Photography – Retirementally Challenged

There’s Something Fishy Going On #WordlessWednesday #SundayStills

Buzzing around Bisbee

In a recent Thursday Doors post, I highlighted our visit to the Arizona mining town of Jerome. We had been there a couple of times before and we enjoyed another opportunity to poke about the quirky community perched on the side of a hill.

In south-eastern Arizona – almost to the border of Mexico – is another fun and funky old mining town called Bisbee. Over a period of almost 100 years, Bisbee produced around 8 billion pounds of copper. Silver, gold, lead, zinc and manganese were also mined in significant quantities. Similar to Jerome, after the mining interests pulled out (the last operation ceased in 1974), artists and hippies started moving in, attracted by the inexpensive real estate and wide-open scenery.

As a wanna-be artist and hippie at heart, I love these types of communities. At home and on our travels, we see too many big box behemoths, interchangeable chains, and soulless strip malls. It’s nice to visit a place that values out-of-the-ordinary and one-of-a-kind. Bisbee had been on my want-to-see list for a while, so I was happy to finally make it there.

It’s pretty easy to get around Bisbee on foot, as long as you don’t mind a few hills. Most of the shops, restaurants, and art galleries can be found along the main street so once we parked our car, it didn’t move until the next afternoon when we left town. Our hotel was in an old building (all buildings in Bisbee are old) but it was the nicest room we stayed in during our 2 ½ week road trip.

Between the historical buildings, street murals, galleries, and colorful town folks, there was a lot to see and photograph in Bisbee, including a few doors… in fact one of Bisbee’s slogans is Be Inspired. (I also saw a bumper sticker that read “Bisbee… like Mayberry on acid” but I’m going with Be Inspired).

A garage owned by someone who worships motorcycles, I guess.

Bisbee’s Cochise County Courthouse is a prime example of the Southwest regional variation of the Art Deco style.

A beautifully patinaed gate and stairs leading to an artist’s home, no doubt.

Bisbee is known for its Art Cars and we were happy to spot one close to our hotel. Nearby Douglas, Arizona has a entire museum dedicated to this artform.

This faux painting of a staircase was behind an actual door in an art gallery.

After many years of hearing about Bisbee’s rich history and thriving art scene, I was thrilled to finally see it for myself. It really is Bee-utiful!

Please check out Dan’s blog to see some more Thursday Doors… and maybe link a few of your own.

The Textures of Life

When I saw the theme for Terri’s Sunday Stills photo challenge this week, I knew that I wanted to participate. Textures are among my favorite things to photograph. While others are capturing a sweeping landscape, I’m often focused on the peeling bark of a tree or a vine climbing up a weathered wall.

Textures, of course, are everywhere. Whether smooth or rough, puffy or flat, texture is the tactile quality of the surface of an object. We all know the comfort of a soft blanket and the coarseness of sandpaper but even if we can’t actually touch the object with our hands, we can often imagine what our fingers would feel if they could.

I had a hard time deciding which images to share for this challenge. Just like textures are everywhere in our world, they are everywhere in the two-dimensional world of photography. My final choices fell into one of two categories: close-ups of textures found in nature and contrasting textures.

To see all the images, click through all four slide shows.

Natural Textures

Contrasting Textures

(The last picture of the red door was taken by my husband in Oaxaca. All others are mine.)

Head on over to Second Wind Leisure Perspectives to see more interpretations of Texture and link images of your own.

#WordlessWednesday: Dia de los Niños

Dia de los Muertos, 2019. Oaxaca, Mexico.

#Wordless Wednesday: (ful)filling my bucket (list)

Metallic Bonbons

‘Tis the season for festive blog link ups. Two of my favorites are Terri’s Sunday Stills photography color challenge, Metallic, and Festive Bonbons holiday question challenge hosted by Donna, Deb, Sue, and Jo. I am going to do my best to combine them both into a single post.

Christmas Tree? We haven’t had a Christmas tree for years, mostly because there isn’t a good place in our house to put one. At first, I missed the tradition, but now I’m relieved not to have the mess and bother. Even without a tree, we decorate to make the house look Christmassy. I don’t particularly like the traditional red and green combo, favoring instead blues and silvers.

I love how the late afternoon sun adds a golden glow to the silver ornaments and copper deer.

Christmas Carols? My all-time favorite is O Holy Night. Even though I’m not religious, it never fails to bring tears to my eyes when the singer hits those lovely high notes.

Christmas Books? I love A Christmas Carol and How the Grinch StoIe Christmas, although I admit not having read either of them for many years.

Christmas Movies? Love Actually, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Bad Santa come to mind but I’m sure there are more.

Fruit Cake? A friend and I passed one – yes, the same one – back and forth as a gag gift for many years. Do people actually eat them?

Chocolate, Nuts or Fruit? Yes.

Christmas Traditions? So many throughout the years (do they count as traditions if they change?). Boat Parade of Lights, my father’s springerle cookies, Grandpa’s Eggnog (not my grandpa, but a much-loved holiday contribution from a friend), nighttime strolls to enjoy the lights and decorations, to name just a few.

A family of silver deer decorate this front yard.

What’s on your Table? Tamales on Christmas morning. Most likely a roast of some sort, potatoes, and roasted veggies for dinner. Our tree is bursting with oranges, so maybe a citrus dessert or cocktail… or both?

Golden (that’s metallic, right?) oranges ready to be picked.

