Birds of Prey – 50 Shades of Gray Hair

Me…from down under

Is it possible that I’m a dreamer?
Do I spend too much time with my head in the clouds?
Or my nose in the air?
Or my eyes on the sky?

Maybe, just maybe.

Because when I was getting photos together for Ailsa’s Travel Theme Challenge theme BELOW, I realized how much time I spend looking up and how lucky I am I haven’t fallen over and broken my nose!

But then again, perhaps it’s not so much dreaming [though that’s okay] as what I like to think of as paying attention, seeing the whole picture, taking stock in everyday life, seeing beauty in the ordinary…

Right?

Oh alright. I’m a dreamer then and damned proud of it!

So let’s see what a dreamer with her head in the clouds, nose in the air, eyes on the skies, is all dreamy about then.

And if you are a dreamer too…would you see what she sees when the lens go vertical?

The Tate Museum in London from an ant’s perspective:

A Lloyd Wright design as seem from this lowly architecture lover on the ground:

Reflections are just reflections until they become art. Can you see the cranes? Construction never looked so good!:

It would be shameful it no one paid attention to the details of something as innocuous as ceilings…but when they look like this, it would be a crime!:

Bridges are a favorite of mine, and the Tobin in Boston is no exception. This, however, was taken on the fly and yes (shhh) I was driving! Thank goodness for sun roofs 🙂 Oh, and thank you God that I’m still here (dumb, I know):

Street light art? If you’re in London, the answer is a resounding YES!:

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a bird, it’s a ….yup, like that:

It’s a religious experience!:

Clouds are the ultimate source for wonder and awe from below:

Ever the Patriot:

Goodnight Moon:

Cheers everyone up there…from me, down below 🙂

It was there all along…

The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge this week is: (Extra)ordinary – Mundane and meaningful objects. Beautiful everyday things. This week, surprise us with something or someone (extra)ordinary

Seeing the world through a lens is as second nature to some of us as changing our underwear.

Would you leave the house without changing your underwear?

No…nor I think, would you leave the house without your third eye…correct?

Anyway…for people like us, (the underwear changing kind) seeing the Extra in the Ordinary is really just a matter of perspective.

We see it everywhere in every thing…eventually.

Sometimes, it’s in the reason we stop and shoot.

And sometimes, it’s in the 5th or 10th or 30th shot with minute changes in a particular subject.

But most of the time (at least for me) it’s often just a change of perspective…moving my focus, moving my feet, or just plain, being moved.

Below are some of my photos that I believe are Extra-ordinary. Not because they are great photos, because they are not. Some are pretty good, some are damned good, but some are just okay.

And I’m good with that. What I appreciate about all of them, is that by changing my perspective, choosing to shoot in less than favorable conditions, or focusing on the emotion of them and therefore hopefully translating it to the picture, more often than not, bring out the Extra in some of the more everyday, mundane, and ‘it’s just a sunset’, pictures.

Thanks for looking and here’s to more of the Extra in all of our Ordinaries.

And by all means, click on the photos to get the ‘extra’ full size effect. lol

Cheers 🙂

When a beautiful ocean sunset... — **When a beautiful ocean sunset…**

...become 'extra' for the frond silhouette — **…becomes ‘extra’ for the frond silhouette**

**When a lone fishing boat surrounded by sea birds becomes ‘extra’ for the blanket of morning sea mist**

**Or when a lonely cabin in the middle of acres of dormant farm land becomes haunted and ‘extra’ for the snow fog quietly taking over**

**When I capture a magnificent ‘*bird of prey*‘, I’m not yet thinking..**.

**…about who he becomes when zeroing in on this beautiful ‘*bird who prays.* For me, they both become the ‘extra”**

IMG_0023 (2) — **When a sunset becomes so much more, has so much ‘extra’, when captured on a day the sky is teaming with the right combination of pollutants. Pollution as extraordinary? Extraordinary!**

1015230_10201188597627895_1558047865_o (2) — **When what the ocean throws away that which is more beautiful than anything than man can make…it becomes ‘extra’**

1040100_10201276390022650_1394358944_o — **And when the ocean captures and transforms what man has left behind, and turns it to something beautiful…it has that ‘extra’**

**Or when a forgotten church, surrounded by shadows of life forgotten…seen from a distance, and imagining its history…it becomes the ‘extra’**

Free Birds

Today was the first day since December 10th, that I’ve been free to walk out of my house on two feet, sans crutches, sans male nurse disguised as husband, and just dooooooooooooo!

Whatever I wanted.

Whatever struck my fancy.

Just Do It!

So…what did I do?

I grabbed my camera and took her out on a date.

In Mini, who I’ve not driven since then either.

We’ve shared not one single moment of exploration time since moving to Virginia…and I must admit, that’s been worse than the broken leg!

Trouble is…the eastern seaboard is either getting hammered or getting ready to be hammered my Winter Storm PAX.

I am in the latter group…getting prepared.

Normally this would not bother me in the least. I mean, I’m a Yankee for God’s sake! I have ice in my veins.

(No..not THAT kind of ice…the pretty kind 🙂 )

But one must remember that I now live in the land of “OMG OMG OMG…THEY ARE CALLING FOR SNOW” people and that made for a poor ‘Mini, take me away’ day.

It was more a “Mini, get me the hell home because the people on the roads (and I swear…they are ALL on the roads) are LUNATICS and it hasn’t even started yet!”

I made it as far as Wal-Mart, a mere 6 miles from here, because I had some photos I wanted printed. I am supposed to return, but frankly, I don’t think it would be worth it. After all, I’m not collecting hazard pay and having just tasted freedom for the first time in more than two months…NO accidents for me, thank you very much!

So…I returned good ol’ friend Mini to the garage, took CC with me to the backyard, and having left the world outside my little acre to go crazy nuts…I spent a few moments with my VISITOR.

Besides…the skies are dreary, the colors dull, the vibrancy of spring not yet peaking around the corner…I think I found the best the winter has to offer today, right here in my back yard.

Tomorrow is another day.

If there’s snow on the ground, all the better for me and CC.

If not, then we’ll see what we will see when we see it.

In the meantime, my VISITOR and I shall be, for today, FREE BIRDS!

Life is good!

Just ask Lynyrd

V I S I T O R S

IMG_0004 (3) — **yeah, well**
**don’t look at me**
**I’m not your lunch!**

Voracious is his appetite

For that which scurries in his sight

Inside this little acre’s banks

He finds the bellies, cheeks, and flanks

Sees them, pounces, and devours

The mouse and mole, their final hour

I see this each and every day

The perch, the drop, death’s cruel play

Tragic yes, for those that nourish

Needed though, so he may flourish

One harsh truth, it’s not their living

It’s in their death that they are giving

Real worth and value to their kind

The ones we humans often find

Stuck on traps of glue or worse

Death by bird? Or a sticky hearse

What can I say? Was a slow day in the newsroom!

😉