March 6, 2015badfish

Photo 101: Five in One—Home, Street, Water, Bliss, Solitude

I have warned you about me. You need a decision made, or you need something done on time—don’t ask a Libra. Go find yourself a Capricorn.

I’m signed up for Photography 101. My intentions are good. My execution is a little “dodgy,” as the British like to say. Today, Friday where I am now living, is virtual Sunday, or religious day. And tomorrow, Saturday, is…well…Saturday. Saturday just comes after the religious day instead of before it, here. Sometimes life is complicated even if you know what you’re doing, even if you know what you’re saying. Even if you have good intentions.

So, below are all five of my entries for this week’s Photo 101 themes. I have included two entries for each theme. Just to show you I’m not incapable. Just, sometimes, slow.

HOME: is where the heart lies

Family home in Pune, India
Family home in Pune, India
Home in Amsterdam
Home on the Leidsegracht in Amsterdam

STREET:

Street leading into Monument Valley, Navajo Territory, Utah
Street leading into Monument Valley, Navajo Territory, Utah
When it rains it pours in Abu Dhabi
When it rains it pours in Abu Dhabi

WATER:

Bathing in the Ganges River, Rishikesh, India
Bathing in the Ganges River, Rishikesh, India
Refreshing and cold and wet
Refreshing and cold and wet

BLISS: is where the heart lies

Double Buddhas
Double Buddhas
Balloon over Monument Valley, Utah
Balloon over Monument Valley, Utah

SOLITUDE

Nothing to do, nowhere to go--bliss
Nothing to do, nowhere to go
Weathered juniper, Monument Valley
Weathered juniper, Monument Valley

56 comments

  1. I love all these photos except the Amsterdam one. I especially like Pune, Abu Dhabi rain, Rishikesh, the Buddhas and all 3 in Monument Valley. That’s about all of them isn’t it? It’s your eye for colour and natural gift of composition.
    Alison.

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    • It’s funny, because someone liked the can most of all, and I almost didn’t put that one in, but couldn’t find another one with “water” in it that I liked. And that one was so sharp. I don’t know how I got that focus, and light. You didn’t mention that one, so I’m thinking you wouldn’t have take a shot like that, or at least not put it in a blog. Risk is a funny thing. Another funny thing is that I took a gazillion photos of mirror images on the Leidsegracht, and none of them came out well. I so loved the idea because the water was so still, and most of the time isn’t. I’m wondering why you didn’t like this one, though–the confusing perspective, lack of color (which ALL yours have), weird composition, or what. I wanted to see tail feathers in bokeh in your peacock!

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      • Yeah, the peacock was not one of my better shots – damn sun in the wrong place. Chuckle.
        Amsterdam one beautifully sharp but the eye doesn’t know where to go so it’s all over the place – for me anyway.
        I liked the can photo too (yes the sharpness, the light, the colour), just not as much as the others, but no it’s not something I’d think to take a photo of, but don’t let that stop you, I think you beat me hands down with creativity.
        Put in *your* blog whatever you damn well please. Opinions are like assholes – everybody has one 🙂
        love hugs grace 🙂
        Alison

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        • Yeah, I get it’s hard to figure what’s what in that canal photo. Maybe you had to be there!! And right, my blog, my stuff. And about the arseholes…right, and aren’t some bigger than others? 😉

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        • I have many Brit colleagues here. They teach students to say dumb words, like “nowadays.” That’s not even a word, let alone academic. But when you say arse or arsehole, it sounds less offensive?? It’s like “bugger.” If you say the American equivalent here, you land in jail for three months. Gotta laugh when Brits add an “r” to the end of words, like bananar or oarsome (for awesome).

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    • Thanks, Lucile. I’m doing the Photo 101 course. The themes are kind of fun, but time consuming. And I don’t have time to write much about them, which I like to do. I bought a very light-weight Manfrotto tripod last week!!!

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      • You’re welcome.
        I’ve done this course last year. I hope they don’t follow the same structure as it wasn’t much of course but themes to post. It was fun because of the community we created. That’s how my photo 101 rehab was born.
        I can relate to that; it was a very intensive month.
        Big plans with the Tripod? Congratulations.
        Have a great weekend.
        L

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        • I really haven’t had much time to become part of the 101 community. I had to post 5 in one. And yeah, I think it’s the same as last year, someone commented about that. I have no plans for the tripod, but it’s what I’ve wanted for a long time–ball head, real light, high quality.

