30 Words: Hanging On

30 Word Thursday is a collaborative project started by Erin at her Treasures Found Blog.  The idea is simple: take a photo (preferably your own) and put it to exactly 30 words.  I've been playing along more sporadically this year, mainly due to time doing my own self-imposed photo challenge, but now that the weather is getting nicer and I have more opportunity to take pictures, I'll be doing more.  Check out the rest of the entries at Erin's blog. Oh, and comment!  We want to hear what folks think!

Twisted and twined, 

One around the other.

Hanging on,

Supporting each other.

Through the long cold season,

And the return of warmth.

Tied closely together,

Never truly alone,

Entwined forever.

I took this picture on a recent walk through the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  I was just starting to see some flowers and greenery, but the majority of the forest I was walking through was barren and brown.  I saw this wild grape vine twisted around its partner and wanted to get a macro view of it.  While I was changing lenses, two deer sprang past me and into the underbrush.  Typical!  Only after I got this picture in the editing suite did I notice the small spider in there.  In case you missed it, the sentiment to this one relates to my wonderful and supportive wife!

30 Word Thursday: Spring

30 Words Thursday: Grab an image (preferably one you shot or one you have permission to use). Write exactly 30 Words (no more, no less). Post it.

Check Erin's Treasures Found Blog for the rest of this week's entries!

It has been a while since I have taken part in this challenge, I have been more focused on my weekly personal photo challenge.  But I had some extra pictures from a recent trip to the arboretum and figured I'd get back on the horse!

Winds whistle through still skeletal trees.

Sun yawns, opening a groggy eye, peering into the waking forest.

Birds call.

A sullen butterfly flits on the breeze.

A chipmunk scampers.

Spring!

This week's shot was from an windy early spring day at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  I searched far and wide for wildlife and found just a few birds, a raggedy butterfly, and this cute little guy.

30 Words: Steam

The premise of 30 Words Thursdays is simple...

Take an image (preferably one you shot, or have permission to use).

Write 30 Words about it. No more. No less.

Post it each Thursday on the Treasures Found Blog.

Outside 

Wind whips frigid

Crystals snap against hard glass

Within

Air breathes

Humid and dank

Desert plants

Far from home

Reach 

Longing for sun and life

Touching briefly

The transition 

This week's 30 Word Thursday photo was taken at the Walker Art Center sculpture garden.  They have a small greenhouse filled with succulents and other warm weather flora.  I loved the way this plant looked like it was reaching out to the steamy glass window.  

30 Words: Ascent

From the dark depths below

I crawl toward the blinding light.

So long without vision in the musty chill 

of the pit.

Above

The

Bright 

Heavens

Beckon

Me 

Forward

This week's 30 Word Thursday entry is a picture that I took at a Castle in Ghent, Belgium this past spring.  This was taken from a basement area of the castle that was either used as storage or possibly as a dungeon.  The day was completely overcast and everything was too dark to get good pictures, but the contrast between the pitch black dungeon and the relatively bright light outside appealed to me.  This one may be a bit too gratuitously emo but hey, my muse was speaking to me in hushed and Gothic tones.  Oh, I did it again just there...

Check out the other 30 Word Thursday contributors (or try one yourself) at Erin's Treasures Found Blog.  

30 Words: Idyllic

A slow flow of rippling stream,

broken rarely by a spirited trout.

A footbridge across to our quiet respite.

A setting and place seemingly both out of time, 

and timeless.

This week's 30 Word Thursday entry was an out-take from my sketchy photo challenge where I took several photos and gave them a sketch effect.  This one was a photo from the very small town of Chiny in the Ardennes that we stayed at while in Belgium this past summer.  After all the chaos of big European cities, dangerous bikers, and crowded pubs, this place was amazingly relaxed and beautiful.  I tried and tried but couldn't catch that trout on film!  I used a pen sketch effect on this one and it has just a little too much going on with the grass in the foreground for me to really love it, but still has a pleasant look to it.  Check out the other 30 Word Thursday entries at Erin's Treasures Found Blog!

30 Words: Christmas!

I received him on my first Christmas.

This faded and thread-bear ornament has traveled with me my whole life so far!  

To another forty plus…

Merry Christmas to all!

This week's 30 Word Thursday is pretty self explanatory!  With a picture and exactly 30 words I will continue to take part in this challenge for the coming year.  Check Erin's Blog where all this started!

