feeling blue

“Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again”

~L. Frank Baum

I love the color blue, always have. As I searched through the flickr pool looking for my featured image for this theme I wasn't necessarily searching for something blue, but this photo by ShellyS really caught my eye.  It wasn't just the color, but also the texture, and how it made me wonder what exactly this was a photograph of?

After I made my choice I set out in search of my own blue inspiration.  Would it be blue water?  A tall building with a blue hue?  A blue subway tile?  And then I saw it, the ubiquitous "post no bills" sign that is stenciled on every blue scaffolding and construction site around New York City.  I zoomed in for a close-up to capture the detail of the grain in the painted wood.

These signs stem from an archaic law prohibiting people from posting advertisements, posters or notices on constructions walls--way before the digital age and the advent of craigslist.  I read that in the UK a similar warning reads "bill stickers will be prosecuted."  It made me wonder...do you have these signs where you live?

~christy of urban muser

IMG_7157 by ShellyS

a little rusty

I have to admit I am a sucker for rusty colored hair, the way it catches the light and glimmers in the sun.  It helps that I have three of them at home!  I am especially happy when a little bed head (not the the product, just the literal sleeping in bed) is added to the mix to add some pizazz.  My question is why they are called red heads, looks more orange to me :)

I love the rusty tones that Justine Gordon captured of this beautiful horse.

Thank you always for sharing your beautiful pictures, it is so much fun musing with all of you!  Until next time.

April of april's 365

untitled by justine gordon

meditative macro

Ella and I spent a lovely hour making rosettes during the holidays before our hectic daily schedules restarted. We talked about happy times we had had during 2010 and our plans for 2011. Slowly and carefully we worked and I took out my macro lenses to really capture the intricacies and colour of the material. I love the way taking macro pictures makes me meditate about colour and detail while allowing the noise and clutter to fade into the distance.

Jessica's picture is a gorgeous apple green; it must be so restful to knit with this colour. I wonder what she will make with it.

Is there a colour that calms you? How does taking macro pictures make you feel?

I look forward to seeing your creatures for the next theme. We have a small zoo at home, so we are already discussing which one will get the star treatment!

kirstin
x

apple grin knit by JDmaleski

mother nature in monochrome

Mother Nature's greens are what energize me. Here in the Midwest, when the earth begins to warm in the spring, the first shoots of green appear. On the trees, in the fields. Buds and shoots, tightly formed, warmed by the sun begin to unfurl and push up through the soil. As the season continues into the heat of the summer, the world around me dresses itself in shades of green. It is at this time of year I feel most connected to nature, more alive, more energized, more inspired.
 
I love the shades of green found in Super Dewa's photo of grass.  Looking at it I can almost smell the damp summer scent.  It makes me long for the warmth of summer,  to be once again wrapped in Mother Nature's emerald world.
 
♥ maureen of Cottage 960

295/365: grass by superdewa    

opposites attract

Country and city.  Earth and light.  Subdued and energized.  Brown and blue.  My diptych, shot on a walk in the woods, captures the light and textures of the winter landscape.  Piecesofmejen's photo (which, coincidentally echoes the diptych style) embodies the boundless sparkle and wonder of a walk in the city.  Opposite in every way, but oh so complementary together. 

You can see more of Jen's citywalk here, and more of my countrywalk here.

Hope your new year is off to a wonderful start.

Until next time.

lucy @ a little light reading

Saks 5th Avenue, nyc by PiecesofmeJen

monochromatic chill

Over the holidays I was visiting my family in Canada where the temperatures were sub-zero, and I realized how radically my blood has thinned since I moved to Northern California 15 years ago. Back in California, although not sub-zero, it has definitely been chilly enough for mittens and scarves, and the grass is crunchy with frost every morning.  Anyone suffering through a snowy winter will have no sympathy whatsoever, but I assure you the discomfort of kneeling on frosty grass to capture my monochromatic shot today was very difficult.  Oh so hard.

But the landscape in Jennifée's shot wins the frosty prize.  Taken with her cellphone (really!) from a train window between Lillehammer and Gardermoen on Christmas Day, it channels The Polar Express.  Simply stunning.  Although even looking at it makes me want to wrap myself in a blanket with a mug of hot cocoa.  It's amazing to me the stories that can be told even with subtle variations of tone and colour.  

cheers,
mosey of mosey along

cold by jennifée

mono macro

I really kind of developed a love for mono macro shots. 

How can one single colour be so incredible tempting?!

One colour in a picture can make you want to delve deeper, get to know the surroundings

even when only a little bit of it is shown.

They make me want to know the story of the picture.

Just like the featured picture by joy rebel photo below.
It makes me want to dig deeper into it's surroundings.
How about you? Do you like the stories and how they affect a certain framing of a picture?
Let me know in the comments section today.

See you in 9 days.

Love,

Suki by sukiphotographyblog

may god's love be with you by job rebel photo

the details

Oh, how I love color. Bright and bold or soft and subtle, I revel in color. Black and white is wonderful, but color makes photographs sing. I find it fun to focus in, using monochromatic color to emphasize line and shape. Details, like texture, come alive. 

Anika KT's image is a great example. It's simple, yet a feast for the eyes with the bright color and texture. Perfect for a color girl like me.

kat of The Kat Eye View of the World

Orange Door by Anika KT 

tantalizing turquoise

If cold December gave you birth,

The month of snow and ice and mirth,

Place on your hand a turquoise blue,

Success will bless what'er you do.

- Anonymous

Aaahhh, turquoise... Living in South Florida, this delightful color is everywhere. It is the water in the Keys, the color of adorable beach cottages, and our gorgeous skies. It radiates the peace and tranquility of blue and the balance and growth of green with a punch of uplifting energy of yellow. I could stare at today's featured photo by cafedereves all day... it soothes my soul while enticing my creative spirit to come out and play.

Don't you just love how a burst of color can just shift your mood and brighten your day? Do you have a favorite color that speaks to you? If would like to read more about how color affects us, I found a wonderful article at Pantone.

Until next time, stay sweet.

♥ tammy lee of bliss and folly

Gasworks Restaurant Wall by cafedereves

and the new theme is... monochromatic color

If you think of black and white or sepia when you hear the word monochromatic, think again. We're talking color. Bright, deep, delicate... it doesn't matter. Monochromatic just means "having or consisting of one color or hue."

Share your monochromatic color images with us in the Mortal Muses flickr pool. Blue, red, purple... give us what you've got. You can throw a neutral white or black element in there too, if you need to. Then join us as we ring in the new year celebrating your monochromatic images - in all the colors of the rainbow.

See you soon! 

kat

PS - Be sure to continue to come here and participate, as we head into the second half of 9 Muses Musing! We have a lot more fun in store for you over the next nine days. You can keep putting your photos with a holiday theme in our Everyday Beauty Flickr pool, they just might get featured!