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          • It can take an hour just to delete the “new posts” because some of these guys post four or five a day. I have to go through them just to see my private email. What to do?

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          • I would not follow via e-mail but just the reader. That gives you flexibility to check when you have time.
            If you have a self hosted blog, maybe you don’t see the reader. I don’t know.
            Another option is to open an account just for the blog. That’s what I have done. No mixing exactly because of this reason. My gmail account drives me crazy. If I were to check it all that’s all I’d do in my life. So, no way. I only subscribe via email to self hosted blogs.

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          • I have a WP blog. I just click the Follow button at the top of blogs to follow them. And then I get email. Is there a way to not get email plus the Reader?

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          • Yes, you can disable email. Click on your gravatar and badass fish (lol) and there you have your account settings. Click on notifications.
            There you can choose to block all email updates from blogs you’re following.

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          • OK, right…”badass”… you finally got the concept!! I haven’t been able to try the email thing yet. Does it turn off all email, or can I choose to leave some on? Is there a list of blogs I follow somewhere, or do I have to scroll the Reader?

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          • I’d say ‘cute badass’ which is a win-win proposition. Lol
            Here is what you can do to select the ones you want to keep: Go to the reader. Click on the upper left hand side on Blogs I Follow. There you will see the list of all blogs you chose.
            Underneath the URL you read: ‘you get instant post emails and no comment emails for this blog. Edit. ‘
            Click on edit. There you make two choices. 1. Send new posts by email.
            2. Send new comments by email

            In this way you will select just those you really want to get email notifications from.

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          • Win-win, love it. And thank you so much for the info. I will try that today after I try to create my belated post for Photo 101, I’ll have to post a 4-in-1…because I spend all my time deleting emails from bloggers who post five times a day!! Who are those guys?

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          • You’re most welcome. Just ask if you need help.
            Lol I think you need to speed up configuring the new settings do that you recover your time. I follow one that posts Twitter size posts several times a day. But I don’t get emails so it doesn’t bother me as I open on the reader only when it interests me.

            They do that to be always visible and to get clicks, likes, new followers. It’s the so-called power bloggers.
            They play a different game here. Blogging is about popularity, fame, and maybe making money too.
            I don’t follow any of these.

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          • Yeah, I don’t get that game. I hope to make that switch today, but I have some things to do, and may not. My email is floundering in messages! Luckily not too many people write. But tell me…what is a “click”? I see that in my site, and someone mentioned a click once, but …what?

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          • A click is simply a ‘view’, counted each time someone opens a post of your blog. Literally clicking to read or only like a photo, a post, a page. If you see in the statistics, it reads for example 40 visits, 80 views. Meaning that you had 40 visitors clicking at least twice a post.
            Bloggers who are not here for fun, are doing all that’s possible to get more followers, more views. It’s more about ego.
            And some followers are influenced by that too as they want to be followed by people like that who they believe can promote them.
            I suggest you read the blog harsh reality of the opinionated man.
            He has over 50k followers which he got buy using all these tricks.
            He doesn’t consider himself a power blogger because he shares all the techniques with his crowd of followers. But he says that he’s following people, 700 or more a day, just as a technique, and he still posts countless times a day to be kept up in the reader list.
            I read these stories because I’m interested in human behavior and I guarantee you, this is bizarre and fascinating to watch.

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    • Thanks so much, Ady. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I liked putting this collection together, it gave me time to look through some photos I hadn’t seen in a while.

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  8. A great selection of different photos. I thought they were all amazing. The water droplets on the can was very impressive. I felt like one of Pavlov’s dogs salivating at the sight of it 🙂

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    • Thanks Joanne, and you know, I liked that can photo because it seemed sharp and in focus, but I didn’t think many others would think it such a good photo, because it doesn’t have any of the characteristics of a good photo: rule of thirds, bokeh, etc. I needed a water photo, so I used that one. I wonder if people like it because it makes them thirsty?