I'll be posting some other stuff as the year winds down, so check back often!

30 Words: Punk

Outstretched hand presents a small round pumpkin.

A sprightly Fall dance before the coming chill.

Dancers caper and cavort this Allhallows Eve.

Then frozen under Winter's silent and snowy blanket.

This week's 30 Word Thursday picture is from a fall trip the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  This was one of the last times I was able to go out taking pictures before Minnesota Winter set in.  A bronze statue of young girls frozen in play caught my eye.  I had seen this statue several times without any great thought given to it, but this time someone had placed a small pumpkin to balance in a tiny hand.  Suddenly the tableau spoke to me and I snapped a few pics.  Lacking the colors I was looking for, the picture languished on my computer, but wanted to do something with it.  Taking a fresh look and trying out some colored pencil effects on my Photoshop Elements program I came up with this.  Please check out the other 30 Word entries at Erin's Treasures Found Blog Here.  Also she has had a book of some of last year's 30 Word Thursday entries (including some by Sj and I) so you should buy one!  

30 Word Thursday: Spring?

As I lounge inside,

Surrounded by an icy landscape

And steely gray skies,

I look back...

Or perhaps forward...

To vibrant colors,

Flowing waters,

Restful walks,

And green once again.

This week's 30 Word Thursday picture is from our trip to Belgium this past Spring.  I am currently wishing for some color in my life so I figured this one worked well!  I took this while on a walk with Sj through a park in Bruges.  Check out the other contributors to the 30 Word Thursday Challenge on Erin's Treasures Found Blog!  Also check back here next Monday for my other photography challenge reveal and link-up!

30 Words: Light

The last rays of wan light filter

through hazy glass.

Darkness creeps in,

held at bay by this feeble brilliance.

Around me loom shadows of derelict machinery, 

lost in time.

After a brief hiatus, I'm back to taking part in 30 Word Thursday!  The idea is this: take a picture (preferably your own) and write something about it in exactly 30 words.  I started this over a year ago now to take part in Erin's blog-hop version of this and have decided to keep it up this year as well.   Check out Erin's Treasures Found Blog for the other entries this week and feel free to try it yourself!  I took this photo at Phelps Mill, an old turn-of-the-century grain mill up by my family cottage on Ottertail Lake.  I grew up crawling around on the dangerous machinery and rotting floors of this place, so it was fun to go back and explore now that they have repaired it a bit.  This was also a place I used my mom's old camera to take pictures for a Junior High photography class!

In addition to the 30 Word Thursday, I have decided to try doing a weekly photography challenge over the coming year as well.  I will post my self-imposed challenge here (below my 30 Word Thursday for the week) and post the result within the following week.  Some of these will be photography, but many will be post-production photoshop effects (especially during the winter months when outdoor photography is more difficult here in Minnesota!)  I think these challenges will help me to learn more about photography and editing digital pictures.  Hopefully people will enjoy the process with me.  I know my blog is predominantly beer related, but I feel like mixing things up a bit!  If there are any other budding photographers out there who want to play along with these challenges--please do so!  Feel free to comment here with a link to your own blog or website, or send it to me and I can post it.  If I get a few interested parties I can make an official blog link-up like the 30 Word Thursday.

Photo Challenge 1) Black & White
Starting out simple: take three color photos and change them to black and white format.  Ideally these will have a different tone or impact when changed to black and white.  Other photoshop effects are allowed but the biggest change should be the removal of color.  Show the before and after pics for comparison.  

30 Words: Sunrise

An Awe inspiring sunrise breaks silently over a sleeping landscape. 

A surreal painter's palette appears from atmospheric magic.

Perhaps an omen of wonderful things to come in the upcoming year.

 

This week's 30 Word Thursday picture was taken a few weeks ago on the way to the airport.  Sj pulled the car over on the shoulder so I could jump out and snap a few pictures with my camera.  This has been a very good year for me and as I turn 41 I hope that next year is even better.  Check out the other 30 Word Thursday entry's at Erin's Treasures Found Blog.  Also in extra cool news, Erin has taken some of the 30 Word entries from the past year (including some of mine and Sj's) and created a book of them, with 40% of the purchase price to go to the Alzheimer's Association.  I know I write a mostly beer related blog, but have really enjoyed this way to post results of my budding photography hobby and to work on creative writing that isn't related to booze!  Initially this was just going to be a year's experiment, but since Erin is continuing with it, so will I!  You can buy a copy  of the book HERE.



