Thing in itself
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© Cynthia E. Wood
Instagram @cynthiaewood
www.cynthiawoodphoto.com | facebook | Blurb
[Sept. 2007] Quite possibly my favorite shot of the whole week*, taken by a random stranger of the male persuasion who grabbed my camera and insisted on taking a picture with me in it. (I will take credit for doing the 'art directing' though, once I handed over the camera.)
This photo somehow captures the look and feel and spirit of the Burning Man experience -- for me (because Burning Man is so many different things to so many different people).
*I just got back from the playa --literally-- and I have hundreds of shots to sort through, so that might change...but for now... :)
Switzerland, May 2021
My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI
You find a selection of my 80 BEST PHOTOS (mostly not yet on Flickr) here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi... (the website exists in ESPAÑOL, FRANÇAIS, ITALIANO, ENGLISH, DEUTSCH)
ABOUT THE PHOTO:
So this photo is a bit of a novelty for me - at least here on Flickr, but it's also a journey back in time in a sense. I've always loved b/w and sepia photography; already as a very young teenager I would go out into the woods with an old Pentax Spotmatic (which I had nicked from my father) whenever it was a foggy day to shoot b/w compositions of sunbeams cutting through the ghostlike trees.
I used films with a sensitivity of at least 1600 (for those of you who remember what that means 😉 ), and the resulting photos had an incredibly fine grain which I loved; I blew them up to the size of posters and hung them on the walls of my teenage man-cave next to Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Slash.
But then I abandoned photography altogether for 20 years, and when I finally picked up a camera again, it was one of the digital kind. Now neither film nor grain played any role in my photographic endeavours - let alone b/w compositions: because the reason I fell in love with shooting pictures once more was the rare and incredibly colorful lizard species that had chosen my garden as its habitat.
It's this species - the Lacerta bilineata aka the western green lizard - that my photo website www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ and also my Flickr gallery are dedicated to, but I've since expanded that theme a bit so that it now comprises the whole Lacerta bilineata habitat, which is to say my garden and its immediate surroundings and all the flora and fauna I find in it.
I like that my gallery and the website have this clear theme, because in order to rise to the challenge of portraying all aspects of a very specific little eco system (which also happens to be my home of sorts), it forces me to constantly explore it from fresh angles, and I keep discovering fascinating new motives as my photographic journey continues.
Which brings me to the horse pasture you see in this photo. This playground for happy horsies lies just outside my garden, and it normally only interests me insofar as my green reptile friends claim parts of it as their territory, and I very much prefer it to be horseless (which it thankfully often is).
Not that the horses bother the reptiles - the lizards don't mind them one bit, and I've even seen them jump from the safety of the fly honeysuckle shrub which the pasture borders on right between the deadly looking hooves of the horses to forage for snails, without any sign of fear or even respect.
No, the reason I have a very conflicted relationship with those horses is that they are mighty cute and that there's usually also foals. The sight of those beautiful, happy animals jumping around and frolicking (it's a huge pasture and you can tell the horses really love it) is irresistible: and that inevitably attracts what in the entire universe is known as the most destructive anti-matter and ultimate undoing of any nature photographer: other humans.
Unlike with the horses, the lizards ARE indeed very much bothered by specimens of loud, unpredictable Homo sapiens sapiens - which makes those (and by extension also the horses) the cryptonite of this here reptile photographer. It's not the horses' fault, I know that, but that doesn't change a thing. I'm just telling you how it is (and some of you might have read about the traumatic events I had to endure to get a particular photo - if not, read at your own risk here: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/51405389883/in/datepo... - which clearly demonstrated that even when it's entirely horseless, that pasture is still a threat for artistic endeavours).
But back to the photo. So one morning during my vacation back in May I got up quite early. It had rained all night, and now the fog was creeping up from the valley below to our village just as the sky cleared up and the morning sun started to shine through the trees.
And just as I did when I was a teenager I grabbed my camera and ran out to photograph this beautiful mood of ghostlike trees and sunbeams cutting through the mist. There had already been such a day a week earlier (which is when I took this photo: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/51543603732/in/datepo... ), but this time, the horses were also there.
Because of our slightly strained relationship I only took this one photo of them (I now wish I had taken more: talk about missed opportunities), and otherwise concentrated on the landscape. It was only later when I went through all the photos on my computer that I realized that I actually really liked those horses, even despite the whole composition being such a cliché. And I realized another thing: when I drained the photo of all the color, I liked it even better - because there was almost a bit of grain in it, like in the photos from my youth.
Since then I have experimented quite a bit with b/w and sepia compositions (some of which I will upload here eventually I guess), but this photo here is the first one that helped me rediscover my old passion. I hope you like it even though it builds quite a stark contrast with the rest of my tiny - and very colorful - gallery. But in the spirit of showing you the whole Lacerta bilineata habitat (and also in the spirit of expanding my gallery a bit beyond lizards and insects), I think it's not such a bad fit.
