From a distance, almost everything looks real.

Sometimes the only dreams I have are the ones I make.

I miss dreaming.

I miss flying.

So I create a place for my thoughts to dwell.

I close my eyes and imagine my feet in the clouds,

my wings in the wind.

I hold my breath and wonder why my feet have to touch the ground.

I'm weak and I'm tired, but my heart still beats.

My lungs still breathe.

My wings are broken, but my song stays strong.

My tears still flow.

Sometimes I wonder if I kept going, could I find my way to heaven?

Why do my feet need the ground?

I miss dreaming.

I miss flying.

From a distance, everything looks real.

xoxo- Leah

Image Details:

Fujifilm X-e1

35mm 1.4

glass prism for reflection

Photoshop:

minor color and light adjustments

pincushion lens effect with Nik software

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

Chores for Books

“Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.” - Fernando Pessoa

This afternoon I went out with my camera for a short walk.  A storm was blowing in, and I love the moodiness of the wind and the sky just before a heavy rain.  As I made my way back up to the house, I found Lily taking a break from her chores, and escaping into the pages of a book.

She loves to read, and I am thankful for that.

She's normally a poser.  It's rare to catch her relaxed or oblivious to the camera,

but today, she never looked up.

She's looking less and less like a little girl, and more like a young lady.  My momma heart aches with a bittersweet emotion.  I am proud of the big girl she is becoming, but sad to see the baby disappearing.  I try to memorize her face every day, because it's ever-changing.  I relish the most mundane of details, and try to absorb every little moment- from her quirky tom-boyish-ness to the tone of her voice as she sings "good morning to you" as soon as she sees me each day.

xoxo-

Leah

[technical details: Nikon D700 | 50mm 1.4 | Prisming | Multiple Exposure]

Just in the Driveway

I'm so homesick.  Homesick for Mississippi, for the people I love that live there.  It's been nearly two years and every day is still a struggle.  I don't know if I will ever get over it.

Of course, my go-to therapist is my camera, so I decided to take a walk around our property and look for things to love, to explore it like a tourist, so-to-speak.  It was mid-morning, a little cooler than the day before, and I thought fresh air might do me some good.  I also decided to challenge myself to experiment with shooting "wide open", with all shots either by the 50mm 1.4 or 28mm 2.8 lenses, at either f/1.4 or f/2.8.  I didn't take any ND filters with me, so I had to drop my ISO to the lowest setting and the shots with any light at all had to be shot at a shutter speed of 1/8000 (my camera's maximum).  Several of the shots are freelensed (lens detatched), all of them are manually focused, and the macro images were taken with the 50mm reverse-freelensed (detatched and rotated backwards).  The wide-open shots on the 50mm turned out quite soft, but I like the dreamy effect it rendered, and I usually shoot skies at at around f/11, so I was espicially pleased with the dream-like quality that shooting the skies at f1.8 and f2.8 yeilded.  Overall, it was good for my soul to look for the beauty in the ordinary things I pass by each day, and fun to experiment by pushing myself to use my camera and lenses in these ways.

The following images are the result of that little morning walk, just in the driveway.

Get out and see what you can find in your yard to photograph. Detach your lens and turn it around backwards and try to get some macro shots. Try shooting wide open.

Experiment.
Create.
Breathe.

xoxo-Leah