Cool like a tall drink

Wow. This is just amazing. A muse? I feel pretty awkward. I'll do my best so please bare with me. To reiterate the other 8 muses' and their words of gratitude, I thank all of you for taking part in this amazing project . You inspire and motivate. I hope I can do the same for all of you. 

I have been battling with this theme in that I don't have a ritual to partake in to keep cool with the limited summer days I have in this northern climate of Edmonton Alberta. I actually relish in any warmth we get. I sweat with pride so to speak. (ewwww gross) Really though, I soak it all in. 

Although without tradition, one thing you can be sure of is I will be involved in laughter with good people during many summer days and nights. Winding down the day with good company and perhaps a glass of vino.

This is precisely why I chose this photo below. I saw the photo of  eahNC and covet the southern tradition it lends. I see this jar being shared with love. I have always pictured my 83 year old self sitting on a porch swing with my love, sucking back a lemonade or ice tea basking in the twilight of dusk. Gathering up our thoughts on the day. *sigh*. This photo has the tradition my 34 year old self some day hopes for. 

Uploaded on Jul 8, 2010 by eahNC

Oh my gosh, this brings an end to our very first theme! We have absolutely loved these past nine days and truly hope you all keep coming back for the upcoming theme of Around the House. Tammy will start us off tomorrow with our first post. 

whoop whoop! see you in 9 days. 

xox 

m

splashy cool

First, I would like to say how grateful and honored I am to be part of this wonderful community at mortal muses.  Not only are the other muses exceptionally talented photographers but those of you adding to the flickr pool put me in awe every time I stroll through!  I love being surrounded by wonderfully talented women, so keep up the great work :)

Second, I am cheating with my picture a bit, I took it at the beginning of July for Picture Summer class with Tracey Clark.  Seeing as I am on vacation visiting family and using a super slow I can't get anything edited because I am going to pull my hair out computer, I thought this picture fit nicely with the theme.  All you need is a one year old baby, a pitcher of water and a husband that is willing to pour water on said baby!  Probably not the nicest thing, but I figure it is like a bath right??? 

I really love this image by veggirl38 because of the playfulness and movement, the wonderful light that is capturing all the fun splashes, and the water still in the cup, and the light in her sweet curly hair, and and and....

I just really love it!  Plus the little person getting splashed is probably expecting it which is probably better psychologically in the long run, hehe!

Uploaded by veggirl38 on 3 Jun 10, 10.09PM EDT.

cool tones

Because I come from a tropical heritage, summer is most definitely my favourite season of the year, the time when I feel most alive. And one of our favourite summer pastimes is punting. In England, this means pushing a long, flat boat along the river with a pole, either in Oxford or Cambridge. It is the perfect way to stay cool while watching the world float past. It helps to have the backdrop of all that blue water. My son loves to trail his fingers in the cool water as my husband makes the punt glide through the water....

I chose the image below because of the cool tones; the way the watermelon invites you to take a bite. My mother is originally from Trinidad, and whenever we went to a beach as children she would bring a watermelon to help keep us cool, a remnant of her own childhood memories of the beach.

It's not every day one is asked to be a muse and I have enjoyed looking through everyone's inspiring pictures tremendously. I look forward to musing over your next submissions.

Uploaded by muchadesign on August 1, 2010 at 5.48PM CDT

sweet summer

As this first challenge began, and photos started pouring into the Mortal Muses Flickr pool, I realized I was drawn again and again to shots of summer time keep cool drinks.

For me, summer relaxing is all about the beverages and sweet tea is my beverage of choice. Tall, dark, sweet and cold, any time of the day, all day.

There are so many fun photos of summer drinks added to the flickr group pool. Some with friends, one with a furry friend, a blue one, a green one, a pink one, a frosty one, a pitcher full, another blue one, a crazy colorful one.

I really love this shot by fellow sweet tea lover choir_director of a sweet tea splash! What a cool, fun shot!

I also want to add that I feel so blessed to be part of this extraordinary group of talented women. Not just the other muses {who are awesome, btw} but everyone who adds a photo to the flickr group, and takes the time to look at other photos and leave a comment. I love the idea of this community, the support and encouragement of every one that participates.  So inspiring. I hope that you will continue to join us on this creative journey. ♥ maureen

cool blues

When I think of coolness, I think of blue.  The everchanging blue of ocean and sky.  The misty smoky-blue of fog before the sun burns it away.  The amber-blue at the bottom of a sun-dappled pond.  The aqua-blue of foam at the edge of a wave.  

I've been playing with creating some impressionistic images using textures, and last week I bought an inexpensive underwater disposable camera.  My image was shot half in and half out of the water, and to me it captures the cool solitude of an afternoon at Mystic Lake here on Cape Cod.