As always, many greetings to all of you, have a wonderful day and don't hesitate to let me know what you think 😊
open.spotify.com/track/53gmKxWnHnaT08COPRyaxc?si=mv_iqPQC...
I believe in miracles
Where're you from
You sexy thing
...
A teasel flower looking rather alien and menacing - going a bit strange for the Smile on Saturday theme 'Small Part Sharp'.
Eastern long-necked turtle
It had its head just poking out of the water. With a tweak to the contrast, the photo came alive.
One thing I love about the American Southwest. There is such an abundance of beautiful vistas to see. Taken at Arches National Park.
Some of you may have seen our increasingly woeful UK Prime Minister, just before our recent election, saying that the naughtiest thing she had ever done was to run through a field of wheat as a child. I thought I’d try and recreate that historic scene, using Alirium as the setting and a new pose from Foxcity that seems to fit the bill perfectly. History relived before your very eyes!
The easiest thing in life is to give advice to other people.
The hardest part is following this advice yourself.
"...The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.... - by Neil Gaiman
_____________________***___________________
26/365 - "When every day is an adventure" ☼
Head Nova Evolution Line 2.0 by Lelutka
Skin Teresa by Mila
Custom Shape for Lelutka Evolution Nova by MeshedGal
Yandere Outfit by Scandalize @ Access
Natural Eyebrows Set 07 - Lelutka 04 Bom by Just Magnetized
Glisten Eyes - A03 BOM medium by Amicale
Hailee Hairstyle by Ade
Superstar Highlights Bakes On Mesh by Velour Beauty
KISHA Bento Pose AO by Dish @ Ebento
The Majesty Collection - Universal Hairbase Bom by Cosmetize @ Level
Diamond Imperfectiana Collection Bom 1 & 2 (moles) by Revoul @ Kustom9
Kat Left Middle Finger Ring by Luova @ Gems by Unik
Crescent Earring by Sixx @ Gems by Unik
Heart Goldiana Choker by Revoul @ Shiny Shabby
Pearls Hairpins by Bubble @ Salon52
Wisteria Eyeshadow by Voodoo @ Salon52
📷❤
Blog Post:
meshedgal.wordpress.com/2020/08/22/the-sweetest-thing/
breathes
And a song for those inclined: 'There Beneath'
from The Oh Hellos' album 'Dear Wormwood'
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooPPmtl2aKA :-)
A little work done in PS...
levels and colour curves applied to selected areas
subtle dodge & burn
and a small amount of vignetting.
Love how this Avalon elf ears match in this Faye skin & Eyes from Psycho Pills-SoKawaiiSundays TAXI:
TAXI:
maps.secondlife.com/.../Serenity%20Lake/24/162/1001 and this Sasha outfit from Belle Epoque -The Saturday Sale maps.secondlife.com/sec.../Wild%20Willows/153/126/12
😍😍😍
sl was refusing to load me, so no credits atm :'D
i know there's wings, petrichor, sweet thing, attic, random matter, eliavah, pendulum, and voluptus virtualis doe.
but come rp with us sometime!
I've been trying to get out for a little fresh air before I start work everyday but with daylight starting so much closer to work time my chances to grab a shot are getting very limited, and I probably have to accept I will soon be doing just long exposure shots.
On my brief morning jaunt routine I noticed that a local wood had become swampy in the middle and I thought had aspects that looked a bit like a mangrove swamp. On a return visit I realised that I must have had my romantic glasses on and that "the swamp" had a more sinister feel about it.
So I was excited when this morning I woke and saw the local forecast showed "FOG". Well what a load of b@ll@cks that was. Not even a thin veil of the misty stuff.! But nonetheless self-discipline dictated I must head out for a short walk in the gloom. And stopped briefly to grab a few shots in the swampy bit in the semi-dark. But came away very unimpressed with my results. And now I'm not sure proper fog will make it any better
Sunset from Cremorne Point using my zoom lens.
Photographed from the Cremorne Point Reserve.
In the foreground is the eastern side of Kirribilli.
And here is 'Wild Thing' by 'The Troggs' (1966). Check out the hilarious, though still rather 'groovy', video clip:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSWInYFVksg
My Canon EOS 5D Mk IV with the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6mm lens.
Processed in Adobe Lightroom.
Looking forward to spring, when the green will become the thing again. Fresh and full, not warm, not cold, you can almost hear the forest growing. And birds will sing again. I'm really looking forward to this music...
Setup: camera, me, beautiful nature and natural/ambient light...
Location - My home in Serbia :)
Before and after forum.benchmark.rs/attachment.php?attachmentid=222824&...
Merry Christmas!! Sorry for the lack of comments today; very busy with work:((((((
No need to comment on this.........posted as an apology really:)
The Rotterdam Port Authorities informed me that by night the 'thing' illuminates a part of the shore line. On my picture you can hardly see the light component.