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  9. You know, a ‘like’ just doesn’t convey the feeling your photos evoke! They should have a love button. Truly, every one of them is superb! As I look at each, there is one thing which draws me in and then I’m experiencing the whole as the world expands in your imagery. There’s something so inviting about doorways, and at the same time mysterious. But you’ve gone further here. Every element just evolves the sense of that world; the wood, the bike, the colors, and it calls me. Come in, it says.

    The entire collection is like sliding through a wormhole. I’m in Pune, and suddenly in the Escher-eskness of a world upside down, like looking at an alternate universe.

    Then I’m in the southwest, Navajo Territory, and there’s this magic looking glass, contrarily mocking my thought, “I don’t know where I’m going, I’m not sure where I’ve been…” Well, just look in the mirror, and then through the windshield, and DUH… Really abstracting on an illusionary level.

    You know you’ve just created the perfect illustration for whatever kind of car that is, in Abu Dhabi? Madison Avenue is calling you!

    The Ganges River offers the kind of slice of life that so many who have never been there, probably would not get. What a connection to community, to Nature, to Spirit.

    AND you offer refreshments during your journey. Seriously thirst making/quenching.

    Remember that 25 Songs, 25 Days thing, well what also calms me down, is statues of Buddha! Oh my! I have been wanting to find the perfect one, for my meditation room. It’s not that room yet, but I know what I hope will be in it. Beautifully Serene!

    And suddenly I’m in Monument Valley, and I get to commune with The Mother in her most austere beauty! I think I had a conversation with that mountain goat.

    Thank you for bringing greater dreams into my waking life.

    …and, now I see I’ve written yet another book here. *smiling*

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    • I love it…a “love” button. That door did make me want to go inside. I wanted to see how people lived there in a house like that, burning wood to cook food. What does their kitchen look like? I have one photo of a woman cooking over a fire in the street in front of her house. And I don’t know what it is about that “can” that people like. It’s hard to take a lousy shot in Monument Valley, but I managed to take quite a few lousy shots there. And yes…you should keep track of your responses, write THOSE as a book! Thanks much for all the thoughts.

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      • We can start a petition for a ‘love’ button!
        Exactly! That door makes me want to see inside too. It’s so interesting, because twice I’ve come into contact with people who cook on wood stoves. My mother’s side of the family are from Newfoundland. When we visited, that was the first I’d seen a house with a wood burning stove for cooking. Right out of the days of yore. Then I met someone right here, when we moved up here, who actually had one in their house. Very unusual in a city.

        I can envision seeing that woman you mentioned cooking over a fire in front of her house. I can imagine the delicious aroma which would have filled the street!

        Interesting. You ask what it is about that can that people like. What drew you to take that shot? It makes me thirsty just looking at it. It was almost palpable. Well, I really loved the Monument Valley shots. It is such a majestic area!

        It’s my pleasure to share my thoughts with you!

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        • What seems like ions ago, I rented a cabin outside Aspen, CO, and we had a spring outside for water, and a wood-burning cook stove inside. A cast-iron tub outside by the spring…heated by wood fire underneath. The good old days!

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      • You said (down there) “What seems like ions ago, I rented a cabin outside Aspen, CO, and we had a spring outside for water, and a wood-burning cook stove inside. A cast-iron tub outside by the spring…heated by wood fire underneath. The good old days!”

        On one of my several sojourns to Colorado, I rented a cabin, in Fort Collins, up in Poudre Canyon, and it had this wood burning stove (I was wrong… I’d had one myself!), and a river that flowed by behind the cabin. We didn’t have any running water so went and got water from the river and ended up washing our dishes that way.

        Total thanks for the memory! It was so long ago… That may be my next Tuesday Treasure Tidbit!

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  11. Wow! Popped over to check you out and thank you for the follow and I find these awesome photos! Well done. My favourite is that street one with the rear-view mirror! But truly, they’re all great shots!

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    • I loved the concept when I took that street photo through the mirror, like the way the yellow line lines up. And I’m confused as to why so many people like the “can”! Thanks again for stopping by and commenting.

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  14. Hi Badfish!
    How ya doin?
    I came over to thank you for “liking” my Google article. You have 52 comments on this post! Wow! What an engaged community you have. You should be proud of what you’ve built.
    Were you in the Photo 101 class? I was but found it too time-consuming and didn’t pursue it.
    Take care,
    Janice from Reflections

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