garden green

“If I keep a green bough in my heart, then the singing bird will come”

~Chinese Proverb

I don't know about the weather where you live, but it's been a long winter here in the Northeastern United States. Thankfully, little signs of spring are starting to pop up everywhere--the purple crocuses are pushing through the cold dirt, the days are getting a little longer and the temperatures climb a bit higher each day. And with St. Patrick's Day coming up this week, I thought we could all use an extra splash of green in our lives...whether you've got the Irish in you or not!

I was instantly drawn to the green garden in soupatraveler's photo.  I just adore how the leaves look like a pattern sweeping across the front of her dress.  I love to play with natural textures in my shadow portraits--if you use your imagination when you look at my photo above from a recent trip to Texas, it almost looks like I am wearing a coat made of grass.  Can you see it? (you kind of have to squint your eyes a little :)

I hope you all enjoyed the shadow portraits theme as much as I did.  See you next week for mobile photography...I can't wait!

~christy of urban muser

                                    picture summer/larger than life, garden girl by soupatraveler

snowy shadows

I chuckled when muse Tammy put up her sandy shadow pictures a few days ago... I am really, REALLY, jealous seeing as we have had a least a foot of frozen snow on the ground all winter.  *sigh*  so until I can visit Tammy in Florida, we are going to make the best of things here in frozen New York.  Playing in the snow, and dancing with our shadows like the beautiful picture below by celledon.

I hope you have a lovely Sunday!
April of April Newman Photography

shadow dancing by celledon

shadows and birds

"I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me

And what can be the use of him is more than I can see..."

These words are from "My Shadow", a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson. He goes on to describe what fun he has with his shadow, jumping his up and down and even tricking it by going out early before the sun is up. There is something fascinating and magical about shadows, especially when children are involved. Of course, Stevenson lived in a time before cameras, so he had no idea that you can have even more fun with shadows if you have a camera. Here is an image of me with Ella, and the bright space between our shadows makes the shape of a dove. Keenemomma's picture also contains a playful bird shape, this time in the form of the shadow she has deliberately created with her hands.

See you soon, for some camera phone fun!

kirstin of fleeting moments

x

even the wildest dreams have to start somewhere by keenemomma

my shadow

"I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me"

 Robert Lewis Stevenson

I've written before about my devoted fur baby. I often refer to him as my shadow, he is always there, always waiting, always ready to 'go in and out with me.' I couldn't resist this opportunity to capture our shadow portraits out on a walk together.

I immediately loved the way Marji's fur baby looks as though he is her shadow with the same devotion, patiently waiting for their walk together.

xo
maureen of Cottage 960

walkies by rain city girl

always be by your side

"I promise you, for all my life

I'll always be by your side

In the shadow, in the light

I'll follow you, wherever my life goes

But I'll always be aside

In the shadow, in the light."

~Enigma

I spend so much time avoiding shadows, yet when I was looking for them this past weekend, they were no where to be found. I've quickly learned that shadows are not to be avoided, but embraced. Our shadows remind us that the sun is shining and there is always someone by our side.

This joyful photo by damiec inspires me to capture the everyday moments we have with our shadow... whether it be a brisk walk on a cool day or a fun game of hopscotch.

Until next time,
Ashley of Ramblings and Photos

On the Way Home by damiec

better together than apart

She brings me delight on a daily basis.  At seven, she is full of enthusiasm and incredible amounts of energy that leave me breathless.  She can scowl with the best of them, but prefers to be overjoyed.  She is independent and leaves me at the school door with barely a backward glance, but still hurls herself into my arms at the end of the day.  On a recent Saturday, when my photo above was taken, she chose a trip to our local children's discovery museum which we used to visit weekly when she was a toddler.  And just like when she was three or four, her hand reached up to mine as we walked toward the entrance.

I know the time is fast approaching when she will prefer not to spend whole afternoons with me, will not want to hold my hand, will begrudgingly hug me only when I ask.  I don't want to stop time and keep her as she is now, but know I'll look back at these simpler times and hold them close. 

Lindsey's similar shadow portrait of mother and daughter tugs at my heartstrings in much the same way.  I love the angle and the profile and the sense of connection.

Thanks for sharing your shadow portraits this week! 

cheers,
mosey of mosey along

Long shadows of winter by Lindsey G (modchik)

outings

I like shadows for many different reasons. I come across them while being outside, looking for new treasures or long found loves.
Shadows add a something special to each picture, it highlights the surroundings, even on a face.

I love //JUAN TOME//'s picture very much, for it's very many shadowy regions, which makes this picture very interesting too look at.

see you in 9 days,
Love,
Suki of sukiphotographyblog

Into The Light.......Out Of The Dark by //JUAN TOME//

a moment in memory

“Some there be that shadows kiss; Such have but a shadow's bliss.”

William Shakespeare

We stood together on our first walk down London’s South Bank, looking over the rippled low-tide sand and dirty river Thames. I loved the contrast of the sun’s shadow lines painted on the shore below. It was the first time I really paid much attention to what we looked like together; I had never seen us side by side in a mirror or a photograph. I watched our shadows play that day, the way they stretched and shrunk with the changing sky.

I thought the shadow lines of a barrier and a human looking beyond then in SightSpecific’s photo was a perfect complement. It’s a photo full of light and wonder. I love its soft dreaminess. What is she thinking? Where is she standing? It inspires questions and like the photo above, it holds the words of an untold story.

A big thanks to Kat for letting me take her place this week. Hopefully she's having a great vacation!

Steph x of http://pixiespix.wordpress.com

shadow fence by SightSpecific

sandy shadows

As the daylight hours get longer, our boys like to grab their surfboards and hit the beaches.   Early evening is the perfect time to enjoy the cooler temperatures and uncrowded waters.  The beaches transform as the rowdy crowds of tourists and families with young children disperse leaving a calmness behind. 

It is in these last hours of the day that you will find couples having quiet picnic dinners, treasure hunters with metal detectors making the slow hypnotic trek up and down the beach, and a lone runner disappearing into the sunset. 

The cycle will start again in a few hours but during this time there is serenity and an opportunity to commune with nature, such as the one captured by Pink Trees and Sunshine. 

Take a few moments to seek out quietude this week and use it to reenergize your soul.

xo

tammy lee of bliss and folly

Summer Shadow by Pink Trees and Sunshine

and the next theme is...shadow portraits

“Look round and round upon this bare bleak plain, and see even here, upon a winter's day, 

how beautiful the shadows are! Alas, it is the nature of their kind to be so. 

The loveliest things in life are but shadows; and they come and go, and change and fade away...”
~Charles Dickens

Even if it's still winter where you live, chances are there's still some sunshine.  And where there is sunlight, there are shadows.  Photographing shadow portraits is fun, and once you start looking, you can't escape them.  Some days they literally follow you everywhere!

When you begin your shadow hunt, see if you can capture one with an additional object or accessory that adds some visual interest.

Like an umbrella...

                                                                                                 shadow shot by tammy lee bradley

Or a big Texas hat...

You can also look for shadows on interesting backgrounds or landscapes to add some texture and color.

Like a red brick wall (dog optional)...

Or the cliffs of Big Sur...

Whether you head out early in the day when sun hovers low on the horizon making your shadows long and lean or at noon when the sun is high in the sky, we hope you will share the dark and mysterious portraits you capture of yourself, your loved ones, your animals, your friends, or even strangers in our flickr pool this week.

Oh, and make sure to visit tomorrow as Tammy kicks off our 9 days of musing on still lifes.  See you all soon!

~christy of urban muser