The Morning Sea by zazazed, shot with a Polaroid 440 Land camera, captures a similar cool blue impression, with its endless ocean and sky, a feeling of solitude, and lovely hazy morning coolness before the heat of the summer sun.  I love the delicious unpredictability and tones of Polaroid images, and zazazed's Polaroid work is just beautiful.

I'm so thrilled to be part of this new collaborative project with all of the muses and all of you. Many thanks to Tammy for dreaming it all up, and to the 7 other talented photographers who agreed to go on this journey together.

I encourage you to get out and play with a different  way of shooting photos.  Forget (for an hour or two) all the settings on your hard-earned DSLR.  Drag out your old film camera, or buy a cheap disposable, or hunt down a Polaroid, and focus on the feeling, the impression, you want to create.  We look forward to seeing the results.

--lucy

seeking and finding cool

Around the blogosphere, posts relating to summer reading lists flourish.  I pore over them all, adding to my own library or purchase wish list.  I'm partial to memoirs - literary, food-related; history, classic literature, with the odd bit of fluff thrown in (Twilight, anyone?).  One of my old stand-by's, however, is my dog-eared copy of The Shell Seekers.  If you haven't read it, do.  It's a lovely narrative of a family from pre-wartime through the 80's.  I couldn't tell you how many times I've read it - twenty or thirty? - but it's a comfort to me and a wonderful filler when my bedside stack is depleted.

This photo of my daughter captures the spirit of the book for me - centered around a painting of a girl on a Cornish beach caught on canvas by her father.  In this case, my girl caught by me on film.  She is a seeker and a croucher in order to observe the treasures she finds, whether it is shells or bugs or shiny sea glass.

Pixelmama's yummy macro of a shell felt like the perfect accompaniment - the treasure sought, now found.

I wish I could post every gorgeous photo I'm seeing in the mortal muses flickr pool.  I had at least ten different posts in my head based on the inspiration I found there.  Keep them coming!

cheers,
mosey

Uploaded by pixelmama on 2 Aug 10, 6.15AM PDT.

a cool off

Summer time always means a lot of fun to me.

The warm sun, the feeling of grass on my toes and a creative way to cool down.

I grew up as a poor middle child, with two brothers. So fun in the summer meant driving the bicycle until dark and getting creative in ways to cool ourselves off. Believe me, they were very creative.

This is the reason why this image below spoke to me so much. Because it reminds me of the carefree days as a child. Living for the moment.

For my picture, I set my tripod down in our backyard and poured a can of water onto myself. I had fun, although the water was very very cold.

I hope you all have fun during this project here. I enjoy seeing all the creativity in the flickr group and here on our blog.

Hope you'll return tomorrow.

~Suki

Uploaded by Rebecca812 on July 30th, 2010 at 5.04 am CDT

keep your cool

Before I start my post, I want to say an HUGE Thank You to Tammy for starting this fun, exciting, and challenging exercise in creativity. Watching others spread their creative wings is so close to my heart. I am so honored and humbled to be asked to be a muse with these 8 other incredibly talented women.

Like many of you, my summer revolves around keeping my kids cool and active at the same time. It sure is hard to fall asleep at 9pm when the sun is shining in the window...unless your mom wears you out at the pool.
As soon as I saw the submission for Diary of an Air Force Wife, I knew it was the one I wanted. I love the color, the action, the light, the processing. This photo is perfection and shows the energy of youth that mine shows. Being an Air Force Brat and an Army wife myself, I knew it was fate!

So excited by all the talent and creativity in this pool. See you next week!


XO- Stephanie

Uploaded by Dairy of An Air Force Wife on 04 Mar 09, 3.09 PM EDT.

cool colors

a cool haiku

napping in the shade

on a sultry summer day

trying to stay cool
__________________________________________

Today's Featured Photograph from the Mortal Muses Flickr pool was submitted by kellysoji.  Like mine, it demonstrates a very colorful way to stay cool and caught my eye immediately.  I love bright color!

In Florida, there always seems to be an abundance of bold colors - gorgeous aqua skies, red sunsets, fuchsia bougainvillea, multi-colored Key West style homes, and even my own beloved periwinkle blue picnic table.  These luxurious hues draw me in, like a moth to a flame. So every day, I wander with a camera in hand trying to capture these colors, and in a way - my own personality, in the people and world around me... Vibrant.  Intense.  Animated.  Dynamic.  Spirited.  Heart on my sleeve.  It is who I am. It is how I see the world. I wouldn't have it any other way.

__________________________________________
 
You may start submitting your "Around the House" theme pictures as of today.

Additional "Stay Cool" submissions are also welcome until August 9.

stay sweet. ♥tlb

Uploaded by kellysoji on 25 Jun 10, 8.18PM EDT.