites is r/ColorizedHistory. The major contributors are a mix of professional and amateur colorizers that bring historic photos to life through color. All of them are highly skilled digital artists that use a combination of historical reference material and a natural eye for colour.

When we see old photos in black and white, we sometimes forget that life back then was experienced in the same vibrant colours that surround us today. This gallery of talented artists helps us remember that :)

Below you will find a collection of some of the highest rated colorized images to date on r/ColorizedHistory.

I’ve also provide a list of some of the top contributors (in no particular order):

– zuzahin aka Mads…

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