Stone Oak

Climb me, for I'm made of stone

Lean against me when alone

Come and rest beneath my shade

I am the place where dreams are made

Lie beneath me, call me home

I've learned so much as I have grown

Find beneath my ancient limbs

The wind here sings the wisest hymns

My Limbs won't break, my roots go deep

Your secrets I am sworn to keep

So come to me when hope is gone

And climb me,

For I'm made of stone

xoxo- Leah

Experimenting with Light - #FindingTheLightWithErinHensley

I have a lot of photographer friends. A lot. Really.  And I have learned from and been inspired by all of them at some point. But there's this one, Erin Hensley, that has a nifty little group on facebook, and every month she has a theme to inspire people to get out and shoot, and I really, really love it.  Not only is it filled with eye-candy of nearly 5k photographers (yes, nearly FIVE THOUSAND), but it's filled with lots of support and sharing of knowledge. August's theme was "Experimenting with Light", and since I had quite a few interesting images as a result of this theme, I thought I would blog them.  I am really loving the results of trying some new tricks and re-trying some old ones.

So, without further jabber, here are the fruits of my inspiration.

 This one was shot as I rode shotgun with one of my best friends, Amie (another amazing photographer friend), and she indulged my quirky desire to shoot landscapes at a slow shutter speed while in motion.  That's a good friend, y'all.

Another one from my drive with Amie.  I love this so much, I am going to name it and write some poetry about it.  Don't judge me.

 These two were also done while Amie drove and let me hang out the window of her car with my shutter slowed waaaay down (it was past sunset).  These two look to me like paintbrush strokes, or the pinkish one like a peacock feather and the blue one reminds me of wind.

 Now, this one looks to me like a reflection in a puddle.  It's actually an out of focus image shot through a glass door while it rained, with one of those little spiral shaker balls (like from a shaker bottle for smoothies) held about an inch away from the lens.  Neat, huh?

 Teensy-tiny little ant-sized bug of some sort, on a tiny little flower in my yard.  This one was captured "reverse freelensed", or with the lens detached and rotated backwards for the soft, dreamy effect with macro capabilities.

 Another reverse freelensed image.  I love the way freelensing catches and manipulates flare.

 This one and the next three, were done using a prism.  It's a nifty, but tricky little gadget and makes for some really beautiful, surreal, other-worldly images.

Very surreal, like a dream.

And this one looks like either heavy fog, or a pathway above the clouds.

This one makes my rainbow-loving, inner-child happy.

This lovely, glowy image was catured at dark, beneath Amie's porch light.  It's actually a multiple exposure using a prism. I think it's dreamy, and I dig it.

Technical Details:

Nikon D700
Nikon 50 1.4D | Nikon 28 2.8D
Prism
Imagination
Rad friend willing to drive while I hung out the passenger window

If you want to be inspired, or just have a hankering for eye-candy, join the Finding the Light with Erin Hensley group on facebook, follow her on Instagram and like her facebook page.  You can thank me later.

Love-

Leah

Her Spirit Shines

Her spirit shines.

Her body is made of water and flesh,

Pieces of those before her.

Pieces of strangers,

Of distant memories,

Of dreams.

And her spirit-

And her spirit shines.

Inside the flesh and bones,

An energy resides,

A thousand years or more,

She has lived many lives.

Composed of light and strength, 

Gentle kindness and compassion, 

And with each of her body's breaths 

 Her soul inhales the wind.

She is the mother of flowers,

Sister of the moon,

She shines like the sun.

Her colors are a rainbow.

Birds fly for her,
And she hears their message.

She gives freely, loves fiercely, and teaches patiently.

She is the daughter of the Universe.

And her spirit,
Her spirit shines. 

(Image and words for/of my dear friend, Amie, who has guided and supported me through many emotional battles over the span of nearly 20 years, and is forever teaching me to see the world in a different light.) 

.

In the Spring

In the Spring, my heart did bloom

But Summer came, and scorching June.

And So my heart did wither, dry

Till all but buried deep did die.