Christmas Memories? I have so many great memories, many from when I was young. My parents always made a big deal about Christmas for my two brothers and me.

Lots of silver tinsel carefully placed in individual strands by my mother.

Visiting Santa and his reindeer with my brothers.

All I want for Christmas Is? For everyone – across the globe – to get vaccinated. Let’s get this done!

Welcoming the Spirits Home

At this time in 2019, my husband and I traveled to Oaxaca City, Mexico to experience the celebration of Dia de los Muertos.

We’ve never been very good at taking selfies.

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday where the souls of deceased relatives join their families for a brief reunion. From October 31 through November 2, the border between the spirit world and the living world opens, allowing the spirits to cross over. The holiday is filled with beautiful symbols, traditions, and imagery. It is a joyful time: the spirits are treated as honored guests as they feast, drink, dance, and play music with their families. Many believe that if you remember them, they never cease to exist.

One of the most recognizable symbols are the alters or “ofrendas” (offerings) that can be found in public places and private homes. Although each colorful alter is unique, they all are decorated with specific components that honor loved ones and provide what they need on the journey to rejoin their families.

Every ofrenda includes the four elements: water, air, earth, and fire. Water is provided so the spirits can quench their thirst after their journey. Air is represented by colorful paper banners. Earth is represented by food, especially bread. The light from candles helps the spirits find their way. In addition, alters are decorated with pictures of the departed, their favorite foods and drinks, sugar skulls, and marigolds (whose scent and bright orange color help attract souls to the alter).

All of these pictures were taken of ofrendas in public places. The alters created in private homes tend to be much less elaborate, but equally beautiful.

I’m sharing these images from our trip as part of Terri’s Sunday Stills photo challenge, whose theme this week is Indoor/Outdoor Decorations.

Sunday Stills: Summer Bugs

We’re lucky to live in an area that doesn’t have too many bugs… at least the type of bugs that bug us.

We have insects:

… and we have arachnids:

But buggy bugs? Not so much.

I was at a loss when I saw that this week’s Sunday Still photo prompt was Summer Bugs, until I thought of my first car: a 1972, chartreuse, Volkswagen Super Beetle. I loved that car, not only because it was as cute as a bug, but because of the sense of freedom it gave me.

Although that car is long gone, I still love VW Bugs, as my photo archives will attest. Here are just a few pictures of VDubs that I have taken over the years while traveling.

Bugs found along Route 66

The Bug Farm in Conway, Texas has a permanent crop of five Volkswagen beetles planted nose-down in the ground. It is a parody of the more famous Cadillac Ranch in nearby Amarillo.

In Holbrook, Arizona, just down the street from the Wigwam Motel (yes, each “room” is shaped like a teepee, and, yes, we stayed there), is Kester’s Bug Shop. where they have bugs of unique shapes and sizes.

Bugs of Mexico

Vintage VW Bugs are everywhere on the streets of Mexico… some are in better shape than others.

Hometown Bugs

These bugs were discovered in our neighborhood.

A neighbor is restoring a 1971 Super Beetle

This week’s theme for Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sunday Stills photo prompt is Summer Bugs. See Terri’s photographs on her blog, Second Wind Leisure. If you have some favorite bug images, please join in!

Thursday Doors: Interplanetary Portal

I have had a photograph sitting in my archives for a few years, with vague plans to share it in some future Thursday Doors post. When I read that Dan Antion (No Facilities) had created a Writing Challenge based on door images, I figured this would be a good time.

Writing Challenge, you ask? Yes – Dan, the keeper of all things Thursday Doors, came up with the brilliant idea of having door photographers provide inspiration for writers.

I found this door about three years ago while on an artists’ studio tour in Southern California’s high desert, not too far from Joshua Tree National Park. It was on property owned by artist Snake Jagger, who often includes a door very much like this – standing slightly ajar, alone in the distance – in his whimsical surreal landscapes. I love that he built a three-dimensional door that looks just like the doors in his paintings. The structure is no deeper than a sheet of wood. The illusion of depth is created with perspective.

Please join in!

If you want to participate as a photographer: create your own Thursday Doors post and share your images. Be sure to link to Dan’s post.

If you want to participate as a writer: plan to post your door-inspired writing on your blog anytime between now and May 29^th. (I’d be thrilled if you used my door as inspiration but, if space aliens or portals to other worlds aren’t your thing and you’d like to select another door, there will be plenty of others to choose from.) Include a link to Dan’s site and attribute the door image to the photographer.

If you want to participate both as a photographer and a writer: get busy!

For more specific information about how to participate in the challenge, please read Dan’s original announcement.

Sunday Stills: Black and White… and Shades of Gray

Although I almost never photograph anything in black and white, sometimes I find that certain images become more interesting when they are stripped of their color. Patterns, shapes, and textures become more pronounced, and the mood of the photograph can change once the color isn’t competing for the attention of the viewer.

Succulents and other plants that have interesting structure and contrasting lights and darks work well in black and white.

Black and white can emphasize the bold, straight lines of architecture.

You can change the mood of a photograph by removing – or fading back – the color.

Strong shapes and textures translate well into black and white. Pronounced shadows can add even more interesting patterns to your image.

And, not all black and white photographs are really black and white. Although these are color images, the blacks and whites are what first caught my eye.

I think most of us love photographs that are rich in color. Every once in a while, though, try adding shades of gray to some of your images and see if you like the results.

Do you have black and white images? Join the fun on Terri’s Sunday Stills photo prompt and see what others have shared.