Category Archives: Diversions

The stuff that didn’t fit elsewhere.

52frames, Bandwagons

Pablo Picasso said “There is no abstract art,” but I tried anyway

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Actually, Pablo said

There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.

Last week’s 52frames challenge was Abstract, and the “something” I started with was a camera and very little idea of what I was doing. The resulting photos make it clear that my “abstract” photos are on the wrong side of the line between auteur and amateur, but I had a blast doing the challenge anyway. I tried to do some artsy shots with the violets and the trees in the front yard, and I played around a little with oil, water and food coloring.

The photo I submitted was one of the oil and water experiments.

52Frames, week 14: Abstract “aqueous humor”
52Frames, week 14: Abstract
“aqueous humor”

I think it looks like a weird, watery alien landscape. What do you think?

52frames, Domestic Blitz

There’s a fine line between ritual and habitual

I had a plan for last week’s 52Frames theme. The theme was Ritual, and I was going to take a picture of Rockford and I watching “Saturday Night Live.” It certainly isn’t a ritual in the Merriam-Webster sense — there’s neither ceremony nor religious rite involved — but it’s something we’ve done most every Saturday night since Poppy was born. But I couldn’t get the picture to come out the way I’d envisioned it. The light was weird and my arm looked weird and SNL was a rerun and I was already tired, so I chucked the plan. And when it didn’t pan out on Saturday evening, I figured I’d just be skipping yet another week.

Then I woke up Sunday morning and heard Rockford and Poppy working on their Sunday morning pancakes, and I thought it would be a nice little ritual to capture for posterity.

52Frames, week 11: Ritual “Sunday Morning Pancakes"
52Frames, week 11: Ritual
“Sunday Morning Pancakes”

It’s far too dark — you can barely find Rockford in the picture — so I may try it again this Sunday. I feel like it was a good thing just to get a picture turned in this week, though, lest I slip into the habit of giving up quite so easily.

52frames, Bandwagons

What’s black and white and snowy all over? This week’s 52Frames photo.

Last week’s 52Frames theme was “Black and White,” and once again I didn’t even take my camera out for a go at it. I’m hoping I’ll find my enthusiasm for this project once the weather stops being so insistently unpleasant.

We had a good bit of snow last week, and the neighborhood kids took to the hills to enjoy it. It was only around until mid-afternoon, so I’m glad we went out when we did! I took this photo with my iPhone and converted it to black and white using Aviary.

52Frames, week 9: Black and White "Snow Day"
52Frames, week 9: Black and White
“Snow Day”

Pete and Poppy are growing so quickly that it’s a rare occasion to look at them and think “Oh they’re so small!” I like that the trees and the expanse of sky in the photo show that they are, indeed, still little guys. I also like the textures that popped out when I converted it to black and white.