30 Word Thursday: Hot House

Yellow and orange leaves dropping from the sky, twirling along the street.

 

While encased in glass, like the Beast's rose, summer flowers remain in bloom.

 

A last gasp of color!

 

On our recent trip to Pittsburgh, we were able to visit the fantastic Phipps Conservatory.  I took this last chance to take pictures with my macro lens for the season.  The light was often strange inside the building, and this one caught a cool ray of sun.  Not quite impressive enough on its own I added a watercolor paint effect and added some canvas texture.  Check out the other 30 Word Thursday entries at Erin's Treasures Found Blog.

30 Word Thursday: Barn

Dying summer light

throws long shadows.

 

Cool breeze rattles remaining leaves,

and swinging lantern.

 

 

The last gasp of fall before inevitable winter comes.

 

Inside, friends gather,

celebrating the bountiful harvest.

 

This week's 30 Word Thursday photo was taken at the Minnesota Harvest Orchard in Jordan, MN.  Our homebrew club was out for a cider pressing last Sunday and had a great time.  I'll be writing up that event separately (hopefully to share later this week.)  Check out the other 30 Words at Erin's Treasures Found Blog!



30 Words: Fall

Looming clouds part momentarily,

Leaving a patch of blue

 

Green, yellow, rust, crimson.

Leaves shimmer and shake

Temporarily illuminated by flashing beams

 

Cool breeze wafts by,

colorful detritus spiraling

 

Falling

 

This week's 30 Word Thursday pic was taken at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum on Tuesday of this week.  I stopped by on my way back from Minneapolis and wandered the grounds with my camera.  It was amazing to me how drastically the place has changed.  Two weeks ago I was snapping shots of flowers, bees, and butterflies.  Now fading leaves littered the paths and flowers were mostly a thing of the past.  Photos were tough since the thick clouds would cover the sun periodically.  Check out the other 30 Word Thursday challenge entries at the Treasures Found Blog!

30 Words

Soft feathery petals surround delicate bristle.

 

Bees softly alight, carrying yellow pollen on fuzzy bodies, perpetuating the endless cycle of life.

 

Reminding one that life is beautiful and sometimes fleeting.

 

 

This week's picture was of a flower from my back yard.  The basic picture looked cool (and I have another version of the original as is) but I decided to keep experimenting with Photoshop Elements effects until I found this particular effect.  It reminds me of the old crayon and black paint that I used to use in my childhood, so consider this channeling my inner child!  The sentiment certainly has some spill-over from the very difficult passing of a family friend last week.  See the rest of this week's 30 Word Thursday (and last week's as well) at Erin's Treasures Found Blog.

30 Words: Hum

Zipping,

Darting,

Aerial acrobatics.

 

I feel more than see

The movement of this

Tiny creature.

 

Waiting patiently,

Camera ready,

A fleeting moment

Of clarity.

 

Caught

In

Mid-

Motion

Wings

Blur.

 

This week's 30 Word Thursday photo was taken at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum during an outing there last week to help with a lecture on mead making.  Since I had my camera, I decided to wander a bit.  A very nice lady waved me down and pointed out this little fellow to me...I spent quite a bit of time waiting for the perfect shot and wishing I had a telephoto lens instead of my fixed focal length Macro lens!  I had to wait until he was just in the right spot to get a good pic.  These guys are incredibly fast!  Check out the other contributors to 30 Word Thursdays at Erin's Treasures Found Blog.

30 Words: Stuck

Gossamer strings

of

light

 shimmer,

fluttering

slowly

in the humid

afternoon breeze

 

No sign of habitation,

an empty and waiting home

 

Or a wicked

trap

for the

unwary

flying

traveler...

 

 

This week's 30 Word Thursday picture was taken in my backyard one fine sunny afternoon.  I took lots of shots but none looked quite right...so I tried out some different filter techniques until this one jumped out at me in stark contrast.  Check out the other contributors at Erin's Treasures Found Blog Here!

Oh, and some of my pics are up on the Southwest Metro Magazine photo contest for this year:  Check them out (and vote for me!) here.  Mine are on page 2 second row up from the bottom: Schram Vineyard, Thistle, and the yellow flower with the imitation bee on it.  I took these before I got my Macro lens--next year's will be even better!